'Longhorn' Dinosaur Fossil Discovered in Utah

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  471 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The fossilized remains of a newly identified dinosaur with horns so long they would put Triceratops to shame has been discovered in the Utah desert. The new species, described today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, was dubbed Nasutoceratops, which translates to "big-nosed horned face." The giant beast lived roughly 76 million years ago and was part of the ceratopsid group, which consists of plant-eating, rhinoceros-like dinos, including Triceratops. [Read More]

Cinnamon Supplements May Be Risky for People Taking Statins

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  673 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Taking cinnamon supplements could potentially be dangerous, especially for the millions of people who take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol, a new case report suggests. In the report, a 73-year-old woman developed the liver condition hepatitis just one week after she added cinnamon supplements to her high-dose statin medication. It is probable that the herbal remedy combined with the high dose of statins to induce a drug-supplement interaction that caused the woman's hepatitis, the patient's doctors wrote in the report. [Read More]

COVID-19 has now killed as many people in the U.S. as the 1918 Spanish flu

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  591 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

COVID-19 has now killed as many people in the U.S. as the 1918 flu pandemic, which is often cited as the most severe pandemic in recent history, according to the Associated Press(opens in new tab). As of Tuesday (Sept. 21), more than 676,200 people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard(opens in new tab). The 1918-1919 flu pandemic is thought to have killed roughly 675,000 people in the U. [Read More]

Debbie Reynolds' Death: Can You Die of a Broken Heart?

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  628 words  |  Trudie Dory

Actress Debbie Reynolds died from a stroke on Dec. 28, just one day after her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, died from a heart attack, Variety reported. Reynolds, who starred in film classics such as "Singin' in the Rain," was 84. Reynolds told her son shortly before her stroke, "I miss her so much. I want to be with Carrie," reported TMZ. Did the death of her daughter possibly play a role in Reynolds' own death? [Read More]

First 'Winged' Mammals Lived Alongside Dinosaurs 160 Million Years Ago

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  546 words  |  Patria Henriques

Both newly identified species lived about 160 million years ago, making them the oldest-known mammal-like gliders on record, the researchers said. "I was stunned when first seeing these specimens — they looked as if they just fell flat into a shallow lake, with limbs and their gliding membranes spread perfectly out, fossilized for eternity," the studies' lead researcher, Zhe-Xi Luo, a paleontologist and professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Chicago, told Live Science in an email. [Read More]

Herbal Supplements Often Contain Unlisted Ingredients

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  445 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

People who consume herbal products such as supplements may be getting more, or less, than they bargained for. Many of these products contain ingredients not listed on the label, a new study finds. In the study, nearly 60 percent of herbal products tested contained plant substances not listed on the label. In nearly a third of products, the main ingredient was substituted with a different product. More than 20 percent of products contained fillers such as rice, wheat and soybeans, in addition to the main ingredient. [Read More]

How the Heck Did Black Widow Spider DNA Get Inside a Virus?

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  733 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Scientists have found some toxic DNA lurking inside a virus that infects bacteria. In addition to its own genes, the virus holds a gene for black widow spider venom and DNA from other animals, the researchers found. The findings suggest that either the virus snagged this foreign genetic material or that these other animals have stolen DNA from the virus, the researchers said. Future research could find that such swapping across domains of life, from the most complex to the most ancient, is more common than previously thought, scientists say. [Read More]

Is anyone on Earth not an immigrant?

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  676 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Human beings tend to be fascinated with their beginnings. Origin stories are found across cultures, religions, ethnicities and nationalities — and they are all deeply important. These stories tell people where they come from, how they fit in and how everyone fits together. One of these stories, of course, is the story of human genes, and it's a story anyone with human DNA shares. As scientists find more ancient human DNA, sample more modern DNA and develop more ways to analyze this genetic material, it's revealing a lot about how early humans moved — and moved and moved — around the world, coming to inhabit nearly every swath of land. [Read More]

Possible evidence for biblical earthquake found in City of David

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  846 words  |  Trudie Dory

(opens in new tab)Archaeologists have found evidence of an earthquake that hit the City of David in Jerusalem about 2,800 years ago and that could be a major event described in the Hebrew Bible.  During their excavations, the archaeological team, from the Israel Antiquities Authority, discovered a layer of destruction dating to that time in the City of David National Park. Inside the layer was "a row of shattered vessels, including bowls, lamps, cooking utensils, storage and storage jars, which were smashed as [a] building's walls collapsed," [Read More]

Smoking While Pregnant Harms Kids' Motor Skills

 Posted on December 8, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  300 words  |  Patria Henriques

Women who smoke during pregnancy risk harming their future child's coordination and motor abilities, especially those of boys, a new study suggests. The dangerous effects of smoking during pregnancy are already widely known babies are more likely to be born prematurely or with low birth weight, and are up to three times more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Read More]