News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Mounting evidence suggests humans are now a major driving force of evolution on Earth. From selective breeding to environmental modifications, we’re altering so much of our world that we’re not only now driving the climate, but the direction of life itself. Now, in a massive project involving 287 scientists across 160 cities in 26 … Read more
All of Us, an ambitious health and genetics study aiming to enroll 1 million volunteers who represent the United States’ diversity, has reached a major milestone: the first release of nearly 100,000 whole genomes. The DNA sequences are tied to anonymized health records from the participants, allowing the study of how gene variants influence health. … Read more
What we thought were three confirmed exoplanets have just been knocked off their perch – and a fourth one is under serious doubt. According to a new analysis using revised characteristics, the objects Kepler-854b, Kepler-840b, and Kepler-699b seem to be too big to be exoplanets after all. That means they must be stars. The fourth … Read more
Brace yourselves, allergy suffers – new research shows pollen season is going to get a lot longer and more intense with climate change. Our latest study finds that the US will face up to a 200 percent increase in total pollen this century if the world continues producing carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants … Read more
For more than half a century, the kinds of antisocial personality traits we think of as psychopathic – such as a lack of remorse, aggression, and disregard for the wellbeing of others – have been associated with mental illness. The line between broken and useful traits can be hazy in biology, leaving open the … Read more
New satellite data has revealed the Arctic is melting at a “frightening rate” due to the excess heat caused by human greenhouse gas emissions. End-of-season Arctic multiyear sea ice – the ice that persists over several years – was roughly 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) thinner in 2021 than it was in 2019, the figures show, … Read more
Human waste has become so ubiquitous in the ocean, it’s becoming easier for octopuses to shelter in our trash than in seashells or coral. A systematic review of underwater photographs and videos from around the world has tallied 24 cephalopod species making their homes in marine litter. For years, divers and scientists have observed … Read more
Psychologists have investigated two contrasting beliefs about the nature of sexual satisfaction, to find out which is more likely to help couples better navigate sexual compatibility. Desire for sex with a new love interest typically starts strong and then wanes over time. Priorities rearrange, small incompatibilities become big ones, and the energy that comes … Read more
The Sun is blanketed by spiking, ultra-hot jets of plasma created from electrically charged particles, and now scientists have figured out more about how these jets (or spicules) are created and driven up into the star’s atmosphere. Via a series of laboratory experiments and models, a new study describes the spicules as being like … Read more