Science News
Headlines
. Oldest dinosaur fossil found in India
. John Goodenough, oldest Nobel winner, dier at 100
. Study Reveals Body's Ability to Restore Red Blood Cells and Bone After Space Travel, Using Bone Marrow Fat
. Pompeii archaeologists discover 'pizza' painting
. This house is partly made of recycled diapers

Read more about them below.

Oldest dinosaur fossil found in India
A team of archaeologists from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, and the Geological Survey of India, has unearthed the first ever remains of a very old dinosaur called dicraeosaurid sauropod, in India. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group describes the fossil, its condition and where it fits in with other dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period (174.1 to 163.5 million years ago (Mya); see world map at that time).
The fossil remains of a partial dorsal vertebra was dug up at a site in the Thar Desert near the city of Jaisalmer, in the state of Rajasthan. Earlier research has shown that during the Mesozoic Era (252 to 66 million years ago, which is the time of the dinosaurs; see table), the area was actually along the coast of what was the Tethys Ocean. Today it is in the interior, away from the sea. The newly found fossil has been dated to approximately 167 million years ago and identified as a member of the dicraeosaurids, which were a group of dinosaurs with long necks that fed on vegetation. It is the first member of the group to have ever been found in India—and the oldest in the world.
The team has named their new find Tharosaurus indicus. Dicraeosaurids, such as T. indicus, are all part of a larger group called diplodocoids, which all had long bodies and necks and spikes on the backs of their necks; see picture of their entire family tree! The T. indicus., the researchers note, has some slight differences from others in its group, such as a long depression on the side of its neck bones and neural spines that are believed to indicate it had uniquely facing spikes.
The research team suggest their find is likely just the first of many to come, and together such fossils hint at the possibility that the area where the fossil was found played an important role in the emergence of neosauropods—which are long-necked, vegetation eating dinosaurs.
Other fossils have been found in the area that also suggest that the region played an evolutionary role in the development of many vertebrate groups. They conclude by noting that work such as theirs is still limited in India, due to an inadequate supply of resources—much more needs to be done to find out just how rich the country might be in dinosaur fossils. 

John Goodenough, oldest Nobel winner, dier at 100
John Goodenough, the world's oldest Nobel Prize winner who played a crucial role in developing the lithium-ion battery, has died at the age of 100. Dr Goodenough was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2019 at the age of 97 for his work on batteries, including the development of the lithium-ion battery.
The lightweight, powerful battery sparked a revolution in technology, paving the way for modern portable electronics such as laptops and mobile phones whose batteries can be charged again and again.
Born in Germany in 1922 to American parents, Dr Goodenough grew up in the north-eastern US and served in the US army as a meteorologist during World War II. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Yale University, as well as a PhD in physics from the University of Chicago.
His discoveries "improved the lives of billions of people around the world", Mr Hartzell said. "He was a leader at the cutting edge of scientific research throughout the many decades of his career, and he never ceased searching for innovative energy-storage solutions."
Dr Goodenough started his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked for 24 years and helped develop random-access memory for the computer. There, he became one of the founders of the modern theory of magnetism, which has played a pivotal role in the field of telecommunications.
Asked by the BBC's John Humphrys in 2016 what it was like to know that his discoveries had changed the way humans live, Dr Goodenough said he did not "think about it too much". "I'm very gratified that I've provided something for the people of this world," he said. He joked at the time that he himself did not have a mobile phone because he did not like to be "bothered".
The professor was known for his quick wit and "infectious laugh", according to the University of Texas. "That laugh could be heard reverberating through UT engineering buildings," the University said.
Recently, Dr Goodenough and his team at the University of Texas had been researching new ways of storing energy, including via a battery made of glass.

Study Reveals Body's Ability to Restore Red Blood Cells and Bone After Space Travel, Using Bone Marrow Fat
A study of 14 astronauts indicates that space travel depletes red blood cells and bone. However, the body can eventually restore them on Earth with the assistance of fat stored in the bone marrow cavity. (Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside of the bones in your body. Bone marrow contains cells that produce blood cells and platelets and it is responsible for making billions of new blood cells each day.) This discovery has potential benefits for health both in space and on Earth. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Dr Guy Trudel, a rehabilitation physician and researcher at The Ottawa Hospital, as well as a professor at the University of Ottawa and senior study author, stated, "We observed a significant reduction in bone marrow fat in astronauts about a month after returning to Earth. We believe the body uses this fat to help regenerate red blood cells and rebuild lost bone during space travel."
The research included MRI scans of the astronauts' bone marrow at various intervals before and after their six-month mission at the International Space Station (ISS). The researchers identified a 4.2 per cent decrease in bone marrow fat roughly a month after the astronauts returned to Earth. This reduction gradually returned to normal levels and was closely linked to increased production of red blood cells and restoration of bone.
Dr Trudel explained, "Given that red blood cells are produced in the bone marrow and bone cells encircle the marrow, it's logical that the body utilises local bone marrow fat as an energy source to support the generation of red blood cells and bone structure. We're excited to delve further into this concept across various clinical conditions on Earth."
Furthermore, the research suggests that younger astronauts might have an enhanced capability to harness the energy from bone marrow fat, and female astronauts experienced a greater than anticipated increase in bone marrow fat after a year.
Dr Trudel expressed hope that this research could aid in recovery from immobility, both on Earth and during space missions.

