Fossil dental exams reveal how tusks first evolved

A wide variety of animals have tusks, from elephants and walruses to five-pound, guinea pig-looking critters called hyraxes. But one thing tusked animals have in common is that they're all mammals—there are no known fish, reptiles, or birds with tusks. In a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, paleontologists traced the first tusks back to ancient mammal relatives that lived before the dinosaurs, and to do so, they had to define what makes a tusk a tusk in the first place.

Fossil dental exams reveal how tusks first evolved

A wide variety of animals have tusks, from elephants and walruses to five-pound, guinea pig-looking critters called hyraxes. But one thing tusked animals have in common is that they're all mammals—there are no known fish, reptiles, or birds with tusks. In a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, paleontologists traced the first tusks back to ancient mammal relatives that lived before the dinosaurs, and to do so, they had to define what makes a tusk a tusk in the first place.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-fossil-dental-exams-reveal-tusks.html

Microsoft profit up 24% in quarter, driven by cloud growth

Growth in Microsoft's cloud computing business helped push its profit up 24% in the July-September quarter over the same time last year.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-microsoft-profit-quarter-driven-cloud.html

Robinhood's growth in the summer slowed as trading calmed

The meteoric growth of Robinhood Markets is coming back to earth, much like its stock price.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-robinhood-growth-summer-calmed.html

Google-parent Alphabet tops expectations with $18.9 bn quarterly profit

Google's parent company Alphabet on Tuesday beat quarterly earnings expectations, raking in $18.9 billion in profit as its online ad engine and cloud services thrived.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-google-parent-alphabet-tops-bn-quarterly.html

Microsoft profit up 24% in quarter, driven by cloud growth

Growth in Microsoft's cloud computing business helped push its profit up 24% in the July-September quarter over the same time last year.

Robinhood's growth in the summer slowed as trading calmed

The meteoric growth of Robinhood Markets is coming back to earth, much like its stock price.

Google-parent Alphabet tops expectations with $18.9 bn quarterly profit

Google's parent company Alphabet on Tuesday beat quarterly earnings expectations, raking in $18.9 billion in profit as its online ad engine and cloud services thrived.

Twitter posts $537 mn net loss over lawsuit payout

Twitter said Tuesday it had posted a $537 million net loss in the third quarter after settling a lawsuit alleging investors were misled about slowing user growth.

Smart material switches between heating and cooling in minutes

As anyone who has ever parked a car in the sun on a hot summer day knows, glass windows are great at letting sunlight in but terrible at allowing heat out.

Twitter posts $537 mn net loss over lawsuit payout

Twitter said Tuesday it had posted a $537 million net loss in the third quarter after settling a lawsuit alleging investors were misled about slowing user growth.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-twitter-mn-net-loss-lawsuit.html

Searching for Earth 2.0? Zoom in on a star

Astronomers searching for Earth-like planets in other solar systems have made a breakthrough by taking a closer look at the surface of stars.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-earth-star.html

How do plants act fast to fight off infections?

New work led by Carnegie's Kangmei Zhao and Sue Rhee reveals a new mechanism by which plants are able to rapidly activate defenses against bacterial infections. This understanding could inspire efforts to improve crop yields and combat global hunger.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-fast-infections.html

A new 3D printing frontier: Self-powered wearable devices

When most people think of wearable devices, they think of smart watches, smart glasses, fitness trackers, even smart clothing. These devices, part of a fast-growing market, have two things in common: They all need an external power source, and they all require exacting manufacturing processes. Until now.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-3d-frontier-self-powered-wearable-devices.html

Smart material switches between heating and cooling in minutes

As anyone who has ever parked a car in the sun on a hot summer day knows, glass windows are great at letting sunlight in but terrible at allowing heat out.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-smart-material-cooling-minutes.html

Facebook profits rise amid Facebook Papers findings

Amid fallout from the Facebook Papers documents supporting claims that the social network has valued financial success over user safety, Facebook on Monday reported higher profit for the latest quarter.

