Collagen is the most abundant protein in animals. It is also one of the most enduring. Over the past few decades, paleontologists have found it in dinosaur fossils tens of millions of years old. Its persistence is perplexing, because the protein contains chemical bonds, that, on paper, should only last 500 years. So why does this stuff last so long? Chemists provide an answer to that mystery in an ACS Central Science report. The Strength of CollagenThe answer starts with collagen’s structure. ...read more
If you've ever seen a puffin, with its striking black-and-white feathers and vivid orange beak, you might have wondered: Are puffins penguins? The short answer is no, but the reasons why are as intriguing as these birds themselves. Puffins are unique creatures with their own fascinating characteristics. Here, we’ll explore what puffins are, where they live, how they hunt and fly, and why they are increasingly vulnerable to environmental threats — all while clearing up the puffin-penguin conf ...read more
On July 20, 1969, humanity achieved what was once thought impossible: landing on the Moon. The Apollo 11 mission, followed by five more successful Moon landings, marked a golden era of space exploration. However, after the last mission, Apollo 17 in 1972, humans haven’t set foot on the lunar surface again. It’s been more than 50 years, so why haven’t we returned to the Moon? The answer is complicated, involving politics, economics, and evolving priorities in space exploration.The End of th ...read more
Satellites have become a vital part of our daily lives, quietly orbiting Earth to enable technologies from weather forecasting to global communications. But while these modern marvels work tirelessly above us, they don’t last forever. Eventually, every satellite reaches the end of its life — and that often involves a fiery dive back through Earth’s atmosphere. But how often do satellites fall back to Earth, and what happens when they do?The Rise of the Satellite EraThe satellite era began ...read more
Sometimes, it’s a shark-eat-shark world. Documented cases of larger sharks dining on smaller ones are relatively rare. Scientists have now found the first evidence of a larger species consuming the porbeagle shark, according to a report in Frontiers in Marine Science.Porbeagles live in the Atlantic Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. They grow to around 12 feet and weigh up to about 500 pounds. Scientists started tracking a group of porbeagles in 2020 — not to see if th ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine