Tales of gladiators going head-to-head with ferocious lions in ancient Rome’s coliseum are legendary. Scenes of such deadly combat have been portrayed in stories, paintings, and mosaics (a Man versus Big Cat conflict was even suggested in the movie “Gladiator,” but never actually depicted). But until now, there has never been any direct physical evidence that such contests took place.A discovery showing tooth marks on a human bone suggests that these artistic accounts are more journalistic ...read more
Humans aren’t the only species that dabble in the occasional drink. From fruit flies to elephants, creatures across the animal kingdom have been observed consuming fermented foods. But what happens when our closest relatives show a taste for alcohol?Wild chimpanzees, just about as close to humans as apes get on the genetic family tree, have been captured on film eating and sharing fermented fruit, which naturally contains alcohol. The footage, taken by a research team led by the University of ...read more
Dogs aren’t just our pets. We also see them as our friends and family members. But do we get the same things out of our interactions with our dogs that we get out of our interactions with our human friends and family? Having set out to answer this question in a study in Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Hungary has revealed that our relationships with our dogs are a lot like our relationships with our children and our closest friends, albeit w ...read more
One of the world’s greatest mysteries is how life on Earth began. Scientists have long sought to decipher where and how prebiotic molecules — those that preceded life — emerged. A new study suggests that the answers lie somewhere out in space, based on a recreation of the conditions in interstellar clouds that likely gave our planet a biological jumpstart.The study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that asteroid and comet impacts possibly ...read more
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have announced the discovery of a color never before seen by the human eye. Through a new study, published in Science Advances, researchers used a pulsing laser on study participants to stimulate a part of the eye. Study participants reported that after their eyes were stimulated, they saw a new shade of blue-green. Outside researchers dispute the claim, saying that more study is needed to prove that this is indeed a new color. However, re ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine