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☆ Sabre-toothed ‘kitten’ mummy unearthed in Siberia is first of its kind
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A mummified ice age cub from Siberia is the first known mummy of a sabre-toothed cat, and its discovery is generating ripples of excitement among paleontologists. A, B and C reveal views of the mummified Homotherium latidens specimen: A is a thumb claw; B a second digit claw; and С a plantar view. However, the mummy also showed that sabre-toothed cubs differed dramatically from modern lion cubs of a similar age, Lopatin said. Its coat was darker, and its ears were smaller than those of lion cubs; it had longer forelimbs, a larger mouth opening and a more massive neck. Its paw is also more circular than that of a lion cub; in fact, its shape more closely resembles the paw of a bear, Tseng added.

Persons: Alexey V, “, ” Lopatin, Lopatin, leo, Jack Tseng, ”, Tseng, it’s, ” Tseng, ” Mindy Weisberger, С . Organizations: CNN, Russian Academy of Sciences, University of California, Scientific Locations: Siberia, Moscow, Asia, Netherlands, Canadian Yukon, Yakutia, Russia, Yakutia’s, Berkeley

☆ Editor-in-chief of Scientific American steps down after anti-Trump comments
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The Summary Scientific American editor-in-chief Laura Helmuth is leaving the publication. Soon after the election, she posted several profanity-laced comments on social media posts about the results. “I’ve decided to leave Scientific American after an exciting 4.5 years as editor in chief,” Helmuth wrote Thursday on BlueSky. Scientific American did not directly respond to questions about Helmuth’s departure, but its president, Kimberly Lau, said in a statement: “Laura Helmuth has decided to move on from her position as editor in chief of Scientific American. With Helmuth at the helm, Scientific American began to endorse candidates for the first time in 175 years.

Persons: Laura Helmuth, “ I’ve, ” Helmuth, “ I’m, Helmuth, Kimberly Lau, Laura, bemoaning, ”, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump “, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump’s, Kennedy Organizations: Scientific, University of North, RFK Jr, Department of Health, Human Services Locations: BlueSky, University of North Carolina

☆ Editor-in-chief of America’s oldest magazine resigns after calling Trump voters fascists
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Laura Helmuth is resigning as editor-in-chief of Scientific American magazine following an expletive-filled rant about Donald Trump voters. Posting on Bluesky, an X rival, Helmuth said Thursday that she’s “decided to leave Scientific American after an exciting 4.5 years as editor in chief” without mentioning her previous comments. In a series of now-deleted posts on the same platform, she called Trump voters the “meanest, dumbest, most bigoted” group and “fascists” following the former president’s reelection last week. Helmuth had apologized in a separate post, calling them “offensive and inappropriate” and that they don’t “reflect the position” of Scientific American. “We wish her well for the future.”At 179-years-old, Scientific American says it’s the “oldest continuously published magazine” in the United States and has published pieces from more than 200 Nobel winners.

Persons: Laura Helmuth, Donald Trump, Helmuth, she’s “, ”, “, ” Helmuth, ” Kimberly Lau, Laura, ” Lau, Kamala Harris, Trump Organizations: New, New York CNN, Scientific, Trump, CNN Locations: New York, United States

☆ Long-lost marine worm species photobombs seahorses, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The long-lost worm is Haplosyllis anthogorgicola, a species of bristle worm, or polychaete. But as Forreau was sorting her underwater photos of seahorses and corals, she made another unexpected discovery: The worms’ coral burrows were visible in the images. Perhaps, she thought, that might also be the case in other photos of pygmy seahorses. Images of pygmy seahorses taken by scuba divers were crawling with worm photobombs. Worms’ limbs, heads and tails poked out of coral burrows in the hundreds; the scientists even counted seven examples of worms crawling on seahorses’ bodies.

Persons: Huzio Utinomo, Chloé Fourreau, “, ”, Karen Osborn, Osborn, Ai Takahata, ” Forreau, coauthors, Chloé, Forreau, ” Osborn, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Kyoto University, Royal Society, Biological Sciences, University of, Smithsonian National Museum of, Royal Society B, Scientific Locations: Japan, Australia, Okinawa, Washington ,, Sukumo, Kochi, Worms, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Taiwan

☆ Fossil finding uncovers large ‘terror bird’ in Colombia
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-08 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The fossil leg bone of an extinct terror bird that was found in Colombia's Tatacoa Desert is shown. While some terror bird fossils have been found in Florida and Texas, the specimen from La Venta is believed to be the northernmost terror bird from South America documented by scientists. Placing terror birds in La Venta “is one step closer to understanding how terror birds finally got to North America,” Degrange said. A map shows the countries in North America and South America (in gray) where terror bird fossils have been found. “We know that probably one of the drivers that led terror birds to get larger and larger was the competition between species of terror birds — but why that big?” he said.

Persons: ”, Federico Javier Degrange, Degrange, phorusrhacids, “, ” Degrange, Karen Moreno, Moreno, ” Moreno, —, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, National University of Córdoba, Museo, Apex, National Monuments Council, Austral University of Chile’s Institute of Earth Sciences, Scientific Locations: Colombia, La, Palaeontology, Argentina, South America, what’s, Brazil, Venta, Florida, Texas, La Venta, North America, Chile

☆ Lost Maya city discovered in Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-02 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Scientists called Campeche an archaeological “blank spot” in the Maya Lowlands, an area spanning what is now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and southeastern Mexico, and which the Maya inhabited from about 1000 BC to AD 1500. Like other large capital cities from Maya sites, Valeriana had a reservoir, a ball court, temple pyramids and a broad road connecting enclosed plazas. In total, the researchers identified 6,764 structures in Valeriana and in other rural and urban settlements of varying sizes. In the north, Maya sites such as Chichén Itzá are highly visible. Morales-Aguilar’s work on Maya settlements in Guatemala aligns closely with the new findings, he told CNN in an email.

Persons: Valeriana, “, you’re, ”, Luke Auld, Thomas, ” Auld, Marcello Canuto, ” Canuto, Carlos Morales, Aguilar, Morales, ” Morales, Tomás Gallareta Cervera, ” Gallareta Cervera, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Nature Conservancy, Tulane University, University of Texas, Kenyon College, “, Scientific Locations: Mexican, Campeche, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Valeriana, Thomas Campeche, Tulane’s, Austin, Ohio

☆ Everest grew taller faster after Himalayan river ‘piracy,’ scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-30 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This process, known as river piracy, set in motion a chain of geological events that reshaped the landscape, scientists reported Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience. While some instances of river capture and landscape remodeling began millions of years ago, others are happening today, she added. Evidence of one ancient example still exists around the edges of the Himalayas, where long-ago river capture eroded deep gorges. Han’s simulations suggested that river capture would have dramatically increased the flow of water in the Kosi’s lower segments. Compared with river piracy, erosion and uplift unspool over a much longer time span — and are still happening with Everest, Lhotse and Makalu.

Persons: Everest, ”, Jin, Dai, ” Dai, Devon A, Orme, ” Orme, Nanga Parbat, Xu Han, “ There’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Nature, China University of Geosciences, Colorado, Montana State University, of Earth Sciences, Resources, Slims, Scientific Locations: Arun, Beijing, Antarctica, Himalayas, Tibet, Nepal, Orme, Everest, Canada’s Yukon

☆ Elusive orca group hunts dolphins off Chile, new images reveal
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-26 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The scientists had previously documented orcas (Orcinus orca) in the region chasing both dusky dolphins and long-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus capensis). Dusky dolphins measure about 7 feet (2 meters) long and weigh up to 187 pounds (85 kilograms). The Humboldt Current orcas weren’t eating dolphins exclusively; they hunted leatherback sea turtles, South American fur seals and Humboldt penguins, according to the study. But Humboldt Current orcas have a smaller white eye patch than known Type A orcas. A similar interaction was previously documented in Australia between an orca and a diver, but had never been observed in the Humboldt Current.

Persons: orcas, Luis Aguilar, CETALAB, Sarah Teman, ”, Teman, “, Ana Maria García Cegarra, Alexander von Humboldt, García Cegarra, ‘, García, ” Teman, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Northern, Southern Hemisphere, Marine Science, Humboldt, of, Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Natural Sciences, Chile’s University of Antofagasta, Research, Humboldt Penguin National Reserve, Hemisphere, International Union for, Chile’s Ministry of, Scientific Locations: Chile, South America, South, Antarctica, North America, Strait, Gibraltar, Scotland, Humboldt, Seattle, orcas, California, Argentina, New Zealand, Washington, British Columbia, Canada, American, Chilean Patagonia, Australia

☆ Kaspar Hauser: New DNA analysis upends ‘lost prince’ theory
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But these results were soon contradicted by tests a few years later that sampled Hauser’s hair. However, some researchers who supported the “lost prince” hypothesis claimed that the blood may not have belonged to Hauser, Parson told CNN. Those results showed that Hauser’s mtDNA was a close match to that of the Badens, contradicting the findings from Munich. A royal hoax debunkedParson’s lab conducted new analysis of Hauser’s hair, using strands collected before and after his death. The new findings about Hauser not only debunk the prince theory; they also demonstrate the importance of pushing the limits of technologies for DNA analysis, Parson said.

