Science is always going to science, so what has science been up to lately? Well let’s find out. Some important stories, some strange ones, and some that I just think are neat. So let’s see what the science people have been getting up to.

Space Diamonds are Forever

In 2008 a space rock that was full of diamonds exploded in Earth’s atmosphere. In a new paper in Nature Communication, it’s been revealed the rock probably came from an ancient planet. The scientists say that the imperfections in the diamonds could only have been achieved in something planet sized, between the sizes of Mercury and Mars. The team reckon the little “proto-planet” which would likely have been destroyed in a collision, was billions of years old.

A Finger in the Desert.

A study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution suggests that humanity may have pushed east, out of Africa 30,000 years earlier than we thought. A fossilised human finger bone was found in the Saudi Arabian desert that was dated to 90,000 years ago, casting doubt of the previous estimate that we started pushing beyond Africa just 60,000 years ago.

Stomach Virus Infection Route

The route Norovirus takes in infecting the body came into slightly sharper focus this week. Norovirus is a nasty stomach bug, it accounts for about 1 in 5 of all vomiting bugs. It has all the symptoms you’d expect: Vomiting, fever, pain, the whole icky works. By looking in mice, a recent study found that norovirus attacks the mice’s “tuft cells”; Cells in the stomach which usually help you against parasites. If that applies to humans too (a big if, but still) not only could it help stomach flus be less awful, but it could help find treatments for other gastrointestinal diseases, like Crohn’s

Norovirus Fluorescence Image

Image: Norovirus invading the fluorescently tagged (green) tuft cells of the small intestine and colon.

Image credit : C. WILEN ET AL/SCIENCE 2018

Lego with Molecules

In a supercooled reaction, scientists have used lasers to combine individual atoms (which is an objectively cool sentence). Using a complex setup of lasers which trap particles, called an optical tweezers, scientists have combined two individual atoms to create molecule. This is different to the usual process of chucking stuff in a beaker and hoping for the best. They used these lasers to create a single atom of sodium caesium. They chose that molecule because of its potential in quantum computing, where the ability to manipulate single atoms is pretty handy.

Peregrine Falcons are Even More Awesome Than We Thought

A new study has found that when chasing prey, Peregrine Falcons are more successful the Faster they go. When a peregrine falcon dives after prey, it is the fastest animal there is. A simulation covered in PLOS Computational Biology found that when chasing prey that was trying to evade it, the falcon’s best chance of success was a 360kph, breakneck dive.