The pygmy right whale looks like a miniature version of a baleen whale, hence the name “pygmy.” It’s the smallest of the filter-feeding whales, weighing in at just under 1,000 pounds. Rarely observed and shy by nature, it’s found in the temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere.The pygmy has long been called a right whale because people thought that it looked like one, but many researchers have long disputed this notion because of a number of differences. For example, the pygmy right w ...read more
You can tell a lot about a civilization from the way it built its boats.An analysis of five canoes constructed over 7,000 years ago, found at the bottom of Lake Bracciono near Rome, highlights techniques that indicate a well-organized society with specialists. Some details also hint that residents of the Neolithic lakeshore village of La Marmotta possessed navigation skills, according to a report in PLOS ONE.Niccolò Mazzucco, an archaeologist from the University of Pisa, studied the boats. “T ...read more
Author Tom Vanderbilt politely congratulated his opponent after losing to him during a chess tournament. The victor was an eight-year-old boy who sipped chocolate milk from a little box with a straw during the round. Vanderbilt, then approaching age 50, humbly updated the tournament director with the results. Learning chess was one of the experiences Vanderbilt chronicled in his book Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning (he also learned juggling, singing, and surfing) ...read more
Earlier this year, a team of scientists made a splash when they revealed a remarkable new find — a complete skeleton of a 16-foot-long aquatic reptile, dubbed a "Chinese dragon" due to its serpentine appearance and exceptionally long neck. The species, Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, swam the seas during the Triassic period, and the fossil itself dates back 240 million years. The fossil has fascinated — and baffled — scientists and the public alike. But previous fossil discoveries, as well a ...read more
Ancient English villagers who lived on platforms about six feet above a river enjoyed the high life, according to two new reports published by the University of Cambridge. The reports on “Must Farm,” which was excavated 2015-16 by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU), creates a nearly cinematic image of household comfort there in the Late Bronze Age. Capturing the scope, scale, shape, and size of the settlement, it includes close-ups of hundreds of objects used in daily life. “Conductin ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine