Science News For Students, 08-09 Feb 2019

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Welcome to the Friday evening edition of “Hawaii Science Digest”.

Views expressed in this science and technology news summary are those of the reporters and correspondents.

Content supplied by “Science News For Students”–an official publication of the Society for Science & the Public.

Accessed on 09 February 2019, 0425 UTC.

Source:  https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/

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CLIMATE CHANGE CHRONICLES

a photo of Crane Glacier, Antarctic Peninsula from the air

Crane Glacier lost the protective floating ice shelf at its lower edge in 2002. Since then, the glacier has more than tripled its original speed. As the glacier sped up, it also splayed out. This caused its ice to thin in some places by 100 meters (325 feet).
Erin Pettit/Oregon State University
WEATHER & CLIMATE
The big melt: Earth’s ice sheets are under attack

an aerial photo showing melt ponds on Arctic sea ice, there are two researchers in the middle of the image

Melt ponds form on Arctic sea ice during the summer. Their being dark increases how much of the sun’s heat they will absorb (not reflect), speeding the rate at which they melt.
Kathryn Hansen/NASA
WEATHER & CLIMATE
Why Antarctica and the Arctic are polar opposites

a photo of a glacier melt channel

Warm summers are melting large amounts of snow on the Devon Ice Cap, in the Canadian Arctic. As this melt water gathers into rivers, it carves deep channels in the ice, like the one shown here.
A. Gardner/NASA/JPL-Caltech
EARTH
Climate change cripples planet’s glaciers and ice caps

an artist's illustration of ICESat-2 aiming green laser's at the Earth's surface

ICESat-2’s bright green lasers can monitor Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets by detecting changes in their heights.
NASA
EARTH
ICESat-2 measures ice and more from space

a photo of a building on the coast that has fallen into the ocean and cracked apart

Rising seas eroded the coastline of this resort region in Hoi An, Vietnam, causing its buildings to crack apart and start tumbling into the water. Climate change is threatening low-lying regions across the globe with similar destruction.
xuanhuongho/iStockphoto
OCEANS
Climate change makes seas rise faster and faster
a photo of Steve Perlman rappeling down a verdant cliff over turquoise waters
TOP STORY
Rare-plant hunters race against time to save at-risk species
Scientists rappel down cliffs and trek through forests to collect plants and seeds
a photo of four different Lego minifigures lying on their backs in a circle, heads towards the middle of the photo
SCIENCE EDUCATION
These researchers swallowed Legos for science
a photo of a smiling family with a baby girl in the middle
GENETICS
Explainer: What are genes?
a photo of a green spiral of cyanobacteria printed onto a white mushroom marked with black graphene ink
TECHNOLOGY
This bionic mushroom makes electricity
a photo of students in a classroom, a young woman in the middle of the image has her hand raised
HEALTH
Later school starts linked to better teen grades
TRENDING

a photo of Crane Glacier, Antarctic Peninsula from the air

Crane Glacier lost the protective floating ice shelf at its lower edge in 2002. Since then, the glacier has more than tripled its original speed. As the glacier sped up, it also splayed out. This caused its ice to thin in some places by 100 meters (325 feet).
Erin Pettit/Oregon State University
WEATHER & CLIMATE
The big melt: Earth’s ice sheets are under attack

a close-up of a new kind of bandage

A new bandage uses electrical pulses to help wounds heal faster. It’s powered by the patient’s natural body motions.
Sam Million-Weaver/Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison
MATERIALS SCIENCE
This bandage uses electrical zaps to heal wounds faster

a photo of students in a classroom, a young woman in the middle of the image has her hand raised

If school starts later in the morning, teenagers are more ready to learn. In a new study, students wore wrist activity trackers that pinpointed when they fell asleep and woke up. The results confirmed the benefit of later start times.
monkeybusinessimages/iStockphoto
HEALTH
Later school starts linked to better teen grades

three zombies

BEHAVIOR
Zombies are real!
FOSSILS
These fuzz-covered flying reptiles had catlike whiskers
Delicate fossils reveal a new look for pterosaurs
cubic zirconia earrings
MATERIALS SCIENCE
SCIENTISTS SAY
Scientists Say: Zirconium
a close-up of a new kind of bandage
MATERIALS SCIENCE
This bandage uses electrical zaps to heal wounds faster
a photo of Crane Glacier, Antarctic Peninsula from the air
WEATHER & CLIMATE
The big melt: Earth’s ice sheets are under attack
an aerial photo showing melt ponds on Arctic sea ice, there are two researchers in the middle of the image
WEATHER & CLIMATE
Why Antarctica and the Arctic are polar opposites

cubic zirconia earrings

Cubic zirconia looks like diamond from afar. But instead of being made of carbon, these rocks are a combination of the elements zirconium and oxygen.
Kristin Cacciavillani/iStockphoto
SCIENTISTS SAY
Scientists Say: Zirconium

a photo of a girl covering her nose with a paper tissue

We’ve all been told to cover our noses when we sneeze. But how well does it stop snot spread?
AnneMS/iStockphoto
EUREKA! LAB
Snot Science: Stopping the sneeze

single cell autophagy

Cells are always undergoing metabolism — taking food and turning it in to energy, building up new cell parts and breaking them down again.
Dr_Microbe/iStockphoto
SCIENTISTS SAY
Scientists Say: Metabolism

