This 210-Million-Year-Old 'Dragon' Ate Bones (and Its Own Teeth) for Breakfast
Posted on December 12, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 445 words
| Patria Henriques
Smok wawelski, a T. rex-like apex predator that roamed what is now Europe about 210 million years ago, used to chew up its prey, bones and all. Scientists know this because they looked inside its poop.
In a new study published Jan. 30 in the journal Scientific Reports(opens in new tab), researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden examined 10 large coprolites (aka, fossilized poos) believed to have been plopped onto what is now Polish land by Smok during the late Triassic period (251 million to 199 million years ago).
[Read More]What Is a Proof?
Posted on December 12, 2022
| 6 minutes
| 1218 words
| Trudie Dory
A proof is a rigorous argument that shows a mathematical claim to be true.
Mathematics is different from other fields of science because claims are held to a different standard. Using the scientific method, claims are tested in order to verify or debunk them. Any person can do rigorous experiments to verify, for example, that the Earth is round or that lightning is electricity. No rigorous experiment has yet been able to disprove these claims (and likely none ever will).
[Read More]What Secrets Lurk in Kim Jong Un's Personal Toilet?
Posted on December 12, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 465 words
| Fernande Dalal
Some of us carry a security blanket to feel more comfortable when we are far away from home. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly carries a security toilet.
According to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, Kim arrived in Singapore this morning (June 11) for a nuclear disarmament summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, and he brought his personal toilet with him. [North Korea: A Hermit Country From Above (Photos)]
[Read More]'Behemoth' Daddy Longlegs Discovered in Oregon
Posted on December 11, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 604 words
| Trudie Dory
Scientists have unearthed a monstrous new arachnid lurking in the woods of southwest Oregon — and it's a beast.
The new daddy longlegs species, dubbed Cryptomaster behemoth, towers over other creatures of its kind. And like its cousin, the equally elusive Cryptomaster leviathan, the new species is incredibly difficult to find, because it hides out beneath the logs and leafy debris that blanket the forest floor.
The Cryptomaster leviathan was discovered in 1969 at one location in the coastal town of Gold Beach, Oregon.
[Read More]18 Cute Baby Gorillas Get Their Names
Posted on December 11, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 448 words
| Arica Deslauriers
A group of adorable baby mountain gorillas got their names this month during a ceremony in Rwanda.
The annual ritual, called Kwita Izina, has been held every summer for the past 10 years at Volcanoes National Park in northern Rwanda. During the ceremony, which began as a way to draw attention to the declining mountain gorilla population, participants give names to all the babies born inside the protected national park during the past year.
[Read More]A 21-Day Challenge Can Lead to Better Health
Posted on December 11, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 373 words
| Arica Deslauriers
I spent last Sunday afternoon the same way I spend most Sundays: Thumbing through the latest nutrition journals. (Try not to be too jealous.) I actually enjoy the process because I usually find a study or two that surprises me. This past Sunday, I didn't encounter any surprises, but I did find one study that inspired me.
The 2012 Northwestern University study found that people were able to make lasting changes to their diet and lifestyle after a 21-day commitment to follow a few rules.
[Read More]Did these crested dinosaurs talk to each other with low-pitched sounds?
Posted on December 11, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 496 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Paleontologists discovered fossils of a plant-eating dinosaur that belonged to a previously unknown species, one that was likely "talkative," based on the ear structure, which would've been adept at picking up low-frequency sounds.
The tail of the dinosaur, which lived 73 million years ago, was first discovered in 2005 in the Cerro del Pueblo Formation near Presa de San Antonio in Coahuila, northern Mexico, according to a new study describing the findings.
[Read More]Healthcare Systems: U.S. vs. Japan
Posted on December 11, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 749 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Fukuoka, Japan—No one here in this island nation of 130 million has gone bankrupt as a result of medical fees. In a country notorious for $80 cantaloupes and coffin-size hotel rooms for $200, healthcare services are remarkably inexpensive.
Although I am fully insured in the United States, my family opts to opt out while in Japan, paying full price for basic health services such as dental, ophthalmology and otolaryngology. (That's right: When's the last time you've had a routine visit with an ear doctor.
[Read More]In Surprise Recovery, Paralyzed Patients Move After Using Brain Devices
Posted on December 11, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 617 words
| Fernande Dalal
Several patients who had been paralyzed in their lower limbs for years have now regained some feeling and movement in their limbs, after learning to control a robotic exoskeleton with their brain, a new study says.
The findings were unexpected — researchers had been training the patients to use so-called brain-machine interfaces, including the robotic exoskeleton, with the hope that the patients could one day use the machines to help them walk again.
[Read More]Mysterious Bison Hybrid Revealed from Ancient DNA and Cave Paintings
Posted on December 11, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 886 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Clever detective work involving research on both ancient DNA and cave paintings from the last ice age has revealed a previously unknown species of hybrid bison, according to a new study.
Researchers initially nicknamed the newfound bison the "Higgs Bison," because, just like the once-elusive subatomic particle known as the Higgs Boson, the bison's very existence had never been confirmed, and it took about 15 years to piece together data that proved its existence.
[Read More]