Persons: CNN — “, Kaspar Hauser, Hauser, Kaspar Hauser —, Daniel Karmann, —, ”, Dmitry Temiakov, Temiakov, Walther Parson, Parson, ” Parson, ” Temiakov, Duke Carl, Grand, Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Countess Louise Caroline von Hochberg, Carl, Stéphanie, Countess Hochberg’s, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Markgrafen, AP, Thomas Jefferson University, National DNA Database, Austrian Federal Ministry of, Scientific Locations: Nuremberg, Germany, Baden, what’s, Ansbach, Philadelphia, Innsbruck, Austria, Munich, Münster, “, Potsdam

☆ Diving lizard’s ‘scuba tank’ allows it to breathe underwater, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Footage that Swierk recently captured of submerged anoles shows prominent bubbles swelling and deflating on the reptiles’ heads. Diving anoles aren’t fast runners and rely mostly on camouflage to hide from predators such as birds, snakes, mammals and other lizards. For diving anoles, gular pumping may also play a part in circulating stored oxygen, affecting how long anoles can stay underwater. A throat-pumping action called gular pumping may play a part in circulating stored oxygen, affecting how long anoles can stay underwater. Another unresolved question is how diving anoles store and circulate oxygen while underwater.

Persons: Lindsey Swierk, Swierk, —, ”, ” Swierk, Earyn McGee, anoles, McGee, “ We’re, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Binghamton University, Los Angeles Zoo, Las Cruces Biological, Scientific Locations: Costa Rican, New York, Costa Rica, Panama, Costa, Las Cruces

☆ Swallowed eels escape via predator fish’s gills
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Dark sleeper fish (Odontobutis obscura) can gulp down young Japanese eels (Anguilla japonica) whole, but the swallowed eels can wriggle back up through the digestive tract and out of the stomach, swimming to freedom through the bigger fish’s gills, scientists recently discovered. “Witnessing the eels’ desperate escape from the predator’s stomach to the gills was truly astonishing for us.”A Japanese eel exhibits circling behavior along a predator's stomach wall in this X-ray video footage. But while they observed swallowed eels wriggling tailfirst from dark sleepers’ gills, “we had no understanding of their escape routes and behavioral patterns during the escape because it occurred inside the predator’s body,” Hasegawa said via email. Once a predator swallowed an eel, the sated fish was quickly moved to a special tank where the X-ray video camera was ready to roll. On average, it took about 3 ½ minutes for a swallowed eel to reappear and swim away.

Persons: ”, Yuha Hasegawa, Yuuki Kawabata, ichthyologist Kory Evans, “, ” Evans, ’ Hasegawa, Kazuki Yokouchi, Nagasaki University —, ” Hasegawa, Prosanta, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Graduate School of Fisheries, Environmental Sciences, Japan’s Nagasaki University, “, biosciences, Rice University, Japan Fisheries Research, Education Agency, Nagasaki University, Louisiana State University, LSU Museum of Natural Science, Scientific Locations: Anguilla, Houston

☆ Nuclear clocks could surpass precision of atomic ones
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

For this nuclear clock, the scientists used ultraviolet light to excite nuclear particles in an atom of thorium-229 embedded in solid crystal. For decades, atomic clocks have been used in GPS technologies, for space exploration and for keeping international time. The study of physics itself could be revolutionized by using nuclear clocks alongside atomic clocks, according to Zhang. “If the nuclear clock and the atomic clock transition frequency ratio is changing over time, it would be an indication of new physics.”Though there is still much progress to be made before nuclear clocks surpass the performance of atomic clocks — or replace them — these findings hint that such a time isn’t far off, Kolkowitz said. “As better UV laser sources are developed and as some of the mysteries and tricks of nuclear clocks get worked out, I expect that eventually some of the kinds of experiments we are currently doing in my lab to test relativity and search for new physics with atomic clocks will instead be performed with nuclear clocks,” Kolkowitz said.

