Finding the Strength to Reach the Ocean's Furthest Depths

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  778 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Nikhil Gupta is an associate professor and Steven Zeltmann is an undergraduate student researcher in the Composite Materials and Mechanics Laboratory of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at New York University, Polytechnic School of Engineering. The authors contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Radio signals that may have been emanating from the flight recorder of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 marked the beginning of a new phase of the search for the aircraft and its passengers. [Read More]

First Dinosaur Fossils from Saudi Arabia Discovered

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  311 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A plant-eating titanosaur and a sharp-toothed theropod are the first confirmed dinosaur fossils ever found in Saudi Arabia, scientists reported Dec. 26 in the journal PLOS ONE. Dinosaur fossils are rare in the Arabian Peninsula; previous finds mainly include teeth and bone fragments of similar species from Jordan, Oman and Lebanon, the researchers report. "This discovery is important not only because of where the remains were found, but also because of the fact that we can actually identify them," [Read More]

Meet the Extinct Cow with a 'Bulldog' Skull

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  542 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Nobody would ever say to this cow, "Why the long face?" The snub-nosed cow, known as a Niata, is a now-extinct breed of domesticated cattle once found in South America. Its shortened, broad profile, unique in cows, was more reminiscent of a bulldog than a bovine; it had a dramatically flattened face and a significant underbite, much like contemporary dog breeds such as pugs, bulldogs and boxers. Naturalist Charles Darwin wrote about Niata cows in 1845, after seeing them for the first time in Argentina. [Read More]

Mystery Mummy May Have Been Pharaoh's Personal Eye Doctor

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  479 words  |  Trudie Dory

Among the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, queens and religious elites who elected to be immortalized through mummification, there was also at least one ophthalmologist. Meet Nespamedu, a 2,200-year-old eye doctor made quite the spectacle of himself in the afterlife, according to some new research shared by the National Archaeological Museum (MAN) in Madrid, Spain. According to a series of recent papers published in the museum's in-house journal, the lavishly decorated mummy was once a priest and doctor thought to minister to none other than the pharaoh Ptolemy II (and possibly his successor Ptolemy III). [Read More]

Photos: Time Capsule from 1795 Reveals Pieces of American History

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  363 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The contents of a 220-year-old time capsule, buried in 1795 by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, were revealed on Jan. 6. The Massachusetts Commonwealth and Museum of Fine Arts dug the capsule out of a cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Specially trained museum workers opened the capsule and carefully removed the contents, including coins, newspapers, a silver plaque engraved by Paul Revere and a copper medal depicting George Washington. [Read More]

Raise Your Glass: 10 Intoxicating Beer Facts

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  7 minutes  |  1284 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Beer BasicsIf America had an official alcoholic beverage, it would probably be beer. According to the Brewers Association, the overall U.S. beer market was worth $101 billion in 2009. Over 205 million barrels of beer were sold (1 barrel equals 31 gallons of beer). In the same year, there were 1,595 breweries in the U.S. fermenting everything from light lagers to chocolaty stouts. In that spirit, LiveScience proposes a toast to beer, that sudsy beverage that humans have brewed for millennia. [Read More]

Scientists: Natural Disasters Becoming More Common

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  980 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Earth might seem like a more active and dangerous place than ever, given the constant media reports of multiple natural disasters recently. But a broader view reveals that it's not Mother Nature who's changed, but we humans. Drawn by undeveloped land and fertile soil, people are flocking to disaster-prone regions. This creates a situation in which ordinary events like earthquakes and hurricanes become increasingly elevated to the level of natural disasters that reap heavy losses in human life and property. [Read More]

Sugary Drinks Linked with Earlier Menstruation in Girls

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  652 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Girls who drink a lot of soda and other sugary drinks may get their first menstrual periods earlier than girls who don't often consume these drinks, a new study suggests. The research involved more than 5,500 U.S. girls ages 9 to 14 who had not yet had their first periods at the study's start. Researchers asked the girls questions about their diets, including how frequently they consumed soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages (such as fruit drinks and iced tea), and tracked the girls for five years (from 1996 to 2001). [Read More]

The Science of Fatherhood: Why Dads Matter

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  802 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

For decades, psychologists and other researchers assumed that the mother-child bond was the most important one in a kid's life. They focused on studying those relationships, and however a child turned out, mom often got the credit — or blame. Within the last several decades, though, scientists are increasingly realizing just how much dads matter. Just like women, fathers' bodies respond to parenthood, and their parenting style affects their kids just as much, and sometimes more, than mom's. [Read More]

Why Are 'Mama' and 'Dada' a Baby's First Words?

 Posted on February 10, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  340 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A baby's first words are often "mama" and "dada," much to the delight of parents. Now scientists think they know why. Beyond the obvious — Mommy and Daddy are around a lot and babies are drawn to them — languages in many cultures have apparently made the task easy by creating words for mothers and fathers that feature patterns of repeating sounds, a new study suggests. To arrive at this finding, brain scans were made of 22 newborns (age 2 days to 3 days) while they listened to recordings of made-up words. [Read More]