By: Christi Hughes
In January 2016, a young sea turtle named Grace was found floating cold and listless next to a dock in Awendaw, South Carolina. She was rescued by compassionate locals to the South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Care Center™ for life-saving medical treatment. Grace, who was the size of a dinner plate, ultimately required exploratory surgery to remove a piece of flexible plastic about the size of a silver dollar– very likely from a single-use plastic grocery bag ...read more
(Credit: NASA)
On Earth, the theory of plate tectonics describes the way large pieces of the planet’s crust move and interact. These pieces, or plates, slide over the mantle, the malleable outer layer of Earth’s core. Now, new research indicates that the frozen surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s four largest moons, may also experience plate tectonics. If so, this process could be a way to transport materials — such as nutrients for life — to the liquid water ocea ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Scientists had an explosive mystery on their hands. A man suing a restaurant claimed an egg he bit into detonated loudly enough to damage his hearing. Was this a legit complaint, or an attempt to capitalize in a litigation-happy culture?
Well, after a scientific investigation, the man’s story is legit. Although microwave ovens have become a staple appliance in many kitchens, they come with oft-unheeded warnings that certain foods pose risks to people when reheated. ...read more
No, not an escapee from the Island of Dr. Moreau. It’s Halszkaraptor escuilliei, a newly described dinosaur with an unusual combination of traits. (Credit Lukas Panzarin)
If it looks like a duck…it may be a curious new dinosaur, Halszkaraptor escuilliei. The Mongolian maniraptor is a mouthful to say and a, uhm, glory to behold. But the most interesting thing about it is how it apparently lived.
Fossiliferous Mongolia has given dinosaur enthusiasts a trove of discoveries over the y ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Cynics rejoice — the oft-reported phenomenon of love at first sight is more akin to lust at first sight.
Psychologist Florian Zsok and colleagues from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands recently published a study that found even though people generally do believe they’re experiencing love at first sight (LAFS), the event has more to do with physical attraction than actual feelings of love.
Zsok and his team set up various experiments to answer som ...read more
In the first post in this series, I looked at the work of Swedish psychiatrist Lars Thorell, who has developed a test which, he claims, is able to predict suicides in depressed patients. Thorell’s test is called electrodermal orientation reactivity (aka electrodermal hyporeactivity), and while Thorell’s work on the technique goes back to the 1980s, it has recently been commercialized by a company called Emotra AB, who named the product EDOR®.
Previously, I expressed scepticism o ...read more
King Tut’s dagger, the blade is made of meteoric iron. (Credit: Daniella Comelli)
Looks like King Tut’s space dagger wasn’t so special after all. The legendary Egyptian pharaoh was found last year to have been buried with a dagger forged from a meteorite, a truly cosmic artifact fit for a king.
Well, as it turns out, pretty much everything made of iron from that period came from fallen space rocks, taking the “wow” factor down a few notches. That’s not ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
When the humanoid robot Sophia was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia—the first robot to receive citizenship anywhere in the world—many people were outraged. Some were upset because she now had more rights than human women living in the same country. Others just thought it was a ridiculous PR stunt.
Sophia’s big news brought forth a lingering question, especially as scientists continue to develop advanced and human-like AI machines: Should robots be giv ...read more
After putting only adult worms into mock Martian soil, two babies were discovered. It’s safe to say the worms got down and dirty. (Credit: Wieger Wamelink)
Worms can not only survive in faux Martian soil — they can start a new generation. That’s the conclusion from biologist Wieger Wamelink who recently discovered two baby worms in his simulated Mars soil experiment.
Since 2013, scientists from Wageningen University & Research have been growing crops in Mars and moon ...read more
