In the Amazon's 'sand forests,' birds play by different evolutionary rules

Picture the Amazon. You're thinking lush rainforests teeming with animals, right? It turns out, the Amazon Basin contains other less-famous ecosystems that have been under-studied by biologists for years, including patches of habitat growing on white sands. Scientists are starting to turn their attention to these "sand forests" and the animals that live there. In a new study, researchers examined birds from the region and found that unlike birds in the dense rainforest, the white sand birds travel from one habitat patch to another and interbreed. It's a characteristic that could change the way conservationists protect the sand forest birds.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-amazon-sand-forests-birds-evolutionary.html

Teaching and complex tools 'evolved together'

The human ability to teach and our use of complex tools may have evolved together, according to new research.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-complex-tools-evolved.html

New analysis refutes claim that dinosaurs were in decline before asteroid hit

A new study from researchers at the University of Bath and Natural History Museum looking at the diversity of dinosaurs shows that they were not in decline at the time of their extinction by an asteroid hit 66 million years ago.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-analysis-refutes-dinosaurs-decline-asteroid.html

Airbnb details years of losses ahead of planned IPO

Airbnb was losing money even before the pandemic struck and cut its revenue by almost a third, the home-sharing company revealed in documents filed Monday ahead of a planned initial public offering of its stock.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-airbnb-years-losses-ipo.html

Huawei selling Honor phone brand in face of US sanctions

Chinese tech giant Huawei is selling its budget-price Honor smartphone brand in an effort to rescue the struggling business from damaging U.S. sanctions imposed on its parent company.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-huawei-honor-brand-sanctions.html

Tesla will be added to the benchmark S&P 500 index Dec. 21

Tesla will be added to the S&P 500 index on Dec. 21. Based on its market value Monday, the electric car maker would be one of the top 10 companies in the benchmark index upon entry.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-tesla-added-benchmark-sp-index.html

China positions rocket ahead of ambitious lunar mission

China on Tuesday moved a massive rocket into place in preparation for launching a mission to bring back materials from the moon for the first time in four decades.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-china-positions-rocket-ambitious-lunar.html

Astronauts board ISS from SpaceX's 'Resilience'

Four astronauts carried into orbit by a SpaceX Crew Dragon boarded the International Space Station on Tuesday, the first of what NASA hopes will be many routine missions ending US reliance on Russian rockets.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-astronauts-board-iss-spacex-resilience.html

Henderson island fossils reveal new Polynesian sandpiper species

Fossil bones collected in the early 1990s on Henderson Island, part of the Pitcairn Group, have revealed a new species of Polynesian sandpiper.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-henderson-island-fossils-reveal-polynesian.html

Quantum tunneling pushes the limits of self-powered sensors

Shantanu Chakrabartty's laboratory has been working to create sensors that can run on the least amount of energy. His lab has been so successful at building smaller and more efficient sensors, that they've run into a roadblock in the form of a fundamental law of physics.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-quantum-tunneling-limits-self-powered-sensors.html

Study shows geographic shift in U.S. social mobility

Dylan Connor's father worked as a house painter while his mother tended to their home and family, one that included six boys. Neither of his parents finished high school, but they built a future for their children that included their success. This may sound like a story made in America.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-geographic-shift-social-mobility.html

Pesticides commonly used as flea treatments for pets are contaminating English rivers

Researchers at the University of Sussex have found widespread contamination of English rivers with two neurotoxic pesticides commonly used in veterinary flea products: fipronil and the neonicotinoid imidacloprid. The concentrations found often far exceeded accepted safe limits.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-pesticides-commonly-flea-treatments-pets.html

US agricultural water use declining for most crops and livestock production

Climate change and a growing world population require efficient use of natural resources. Water is a crucial component in food production, and water management strategies are needed to support worldwide changes in food consumption and dietary patterns.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-agricultural-declining-crops-livestock-production.html