Articles by Chris Packham
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Epiphanies and brain states; a baffling skull find; achieving well-being in old age
This week, researchers identified a key driver of pancreatic cancer spread. Oral bacteria were linked to Parkinson's disease via the gut-brain axis. And scientists are advising California legislators to prepare for destructive ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Exercise weight loss explained; chimpanzees like alcohol; auditing quantum computers
This week, researchers reported evidence of a cosmic impact at classic Clovis archaeological sites. Biologists in Texas discovered a rare hybrid bird, the offspring of a blue jay and a green jay. And a study suggests that ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: A mechanism for liver failure; LIGO black hole kick observed; primordial black hole explosions
This week, researchers reported on a new biopsy tool that can detect HPV-associated head and neck cancer up to 10 years before symptoms appear. Researchers developed a process to transform two-dimensional paintings into full-color, ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Ant species clones workers; a primordial black hole candidate; an anti-tumor carotenoid
This week: Researchers reported that evolutionary mutations are genome-driven, not random. Quantum physicists observed the magnetic nucleus of an atom switching back and forth in real time. And a new catalyst could simplify ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Human impacts on reef systems; testing AI systems; a woman with perfect memory
The week in science: UK fishermen are reporting a massive octopus bloom in the waters off southwest England. Researchers found a massive fossilized pearl in the Australian outback, the largest ever found in the country. And ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Beyond general relativity; gas giants and dark energy; the pleasures of difficult hobbies
This week, researchers pinned down the age of a complete Homo-genus skull found in Greece in 1960 to at least 286,000 years old. Medical researchers reported that the majority of chronic pain patients discontinue cannabis ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: A new category of supernovas; neurons beat machine learning; depression and vitiligo
Based on simulations, researchers report that the next big earthquake along the San Andreas fault is unlikely to resemble previous quakes. Researchers at the intersection of algebra, geometry, particle physics and cosmology ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Video games and brain activity; a triple black hole system; neutralizing Skynet
It's August, which means Hot Science Summer is two-thirds over. This week, NASA released an exceptionally pretty photo of Mars, a sharp panorama color altered to make the sky blue (???). California health authorities are ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Chatbots chat about suicide; ancient concrete recipes; depression and brain morphology
This week, researchers at the University of Albany reported an extreme size difference between early human males and females, suggesting intense competition among males. Krill are so overfished in Antarctica this year that ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Hot, hot gold; mechanisms of face recognition; first pathway of gut-brain communication
It's Saturday! Let's review the last seven days of research findings: In a kind of logistics/transport breakthrough, archaeologists in Wales have determined that smaller megaliths surrounding Stonehenge were transported by ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Dogs like TV; mRNA vaccine enhances cancer therapy; old rhyme inaccurate
This week in science news: Researchers from the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, Spain, digitally reconstructed the ribcages of four prehistoric Homo sapiens and theorize that climate influences ribcage evolution. ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Disproving string theory; interstellar comet arrives; lemurs age gracefully
Well, it's July 12, which means (a) the Steam Summer Sale is over and (b) it's really hot outside in the northeastern U.S. This week, researchers discovered a cool new fish and named it after Darth Vader. An analysis of the ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Upside-down sharks; brain network functioning in psychopaths; IQ associated with better predictions
This week, biologists discovered a new cellular organelle that's like "a new recycling center within the cell." Wild-growing tomatoes in the Galápagos are de-evolving. And geologists at the University of Southampton detected ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Genetic toggles, undersea farmers and exploding rockets
This week, medical researchers ruled out brainstem CT scanning alone for proof of neurologic death. Researchers at Yale presented new evidence that the brain stores and retrieves visuomotor associations in graph-like cognitive ...
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Chatbots easily tricked; better strength training; dynamics of a neural 'reward map'
This week, the state of Florida reached a "startling milestone" in the effort to eradicate invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades. Archaeologists found the 6,000-year-old remains of a teen girl with cranial modification. ...