ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Discovery of life in solid rock deep beneath sea may inspire new search for life on Mars
• Homo naledi juvenile remains offers clues to how our ancestors grew up
• Modern humans, Neanderthals share a tangled genetic history, study affirms
• Smartphone videos produce highly realistic 3D face reconstructions
• On Mars or Earth, biohybrid can turn carbon dioxide into new products
• Engineers 3D print soft, rubbery brain implants
• A genetic nano-toolkit for the generation of new biomaterials

Discovery of life in solid rock deep beneath sea may inspire new search for life on Mars Posted: 02 Apr 2020 05:05 AM PDT Newly discovered single-celled creatures living deep beneath the seafloor have provided clues about how to find life on Mars. These bacteria were discovered living in tiny cracks inside volcanic rocks after researchers perfected a new method cutting rocks into ultrathin slices to study under a microscope. Researchers estimate that the rock cracks are home to a community of bacteria as dense as that of the human gut, about 10 billion bacterial cells per cubic centimeter.

Homo naledi juvenile remains offers clues to how our ancestors grew up Posted: 01 Apr 2020 12:08 PM PDT A partial skeleton of Homo naledi represents a rare case of an immature individual, shedding light on the evolution of growth and development in human ancestry, according to a study.

Modern humans, Neanderthals share a tangled genetic history, study affirms Posted: 01 Apr 2020 12:08 PM PDT A new study reinforces the concept that Neanderthal DNA has been woven into the modern human genome on multiple occasions as our ancestors met Neanderthals time and again in different parts of the world.

Smartphone videos produce highly realistic 3D face reconstructions Posted: 01 Apr 2020 06:26 AM PDT Normally, it takes pricey equipment and expertise to create an accurate 3D reconstruction of someone's face. Now, researchers have pulled off the feat using video recorded on an ordinary smartphone. Shooting a continuous video of the front and sides of the face generates a dense cloud of data. A two-step process uses that data, with some help from deep learning algorithms, to build a digital reconstruction of the face.

On Mars or Earth, biohybrid can turn carbon dioxide into new products Posted: 31 Mar 2020 10:00 AM PDT Chemists have created a hybrid system of bacteria and nanowires that captures energy from sunlight and transfers it to the bacteria to turn carbon dioxide and water into organic molecules and oxygen. On Earth, such a biohybrid could remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. On Mars, it would provide colonists with raw material to manufacture organic compounds ranging from fuels to drugs. The efficiency is greater than the photosynthetic efficiency of most plants.

Engineers 3D print soft, rubbery brain implants Posted: 30 Mar 2020 06:34 AM PDT MIT engineers are working on developing soft, flexible neural implants that can gently conform to the brain's contours and monitor activity over longer periods, without aggravating surrounding tissue. Such flexible electronics could be softer alternatives to existing metal-based electrodes designed to monitor brain activity, and may also be useful in brain implants that stimulate neural regions to ease symptoms of epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and severe depression.

A genetic nano-toolkit for the generation of new biomaterials Posted: 25 Mar 2020 08:08 AM PDT Magnetic bacteria might soon be used for the production of novel biomaterials. A team of microbiologists developed a modular system for the genetic reprogramming of bacteria, thereby turning the organisms into cell factories for multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles that combine various useful functions and properties.

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