May 2019

An incredibly fast bonding between graphene and hydrogen

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An article published in the journal “Science” reports the discovery of the possibility of generating a transient chemical bond between hydrogen atoms and a graphene sheet. A team of researchers coordinated by the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany and the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) in Pasadena, USA, bombarded graphene sheets with hydrogen atoms generating one of the fastest reactions ever studied since it occurs in only 10 femtoseconds in which hydrogen yields most of its energy.

A fossil jaw discovered on the Tibetan plateau belonged to a Denisovan

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An article published in the journal “Nature” reports evidence that a jaw discovered in Baishiya Karst Cave, in the Xiahe Chinese region, on the ibetan plateau, dated from about 160,000-year ago, belonged to a Denisovan. A team of researchers coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Germany, and by the Lanzhou University, China, extracted proteins from the mandible and one of the molars that are specific to determine the relationship of that individual with the Denisovas whose remains were discovered in Siberia.

Deep learning used to map storms on the planet Saturn

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the application of a deep learning algorithm to recognize storms on the planet Saturn creating a map of their components and characteristics. Ingo Waldmann of the University College London, England, and Caitlin Griffith of the University of Arizona, USA, developed the algorithm called PlanetNet based on the TensorFlow “engine” to analyze data collected by the Cassini space probe with an efficiency higher than traditional techniques thanks to the recognition of recurrent characteristics across various multiple data sets. PlanetNet could be adapted to analyze observations of other planets.

The role of Ardipithecus ramidus in the evolution of bipedalism in humans

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An article published in the journal “eLife” reports the claim that the foot morphology of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominin that lived about 4.4 million years ago, is the most similar to that of chimpanzees and gorillas among apes. Thomas Prang of the New York University’s Department of Anthropology examined the characteristics of Ardipithecus ramidus’ feet to assess the relationship between the type of locomotion of a species and its skeletal characteristics. The aim is to reconstruct the evolution of bipedalism and estimate the appearance of the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees.