News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Glaciers are retreating faster globally due to climate change but they melt more quickly when they flow into a lake than when they end on land, with consequences for water supplies, a new study found on Thursday. The Swiss-funded study is the first large-scale, detailed analysis of the phenomenon in mountain glaciers and could … Read more
As cats have become domesticated over the last 10,000 years or so, their brains have shrunk significantly in size, a new study confirms – a finding that could lead to important new insights into how animals adapt when they start being regularly kept by human beings. Researchers compared the size of craniums (an indicator … Read more
When it comes to killing and eating other creatures, chimpanzees—our closest relatives—have nothing on us. Animal flesh makes up much more of the average human’s diet than a chimp’s. Many scientists have long suggested our blood lust ramped up about 2 million years ago, based on the number of butchery marks found at ancient archaeological … Read more
A suspected Martian underground lake is probably volcanic rock masquerading as water, according to a new study. In 2018, researchers found evidence that the Red Planet’s southern pole might have water beneath it. The possible water signature was first interpreted from radar observations made by Mars Express, a European Space Agency spacecraft. But a new … Read more
Putting cash in the hands of mothers can help shape the brains of their babies, according to a rigorous randomized study in the United States. Family income has been linked to child development numerous times in the past in observational studies, but this is the first time researchers have found direct experimental evidence of how … Read more
The great-granddaughters of men who smoked cigarettes when they were pre-pubescent boys are more likely to carry excess fat on their bodies as young women several decades later, a rather startling study has found. The discovery – which scientists claim is one of the “first human demonstrations of transgenerational effects of an environmental exposure … Read more
Children who are highly allergic to peanuts stand a significant chance to reduce the risk of adverse and potentially life-threatening reactions to the food, new research suggests. In a clinical trial of young peanut-allergic children aged between one and three years old, the majority of participants who underwent an oral immunotherapy regime saw marked … Read more
Scientists have estimated the number of “small” black holes in the universe. And no surprise: It’s a lot. This number might seem impossible to calculate; after all, spotting black holes is not exactly the simplest task. Because they’re are as pitch-black as the space they lurk in, the light swallowing cosmic goliaths can be detected … Read more
Antibiotic resistance is often seen as a ‘future problem’, but newly published data have revealed it’s affecting far, far more lives than you might imagine. In fact, the new estimates show that in 2019, there were 4.95 million deaths associated with bacterial antimicrobial resistance, making it the third leading cause of death worldwide. Drugs … Read more
Developments in satellite technology over the past decade have allowed the world to witness the devastating Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption and its aftermath in real time and in unprecedented detail. The findings might shed light on the anatomy of rare explosive volcanic eruptions and their effects on the planet. But satellites are also helping volcanologists … Read more