Paleontologists have discovered clues to the evolution of the biggest animals to ever walk on land by studying one of the tiniest members of the group ever found. (Credit: Andrey Atuchin)
(Inside Science) — Sauropods were the largest animals that ever lived on land. These plant-eating dinosaurs could reach 120 feet in length, and yet their heads were small enough that you could hold its skull in your arms. Despite a robust overall fossil record, until now scientists had only about 12 sau ...read more
Clues to the earliest days of mammal evolution may lie in the genome of the Somalian blind cavefish, Phreatichthys andruzzii. (Credit: Luca Scapoli/University of Ferrara)
If you’re trying to understand the earliest days of mammal evolution, including how our ancestors lived, the genome of a blind cavefish might not strike you as the most obvious place to hunt for clues. A study out today, however, suggests that’s exactly where you can glimpse our distant — and very dark & ...read more
A new study casts doubt on the long lingering idea that black holes might explain dark matter. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)
The hunt for a dark matter explanation seems endless, but now we can mostly rule out one often mentioned potential culprit: black holes.
“The idea of primordial black holes as dark matter is quite old, with some papers already in the ’70s when Stephen Hawking and others proposed it,” said lead study author Miguel Zumalacárreg ...read more
(Credit: gerasimov_foto_174/Shutterstock)
Climate change may be on everyone’s lips since the recent UN report, but don’t let that fool you. The shifts in climate we’re beginning to see are nothing new, as far as Earth — or our ancestors — are concerned.
But while all the talk nowadays focuses on how to change the course of the climate’s evolution, a study out today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests shifts in ancient we ...read more
Forrester, Anna. Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story. Arbordale Publishing, 2017. 32 pages. Paperback (English and Spanish editions) $US9.95.
Bathala, Neeti, Keats Curtis, Jennifer, & Jones, Veronica V. (Illustrator). Moonlight Crab Count. Arbordale Publishing, 2017. 32 pages.Paperback (English and Spanish editions) $US9.95.
A very young reader!
Looking for some not-so-spooky reads for your little ones? Just in time for Halloween, we learn about bats and crabs tha ...read more
Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShip Two during a flight test. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
According to Sir Richard Branson, founder of the space tourism company Virgin Galactic, their latest spaceplane, SpaceShipTwo, will be in space in a matter of weeks.
“We should be in space within weeks, not months. And then we will be in space with myself in months and not years,” Branson told CNBC on Tuesday in Singapore. “We will be in space with people not too long after that, so w ...read more
Tiny density changes in the crust of Ceres indicate that the dwarf planet’s pole has wandered over time. The path it took suggests a liquid ocean once sat beneath the surface. (Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/ASI/INAF)
NASA’s Dawn mission has uncovered a wealth of information about the largest objects in our asteroid belt: Vesta and Ceres. Since its arrival at the latter in 2015, the spacecraft has revealed an active icy world full of surprises, one more of which has just ...read more
In the fall of 2008, SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket made spaceflight history by becoming the first such private launch vehicle to reach orbit. (Credit: NASA)
A version of this article originally appeared on The Conversation
In many industries, a decade is barely enough time to cause dramatic change unless something disruptive comes along – a new technology, business model or service design. The space industry has recently been enjoying all three.
But 10 years ago, none of those innovatio ...read more
(Credit: Anton Gvozdikov/shutterstock)
We see countless people everyday — in stores, in the gym, on television and during our commutes. But how many faces can we actually recognize? For the first time, a paper, published Wednesday (Oct. 10) in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, has an answer: 5,000, more or less.
That’s quite a jump from our evolutionary past. After all, the social circle of our foraging ancestors hovered around 100 to 250, meaning that’s how many faces ...read more
(Credit: tommasso79/Shutterstock)
Scientists say they’ve finally found a gene implicated in erectile dysfunction, a discovery that could help illuminate how the condition occurs on the most basic level.
The condition is widespread among older men — some estimates put it at 40 percent or higher for men over 40 — and it’s thought to be influenced by a range of factors. Poor body weight, cardiovascular health, a lack of exercise and many other things can all predispose men ...read more
