During its heyday 66 million years ago, Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the fiercest creatures on Earth. Now, one specimen discovered almost 30 years ago is revealing that the animals grew even larger than fossils have led some to believe. Scientists estimate the behemoth dinosaur weighed close to 10 tons and was about 30 years old. Its age is likely what allowed it to grow so big, the researchers say. Tyrannosaurs kept growing throughout their lives. “Tyrannosaurs seem to be an a ...read more

For the first time since 2010, a full-fledged tropical cyclone has formed in the South Atlantic Ocean. Say hello to Tropical Storm Iba. You can see it in the animation above, about 500 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The animation consists of infrared imagery from the GOES-16 weather satellite. It shows Iba as it strengthened on Sunday. The false colors correspond to the temperature of the cloud tops in the storm, with black and pinkish colors indicative of the very colde ...read more

Whether it’s playing basketball, lifting weights or taking a brisk walk, a good workout can leave you feeling energized and confident. It’s well known that frequent bouts of exercise make you stronger and improve your cardiovascular health, but a new study is adding another, unexpected benefit to the mix. Research presented at the annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting on March 24 shows that habitual exercise can improve memory and brain function over time. It’s long be ...read more

Medical marijuana is legal in 33 states as of November 2018. Yet the federal government still insists marijuana has no legal use and is easy to abuse. In the meantime, medical marijuana dispensaries have an increasing array of products available for pain, anxiety, sex and more. The glass counters and their jars of products in the dispensary resemble an 18th century pharmacy. Many strains for sale have evocative and magical names like Blue Dream, Bubba Kush and Chocolope. But what does it ...read more

Neptune has a new storm, in the form of a large dark spot that appeared in late 2018. By analyzing Hubble images dating back to 2015, astronomers have discovered high-altitude clouds that formed years ahead of the visible storm, indicating it was already forming there, swirling beneath the clouds and haze. The telltale clouds are teaching astronomers more about how such storms form and evolve on all the giant outer planets. Birth of a Storm Neptune, like all the outer solar system planets, ...read more

The American southwest is littered with slot canyons – deep, narrow passages worn through by the erosive force of water. But there’s another place in the solar system with this majestic geology: Saturn’s moon, Titan. “Titan’s canyons are wider, generally deeper, and have slightly more sloping walls (than Earth),” says Tracy Gregg, a geologist at the University of Buffalo in New York. Gregg presented her research on Titan’s slot canyons last week a ...read more

(Inside Science) -- A new trove of outstandingly preserved fossils in China from the dawn of animal life rivals the horde of weird creatures found in legendary sites such as the Burgess Shale, and may shed light on many puzzles concerning the animal family tree, a new study finds. The earliest hints of life in the roughly 4.5 billion-year history of Earth may have appeared 3.95 billion years ago, but for a long time after that, life consisted of relatively simple organisms. However, about ...read more

Treatment-resistant depression affects 1 in 3 of the estimated 16.2 million adults in the U.S. who have suffered at least one major depressive episode. For them, two or more therapies have failed and the risk of suicide is much greater. It’s a grim prognosis. There are few therapies for depression that resists treatment, which is why the FDA granted this new drug application Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy status. On March 5, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new treatment c ...read more

An hour before we spoke, Darragh O’Carroll, an emergency room physician from Hawaii, had just given an elderly patient a sedating shot of ketamine. The man had pneumonia and was acting confused and fidgety, making him hard to treat. “Not only it was a pain control for him when I was putting needles into his neck, but it also kept him still,” O’Carroll says. “And with very minimal risk of lowering his blood pressure.” Ketamine’s use as an anesthetic &m ...read more

Parkinson’s disease stinks. Figuratively. But according to new research, it literally stinks too — to those who have a heightened sense of smell. Thanks to the help of one of these “super-smellers,” a team of scientists has identified subtle volatile compounds produced by Parkinson’s sufferers. These compounds could be used to make much easier, and earlier, diagnostics for the disease. According to the CDC, Parkinson’s is the second-most common neurodegenerat ...read more