Oysters have long been considered an aphrodisiac. Now, the mollusk might be tapped to fight infectious diseases.A study shows that proteins in the blood, or hemolymph, of a Sydney Rock Oyster not only kills bacteria but boosts some antibiotics’ efficacies against several resistant strains, according to a study in PLOS ONE.The finding is important because, although antibiotics have helped people fight infectious diseases since the early 20th century, their misuse has created strains of bacteria ...read more
Geophysicists have found sunken worlds in the Earth’s mantle — the planet’s bulky middle layer — that, according to both earlier imaging and understanding of plate tectonics, simply shouldn’t be there.When neighboring tectonic plates continue their slow-motion collision, sometimes one subducts, or slides underneath the other, often leaving geological remnants behind. Now, new imaging techniques have revealed similar leftovers far from tectonic boundaries. Geophysicists detected these s ...read more
In the unlit depths of the ocean, where food is scarce, and chance encounters are rarer still, anglerfish have evolved one of nature’s most bizarre mating approaches. When a male anglerfish finds a partner, he doesn’t just court her — he attaches to her body, sometimes fusing with her for life. This extreme adaptation, known as sexual parasitism, helps ensure reproductive success in a world where mates are few and far between. And recent research published in Current Biology has taken anot ...read more
The Ushikawa man fossils found in the late 1950s turns out not to be bona fide.After the bones were discovered in a Toyohashi quarry in 1957 and 1959, they were reported to represent rare examples of Late Pleistocene human remains. However, doubts about the accuracy of that identification started bubbling up soon after the finding. Those concerns increased in the ‘90s, with some suggesting that the fossils might be animal, not human remains. But without any formal research, that hunch couldn†...read more
Greek mythology often reads like a soap opera for deities. One moment Zeus condemns a traitor to have his liver pecked apart by vultures for eternity, the next he disguises himself as a swan so he can seduce women without drawing his wife’s attention.It takes a special cast of characters to drive such a narrative, and the Olympian gods were the perfect fit. Many modern Americans met them in Disney form through 1997’s Hercules. But for sheer darkness and palace intrigue, the 2024 series Kaos ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine