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☆ Lost biblical tree resurrected from 1,000 year-old seed
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Botanists have grown a long-lost tree species from a 1,000-year-old seed found in a cave in the Judean Desert in the 1980s. But the scientists conducting the new research weren’t able to identify the type of tree from the seed alone. However, the sample didn’t match any of the known Commiphora species in her database. The tree, which the study authors believe may have a biblical connection, is seen at 12 years old. Yet the tree, which is related to the myrrh tree that’s famed for its resin, never gave off any kind of scent.

Persons: Dr, Sarah Sallon, Louis, Sallon, tsori, “ Sheba, ”, Guy Eisner, Elaine Solowey, ” Sallon, Andrea Weeks, Weeks, it’s, “ guggulterols, Louise Colville, Colville wasn’t, “ Organizations: CNN, Natural Medicine Research, Hadassah University Medical, Communications, Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, George Mason University, Royal Botanic Locations: Judean, Jerusalem, Gilead, Jordan, Israel, Africa, Madagascar, Fairfax , Virginia, Kew, London

☆ Ryan Reynolds' longtime personal trainer shared 5 simple pieces of advice he gives clients to boost their longevity
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Rachel Hosie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"You're going to move better, you're going to feel better, you're going to build confidence," Saladino said. AdvertisementMuscle loss with age is known as sarcopenia, but strength training and eating a high-protein diet can help prevent this, he said. Prioritize sleepYou often hear people saying getting up early in the morning requires discipline, but Saladino thinks going to bed early requires more. AdvertisementThe three macronutrients that make up all foods are protein, carbs, and fat, but Saladino thinks we should pay as much attention to fiber too. Get your steps inWalking is another underutilized key to health and longevity, Saladino said, and he encourages people to do it as much as possible.

Persons: —, Ryan Reynolds, Don Saladino, Saladino, they've, it's, we're Organizations: Service, Business, American College of Cardiology, Communications Biology

☆ Scientists Show How to Turn Lunar Soil Fertile for Agriculture
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers said on Thursday they have found a way to turn inhospitable lunar soil fertile by introducing bacteria that enhance the availability of phosphorus, an important plant nutrient. They performed experiments growing a relative of tobacco using simulated moon soil, more properly called lunar regolith, in a laboratory in China. In that study, Arabidopsis did grow, but not as robustly in the lunar soil as in volcanic ash from Earth used for comparative purposes, suggesting that lunar soil could use a little help to become more fertile. The study used simulated regolith rather than the real thing because genuine lunar soil, as one might imagine, is in short supply on Earth. "In contrast, our technique, which is a kind of in-situ resource utilization, applies microbial improvement to the lunar soil, making it more fertile and capable for plant cultivation," Xia added.

Persons: Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Yitong Xia, benthamiana, Xia, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: China Agricultural University, Communications, NASA Locations: China, Beijing, United States, China's Jilin Province

☆ Scientists show how to turn lunar soil fertile for agriculture
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Persons: Nicotiana, Yitong Xia, benthamiana, Xia, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: China Agricultural University, Reuters, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Communications, NASA, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, United States, China's Jilin Province

☆ An 8.7 million-year-old ape skull suggests that human and ape ancestors may have evolved in Europe, not Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An ape skull found in Turkey may challenge the belief that human and ape ancestors came from Africa. The discovery suggests that hominins may have first evolved in Europe. The discovery challenges the widely-held view that the ancestors of African apes and humans originated exclusively in Africa. Advertisement Advertisement Watch: This incredible animation shows how humans evolved from early lifeResearchers say that this suggests that hominins might have first evolved in Europe before migrating to Africa. AdvertisementAdvertisement"I don't think this find changes much from the discussions (in a recent paper in the journal Science) which concluded: 'Current evidence suggests that hominins originated in Africa from Miocene ape ancestors unlike any living species.'"

Persons: Erol, David, Chris Stringer, hominins Organizations: Service, University of Toronto, Communications, The Telegraph Locations: Turkey, Africa, Europe, Wall, Silicon, Cankiri, et, London

☆ Egyptian scientists discovered a diminutive 41-million year old whale and named it after King Tut
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Sebastian Cahill | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Egyptian paleontologists found a new, extinct whale species, about the size of a bottlenose dolphin. It is the smallest known whale of the extinct basilosaurids family, says the scientists' new study. The species is named "Tutcetus rayanensis," after King Tutankhamun, an ancient Egyptian Pharoah. It's named in part "Tut" for the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun or "King Tut," who died at 19, since researchers believe the specimen found had also not yet reached full maturity. Antar and the MUVP did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: King Tutankhamun, It's, Tutankhamun, Tut, rayanensis, Mohammed S, Antar, doesn't, Erik R, CNN there's, Seiffert Organizations: Service, Biology, Smithsonian, Vertebrate Paleontology, CNN, University of Southern Locations: Wall, Silicon, Egypt, University of Southern California

☆ Fossil discovery may be one of the oldest, smallest aquatic whales found in Africa, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jenna Schnuer Cnn | Jenna Schnuer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The find is also the oldest fully aquatic whale found in Africa, according to a new study. Tutcetus rayanensis is a member of the extinct family of early whales known as basilosauridae — the first widespread group to become fully aquatic. The discovery of the whale fossil led to the establishment of a new genus within the basilosauridae family. The area is one of the world’s “most productive fossil whale sites,” according to the study. Tutcetus rayanensis is the second whale species, following Phiomicetus anubis, to be discovered, described, and named by Egyptian paleontologists,” Antar said via email.

