MI weekly selection #56
Quake lights likely caused by grinding rocks in rift zones
The mysterious lights sometimes reported before or during earthquakes occur most frequently in geological rift zones. Researchers say the glow emanates from electricity generated as rocks grind together along vertical faults during temblors.
Sea anemones living underneath Antarctica ice shelf
A large number of white sea anemones have been found living on the underside of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Scientists are puzzled over how the creatures survive without freezing. Researchers, using a camera attached to a drill, were conducting a geological study of the ice shelf when they saw several Edwardsiella andrillae hanging underneath the ice.
Researchers lists possible deviant behaviors for Higgs boson
Researchers have come up with a list of ways the Higgs boson could potentially misbehave when the Large Hadron Collider comes back on line in 2015 after an upgrade. Scientists are hoping the Higgs boson will deviate from the standard model, allowing them to learn more about exotic physics. To give researchers a head start, Harvard University researcher Matt Strassler and his colleagues have devised a list of decays that could be used as guideposts and that could be found already in the existing data.
Remains are medieval Italian, not Neanderthal
A new analysis of a tooth found among bone fragments in a northeastern Italian cave reveals that it belonged to a medieval Italian and not a Neanderthal, as previously thought. When the remains were first found in the 1980s, their location gave the impression they dated back to Neanderthal times.
Images reflected in eyes could be used in criminal investigations
Corneal imaging, in which the photographer and those nearby are reflected in the eyes of photography subjects, is being studied by several research teams for use in many applications, including criminal forensics. The images of people reflected in a person’s eyes appear blurry, but have enough detail to be identifiable, according to researchers.