Comb jellies floating

This lovely creature is a comb jelly. It’s a jelly but not a jellyfish.
S. Zielinski/SNS
SCIENTISTS SAY
Scientists Say: Jellies

a photo of four different Lego minifigures lying on their backs in a circle, heads towards the middle of the photo

Would you eat one of these for science? Six doctors did.
Ekaterina79/iStockphoto
SCIENCE EDUCATION
These researchers swallowed Legos for science

a photo of a smiling family with a baby girl in the middle

We inherit genes from our parents. Genes are like a recipe that’s passed along from one generation to the next. But the number of genes doesn’t explain why we are more complex than simple animals or bacteria.
digitalskillet/iStockphoto
GENETICS
Explainer: What are genes?

a photo of students in a classroom, a young woman in the middle of the image has her hand raised

If school starts later in the morning, teenagers are more ready to learn. In a new study, students wore wrist activity trackers that pinpointed when they fell asleep and woke up. The results confirmed the benefit of later start times.
monkeybusinessimages/iStockphoto
HEALTH
Later school starts linked to better teen grades

a photo of a woman in a white lab coat drawing blood from a young woman's arm

Keep your cool. If you expect someone sticking a needle into your arm will not hurt much, you may actually experience less pain, a new study shows.
AlexRaths/iStockphoto
BRAIN
Expecting pain? That could really make it hurt worse
a photo of a glacier melt channel
EARTH
Climate change cripples planet’s glaciers and ice caps
Ice in the world’s Arctic and on mountains is thinning, which could pose a threat to people
an artist's illustration of ICESat-2 aiming green laser's at the Earth's surface
EARTH
ICESat-2 measures ice and more from space
a photo of an unhappy girl standing away from some girls gossiping in the distance
SCIENCE & SOCIETY
School bullying has risen in areas that supported Trump
a photo of a girl covering her nose with a paper tissue
SCIENCE EDUCATION
EUREKA! LAB
Snot Science: Stopping the sneeze
an image of Ultima Thule, a space rock shaped like a snowman
ASTRONOMY
There’s a snowman in space

an artist's illustration of ICESat-2 aiming green laser's at the Earth's surface

ICESat-2’s bright green lasers can monitor Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets by detecting changes in their heights.
NASA
EARTH
ICESat-2 measures ice and more from space

an image of Ultima Thule, a space rock shaped like a snowman

This New Horizons spacecraft took this image at a distance of about 28,000 kilometers (17,400 miles). It shows the space rock’s unique shape.
SWRI/JHU-APL/NASA
ASTRONOMY
There’s a snowman in space

a photo from the Chang’e-4 lunar probe of the far side of the moon

China’s Chang’e-4 lunar probe gives a rare glimpse of the farside of the moon.
Xinhua/Xinhua via Getty Images
SPACE
China landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon

a photo of a three stages of blood moon eclipse from July 2018 showcasing a very red moon in the middle image

During a “total” lunar eclipse, the moon will remain partially visible in the sky but take on a dark red hue.
Bernd Thaller/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
WEATHER & CLIMATE
Distant volcano could turn latest lunar eclipse dark red

a photo of a green spiral of cyanobacteria printed onto a white mushroom marked with black graphene ink

Researchers 3-D print a green spiral of cyanobacteria onto a mushroom. The microbes give off electrons when exposed to light. Those electrons flow into the black graphene ink to produce an electric current.
American Chemical Society
TECHNOLOGY
This bionic mushroom makes electricity

a close-up of a new kind of bandage

A new bandage uses electrical pulses to help wounds heal faster. It’s powered by the patient’s natural body motions.
Sam Million-Weaver/Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison
MATERIALS SCIENCE
This bandage uses electrical zaps to heal wounds faster

a photo of a person writing "Bye" on rewritable paper

A special pen heats the blue ink on this rewritable paper. As the ink warms, it turns clear. The white paper beneath reveals a written message.
Luzhuo Chen
CHEMISTRY
This rewritable paper depends on disappearing ink

robo-jellyfish

A soft and squishy robo-jellyfish pumps its way gently through the ocean, providing little or no disturbance to local sea life.
Jennifer Frame, Nick Lopez, Oscar Curet and Erik D. Engeberg/IOP Publishing
ROBOTICS
This robotic jellyfish is a climate spy
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For the latest trends in science, technology, medicine, health, the environment, cyber security, and artificial intelligence (AI), please visit this blog daily.
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Until next time,
Russ Roberts

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