Rock art found in South Africa, and painted two centuries ago, represents how the San people imagined extinct animals that they found in fossil form.This early rendering of these fossils could relate to the lost cultural belief of rain ceremonies and the realm of the dead.“It’s a combination of what they could see in reality and what they imagined,” says Julien Benoit, a paleontologist at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa as he relates in a study published recently in PLOS ON ...read more
What came first, farming or our ability to digest its carbohydrate-rich harvest?A study of a gene key to breaking down carbohydrates started duplicating itself in humans over 800,000 years ago— well before the dawn of agriculture. A team of researchers report in Science that the gene, called AMY1, started creating variations of itself long before humans split from neanderthal. It plays an essential role in producing starch-digesting saliva.Ancient Dietary NeedsIn general, when genes make “co ...read more
On Oct. 14, 2024, NASA launched a robotic spacecraft named Europa Clipperto Jupiter’s moons. Clipper will reach the ice-covered Jovian moon Europa in 2030 and spend several years collecting and sending valuable data on the moon’s potential habitability back to Earth.Clipper isn’t the only mission highlighting researchers’ interest in Jupiter and its moons.On April 13, 2023, the European Space Agency launched a rocket carrying a spacecraft destined for Jupiter. The Jupiter Icy Moons Explo ...read more
The human mind may find it difficult to conceptualize a cosmic cloud so colossal it surrounds the Sun and eight planets as it extends trillions of miles into deep space.The spherical shell known as the Oort Cloud is, for all practical purposes, invisible. Its constituent particles are spread so thinly and so far from the light of any star, including the Sun, that astronomers simply cannot see the cloud, even though it envelops us like a blanket.It is also theoretical. Astronomers infer the Oort ...read more
Imagine waking up with sharp pain in your abdomen that just won’t go away. For many, this is how diverticulitis makes its presence known. It’s a condition that can strike suddenly, turning seemingly harmless pockets in your colon into the source of serious discomfort. While diverticulitis may sound like an obscure illness, it’s actually quite common, especially as we age. But what exactly causes diverticulitis, and how can you manage or prevent it from disrupting your life? Let’s dive in ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine