The search continues for the missing Titan submersible, which lost contact with its parent ship on the morning of June 18, 2023, 1 hour and 45 minutes into a planned multi-hour dive to the wreck of the Titanic. The capsule-shaped vessel belongs to the OceanGate company, which offers seats on the submersible, and a chance to visit the famous ocean liner, at a cost of $250,000 person.As the Boston Coast Guard leads a challenging rescue effort, details have begun to emerge about the cramped, exhila ...read more

For centuries, physicians were puzzled by a rare phenomenon. Children, often siblings, were born healthy to healthy parents. But around six years old, they began experiencing a cognitive decline. They lost their speech, sight and motor skills. They died within a few years.What Is Childhood Dementia?British scientist Frederick Batten described the condition in 1903 and named it after himself. In the last 50 years, scientists have further identified Batten’s disease as a juvenile form of a neu ...read more

Millions of years ago, our ancestors, like us today, had to contend with viruses. No doubt the infections were unpleasant for them at the time, but their suffering wasn’t for naught — some of those viruses left traces in our DNA. And, according to scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, these remnants may aid the body’s immune response to cancer today. Discovering Ancient VirusesWhile studying lung cancer in mice and in human tumor samples, the team found that immunotherapy treatment se ...read more

A mainstay of the December night sky, the Geminids meteor shower first appeared in the mid-1800s, and it’s grown more impressive in the ensuing years. It now features up to 120 meteorites an hour given clear skies. A new study may have found that the shower originated in some type of catastrophic collision. This differentiates it from most showers, which come from icy comets that pass close to the sun, that then melts and releases particles.Read More: The Asteroids We Should Watch Out ForAn As ...read more

Take one look at a fossilized Archaeopteryx, and you’re bound to be confused. While its sharp teeth, long snout and lengthy tail look like those of a dinosaur, its feathered wings are reminiscent of a bird. The mix of traits is so strange that even paleontologists have struggled to classify the creature.Having been described as both a birdish dinosaur and a dinosaur-like bird, Archaeopteryx, whose name translates to “old wing,” is best understood as one of many transitional forms that brid ...read more

Alcohol use disorder, the medical diagnosis for alcoholism, affects about 10 percent of the U.S. population, or 29.5 million people. Yet, doctors wanting to treat this condition have only a handful of medications at their disposal, including such drugs as disulfiram, Acamprosate and naltrexone.Disulfiram makes people violently ill if they drink. Acamprosate is powerfully tranquilizing. And naltrexone suppresses the opioid system, which can reduce cravings in both alcoholics and opiate users. Sti ...read more

Within rocks found in the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation dating between 66 and 145 million years, paleontologists excavated a new species of ankylosaur on the Isle of Wight. The previously unknown giant reptile was dubbed Vectipelta barretti and is the first armored dinosaur found on the British island in over a century. The find shines light on the diversity of the ankylosaur fauna during the early Cretaceous period in England, which was published this month in the Journal of Systematic P ...read more

Many American workers have heard that familiar ding just as they sit down to dinner or plop in front of the television. A glance at their smartphone shows a preview of a work-related message. A co-worker has a “quick question” or is “just circling back” to an earlier discussion.Technically, the worker is off the clock and not required to respond. But people admit to engaging in email during their off time. Twenty-eight percent of American workers said they check their work email “extre ...read more

The real “Lucy” skeleton, the famous 3.2-million-year-old specimen of Australopithecus afarensis, resides within a specially constructed safe at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. Sophisticated molds of the bones, however, can be found all over the world, in such places as Arizona State University’s Institute of Human Origins, where they are used for scientific study. Or you can buy your own from Bone Clones, Inc., for $7,495, assuming you want the articulated version that fil ...read more

What do a velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus rex and Spinosaurus all have in common? For starters, the carnivorous trio clawed their way to superstar status as antagonists in the first three films in the Jurassic Park franchise. But on a more basic level, these dinosaurs are all theropods. Put simply, this group of dinosaurs mostly walked on two legs, had three claws on their feet, and of course, ate meat.“Theropods are the most charismatic of the dinosaurs,” says Joseph Frederickson, museum direct ...read more