New species of ancient cynodont, 220 million years old, discovered

Fossilized jaw bone fragments of a rat-like creature found at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona last year by a Virginia Tech College of Science Ph.D. candidate are in fact a newly discovered 220-million-year-old species of cynodont or stem-mammal, a precursor of modern-day mammals.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-species-ancient-cynodont-million-years.html

Supersonic winds, rocky rains forecasted on lava planet

Among the most extreme planets discovered beyond the edges of our solar system are lava planets: fiery hot worlds that circle so close to their host star that some regions are likely oceans of molten lava. According to scientists from McGill University, York University, and the Indian Institute of Science Education, the atmosphere and weather cycle of at least one such exoplanet is even stranger, featuring the evaporation and precipitation of rocks, supersonic winds that rage over 5000 km/hr, and a magma ocean 100 km deep.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-supersonic-rocky-lava-planet.html

Gentoo penguins are four species, not one, say scientists

Gentoo penguins should be reclassified as four separate species, say scientists at the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, after analysing the genetic and physical differences between populations around the southern hemisphere.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-gentoo-penguins-species-scientists.html

Crown-of-thorns eat themselves out of house and home

A world-first study on the Great Barrier Reef shows crown-of-thorns starfish have the ability to find their own way home—a behavior previously undocumented—but only if their neighborhood is stocked with their favorite food: corals.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-crown-of-thorns-house-home.html

Not forever: world's biggest pink diamond mine closes

The world's largest pink diamond mine has shut its doors after exhausting its reserves of the expensive gems, global mining giant Rio Tinto said Tuesday.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-world-biggest-pink-diamond.html

Cat 4 Hurricane Eta threatens flooding in Central America

Hurricane Eta erupted quickly into a potentially catastrophic major hurricane Monday as it headed for Central America, where forecasters warned of massive flooding and landslides across a vulnerable region.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-cat-hurricane-eta-threatens-central.html

Walmart abandons shelf-scanning robots, lets humans do work

Walmart is laying off the robots it had deployed in about 500 stores to keep tabs on what's on and not on the shelves.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-walmart-abandons-shelf-scanning-robots-humans.html

Lizard skull fossil is new and 'perplexing' extinct species

In 2017, while browsing the fossil collections of Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History, University of Texas at Austin graduate student Simon Scarpetta came across a small lizard skull, just under an inch long.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-lizard-skull-fossil-perplexing-extinct.html

Two centuries of Monarch butterflies show evolution of wing length

North America's beloved Monarch butterflies are known for their annual, multi-generation migrations in which individual insects can fly for thousands of miles. But Monarchs have also settled in some locations where their favorite food plants grow year round, so they no longer need to migrate.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-centuries-monarch-butterflies-evolution-wing.html

Self-watering soil could transform farming

A new type of soil created by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin can pull water from the air and distribute it to plants, potentially expanding the map of farmable land around the globe to previously inhospitable places and reducing water use in agriculture at a time of growing droughts.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-self-watering-soil-farming.html

Biologists shed light on mystery of how microbes evolve and affect hosts

The era of COVID-19 and the need to constantly wash one's hands and sanitize things have brought microbes to new levels of scrutiny, particularly for their impact on an individual's health.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-biologists-mystery-microbes-evolve-affect.html

New protein nanobioreactor designed to improve sustainable bioenergy production

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have unlocked new possibilities for the future development of sustainable, clean bioenergy. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows how bacterial protein 'cages' can be reprogrammed as nanoscale bioreactors for hydrogen production.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-protein-nanobioreactor-sustainable-bioenergy-production.html

Short-term moisture removal can eliminate downy mildew of spinach

Downy mildew is the biggest threat to spinach production around the world. While the pathogen has a short life cycle (approximately a week), it can produce millions of spores during the spinach growing season. Overhead sprinkler irrigation systems and dew formation on cool nights leads to more moisture, which enables these spores to infect the spinach.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-short-term-moisture-downy-mildew-spinach.html

Twitter board backs chief Jack Dorsey after ouster bid

Twitter's board on Monday said Jack Dorsey will remain chief after a management review prompted by an activist investor's effort to push him out of the job.

Germany eyes antigen tests to keep elderly safe in 2nd wave

As Europe tries to break the surging second wave of coronavirus infections, Germany is counting on a new type of test to avoid closing nursing homes to visitors, a move that caused considerable anguish among residents and relatives in the spring.

China's Ant Group facing regulatory pressure ahead of record IPO

Fintech giant Ant Group is facing growing Chinese pressure over potential risks in its online lending business, with co-founder Jack Ma and other executives summoned to an unusual meeting with regulators just ahead of its record-breaking IPO this week.

Tunisian startup 3-D prints solar-powered bionic hands

A Tunisian startup is developing a 3-D-printed bionic hand, hoping the affordable and solar-powered prosthetic will help amputees and other disabled people across Africa.

Walmart abandons shelf-scanning robots, lets humans do work

Walmart is laying off the robots it had deployed in about 500 stores to keep tabs on what's on and not on the shelves.

Rapid method finds potent COVID-19 monoclonal antibody among a trillion possibilities

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists have discovered the fastest way to identify potent, neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Hot or cold, weather alone has no significant effect on COVID-19 spread

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, there were high hopes that hot summer temperatures could reduce its spread. Although summer didn't bring widespread relief, the connection between the weather and COVID-19 continues to be a hot topic.

COVID-19 'super-spreading' events play outsized role in overall disease transmission

There have been many documented cases of COVID-19 "super-spreading" events, in which one person infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects many other people. But how much of a role do these events play in the overall spread of the disease? A new study from MIT suggests that they have a much larger impact than expected.

Depression, social anxiety, and use of mobile dating apps

Depression symptoms and social anxiety are associated with greater use of mobile dating applications among women. The extent to which these are associated with dating app use is reported in the peer-reviewed journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Discrimination increases against Asian and Asian American population, affecting health

Reports of racial discrimination against Asians and Asian-Americans have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, coinciding with an increase in reported negative health symptoms.

Lack of understanding of common heart condition leads to missed treatment opportunities

Poor awareness of a condition known as Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) - the cause of a half of all cases of heart failure in England—could be hindering opportunities to improve care for patients, say researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Manchester, and Keele.

Study suggests increased risk of restraint use in black patients in the emergency setting

A study published in the most recent issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), journal showed an increased risk of restraint use in Black patients compared with white patients in the emergency setting. The risk was not increased in other races or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity.

During COVID-19 first wave, the proportion of caesarean section deliveries done under general anaesthesia halved

New research from north-west England published in Anaesthesia (a journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) shows that during the first wave of COVID-19, the proportion of caesarean section deliveries carried out under general anaesthesia approximately halved, from 7.7% to 3.7%. This lower rate of general anaesthesia (also 3.7%) was also found among the small number of women having caesarean sections who had tested positive for COVID-19.