Did a tiny amino acid, a cluster of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur atoms, kill Beethoven, and not syphilis or lead poisoning, as previously proposed?A new genetic analysis of his hair, borrowed from collectors, suggests that the acid, called methionine, may have greatly accelerated his death from liver disease. Genetics of BeethovenPerhaps the greatest composer of all time, Beethoven had a simple but serious genetic mutation that affected the PNPLA3 protein – found in fat and li ...read more

In the early stages of colon cancer — the fourth most common cancer in the U.S. and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths — there are usually no obvious symptoms. And yet, if it is caught early, it’s highly treatable.Thanks to screenings, colon cancer rates have declined steadily among people in their 50s and 60s, says Jeffrey Meyerhardt, a chief clinical research officer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and professor at Harvard Medical School. At the same time, he says, t ...read more

The name Tyrannosaurus rex means the “king of the tyrant lizards,” and by all accounts, that’s exactly what T. rex was. A ruthless and fearsome predator, it ruled the world in the Late Cretaceous Period, around 90 million years ago. With teeth as big as a banana, a crushing bite and a sense of smell as keen as a cat, this infamous theropod was a vicious predator. But how smart was T. rex? What do we know, and what can we know about the brains of the most ferocious predator that the ...read more

The 1986 Chernobyl disaster was the worst nuclear meltdown in history. Today, much of the area around the old plant in Ukraine and in bordering Belarus remains uninhabited, including the city of the same name and Pripyat. But that’s only true if we’re talking about humans.Many animals still live in the area. In many cases, wildlife populations have thrived due to the lack of human presence for more than 35 years. But does this mean the animals that live in the area have adapted to the unique ...read more

This is Part 2 of a look at the evolution of women in volcanology, especially at the US Geological Survey. You can read Part 1 here.A Hawaiian eruption was an unexpected destination for Alexa Van Eaton. This was her second stint in the USGS. She had previously worked at CVO as a postdoctoral researcher and felt she didn’t really fit in there as an early-career female scientist. The mostly over-40 male staff of CVO was nothing new to her. Her professors in Florida and her Ph.D. advisor in New Z ...read more

When a surfer paddles out to catch a wave, their silhouette creates an image to a shark swimming below. Against a bright sky in the water, a human could resemble the body of a seal, or a shark's favorite prey. We've commonly heard that this is why sharks attack humans. Recently, however, a new study challenges this theory. Eric Clua, a marine biologist and veterinary doctor based in French Polynesia, and Carl Meyer, a biologist at the University of Hawai’i, published a paper in Behaviour that ...read more

In February of 1997, a small group of friends and relatives went ice fishing on Moosehead Lake in Maine, not knowing what the day would hold for them. According to an old account by the National Weather Service, the friends set to fishing amid the snow, sleet and rain and heard a sound like “freight train cars banging together.” They later realized this to be thunder and as hail began to fall, piled their gear onto their snowmobiles, to leave.As they worked, they saw “flickers or sparkles� ...read more

The trick to a successful search for fossils is finding the proper place. After all, paleontologists rarely select their sites at random. Instead, they consider an assortment of areas — comparing the age and the accessibility of the rock — prior to picking up their trowels.Most important in their considerations is the type of stone at a prospective search site, which is almost always sedimentary rather than igneous or metamorphic. The question is, why?While the formation of sedimentary rock ...read more

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a new psychotherapy method used to treat people’s past trauma — or the painful symptoms caused by distressing experiences. But unlike a regular psychotherapy treatment, the healing process with EMDR is much shorter. Plus, you don’t have to talk extensively about or relive your traumatic experiences.What Is EMDR Therapy and How Does It Work?EMDR therapy is a guided process in which you move your eyes toward the therapist's fing ...read more