Neat News - Neat things do happen

Currently light systems in cars are being developed to have a beam system that adapts corresponding to visibility in order to reduce risk when driving at night.

related: #light #car_accidents

It puzzled Darwin that fossil records of flowering plants seem to show that they occurred only relatively recently and suddenly, giving no time for evolution. Now, a genetic analysis points in the direction that they were around for another 100 million years before they became dominant.

related: #Darwin_mystery #plant #flower

Long before the EURO there seems to have been a common European currency some 4000 years ago, when people used rings, bangles, and axe blades as currency. Researchers examined objects from 2150-1700 BC and found that, for instance, 70 percent of rings had a weight that could not be perceptibly distinguished from a ring of 195.5 grams. This is explained that such objects were made to be perceptibly indistinguishable and served as a kind of currency.

related: #archaeology #currency #ancient

US President Joe Biden has initiated a pause and review of all oil and gas drilling on federal land and made fighting the climate crisis a priority.

related: #USA #climate_crisis #fossil_fuel

Trees in the streets so that people can be in daily contact with them may reduce the need for antidepressants, a new study finds. Planting trees in cities may be beneficial in many ways, strengthen the mental health of people, improve the micro-climate in the cities, and help fighting global warming.

related: #urban_forestry #trees #depression

Experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK, have stated that when planning to plant trees it is important to get it right. Their 10 golden rules include: protecting existing forests first, collaboration with local people, maximizing biodiversity, natural regrowth, and looking for resilience with respect to climate change.

related: #reforestation #golden_rules

Exercising muscles can act against the effects of chronic inflammation. In a new testing facility, where different effects can be disentangled it was found that muscles on their own can take anti-inflammatory action during exercises.

related: #muscle #anti_inflammatory

After a mining accident in China, today 11 of the 22 miners trapped in the mine hundreds of metres underground could be brought to surface alive. Sadly one person died in the accident and the fate of the other 10 remains unknown.

related: #Hushan_mine

One way to reduce the number of Covid-19 particles in the air is to increase the relative humidity. The number of particles in the air halves at 10 degrees Celsius and 40 percent relative humidity after 24 hours, but after only 90 minutes at 27 degrees Celsius and 65 percent relative humidity.

related: #Covid_19 #humidity

US president Joe Biden has proposed to extend the New START treaty that limits the nuclear warheads of the two biggest nuclear powers, the USA and Russia, to 1550 each by five years days before it expires. The proposal comes on the day when the world-wide nuclear weapons ban becomes international law.

related: #New_START #nuclear_war #arms_control

US president Joe Biden has signed an executive order to join the Paris climate accord again. This is an important step to reach the goals for limiting global warming.

related: #USA #global_warming #Paris_climate_accord #climate

A major problem in switching completely to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, is the possibility to store the energy in the big. While lithium-ion batteries can do this in principle, in practice there is not enough lithium available. Now a new anode-free zinc-based battery has been developed that can do the job. Zinc is available in big quantities.

related: #zinc_battery #renewable_energy #energy_storage

A new study finds that previous infections with different corona-viruses may lead to antibodies that can help these people's immune system to fight Covid-19. This contributes to an understanding why people and populations react differently to SARS-CoV-2.

related: #covid-19 #immune_system

In 22 burial shafts sarcophagi were found at Saqqara, south of Cairo, in Egypt. The finds are some 4000 years old.

related: #Egypt #Saqqara #sarcophagi

Cancer cells can survive chemotherapy by adapting. Now there is a better understanding how these cells do this in the case of prostate cancer using a particular microRNA molecule called miR-194. By targeting this molecule the growth of cancer cells can be inhibited.

related: #prostate_cancer

There is new insight how viruses like the poliovirus and the common cold manage to spread their genetic code from one cell to other cells. Particularly important is the process of replicating the genetic code. The research may lead in the long run to the development of anti-viral agents.

