Ostrich-like dinosaur species lost teeth by age 3 A species of dinosaur similar to modern ostriches had teeth when it was young but lost them as it grew older, essentially causing it to become an herbivore after starting life as either an omnivore or carnivore. This discovery about Limusaurus inextricabilis, which lived about 160 million […]
Researchers tweak aging process in mice Researchers have reprogrammed adult cells in mice, causing the cells to revert to an embryonic like state, effectively reversing the aging process. By activating four specific genes, scientists expanded the life span of a mouse with a rapid-aging disease and revitalized damaged muscles in a middle-aged mouse. Scientific American […]
99M-year-old feathered dinosaur tail found in amber The feathered tail of a tiny nonavian dinosaur that lived 99 million years ago has been found encased in amber. Soft tissue and eight vertebrae were preserved in the amber along with the tail, allowing researchers to determine it likely belonged to a young theropod. The New York […]
Vacuum birefringence may have been observed in neutron star A neutron star seen with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope may have given scientists the first look at a quantum effect predicted back in 1930 but never observed before. “The high linear polarization that we measured with the VLT can’t be easily explained by […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
Los Angeles quakes in 1920s likely tied to oil drilling The oil industry may have caused earthquakes in the Los Angeles area in the 1920s. US Geological Survey researchers looked at 18 significant quakes that occurred near active oil fields and determined that 13 of them likely were connected with oil drilling. Ars Technica Huge […]
Scientists drill into ancient crater formed by asteroid hit 66M years ago The peak ring of the Chicxulub crater in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is made of granite, pushed up from deep inside the Earth’s crust when a massive asteroid crashed into the planet about 66 million years ago, likely causing the mass dinosaur extinction. Scientists […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
Many moons may be waiting to be discovered in our solar system There are likely more moons to be found in our galaxy, according to re-evaluation of data from the Voyager space probes and searches by the Hubble Space Telescope and with future searches by the more powerful James Webb Space Telescope set to be […]
Technique adds color to electron microscope images Researchers at the University of California at San Diego have developed a technique that adds color to black-and-white electron microscope images. The scientists create a black-and-white base layer by adding a heavy metal to the specimen, then create another layer by adding a rare earth metal that clings […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
Common swift can fly for 10 months straight The common swift can fly for 10 months without landing. The birds capture food in the air and drink by skimming water, and if they stop at all, it’s only for one or two hours before they resume their long migration between Northern Europe and Central Africa […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
Strange objects near neighboring galaxies brighten, then dim A pair of unknown objects near neighboring galaxies appear to produce extremely bright X-ray flares, then dim after about an hour. Astronomers aren’t sure what these objects are, noting that nothing like them has ever been spotted in the Milky Way. New Scientist Landslides appear to have […]