It sounds like a paleontological crime scene: dozens of ancient amphibian fossils found buried relatively close together. The bones of the crocodile-sized creatures — known as metoposaurid temnospondyls — lie intact. What brought them there? What killed them? Why did the fossils remain undisturbed?Researchers report a detailed analysis of the single-largest collection of the species’ fossils found together in Wyoming in the journal PLOS ONE. But the survey of what appears to be a mass die- ...read more
The stars in our galaxy are serenading us with songs, that is, if we take the time to translate them.According to a new paper published in Nature, constant “starquakes” cause some stars to fluctuate in brightness — a result that seems mostly unrelated to music. But by translating these fluctuations in brightness into fluctuations in acoustic frequencies, scientists can tune in to a star’s sound, learning important information about its age and its other traits. Studying 27 separate stars ...read more
With winter having come to a close, people living near the Rocky Mountains will have to reckon with the effects of snow contamination, an enduring issue magnified by mining activities in the region. A new study provides an unprecedented look at the heightened levels of contaminants that have been carried to the Rockies by winter storms. The study, recently published in the journal Environmental Pollution, has pinpointed mining operations in the Pacific Northwest as the source of contaminants. M ...read more
There is now a pacemaker smaller than a grain of rice that is designed to help the tiniest of hearts. Researchers from Northwestern University have successfully developed a pacemaker that fits in the tip of a syringe and can be inserted non-invasively into the hearts of newborn babies with congenital heart issues, according to a new study published in Nature. The pacemaker works with an external flexible chest piece that monitors the heart and sends a beam of light into the chest when it detec ...read more
When it comes to food poisoning, the body — well, more specifically, the brain — keeps score. Almost everyone can relate to eating something that caused them, to put it delicately, to suffer severe gastrointestinal distress that then renders them incapable of ever consuming that particular food again. Now, neuroscientists have pinpointed the exact spot (albeit in a mouse’s brain) where such traumatic memories appear to be recorded and stored, according to a study published in the journal N ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine