According to the tales of Norse mythology, a sea serpent surrounds the world, circling its waters in a continuous cycle, by biting onto its own tail. When the creature eventually releases its bite, the stories say, a world-ending battle will ensue, destroying the old and ushering in the new.In a similar narrative of rebirth and revival, the name of this sea serpent, Jörmungandr, has recently taken on a new meaning. This year, a team of researchers gave the name to a specimen of mosasaur — a m ...read more
Humanity’s early ancestors started dabbling with bipedalism — walking on two legs — as much as 6 to 7 million years ago. It took a while to find our evolutionary footing, but by 3 million years later, the fossil record shows that hominins were pretty well committed to being upstanding.Walking on two legs was literally a great step forward for us. Bipedal locomotion is far more energy-efficient than using both arms and legs to propel us forward, as many primates still do. Conserving energy ...read more
You don’t need to go on a safari to see wild creatures in their natural habitats. There are a number of scientific studies of wild creatures that depend on the eyes of observers just like you.Take part to be transported (virtually) to ecosystems around the world through images and videos (sometimes even livestreams!) where you can make observations that scientists need. Find sharks, iguanas, birds and more with the projects below!Cheers,The SciStarter TeamCredit: Project SIARCProject SIARC (Sh ...read more
Thousands of surgical mistakes are made each year, leading to horrific outcomes, including death.When it comes to our health and well-being, many of us turn to medical professionals for the best treatments and advice. While health professionals have the medical know-how, they are still human. And being human means that mistakes can happen. Some mistakes aren’t just misdiagnoses; some can be life-altering errors. Though they are rare, medical mistakes such as surgical errors have occurred. W ...read more
By observing a complex dance of stars, astronomers have come up with a new explanation for why exotic Be stars - B-type stars that show emission lines - have their own Saturn-like rings. Conventional wisdom states Be stars are locked in orbit of another star, in a so-called binary system. Forces from the second star cause the Be star to rotate quickly and sling material out into a ring. But the new study questions this explanation.Observing Be Star MovementsThe team drew on data from the Europea ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine