New Scientist - USA (2020-04-04)

4 April 2020 | New Scientist | 21

Microbiome

Archaeology Locomotion

Marine life shifts

to cooler waters

Warming oceans are

changing where marine

animals live. A study of the

habitats of 305 marine

species found that, in

general, populations at the

poleward side of a species’

range have risen, while at

the warmer, equator side

of their ranges they have

dwindled (Current Biology,

doi.org/dqnt).

Velociraptor

relative found

A new species of

carnivorous dinosaur

related to velociraptors

has been identified from

20 fossils found in New

Mexico. The find supports

the idea that there was

greater species diversity

than previously thought

during the late Cretaceous

period (Scientific Reports,

doi.org/dqm3).

Neanderthals

ate a fishy diet

Neanderthals dined on

a menu of seafood with

a sprinkling of pine nuts,

an excavation of a coastal

site in Portugal reveals.

An analysis of fossil food

remains shows this group

of our extinct cousins were

fisher-hunter-gatherers

who consumed a diet

dominated by seafood

(Science, doi.org/dqmz).

Gut bacteria may cut

infant food allergy risk

IF A mother has certain microbes

in her gut, her baby appears less

likely to develop food allergies.

Prevotella copri is a bacterium

that ferments dietary fibre into

fatty acids, and it has been linked

to reduced allergic reactions in the

offspring of mice with a high-fibre

diet. Peter Vuillermin at Deakin

University in Australia and his

team wondered whether this

would also be the case in people, in

whom the fatty acids are thought

FARMING, arts and crafts and

complex tool-making emerged on

the island of New Guinea around

the same time as in Europe and Asia.

Agriculture began in different

parts of the world around 10,000

years ago. In Europe and Asia, this

led to complex cultures. We know

that people in New Guinea began

farming around the same time,

but there hasn’t been convincing

evidence that this kick-started an

equivalent cultural movement.

Now Ben Shaw at the University

of New South Wales in Australia

and his team have analysed

artefacts (pictured) found in Papua

New Guinea, the eastern half of the

island. These include part of a

stone carving of a face, stone pestle

fragments used to grind food, a

fire-lighting tool, an ochre-stained

rock that was a traditional tool for

dyeing organic fibres, and axe

fragments, all dating to between

4200 to 5050 years ago. Evidence

suggests all were made on-site

(Science Advances, doi.org/dqm9).

It is known that people from

South-East Asia migrated to

New Guinea but not until about

1000 years later. This means that

symbolic culture and sophisticated

craftwork developed of its own

accord in New Guinea, says Shaw.

Alice Klein

to help regulate inflammation.

They analysed data from a study

of Australian mothers and infants.

Faecal samples were gathered

from women when they were 36

weeks pregnant, and from infants

one, six and 12 months after birth.

DNA from the faecal samples of

58 infants with a diagnosed food

allergy were compared with those

of 236 infants without allergies.

The team found that around

20 per cent of babies without

any allergies had P. copri in their

samples, compared with 8 per cent

of those with allergies, including

to egg, peanut and cow’s milk.

Special shoes could

make you run faster

HIGH-TECH footwear is making

running more efficient and could

eventually help us run more than

50 per cent faster.

David Braun and Amanda

Sutrisno at Vanderbilt University

in Tennessee modelled the energy

used during running and factors

that can affect that, including air

resistance, the limited power of a

human leg and losses that occur

each time a foot hits the ground.

They found that the leg only

supplies energy about 20 per

cent of the time that the foot is

on the ground. To improve on

that, they have conceptualised a

spring-powered device that would

increase the amount of power

a person’s legs generate while

running. It would allow the leg to

supply energy 96 per cent of that

time, according to their analysis.

The device would store energy

created as the leg bends in the

air, compressing the spring, and

release it when the runner takes

a step. The researchers analysed

the running style of 100-metre

world record holder Usain Bolt,

who sprints at a top speed of

12.3 metres per second. The device

would in theory boost Bolt’s top

speed to 20.9 metres per second

(Science Advances, doi.org/dqnc).

Donna Lu

The presence and abundance of

P. copri in a mother’s stool was also

associated with a decreased risk

of allergy. In fact, only one mother

with an infant who had allergies

had more than 0.03 per cent of

the bacterium in her sample.

Analysis showed that when a

woman had twice as much P. copri

as another, it was associated with

an 8 per cent decrease in the risk

of food allergy in her child (Nature

Communications, doi.org/dqnj).

P. copri isn’t very prevalent in

rich countries due to a range of

factors, including greater use of

antibiotics. Gege Li

Culture evolved across

the globe independently

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Really brief

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