Are Great Whites Descended from Mega-Sharks?

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  477 words  |  Trudie Dory

Millions of years ago the oceans were ruled by a bus-sized, whale-eating shark with teeth as big as your hand. Scientists have long believed that the prehistoric megalodon shark evolved into today's scariest sea predator, the great white. However, a new study comparing teeth suggests that the great white is more closely related to the smaller, but equally vicious mako shark. "Most scientists would probably say the great whites evolved from the megalodon line, which existed from two to twenty million years ago," [Read More]

Fossilized Brains of Ancient 'Sea Monster' Discovered in Greenland

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  417 words  |  Patria Henriques

The discovery of not just one, but 15 fossilized brains from a 520-million-year-old marine predator is helping scientists understand how ancient brains evolved into the complex command centers they are today. The creature in question, Kerygmachela kierkegaardi — a bizarre, oval-shaped water beast that had two long appendages on its head, 11 swimming flaps on each side and a skinny tail — isn't new to science, but its brain is, said study co-lead researcher Jakob Vinther, a United Kingdom-based paleontologist. [Read More]

Here's How Many US Mothers Breastfeed

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  309 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The percentage of U.S. mothers who breast-feed their newborns continues to rise, but many stop breast-feeding before their infant is 6 months old, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2013, 81.1 percent of U.S. mothers said they started out breast-feeding their baby. That's up from 75 percent in 2008, and 70 percent in 2000, according to the CDC. Breast-feeding rates were highest in Utah, where 94. [Read More]

Humans Crawled Through a Cave 14,000 Years Ago. We Can Still See Their Perfectly Preserved Footprints.

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  666 words  |  Trudie Dory

To light their way, these late Stone Age people likely burned bundles of pine (Pinus) sticks, which archaeologists also found in the cave, known as Grotta della Bàsura, in northern Italy. The cave's ceiling was so low, that at one part, the ancient explorers were forced to crawl, leaving behind "the first evidence ever of human footprints left during crawling locomotion," that is, in a "crouching walk" position, said study first author Marco Romano, a postdoctoral researcher at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. [Read More]

Jesus in 2017: Biblical Archaeologists Had a Big Year

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  7 minutes  |  1375 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Introduction2017 was a big year for those who love biblical history. Discoveries from ancient saints, new finds from the Holy Land and relics of Jesus himself revealed new insights into the people who lived and died during biblical times. This year, scholars and archaeologists made several discoveries that are shining new light on these enigmatic biblical figures. From a forbidden teaching of Jesus' to Santa's pubic bone, here are some of the biggest stories in biblical archaeology from 2017. [Read More]

Meteors more massive than the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck Earth 800 million years ago

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  887 words  |  Patria Henriques

About 800 million years ago, a flurry of small asteroids slammed into the moon, pocking the lunar surface with clusters of craters. But the moon wasn't the only victim of this cosmic bombardment. If the moon experienced multiple asteroid strikes during this time, its close neighbor and parent planet — Earth — was probably also scarred by the same cosmic "storm," even if time has long since erased all traces of those ancient impacts. [Read More]

Normal Tot or Problem Child? Tantrum Frequency Holds Clues

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  528 words  |  Fernande Dalal

It's common for young children to have a temper tantrum from time to time, but daily tantrums are uncommon enough to be a possible sign of worrisome behavior problems, a new study finds. Based on a survey of nearly 1,500 parents, the study found that 84 percent of preschool kids had thrown a tantrum within the past month, but just 8.6 percent had daily tantrums. That finding indicates that, even in young children, daily tantrums are not typical and may suggest deeper problems, said study researcher Lauren Wakschlag of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. [Read More]

Ocean's Huge Hidden Waves Explained

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  376 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The biggest ocean waves in the world sweep through the South China Sea's Luzon Strait, towering more than 550 feet (170 meters) tall. Luckily for ships plying the busy waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, these massive waves barely break the surface, though the waves can be a daily event. But for scientists, understanding these underwater "internal waves," which happen throughout the world's oceans, is important for modeling Earth's climate; the waves may push huge volumes of heat, salt and nutrients around the ocean. [Read More]

People Unsure of Beliefs Are More Close-Minded

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  577 words  |  Fernande Dalal

People who are less confident in their beliefs are more reluctant than others to seek out opposing perspectives, researchers said today. The findings, which are based on a review of more than 90 studies, shed light on the debate over whether people intentionally steer clear of views conflicting with their own, or whether they are just exposed more often to ideas that conform to their own. The former seems to be the case. [Read More]

Pluto's famous heart powers icy winds on the dwarf planet

 Posted on December 25, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  544 words  |  Trudie Dory

Pluto's icy heart is beating. The dwarf planet's famous heart-shaped feature, which NASA's New Horizons spacecraft discovered during its epic July 2015 flyby, drives atmospheric circulation patterns on Pluto, a new study suggests. Most of the action comes courtesy of the heart's left lobe, a 600-mile-wide (1,000 kilometers) nitrogen-ice plain called Sputnik Planitia. This exotic ice vaporizes during the day and condenses into ice again at night, causing nitrogen winds to blow, the researchers determined. [Read More]