Persons: Pharaoh Tutankhamen, rayanensis, ”, Mohammed S, Antar, ” Antar, paleobiologist Nicholas Pyenson, wasn’t, Abdullah Gohar, Mohamed Sameh, Hesham, Whales, Erik R, Seiffert, Carlos Mauricio Peredo, Hesham Sallam Organizations: CNN, Communications, Vertebrate Paleontology, Smithsonian National Museum of, Egypt's, University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Miami University in, American University Locations: Egypt, Africa, Washington , DC, Mansoura, Wadi, Miami University in Oxford , Ohio, Cairo

☆ A Parasite May Explain Why Some People Are Driven to Start a Company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

When wolves in Yellowstone National Park get infected with a cat parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, they become more likely to leave their packs and start new ones. The Yellowstone wolf data hints that it's just the side effect of a protozoan inhabiting our brains in a failed attempt to make more protozoa. So why would any of this make an infected wolf want to start its own pack? That was the suggestion of an influential 2006 paper titled "Can the Common Brain Parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, Influence Human Culture?" Just because Toxo might drive an alpha male to start a company, that doesn't mean it'll be a successful company.

☆ A new species of penguin-like diving dinosaur has been discovered
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A new study found evidence at least one species of dinosaur may have been an adept swimmer, diving into the water like a duck to hunt its prey. The study, published in Communications Biology on December 1, describes a newly-discovered species, Natovenator polydontus. Scientists from Seoul National University, the University of Alberta, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences collaborated on the paper. The Natovenator specimen is very similar to Halszkaraptor, another dinosaur discovered in Mongolia, which scientists believe was likely semiaquatic. “There is a real question of, OK, you’ve got a swimming dinosaur in the desert, what’s it swimming in?” he said.

☆ A Penguin-Like Shape May Have Helped This Dinosaur Dive
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And then there are penguins, which plunge a quarter-mile deep into icy waters in search of food. It now seems that modern birds are not the only dinosaur group to embrace the plunge-and-prey lifestyle. A team of researchers say they have found the earliest example of an extinct dinosaur with a body that was streamlined for diving. They described the dinosaur discovery in the journal Communications Biology on Thursday. The new duck-size dinosaur was at first overlooked.

☆ 'Mind-control' parasites make wolves likelier to be pack leader
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Wolves are pack animals, living in family groups led by a matriarch and her mate. Researchers found that gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park infected with a parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii were more likely to leave the group of wolves they were born into or become a pack leader. Kira Cassidy/NPSRisky behavior of infected animalsScientists have been monitoring wolves in Yellowstone National Park since the species was reintroduced there in 1995. Pack behavior is observed via trail cameras and plane flyovers, and about a quarter of the wolves wear radio tracking collars and undergo blood tests. “The more we learn about wolf behavior, the better we can understand how to conserve the species,” she said.

☆ Au fost descoperite fosilele unui mamifer uriaș; Avea 21 de tone și era mai înalt decât o girafă
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-18 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +2 min

Sursa foto: ProfimediaAu fost descoperite fosilele unui mamifer uriaș; Avea 21 de tone și era mai înalt decât o girafăO nouă specie de rinocer gigantic preistoric - printre cele mai mari mamifere care au populat vreodată uscatul - a fost descoperită în nord-vestul Chinei, susţin cercetători din această ţară. Paraceratherium linxiaense, care a trăit în urmă cu aproximativ 26,5 milioane de ani, cântărea 21 de tone, echivalentul a patru elefanţi africani mari. Putea ajunge cu capul - fără corn - până la o înălţime de 7 metri, reuşind să se hrănească cu frunze din vârfurile copacilor, ceea ce îl făcea mai înalt decât o girafă. Într-un studiu publicat joi în revista Communications Biology, oamenii de ştiinţă au precizat că analiza fosilelor - descoperite în apropierea satului Wangjiachuan în 2015 - a relevat o specie complet nouă, diferită de ceilalţi rinoceri gigantici. Or, dacă acest rinocer gigantic a putut călători liber între nord-vestul Chinei şi subcontinentul indian-pakistanez, aceasta înseamnă că Platoul Tibetan avea probabil unele zone joase la acea vreme, au indicat cercetătorii.

Persons: Paraceratherium, Putea, Dr, Deng Tao, ştiinţă, Deng Organizations: Communications, Asia Centrală . Locations: Chinei, Gansu, Beijing, Pakistan, Asia Centrală, pakistanez

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