related: #virus #anti_viral #genetic_code

As a new study finds, babies that are breastfed have a better immune system than formula fed ones, since they have almost twice as many so-called regulatory T cells. Furthermore they have more benign gut bacteria.

related: #breastfeeding #T_cells #immune_system

In Indonesia, archaeologists found the oldest known animal cave painting. The painting of a wild wart Sulawesi pig is believed to be some 45500 years old. It was found in the Leang Tedongnge cave on the island of Sulawesi.

related: #archaeology #prehistoric #painting #Indonesia

In experiments using a brain-machine interface, stroke survivors could move their arms by triggering an exoskeleton. That is, the arm is moving since the brain commands it to move. This seems to support the brain's plasticity to relearn movement even without the exoskeleton. The approach can support existing therapy.

related: #stroke #rehabilitation #exoskeleton

On a summit this week ahead of a UN conference on biodiversity, 50 countries have pledged to protecting 30 percent of the planet by 2030. Some 14 billion dollars are to be spent in the next five years to accelerate the development of the Great Green Wall project to push back the southward expansion of the Sahara Desert by growing trees, grassland, and other plants stretching over 8000 km for a width of 15 km, restoring 100 million hectares of land with plants.

related: #environment #great_green_wall #Africa

Sometimes it looks as if any action taken were too slow to prevent catastrophic climate change. However, there are examples were government actions lead to tipping points that dramatically change human behaviour. One example is the global sale of electric vehicles which is at only 2 to 3 percent globally. However, in Norway, where policies make electric vehicles the same price to buy as conventional cars the rate is more than 50 percent.

related: #climate_change #electric_car #tipping_point

If news is delivered in a humorous way then it is more easily remembered, a new study with 18 to 34 year olds finds.

related: #humour #news #laughter #memory

According to a preliminary study, there is some evidence that the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine protects against the new variant of the Covid-19 virus as well.

related: #covid-19 #vaccine #BioNTech-Pfizer #covid-19-mutation

Some cancer cells can go into a resting slow-dividing mode during chemotherapy in order to survive, leading to a regrowth of the cancer. This understanding of the hibernation strategy may lead to a better chemotherapy targeting such cells in mode.

related: #cancer #chemotherapy

For men with early stage prostate cancer, a diet rich in plant foods and fish using monounsaturated fats - the so-called Mediterranean diet - is beneficial in that there is a significantly lower risk of cancer grade progression.

related: #cancer #prostate #mediterranean_diet

Is there a development period early in life when people are particularly receptive to musical training, or can people learn to master music, e.g., to play an instrument, equally well later in life? While skilled musicians start typically early, new research suggests that it is more the total amount of practice that goes into learning an instrument than when we start.

related: #music #learning #training

There is a new theory how life may have started on Earth. Chemists have found that a simple compound, DAP (diamidophosphate), could have connected tiny DNA fragments into strands of DNA and RNA in a way that they do not stick together too strongly.

related: #dna #rna #life #chemistry #start_of_life

A BBC author lists a number of reasons why to be optimistic about the environment. They include using robots in the maintenance of wind turbines, growing rice that emits less methane, building with wood, and improving the efficiency of solar panels to 30-40 percent using perovskite.

related: #environment #solar_efficiency #wind_power #rice

Tens of thousands of prehistoric paintings were discovered in Colombia. They are assumed to be more than 12500 years old, depicting humans and animals. They were found next to Chiribiquete National Park, where similar paintings were discovered years ago.

related: #archaeology #prehistoric #painting #Colombia

It has been found that DHA derivatives (omega-3 fatty acid) stimulate the production of NPD1, a molecule that protects brain cells. In combination with LAU-0901 it can increase the protection and recovery of brain cells after a stroke and reduce the size of the damaged area in the brain better than a single drug.

related: #stroke #brain #recovery #omega3

There is a growing coalition of businesses and currently 68 countries that want an international UN treaty against plastic pollution similar to the Paris climate accord.

related: #plastic #pollution #UN #environment