2024 was a busy year for dinosaur discoveries. New research from around the world revealed dozens of new-to-science identifications of prehistoric animals, including dinosaurs, prehistoric reptiles, and flying reptiles. Some were giant, some were small, and some lived in burrows. Find out which ones we thought were the most unique. 1. T. rex’s Cousin: Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis In early 2024, paleontologists announced the discovery of a new tyrannosaur species that may be the closest cousin to ...read more

As daylight hours shorten and temperatures plummet, feelings of sadness and fatigue can begin. Depression is a major health concern that impacted 28 million people worldwide in 2019. In that same year, an estimated 10 million Americans experienced a specific type of depression disorder during the winter. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is correlated to specific seasons like fall and winter, according to a study in Nutrients. Chronic sadness, social withdrawal and d ...read more

Despite all appearances, the moon is a world with water. Strewn throughout the soil, water molecules are scattered all around the moon’s surface. Where they originated has long stumped scientists, but a new paper published in PNAS has looked into the origins of the moon’s hydration, suggesting that it may have come from a complex combination of sources.“This is a major step forward in unraveling where lunar water comes from,” said Maxwell Thiemens, a study author and a researcher at Vrij ...read more

Each year, researchers discover an estimated 18,000 new species across the globe. These new species include small mammals, birds, insects, fish, reptiles, flowers, and fungi. And this year, the new species identified in 2024 did not disappoint. Check out our selection of the most interesting new species.1. Mussel of the Alabama Undersea ForestA researcher from Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center discovered a new species of mussel that dwells in an ancient underwater cypress grove i ...read more

People who use semaglutide, the active ingredient in diabetes and weight-loss medications like Ozempic, face twice the risk of developing a serious eye condition that can lead to blindness, according to two new studies. However, the overall risk of developing the condition still remains low.The research, out of the University of Southern Denmark, builds on work from the U.S. published in July 2024, that linked semaglutide and a condition that causes loss of blood flow to the main nerve connectin ...read more

For as brilliant as the human mind can be, there are still limitations that hinder the potential of our brains. The most baffling instance of our mental shortcomings is related to how we think. Despite the brain boasting billions of neurons that dictate our every move, humans have a surprisingly constrained thought process, and scientists may now have answers to explain this mystery of human inefficiency. A new study recently published in the journal Neuron has quantified the speed of human tho ...read more

Of late, health enthusiasts have seen the numerous benefits of golden orange turmeric. The spice comes from the rhizome, the root of a tree that’s traditionally grown in Asia. It can be used in all sorts of spicy cooking, such as smoothies, lattes, and so on.Its health benefits have become so widely known that many people now take turmeric supplements for everything from joint health to cardiovascular disease and more recently, in helping to shed those extra pounds. The Heath Benefits of Turm ...read more

Taking five or six years to read 18 lines of Latin might seem slow. But the painstaking effort was worthwhile, because archeologists who deciphered a tiny note tucked inside a nearly 1800-year-old, 1.4-inch-tall amulet found that the passage shed new light on Christianity’s spread through Northern Europe.Archeologists first discovered the amulet in a cemetery just outside Frankfurt during a 2017 to 2018 dig. Based on where they found the amulet in the grave, the archaeologists suspect that the ...read more

Early this morning, the USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory reported that a new eruption started in the summit caldera at Kīlauea in Hawai'i. After a brief swarm of earthquakes, a series of fissures opened in the floor of the Halema'uma'u caldera, producing lava fountains and flows that have now crept along the caldera floor. This is only the third eruption at Kīlauea this year after the fall's small eruption in the East Rift zone near Napau Crater and June's brief eruption in the Southwest Rift Z ...read more

Every so often, news headlines warn of an outbreak of kennel cough. Pet parents are cautioned to keep their dogs away from dog parks, kennels, or daycares. In extreme cases, animal shelters close, and rescue transports are halted. In July 2024, for example, a severe kennel cough outbreak hit animal shelters in Delaware. Public health officials issued a temporary, one-month lockdown to stop the spread.The lockdown prevented animal shelters from receiving new animals from out-of-state organizatio ...read more