New fossil seal species rewrites history

The discovery, published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, radically changes scientists' understanding of how seal species evolved around the world.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-fossil-species-rewrites-history.html

Puzzled otters learn from each other

Asian short-clawed otters learn from each other when solving puzzles to get food, a new study shows.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-puzzled-otters.html

How hybrid electric and fuel aircraft could green air travel

With air traffic set to increase 5% every year until 2030, scientists are looking at how to make aeroplanes more sustainable. But with current batteries making electric aircraft far too heavy, hybrid fuel and electric models could point the way forward for greener air travel—and could become airborne within 15 years.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-hybrid-electric-fuel-aircraft-green.html

Cloud shapes and formations impact global warming – but we still don't understand them

Above the Atlantic Ocean, puffy white clouds scud across the sky buffeted by invisible trade winds. They are not 'particularly big, impressive or extended," says Dr. Sandrine Bony, a climatologist and research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. "But they are the most ubiquitous clouds on Earth."

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-cloud-formations-impact-global-dont.html

Why COVID-era campaigns against wildmeat consumption aren't working

COVID-19 probably originated as a virus that jumped from wild animals to humans. So some conservation organisations have used the pandemic to campaign against the hunting and consumption of wildlife—and so to prevent future zoonotic disease transmission.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-covid-era-campaigns-wildmeat-consumption.html

Catching the number 1: Aberdeen trials hydrogen buses

The Scottish city of Aberdeen enjoyed a boom after the discovery of oil in the North Sea in the 1960s, propelling it to a central role in the industry.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-aberdeen-trials-hydrogen-buses.html

Big Tech welcomes Biden presidency, but battles loom

Silicon Valley is welcoming the election of Joe Biden as US president even as it girds for a series of battles over tech policy in Washington.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-big-tech-biden-loom.html

Tropical Storm Eta floods already drenched Florida cities

A deluge of rain from Tropical Storm Eta caused flooding Monday across South Florida's most densely populated urban areas, stranding cars, flooding businesses, and swamping entire neighborhoods with fast-rising water that had no place to drain.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-tropical-storm-eta-drenched-florida.html

New Xbox hits stores, launching holiday season console war

Microsoft's new Xbox console hit stores worldwide Tuesday, kicking off a holiday season battle with Sony's latest PlayStation model, as the coronavirus pandemic creates unprecedented gaming demand around the world.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-xbox-holiday-season-console-war.html

China gears up for world's largest online shopping festival

Chinese consumers are expected to spend tens of billions on everything from fresh food to luxury goods during this year's Singles' Day online shopping festival, as the country recovers from the pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-china-gears-world-largest-online.html

Electrifying growth of renewables despite pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic may have dealt a blow to energy demand but growth of renewables in the electric power sector has continued at a record pace, an IEA report said Tuesday.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-electrifying-growth-renewables-pandemic.html

EU agrees on tighter rules for surveillance tech exports

The European Union on Monday agreed to tighten up rules for the sale and export of cybersurveillance technology.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-eu-tighter-surveillance-tech-exports.html

Do consumers enjoy events more when commenting on them?

Researchers from Rutgers University and New York University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that explores the phenomenon of user-generated content during experiences.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-consumers-events-commenting.html

Researchers identify new Rickettsia species in dogs

Researchers at North Carolina State University have identified a new species of Rickettsia bacteria that may cause significant disease in dogs and humans. This new yet unnamed species, initially identified in three dogs, is part of the spotted-fever group Rickettsia which includes Rickettsia rickettsii, the bacteria that cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF).

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-rickettsia-species-dogs.html

Researchers develop DNA approach to forecast ecosystem changes

When wolves returned to Yellowstone in 1995, no one imagined the predators would literally change the course of rivers in the national park through cascading effects on other animals and plants. Now, a Stanford University-developed approach holds the promise of forecasting such ecosystem changes as certain species become more prevalent or vanish altogether.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-dna-approach-ecosystem.html

Microbe 'rewiring' technique promises a boom in biomanufacturing

Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have achieved unprecedented success in modifying a microbe to efficiently produce a compound of interest using a computational model and CRISPR-based gene editing.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-microbe-rewiring-technique-boom-biomanufacturing.html