Science & Technology

The Neanderthal DNA you carry may have surprisingly little impact on your looks, moods 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 29, 2020
If you think you got your freckles, red hair, or even narcolepsy from a Neanderthal in your family tree, think again. People around the world do carry traces of Neanderthals in their genomes. But a study of tens of thousands of Icelanders finds their Neanderthal legacy had little or no impact on most of their physical traits or disease risk.

By David Aragorn
Coronavirus: Has Sweden got its science right?0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 28, 2020
Sweden’s strategy to keep large parts of society open is widely backed by the public. It has been devised by scientists and backed by government, and yet not all the country’s virologists are convinced.

By David Aragorn
How birds evolved big brains 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 25, 2020
Brain evolution traced from tyrannosaurs to modern crows

By David Aragorn
CBC accused by Quebecor of ‘disgracefully and unscrupulously’ exploiting COVID-19 crisis 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 23, 2020
CBC is forbidden by regulation from selling advertising on public radio, but Quebecor says clients who buy ads elsewhere in the network are given interviews and ‘non-sponsored live coverage on radio’ — an unfair workaround

By David Aragorn
Study: Long-Duration Spaceflight Affects Brain Volume 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology, Space
- April 22, 2020
A new study led by Professor Larry Kramer from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston suggests that the impact of microgravity is far-reaching, potentially causing brain volume changes and pituitary gland deformation.

By David Aragorn
Scientists Are Tired of Explaining Why The COVID-19 Virus Was Not Made in a Lab 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 22, 2020
It’s a rumour that just won’t die. When asked whether the COVID-19 virus was genetically engineered in a lab, scientists have already said “no” rather firmly, but the matter of the new coronavirus’ origin is unlikely to be put to rest so easily.

By David Aragorn
DNA Could Hold Clues to Varying Severity of COVID-19 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 18, 2020
Hundreds of scientists around the globe are launching studies in search of genes that could explain why some people fall victim to coronavirus infection while others escape relatively unscathed.

By David Aragorn
The Covid-19 puzzles that scientists are still trying to answer 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 16, 2020
The Observer’s science editor looks at questions such as why the disease does appear not to infect children, and whether men are really more susceptible

By David Aragorn
New quantum computers can operate at higher temperatures 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 16, 2020
Silicon chips raise hopes for scaling up devices to millions of quantum bits

By David Aragorn
Matter-antimatter difference found in neutrino oscillations 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 16, 2020
One of the great scientific puzzles of our time is why we live in a universe full of matter rather than antimatter. Wherever we look, we observe that matter dominates over antimatter, yet we believe that matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts soon after the Big Bang. To reconcile these two facts there must be some difference in the way matter and antimatter behave.

By David Aragorn