[ad_1]
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Stonehenge-like 4,000-year-old sanctuary discovered in Netherlands
Archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old sanctuary made up of ditches and burial mounds in the central Netherlands that they believe may have served a similar purpose to Stonehenge. Like the famous stone circle in southern England, the sanctuary – which was as big as at least three soccer fields and built with soil and wood – was built to align with the sun on the solstices.
Lab crunch: British science has nowhere to go
For Ros Deegan, the thrill of raising $100 million to expand a biotech firm among the dreaming spires of Oxford was soon tempered: unable to find a bigger laboratory, she routinely had to work at home. Not far away in the rival academic centre of Cambridge, biochemist Catherine Elton, persistently frustrated by similar real estate issues, taught herself how to turn old offices into labs to keep expanding her bioactive protein business.
Study reveals how immune system of astronauts breaks down
Evidence is growing about the many ways that traveling in the microgravity environment of space tampers with the human body, with new research showing how it dials down the activity of genes in white blood cells crucial to the immune system. A study involving 14 astronauts who spent 4-1/2 to 6-1/2 months aboard the International Space Station found that gene expression in these cells, also called leukocytes, quickly decreased when they reached space and then returned to normal not long after returning to Earth, researchers said on Thursday.
Libra Group embarks on space leasing with Arctic ground station
Libra Group said it aims to become the world’s first space leasing company offering satellites, space ports and other infrastructure, and is setting up a ground station in the Alaskan Arctic, vital for polar orbits that monitor climate change. “There is no space leasing company,” George Logothetis, the executive chairman of Libra, an international business group active in 60 countries and commercial sectors including aerospace, shipping, renewable energy, hospitality and real estate, told Reuters.
Fossils show ancient long-necked sea beast’s ‘gruesome’ decapitation
In shallow waters about 242 million years ago, a strange marine reptile built unlike any other animal ever on Earth hunted for fish and squid, using an inordinately elongated neck to ambush prey. Suddenly and violently, its life ended – decapitated by a powerful predator. Scientists for two centuries have suspected that prehistoric marine reptiles like this one, named Tanystropheus, possessing very long necks were highly vulnerable to such attacks. A fresh examination of Tanystropheus fossils unearthed in Switzerland decades ago on a mountain called Monte San Giorgio has provided the first unambiguous evidence to demonstrate it.
(With inputs from agencies.)
[ad_2]
Source link