Category archives: Weekly Selection

MI weekly selection #551

MI weekly selection #551

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Europe’s heat waves may start with Arctic melting Meltwater from Arctic ice could be setting off recent hot, dry summers in Europe by changing ocean currents and air circulation. A resulting “cold blob” of water in the North Atlantic Ocean could intensify European winter storms and their westerly winds, creating a barrier of warm ocean […]

MI weekly selection #550

MI weekly selection #550

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Amphibian feeds its babies milk-like liquid A legless amphibian, called a caecilian, produces a liquid for its babies that provides lipids and sugars, similar to mammalian milk. Siphonops annulatus babies also eat their mother’s skin once a week, and the team discovered the nutritive fluid after wondering how they could be so active and eat […]

MI weekly selection #549

MI weekly selection #549

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Why did humans evolve without tails? Though humans’ ape ancestors have tails, we evolved without them due to a single gene mutation, which was pinpointed through researching the genomes of six ape species and 15 monkey species. Scientists are unsure whether becoming tailless was an evolutionary benefit or a chance mutation, but one theory is […]

MI weekly selection #548

MI weekly selection #548

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Dinosaur species may have crossed sea to find Africa Fossils in Morocco reveal a previously unknown duckbill dinosaur species, Minqaria bata, which is anatomically similar enough to duckbill species found in Europe to suggest that the pony-size creatures swam or floated across the Tethys Sea and diversified quickly into at least three species in North […]

MI weekly selection #547

MI weekly selection #547

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Stone Age travel story emerges from DNA of “Vittrup Man” Advanced analysis of DNA, teeth and bones of the bog-preserved body of Denmark’s “Vittrup Man” has revealed the individual’s history as well as possible movements and connections between Stone Age cultures. Vittrup Man’s genetics suggest an origin on the Scandinavian Peninsula, where he likely grew […]

MI weekly selection #546

MI weekly selection #546

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Iceland volcano’s magma hits unprecedented speed Magma underneath Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula flows at an “ultra-rapid” 7,400 cubic meters per second, and the same magma river likely caused Thursday’s eruption. The unprecedented speed indicates the role of not only pressure but also tectonic stress and ground fracturing in a volcano’s likelihood to erupt, says Sigrun Hreinsdottir […]

MI weekly selection #545

MI weekly selection #545

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Neolithic burial site poses mystery of missing bones Missing skulls and thigh bones have sparked questions about burial practices in early Neolithic Sweden, where archaeologists have revisited one of Scandinavia’s oldest stone burial chambers from around 3500 BCE. The site, called a dolmen, holds the remains of 12 or more people of varying ages, and […]

MI weekly selection #544

MI weekly selection #544

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Invasive ants disrupt hunting by lions in Kenya Invasive ants have disrupted interspecies patterns in Kenya, triggering a drop in the number of zebras killed by lions. As big-headed ants spread in East Africa, they kill native acacia ants, which leads to the destruction of whistling-thorn trees that lions use as cover when hunting. Full […]

MI weekly selection #543

MI weekly selection #543

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Researchers link reaction inside moon to unique rocks A reaction between magma and solids that occurred beneath the lunar surface 3.5 billion years ago may have created unique rocks now sitting on the moon. The rocks contain high levels of titanium, say researchers, who combined high-temperature molten-rock laboratory experiments with a close review of basalts […]

MI weekly selection #542

MI weekly selection #542

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

New archaeology method could confirm Bible event Thermal demagnetization, a new method used on mud bricks that are thousands of years old, may help archaeologists understand information preserved in burned material. The technique could reveal how building materials were made, and the authors of the study say in this case it corroborates the Bible’s description […]