Is it better to be smooth or to be scaly? For fossil plesiosaurs around 183 million years ago, the answer was a bit of both. Scrutinizing some of the first soft tissues from a fossil plesiosaur in a study in Current Biology, a team of researchers has revealed that these massive marine reptiles sported both smooth and scaly skin, potentially suited to swimming as well as to skimming or “bottom-walking” over the seafloor.“Fossilized soft tissue, such as skin and internal organs, is exception ...read more
A team of European Space Agency (ESA) scientists detected an Einstein Ring, in which light from one galaxy is sucked into the gravity of another, then encircles it. The team reported the finding in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.The phenomenon is named after Albert Einstein, because his general theory of relativity predicts that light will bend around objects in space, focusing the light like a massive lens. The larger the object, the bigger the gravitational lensing effect appears. If ...read more
The second full moon of the year will appear on February 12, 2025, just before Valentine’s Day, and is called the snow moon. The snow moon doesn’t always appear in February, and it's constellation isn't always the same. Find out what constellation the snow moon will be in for 2025, and why February sometimes has a black moon.When to See the Snow MoonViewing the snow moon depends on your location, but it should be visible on the evening of February 12, depending on the weather. For optimal ni ...read more
These days, there’s a way to track nearly every aspect of fitness and health. You can track your calories, your sleep, your heart rate and the number of steps you take every day. You can track the number of miles you’ve run, biked or hiked. Often, tracking products advertise health benefits. Ads for fitness-tracking watches like Garmin and Fitbit urge users to “tune into your body,” “unlock human performance,” and “find your energy.” The basic idea is that knowing more about our ...read more
Science journalist Maria Smilios was editing a book on orphan lung diseases when one line caught her attention. In a chapter about a rare lung disease, the author commented that perhaps a cure could be discovered as quickly as the cure for tuberculosis was found at Sea View Hospital on Staten Island in the 1950s. Smilios began researching and learned how the first clinical trial for a lifesaving antibiotic happened at Sea View under the watchful supervision of experienced nurses — all of them ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine