Science News Roundup: Frozen and desolate Antarctica once boasted warm; Loss of taste and smell key COVID-19 symptoms and more


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 02-04-2020 02:44 IST | Created: 02-04-2020 02:29 IST
Science News Roundup: Frozen and desolate Antarctica once boasted warm; Loss of taste and smell key COVID-19 symptoms and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Frozen and desolate Antarctica once boasted warm, swampy rainforests

Antarctica is now a harsh land of ice and snow but has not always been that way. Earth's southernmost continent long ago was home to temperate, swampy rainforests teeming with life, scientists said on Wednesday based on pristinely preserved forest soil they retrieved by drilling under the seafloor off Antarctica's coast.

Loss of taste and smell key COVID-19 symptoms, app study finds

Losing your sense of smell and taste may be the best way to tell if you have COVID-19, according to a study of data collected via a symptom tracker app developed by scientists in Britain and the United States to help monitor the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 60% of patients who were subsequently confirmed as positive for COVID-19 had reported losing their sense of smell and taste, data analyzed by the researchers showed.

Mother of invention: the new gadgets dreamt up to fight coronavirus

Driving to work at his factory to the west of London last week, designer Steve Brooks had coronavirus on his mind. What could he make that would let him open a door without touching the handle? "Everyone has to use their little finger or find the bit of the door that nobody's touched," said the designer and owner at DDB Ltd, a company that makes office furniture. So he produced a hook to do the job.

Landmark skull fossil provides surprising human evolution clues

Scientists have solved a longstanding mystery over the age of a landmark skull found in 1921 in Zambia - the first fossil of an extinct human species discovered in Africa - in research with big implications for deciphering the origin of our own species. The study published on Wednesday involved the so-called Broken Hill skull, also called the Kabwe skull in recognition of a nearby town, discovered by a Swiss miner working in the Broken Hill lead and zinc mine in what was then Northern Rhodesia. Until now, scientists had been in the dark about how old it was, making it difficult to know its place on the human family tree.

Chinese scientists seeking potential COVID-19 treatment find 'effective' antibodies

A team of Chinese scientists has isolated several antibodies that it says are "extremely effective" at blocking the ability of the new coronavirus to enter cells, which eventually could be helpful in treating or preventing COVID-19. There is currently no proven effective treatment for the disease, which originated in China and is spreading across the world in a pandemic that has infected more than 850,000 and killed 42,000.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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