US State Department sets up cyber bureau, envoy amid hacking alarm

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that the State Department will establish a new bureau and envoy to handle cyber policy, revamping amid alarm over rising hacking attacks.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-state-department-cyber-bureau-envoy.html

Asia suffered hottest year on record in 2020: UN

Asia suffered its hottest year on record in 2020, the United Nations said Tuesday ahead of the COP26 summit, with extreme weather taking a heavy toll on the continent's development.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-asia-hottest-year.html

Rescued from extinction, bison rediscover Romania mountains

Hoof prints in the mud, tree bark nibbled away: even if the newest residents of Romania's Carpathian mountain forest shy away from visitors, their traces are there for those who know where to look.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-extinction-bison-rediscover-romania-mountains.html

YouTube, TikTok, Snap execs face senators on kids' safety

Bearing down on hugely popular social media platforms and their impact on children, the leaders of a Senate panel have called executives from YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat to face questions on what their companies are doing to ensure young users' safety.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-youtube-tiktok-snap-execs-senators.html

Facebook profits rise amid Facebook Papers findings

Amid fallout from the Facebook Papers documents supporting claims that the social network has valued financial success over user safety, Facebook on Monday reported higher profit for the latest quarter.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-facebook-profits-papers.html

Poll: Majority in US concerned about climate

President Joe Biden heads to a vital U.N. climate summit at a time when a majority of Americans regard the deteriorating climate as a problem of high importance to them, an increase from just a few years ago.

Addition of genotypic resistance testing did not improve virologic response in patients with HIV virologic failure

A randomized controlled trial found that the addition of genotypic resistance testing to routine care did not improve virologic suppression among persons whose first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) failed in public-sector HIV clinics in Uganda and South Africa. These results reinforce the critical need for and persistent challenge of finding effective interventions for persons who have virologic failure after ART initiation in the public sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Stress In America 2021: Pandemic impedes basic decision-making ability

Americans are struggling with the basic decisions required to navigate daily life as the effects of pandemic-related stress continue to take a toll, especially on younger adults and parents, according to a national survey from the American Psychological Association.

Poll: Majority in US concerned about climate

President Joe Biden heads to a vital U.N. climate summit at a time when a majority of Americans regard the deteriorating climate as a problem of high importance to them, an increase from just a few years ago.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-poll-majority-climate.html

'Nanozyme' therapy prevents harmful dental plaque build-up

A growing body of evidence points to a link between iron-deficiency anemia and severe tooth decay. Whether the connection is correlative or causative is unknown, though both conditions are associated with poor diets and are more common in people living in impoverished environments and with underlying medical conditions.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-nanozyme-therapy-dental-plaque-build-up.html

Publication of 500-year-old manuscript exposes medieval beliefs and religious cults

A rare English illuminated medieval prayer roll, believed to be among only a few dozen still in existence worldwide, has been analyzed in a new study to expose Catholic beliefs in England before the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-year-old-manuscript-exposes-medieval-beliefs.html

Waters off French coast in winter may be a deadly trap for small, foraging turtles

The documented habitat boundaries of the loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and green turtles are questioned by a new study suggesting that stranded turtles rescued from European French Atlantic and Channel waters could be visiting the area to forage for food. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, satellite tracking data reveals that while some turtles may be able to return home, after their rehabilitation and release to Florida in the US, or Cape Verde off the African coast, younger individuals are at risk of being trapped in the region.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-french-coast-winter-deadly-small.html

'Nanozyme' therapy prevents harmful dental plaque build-up

A growing body of evidence points to a link between iron-deficiency anemia and severe tooth decay. Whether the connection is correlative or causative is unknown, though both conditions are associated with poor diets and are more common in people living in impoverished environments and with underlying medical conditions.

Publication of 500-year-old manuscript exposes medieval beliefs and religious cults

A rare English illuminated medieval prayer roll, believed to be among only a few dozen still in existence worldwide, has been analyzed in a new study to expose Catholic beliefs in England before the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

Shadow loss: Young adults cope with missing out during pandemic

A new paper featuring college students' experiences with loss during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that although few directly experienced a close death, everyone lost something that impacted their lives.

Stimulus designed to help restaurant workers led to more COVID cases

A new paper in The Economic Journal indicates that a large-scale government subsidy aimed at encouraging people to eat out in restaurants in the wake of the first 2020 COVID-19 wave in the United Kingdom accelerated a second COVID19 wave.

Waters off French coast in winter may be a deadly trap for small, foraging turtles

The documented habitat boundaries of the loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and green turtles are questioned by a new study suggesting that stranded turtles rescued from European French Atlantic and Channel waters could be visiting the area to forage for food. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, satellite tracking data reveals that while some turtles may be able to return home, after their rehabilitation and release to Florida in the US, or Cape Verde off the African coast, younger individuals are at risk of being trapped in the region.