SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
They may not have been seen for the past 50 and 110 years, but an international study into their extinction has provided answers to how the world lost New Zealand’s South Island kokako and huia. Lead author Dr Nicolas Dussex, of the University of Otago, New Zealand, and Swedish Museum of Natural History, says the … Read more
Humans use a snorkel and fish have gills. Now researchers have found a sea snake which uses a complex system of blood vessels in its head to draw in extra oxygen when it dives and swims underwater. During submersion, the blue-banded sea snake (Hydrophis cyanocinctus) is now thought to use an extensive vascular network across … Read more
Social network interventions can have a significant effect on a range of health behaviors and outcomes both in the short and long term, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Ruth Hunter of Queen’s University Belfast, UK, and colleagues. There has been a growing interest in understanding the effects of social networks … Read more
After patient RDS (identified only by his initials for privacy) suffered a stroke, he experienced a rare and unusual side effect: when he saw something red, blue, green, or any other chromatic hue, he could not name the object’s color. Using RDS as a subject, a study publishing on September 3 in the journal Cell Reports looks … Read more
Say hello to the common fruit fly: a regular guest in all our homes, feasting on that banana peel you tossed into the garbage a few days ago. Despite their name, it’s not just fruit they fly to; these insects will feed on various kinds of plant matter. In a paper published in Cell Reports scientists describe … Read more
The supply of dense Antarctic water from the bottom of the ocean to the Atlantic has declined in recent years. However, a new study explains for the first time how since 2014 this has stabilized and slightly recovered due to the variability in upstream dense waters, with implications for the global climate. The study, led … Read more
Interest rates should remain at the new record low rate of 1 per cent, according to The Australian National University’s RBA Shadow Board. The conviction that rates should remain unchanged has strengthened to 71 per cent, up from 68 per cent last month. The Shadow Board’s vote comes ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s … Read more
Newly digitized vintage film has doubled how far back scientists can peer into the history of underground ice in Antarctica, and revealed that an ice shelf on Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is being thawed by a warming ocean more quickly than previously thought. This finding contributes to predictions for sea-level rise that would impact … Read more
Diversity is a hallmark of life and it shows up in unexpected places. A multi-national team of evolutionary biologists investigated how two types of poison frog co-exist when we expect only one. Their innovative study uncovers conditions where diversity flourishes against the odds, and offers new perspectives on chemical defense. The project was a collaboration … Read more
A new Columbia Engineering study indicates that the world will experience more frequent and more extreme drought and aridity than currently experienced in the coming century, exacerbated by both climate change and land-atmosphere processes. The researchers demonstrate that concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity are largely driven by a series of land-atmosphere processes and feedback … Read more