Indonesia’s Flores Island, once home to diminutive Homo floresiensis (skull cast shown above), also has modern pygmy populations. Researchers sequenced DNA from some of the individuals to determine if they might be descended from the archaic “hobbit.� (Credit: Australian Museum) From the home of the “hobbit� (and I’m not talking about The Shire): Researchers have sequenc ...read more
This spectacular impact crater on Mars, imaged by HiRISE on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, spans 100 feet (30 meters) and shows a clear system of rays in enhanced color.(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona) Fiery chunks of rock are constantly bombarding the planetary bodies of our solar system, leaving behind long-lasting scars. These gouges, in the form of craters, can be used to learn about the history of our little nook in the vast universe, prompting scientists to feverishly study ...read more
Stonehenge. (Credit: Brian C. Weed/Shutterstock) New analysis of the remains of Neolithic people buried at Stonehenge suggests many did not live anywhere near the prehistoric monument, according to a study in Nature Scientific Reports. After a century of research into Stonehenge’s construction, we still know little about the people who lived and died there. But now, with a fresh method for obtaining biological information from cremated remains, scientists are re-envisioning ...read more
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This artist’s concept shows Kepler 452b, an exoplanet just 1,400 light years away. Known as Earth’s “cousin,� the terrestrial world falls within its host star’s habitable zone and receives enough UV light for RNA-forming chemical reactions to take place. (Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle) Want to know if a planet has what it takes to develop life? Look at its light. Research published August 1 ...read more
Zebra finches. (Credit: Natia Tsuleiskiri/Shutterstock) Is the blue I see the same as the blue you see? It’s an age-old stoner question, and while it might not ever be possible to find a conclusive answer, it does touch on a fundamental mystery for linguists and neuroscientists alike. Where do colors come from? Not the physical colors themselves, of course – that’s just different wavelengths of light. But where do the categories that we ...read more
A team of scientists made artificial lungs and then transplanted them into pigs (not this one). The pigs all survived. (Credit: HQuality/shutterstock) Ah, to live in a world where we can crank out custom-made organs to meet supply. No need for donors or years-long waiting lists. We’re still a ways off from that organ utopia, but we’re at least a little closer to bioengineered lungs becoming a reality. On Wednesday, researchers from the University of Texas ...read more
(Credit: Tero Vesalainen/shutterstock) In Finland, sauna bathing traditionally involves bathers not only immersing themselves in steam, but also slapping themselves with branches until their skin is red and tingling, then diving into cold water or rolling in the snow. Now researchers find that sauna bathing — even of the conventional kind, sans cold and slapping — may have a wide range of health benefits. Saunas bathe people in steam from water thrown on h ...read more
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A new statistical method could help solve which Beatles wrote which songs. (Credit: Nationaal Archief/Wikipedia Commons) In interviews, John Lennon and Paul McCartney have explained that, though they were listed as co-writers for Beatles tunes, one or the other usually wrote most of a song. McCartney wrote most or all of “Yesterday,� “Martha My Dear� and “Lady Madonna,� for exam ...read more