Pompeii archaeologists discover 'pizza' painting
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 buried the city of Pompeii in ash, freezing the city and its residents in time. The site has been a rich source for archaeologists since its discovery in the 16th Century.
Recently, a 2,000 year old fresco was found in the hall of a house next to a bakery during recent digs at the site in southern Italy. The fresco showed a plate containing flatbread, that "may be a distant ancestor of the modern pizza dish", Italy's culture ministry said. But it lacks the classic ingredients to technically be considered a pizza.
The discovery was made this year during new excavations of Regio IX in the centre of Pompeii, one of the nine districts that the ancient site is divided into. The building was partially excavated in the 19th Century before digging recommenced in January this year - nearly 2,000 years on from the volcanic eruption which engulfed the city.
Archaeologists at the Unesco World Heritage park say the newly-uncovered fresco depicting the flatbread, painted next to a wine goblet, may have been eaten with fruits such as pomegranates or dates, or dressed with spices and a type of pesto sauce. Pompeii director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said it shows the contrast between a "frugal and simple meal" and the "luxury of silver trays".
"How can we fail to think, in this regard, of pizza, also born as a 'poor' dish in southern Italy, which has now conquered the world and is also served in starred restaurants," he said.
The skeletons of three people were also found near the oven in the working areas of the home in recent weeks, a culture ministry statement added.
The site is only about 23 km from the city of Naples - the modern day home of the Unesco-protected Italian pizza.

This house is partly made of recycled diapers
This picture of a single-story home in Indonesia was built partly with shredded, recycled diapers. Turning diapers into building materials could help the country meet two needs. It could make housing more affordable and reduce waste, researchers say. But does it really work that way?
A team of researchers tested used diapers as one ingredient in building material. To build a new house, the team mixed recycled disposable diapers into concrete and mortar. Mortar is used to hold bricks together.
The team designed a single-story home that covers about 36 square meters (388 square feet). Recycled diapers could replace nearly 2 cubic meters of its building materials. These findings appeared May 18 in Scientific Reports.
Repurposing diapers to make building materials would shrink the amount of trash that goes to a landfill. It could also make homes more affordable, the team says. That’s a big need in developing countries such as the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia. There, demand for low-cost housing outstrips what’s available. That's because the number of people in Indonesia’s cities has climbed by about 4 percent per year in the last 30 years. And more people are moving to the country’s urban centers. By 2025, more than two-thirds of Indonesians are expected to live in urban areas.
Building materials — especially those that make for strong structures — are often expensive. They’re often the biggest barrier to making homes affordable. So researchers have previously investigated unusual materials that could save costs. These materials included many that would otherwise pile up as waste, such as the husks of rice grains or fly ash. That’s the fine particles left over from burning coal.
Maybe giving old diapers a new use could help tackle both problems. Used disposable diapers mostly pile up in landfills or get burned. But disposable diapers contain wood pulp, cotton and plastic. All of those are potentially useful building materials.
Mortar and concrete are typically made from sand, gravel and other materials. Zuraida and colleagues tried replacing some of those materials with used diapers. Then they tested their mixtures to see if structures built with them would be strong enough.
The diapers have to be cleaned up before being reused. The team washed, dried, sterilized and shredded diapers. Then they made six different samples of concrete and mortar. Each used differing amounts of diapers, cement, sand, gravel and water. Crushing the samples in a machine revealed how much weight each could bear. Adding more diaper material reduced the strength of the mixture, they found.
The team designed and built a small home based on the maximum amount of diaper waste they found they could use. Their one-story house had two bedrooms and one bathroom. Recycled diapers could replace up to 27 percent of the typical materials used in load-bearing structures. Those are the structures that help hold up a building, such as columns and beams.
Taller buildings can’t use as much diaper material, the team found. A three-story home could use up to 10 percent disposable diapers in load-bearing structures. But other parts of homes don’t have to support a lot of weight. Those include garden paving blocks and walls that divide rooms. There, shredded diapers could replace up to 40 percent of the sand.
But there are big hurdles to adopting diapers or other unusual building materials, Zuraida says. Diapers’ plant-based fibers can be used for building. But their plastic parts would have to be separated out. That takes a complicated process that, for now, is available only in developed nations. And Indonesia’s laws restrict what materials can be used for construction. Right now, it’s just concrete, bricks, wood and ceramics. (Making such materials emits a lot of greenhouse gases.)
The idea of building with waste is worthwhile, says Christof Schröfl. A chemist, he works at Technische Universität Dresden in Germany. Schröfl wasn’t part of the new work. But reusing diapers might not be that environmentally friendly, he says, especially on a large scale. It’s tricky to separate dirty diapers from waste and sanitize them. So it would take a lot of energy to recycle diapers. Maybe it's a wild idea that may not really work out in the end. But hats off to the builders for trying!
Source: www.phys.org, www.bbc.com, weather.com, https://www.snexplores.org