Reuters Science News Summary

The oldest-known plague outbreak occurred approximately 5,500 years ago in Siberia, where hunter-gatherers were infected with ancient strains of the Yersinia pestis bacterium.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Oldest-known plague outbreak came 5,500 years ago ​in Siberia

About 5,500 years ago, bands of hunter-gatherers inhabited the ​Lake Baikal region in Siberia, sustained by rich ‌resources including ​prey such as elk, deer, moose, fish, seals and rodents called marmots. These people became victims of the earliest-known plague outbreak, especially children and adolescents. Researchers said ancient DNA obtained from bodies interred in four burial ‌sites in the area revealed the presence of the oldest-known strains of Yersinia pestis, the plague bacterium. These prehistoric deaths presaged the immense suffering that this pathogen has visited on humankind over the millennia.

EQT buys Berlin-based SpaceX satellite launch partner Exolaunch

Private equity fund EQT is acquiring Berlin-based space company Exolaunch, which ‌helps satellite companies launch into orbit by partnering with rocket operators such as Elon Musk's SpaceX. The deal, announced by the companies Thursday, highlights strong ‌investor interest in the space industry and marks the Stockholm-listed fund's first private equity investment in the field. It is looking to grow the company's operations around the world and invest in developing new satellite launch and deployment technologies.

Space startups seek insurance for orbital AI data centers

Space companies have spoken with insurers about coverage for orbital AI data ⁠centers, a ​sign of early progress for an experimental ⁠industry backed by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. The concept of data center satellites — designed to bypass Earth’s power constraints — has drawn growing attention since Musk described ⁠them as the future of artificial intelligence development ahead of SpaceX's record-breaking public listing this month. Securing insurance is critical for companies trying to move orbital data centers ​from concept to reality. Without coverage for the costly hardware and risks involved, attracting the debt financing needed to scale such ventures would ⁠be difficult.

Satellite observations detect 'urban pulse' of six global cities

While a city is not a living organism, it behaves very much like one. Its metabolic processes may be manifested in ⁠growth spurts, ​metamorphosis over time and even decay. Researchers using satellite imagery have tracked the vital signs of six major global cities, detecting a distinctive "urban pulse" in each. The researchers looked at Dubai, Lagos, Mexico City, Mumbai, Seattle and Shenzhen using a new way to document dynamic changes unfolding in each ⁠of these cities in near real-time.

Deep-sea denizens go years without food with clever biological fix

A pill bug dwelling under a garden pot ⁠curls its body into a tiny armored ⁠ball as self-defense. Far below the ocean surface, some of its much larger relatives face a harder problem: how to stay alive when the next meal may not come for years. Those creatures are called deep-sea isopods, ‌a group of ‌crustaceans with flattened and segmented bodies that, as new research reveals, have resolved the ​dilemma with a multifaceted biological fix.