MI weekly selection #141
Horses have distinct facial expressions much like humans
Despite facial structure differences, horses have similar facial expressions to humans and use these expressions as social cues. Using their Equine Facial Action Coding System, researchers found that horses have 17 distinct facial movements as opposed to human faces, which have 27.
Physicists offer glimpse at first results of neutrino experiment
Researchers are moving closer to understanding how neutrinos work. Scientists conducting the NOvA experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois are shooting muon neutrinos to a detector in Minnesota to see if electron neutrinos will be present in the resulting beam in order to determine whether the hierarchy is normal or inverted. So far, physicists say, the results are hinting at normal hierarchy.
Protogalactic disk may offer astronomers clues on how galaxies form
A massive protogalactic disk has been observed by astronomers, who hope to learn more from the spinning hydrogen gas cloud about how galaxies are born. The disk is a bright spot within a filament about 10 billion light-years from Earth and was spotted using Palomar Observatory’s Cosmic Web Imager.
Ancient monolith found in deep waters near Sicily
A monolith resembling those of Stonehenge has been found deep in the ocean off the coast of Sicily, and archaeologists say the 10,000-year-old object was man-made, offering clues to the technology used by early Mediterranean civilizations. Researchers say the monolith, which was found broken into two parts, may have served some function for ancient residents in a now-submerged settlement.
Study links dementia drugs to potentially harmful weight loss
Cholinesterase inhibitors used to treat dementia may result in weight loss that could be harmful. Unintentional weight loss may reduce quality of life and increase the risk of mortality or the need for institutional care among elderly patients.