MI weekly selection #336

New crater spotted on Mars ranks among largest seen to date

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has observed a fresh crater on the Red Planet, NASA officials say. The space agency released an image that shows a hole gouged on the planet’s surface, made sometime between September 2016 and February of this year.

Space.com

Artificial islands in Scottish lochs created 5,500 years ago

Some Scottish loch islands, known as crannogs, were created about 5,500 years ago by humans. “These crannogs represent a monumental effort made thousands of years ago to build mini-islands by piling up … rocks on the loch bed,” says study author Fraser Sturt.

ScienceAlert

Brain activity syncs among animals of same kind when they’re together

Separate studies of bats and mice show that brain activity syncs up between creatures of the same kind when they are in proximity to each other, but that coordinated brain activity ends when the animals are separated. Researchers say the coordinated activity might underlie social behaviors, such as grooming.

Science News

Youth suicide prevalence reaches highest point since 2000

Adolescents ages 15 to 19 and young adults ages 20 to 24 had suicide rates of 11.8 per 100,000 and 17 per 100,000 in 2017, respectively, both of which are the highest percentages since 2000. Researchers also found a 14.2% annual increase in suicide prevalence among teen boys between 2015 and 2017, compared with an 8.2% annual increase among teen girls between 2010 and 2017.

Medpage Today

Cephalopods share limb-forming genes with humans

Limb growth in cuttlefish and other cephalopods is directed by the same genes from which human limbs are developed, according to findings published in eLife. The study suggests limb growth in a number of animals may have evolved from a shared ancestor.

The New York Times

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