Though hardly a household name like Velociraptor or Tyrannosaurus rex, Megalosaurus holds a key place in the history of paleontology. That’s not because it’s an exceptional dinosaur but as it was the first dinosaur discovered, even before the term dinosaur was ever coined. For that reason, it is “phenomenally important,” according to Emma Nicholls, Collections Manager of Vertebrate Palaeontology at Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History.What we Know About the MegalosaurusMegalos ...read more
Whether you’re talking about sharks, crocodiles, lions, or even velociraptors, some of the most fearsome traits of these predators involve their rows of sharp, crushing, or jagged teeth.Only vertebrate animals have real teeth, though some invertebrates have hard tooth-like plates they use to eat. One of the earliest creatures with teeth were conodonts, an eel-like creature that first appeared around 500 million years ago. These creatures also have the record for the sharpest teeth, according t ...read more
One of the many unseen forces to which you owe your existence is magnetism. If it weren’t for the magnetic field that surrounds our planet, blocking cosmic radiation and solar wind, Earth would likely have little atmosphere to speak of. Life (at least of the human variety) would be impossible.Changes in the field can also play havoc with satellite communication and electric infrastructure, disrupting the modern world in a big way. Given the importance of this gargantuan bar magnet in our day-t ...read more
Humans, we’re not good with time. Let me qualify that: we’re good with short time, like how long until lunch or how long ago did the Mets win the World Series. Usually, if something happened within your lifetime, the conceptualization of that duration of time isn’t too bad. Even when you get older and it seems like 1995 wasn’t 30 years ago, you still can wrap your head around the fact that idea.Dive Back in TimeWhen time gets longer, things get harder. What was happening in your home tow ...read more
Nature has some peculiar ways of creating molecules. Many molecules, such as DNA, proteins, and sugars, have a property called chirality. Basically, chiral molecules are molecules that are shaped such that they can’t be superimposed on their mirror image.Scientists refer to this property as “handedness,” and it’s a great analogy for helping the rest of us understand chirality. If you put your right hand on top of your left hand, both hands palm down, they don’t match up. No matter how ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine