News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
From the fragrance of brewing coffee to the smell of rain soaking the soil, distinguishing scents is one of the reasons that having a sense of smell is wonderful. But how smells such as coffee can be understood by our brain, no matter the season, location, or time is a complex question to answer. There’s … Read more
The ancient Wari empire of Peru might have used hallucinogenic beer to rally support in new territories. The remnants of a large feast, found at a Wari outpost from the ninth century CE, strongly suggest the seeds of a psychoactive plant called vilca (Anadenanthera colubrina) were once mixed with chicha, a beer made from the fruit … Read more
A small pile of pebbles is clogging up the Perseverance Mars rover’s operations. The rover, which is collecting rock samples for eventual return to Earth, began to struggle on Dec. 29, after extracting a core from a rock the mission team nicknamed “Issole.” According to a NASA blog, the problem occurred in the device that transfers … Read more
Wherever there is sand and an atmosphere, prevailing winds may whip the grains into undulating shapes, pleasing to the eye with their calming repetition. Certain sand waves, with wavelengths between 30 centimeters (almost 12 inches) and several meters (around 30 feet), are known as megaripples: they’re between ordinary beach ripples and full dunes in size, … Read more
The course of human evolution never did run smooth. The emergence of hominins on the continent of Africa is full of twists, turns, gaps, and dead ends, which makes it all the more difficult to retrace the rise of our own species. Today, we still don’t really know when or where the first Homo … Read more
Scientists have built the tiniest antenna ever made – just five nanometers in length. Unlike its much larger counterparts we’re all familiar with, this minuscule thing isn’t made to transmit radio waves, but to glean the secrets of ever-changing proteins. The nanoantenna is made from DNA, the molecules carrying genetic instructions that are around … Read more
Pyroptosis, a type of programmed cell death related to infection and an inflammation response, can actually be stopped and managed, according to new research – whereas it was previously thought that the process was irreversible once it gets going. Killing off cells with pyroptosis is something the body uses to stay healthy, though such … Read more
An astonishing fossil of an extinct ‘sea dragon’ discovered by a wetland conservationist one day at work has been hailed as the largest and most complete fossil of its kind ever found in Britain. The fossil, identified as an ichthyosaur, an ancient marine reptile that swam in Earth’s prehistoric oceans when dinosaurs walked on … Read more
A treasure trove of some 200 Roman-era coins was discovered in northwestern Spain thanks to the apparent efforts of a hungry badger hunting for food, archaeologists have said. Described as “an exceptional find”, the coins were discovered in April 2021 in La Cuesta cave in Bercio in the Asturias region, with details outlined in the … Read more
US surgeons have successfully implanted a heart from a genetically modified pig in a human patient, a first-of-its-kind procedure, the University of Maryland Medical School said Monday. The surgery took place Friday, and demonstrates for the first time that an animal heart can survive in a human without immediate rejection, the medical school said … Read more