Science Tuesday: All of June's Science News

Happy Tuesday, Aledan Merfolk! I obviously failed big-time at keeping up with weekly Science Tuesday posts, so I’m switching it up and posting this segment once a month instead of weekly. Enjoy all (ok, most) of June’s science news!

Young ocean fish eating plastic “Scientists say the fish prefer the plastic to their natural food the way teenagers eschew healthy food in favor of fast food.” 🙁

Reduced risk of colon cancer death linked to low-dose aspirin use

Rosetta probe back online after orientation snafu

New magma chamber found alongside New Zealand volcanoes

Risk of microcephaly as high as 13% among Zika-infected pregnant women

Study explores link between dopamine, memory function

Hawking, colleagues say information can escape from black holes

Photons’ quantum properties could be used to send uncrackable messages

Study links ancient European farmers with Stone Age migrants from Aegean Sea

Eels climb and send pulses of electricity into threatening creatures

Bison found their way to Americas about 13,000 years ago

Strange deep-sea mushroom is a part of a siphonophore

Archerfish demonstrate ability to discern specific human faces

Malaysian rainforest home to world’s tallest tropical tree

7 new species of peacock spiders identified in Australia So pretty!

Mammals began to thrive long before dinosaurs died out

Event Horizon Telescope will improve image of black holes

LISA Pathfinder captures almost-flawless free fall

Astronomers listen to sounds from ancient star cluster

New blood test could help personalize antidepressant treatment

New elements named for Japan, Moscow, Tenn. and Russian physicist

Satellites, drones help find huge hidden monument in Petra

Flores Island fossils appear to be from ancestors of Homo floresiensis (psst, these are the “real hobbits” you’ve heard about)

Black hole’s dinner of space clouds is in astronomers’ sights

Bioluminescence evolved many times in deep-sea fish

Scientists re-create ancient enzyme

Health, behavior changes likely in early humans due to ancient supernovas “The nearby supernovas would have brightened the night sky for about a year, leading to behavioral changes and hormone production, and increased radiation on Earth would have lasted 500 years.” (The most interesting part of this article is the discussion on radiation background levels and the dosage necessary to cause fatalities)

Female Cape honeybees exhibit invasive, freeloading behavior

Hummingbird hawk-moths staying in UK longer than usual

Carbon dioxide turned into limestone in Iceland

Breath test could warn of early return of lung cancer

Australian researchers creating allergen-free peanut

Scientists developing miniature multimodality endoscopic scanner

Mouse species has menstrual cycle similar to that of humans

Star ripping away young planet’s outer layers

Milky Way lost to light pollution for 1 in 3 people

Imperfections greatly weaken carbon nanotubes

Brain reward system changes seen in long-term marijuana users

Jupiter-sized planet found orbiting binary star system

Close-up shows boundary between Pluto’s plains and rocky highlands

NASA tracks Mars dust storms based on atmospheric temperatures

Autonomic nervous system activity during sleep helps with memory

Hoard of Roman-era silver discovered in Scottish field

More infections follow use of antibiotics during breast-feeding

Peptoids used to develop blood test for diseases without antigens

Scientists detect chiral molecule in interstellar space

NASA scientists to study behavior of fire in space with Cygnus blaze

2,000-year-old hunk of butter pulled from bog in Ireland

Part of humerus found from seabird as big as a plane

Climate change key factor in extinction of rodent in Australia

Rx drug contamination common in Southern streams

Researchers examine anaphylaxis risk in siblings of youths with peanut allergy

LIGO latches on to more gravitational waves

NASA uses space instruments to view methane leaks on Earth

New fish species found in Pacific during NOAA expedition

Amazon butterflies pilfer bamboo nectar from ants

Male banana fiddler crabs improve mating odds by trapping females

Birds’ small brains pack big neuron punch

New technique allows chemotherapy to cross blood-brain barrier

Birth defect risk low with 3rd-trimester Zika infection

Oxygen found in distant, early galaxy

Asteroid found orbiting sun alongside Earth

Strange meteorite found in 470M-year-old limestone in Sweden

New gene-drive process could limit testing impact

Researchers look for King Henry I’s remains on Reading Abbey grounds What is it with the English paving over their dead kings?

Female patients appear more prone to dry socket after extractions

Aquarium researchers seek to design whale-saving rope

Mass extinction 12,000 years ago brought on by humans

Researchers find rare eyeless catfish in Texas

Earth’s seabeds need modern mapping, ocean experts say

Distant planet being destroyed by star’s radiation

Algorithm may help predict an Islamic State-inspired attack

Supercomputers’ brain power could get boost from artificial synapses

Very young Neptune-sized planet found by Kepler space telescope

Zika vaccine approved for human trial

Early mammals’ eyes evolved to see better at night

30-second rub with sanitizer best to kill bacteria

Brain tumor-higher education link found “The 17-year study found that women with three or more years of college were 23% more likely to develop glioma, and men with similar education levels were 19% more likely to develop that type of tumor.”

Hippocampus grafts allow regeneration in aged brains “The researchers grafted neural stem cells into the hippocampus of aged animal models and found that the hippocampus of older animals accepted the grafted cells as well as that of younger animals, which may lead to helping treat age-related neurodegenerative diseases in humans.”

Powerful electrical field may have kicked water out of Venus’ atmosphere

Asteroid rings remain despite interactions with gas giants

Ancient figurine lost for 150 years found in Scotland museum

Blood flow into brain doesn’t happen right away in newborn mice

Zebra finches learn complex mating songs from their fathers

Device could capture energy for prosthetic limbs

Computer simulation shows how Pluto could have subsurface ocean

Early binary stars’ lifetimes charted to study gravitational wave creation

First high-energy physics experiment simulated on quantum computer

Chunks of land along Calif.’s San Andreas fault rising, sinking

Imaging technique gives scientists a look inside cat mummies

Researchers find contagious cancer among Canadian mussels