technical updates

A study by researchers from the UPF Culture, Archaeology and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group (CaSEs), recently published in the journal PLOS ONE, provides a global assessment of traditional small-scale farming practices for three of the world's most important drought-tolerant species: finger millet, pearl millet and sorghum. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/B3dXGfI

Two ultra-cool dwarf stars in a binary system are so tight they're breaking records. The stars are so close that they orbit each other in less than a day. from Space https://ift.tt/UrPjiIM

A review of evidence from prior research provides new support for the possibility that the evolution of larger brains in some species was enabled through increased energy investment by parents in their offspring. Carel van Schaik of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, and colleagues present their arguments in a paper published on February 28 in the open access journal PLOS Biology. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/f4slr6K

An MUSC Hollings Cancer Center research team has created what team members believe to be among the first small molecules designed to stimulate immune cells to fight cancer. More importantly, these compounds inhibit a specific enzyme that hasn't been targeted with small molecules for the treatment of cancer. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/pVEMeTd

It's not easy to claim being an old woman. To start with, how can I be 75 when I feel about 40? And isn't it shameful to be old when youth is valued? People proudly parrot statements such as, "I'm growing older but not getting old" (meaning, "How terrible to be old!"). I even heard that line quoted approvingly by one of the middle-aged hosts of the recent Australia Day Award ceremony. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/AMfl4Zo

NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) reset its flight computer Feb. 18 and has been unresponsive to commands ever since, agency officials said Friday (Feb. 24). from Space https://ift.tt/5K8nBrf

By returning to spawn in the Sacramento River at different ages, Chinook salmon lessen the potential impact of a bad year and increase the stability of their population in the face of climate variability, according to a new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz and NOAA Fisheries. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/lJvyiQa