Persons: ”, Chuankun Zhang, Zhang, Olga Kocharovskaya, Kocharovskaya, ” Zhang, Shimon Kolkowitz, Kolkowitz, ” Kolkowitz, What’s, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, National Institute of Standards, Technology, University of Colorado, Texas, M University, NASA, University of California, Scientific Locations: University of Colorado Boulder, Berkeley

☆ DNA analysis of Jamestown burials reveals governor’s family scandal
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Recently, DNA analysis of two skeletons from unmarked graves in a Jamestown church revealed that both people were related to West. That connection led researchers to documents proving that one of the men — Captain William West — was illegitimate, born to Thomas West’s spinster aunt, Elizabeth. An X-ray scan (left) of the spangled military sash fringed in silver (right) found in the grave of Captain William West. Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation (Preservation Virginia)Unmarked burials in colonial JamestownResearchers found four unmarked graves at Jamestown in 2014, in an Anglican church that the colonists used from about 1608 to 1616. MPI/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesWhile there wasn’t enough DNA to show immediate family ties, Wenman and Captain West both shared the haplogroup H10e.

Persons: Thomas West, Captain William West —, Thomas West’s, Elizabeth, Captain West, James Fort, ”, Christine Lee, Lee, Captain William West, Sir Ferdinando Wenman, —, Kari Bruwelheid, ” Bruwelheid, Éadaoin Harney, William West’s, ’, Ferdinando Wenman’s, ” Harney, West’s, Mary Blount, West “, West, Governor Thomas West, Ferdinando Wenman, Michael Lavin, ” Lavin, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Jamestown Rediscovery, Preservation, University of Mississippi, spangled, Jamestown, Smithsonian National Museum of, Harvard University, MPI, Governor, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, Scientific Locations: Jamestown , Virginia, Jamestown, England, Preservation Virginia, Wenman, West, Washington ,, North America

☆ Ancient swimming sea bug ‘taco’ had mandibles, new fossils show
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Newfound fossils of the extinct arthropod Odaraia alata recently provided scientists with a first glimpse of Odaraia’s jawlike structures, called mandibles. He conducted the research at the Royal Ontario Museum while pursuing a doctoral degree in the University of Toronto’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology. For the new investigation, the researchers examined around 150 fossils collected by Royal Ontario Museum during expeditions between 1975 and 2000. The carapace folded over Odaraia’s limbs, so it may have been unable to walk on the seafloor, according to the Royal Ontario Museum. More mandibulate mysteriesOne feature that puzzled and intrigued the scientists had never been seen before in Cambrian animals: a single toothlike structure between Odaraia’s mandibles.

Persons: Odaraia, Alejandro Izquierdo, López, ”, “, Jean, Bernard Caron, Joanna Wolfe, ” Wolfe, Wolfe, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Royal Ontario Museum, Royal Society, Biological Sciences, University of Toronto’s, Harvard University, “, Scientific Locations: Burgess, British Columbia, Canada, centipedes

☆ Young people today are stressed, depressed—and changing the fundamental pattern of happiness, new research shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Research shows that young adults are the unhappiest age groupBlanchflower's most recent working paper, co-authored with Alex Bryson and Xiaowei Xu, shows a change in the pattern, with happiness starting off low in young adulthood and increasing with age. Alongside other researchers, Blanchflower analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. But Wimsatt Childs agrees with Blanchflower that social media likely plays a role in this new pattern of unhappiness. "What social media has done in a lot of ways is it has amplified concerns that were already well underway," she says. Social media — apps like Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok — floods people with information and can lead to comparison among peers on a larger scale, she adds.

Persons: David Blanchflower, Blanchflower, Alex Bryson, Xiaowei Xu, Amber Wimsatt Childs, Wimsatt Childs, I'm Organizations: Dartmouth College, Research, Scientific, Centers for Disease Control, Yale School of Medicine Locations: U.S

☆ Ancient trilobite anatomy preserved in 3D by volcanic eruption, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Greg Edgecombe“It’s just incredible to have this in 3D without any alteration or deformation,” lead study author Dr. Abderrazak El Albani told CNN. The findings also underscore the urgency of protecting fossil-rich locations in Africa such as the Tatelt Formation, El Albani added. Such protections help to ensure that buried remnants of Earth’s distant past remain accessible for future study, El Albani said. Microtomographic reconstruction shows the newfound trilobite species Gigoutella mauretanica found in the Tatelt Formation in the High Atlas mountains. This example of commensalism — different types of animals living together — is also exceedingly rare in the trilobite fossil record, El Albani said.

Persons: Greg Edgecombe, Greg Edgecombe “, Abderrazak El Albani, Arnaud Mazurier, Matériaux de, El Albani, mauretanica, Melanie Hopkins, ”, Hopkins, “, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Chimie, Matériaux de Poitiers, University of Poitiers, geoscience, UNESCO, Heritage, University, Poitiers, American Museum of, Scientific Locations: what’s, Morocco, Vesuvius, London, France, Africa, Burgess, Canada, New York City, Morocco —

☆ Your Brain Holds Secrets. Scientists Want to Find Them.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Paula Span | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

About a month ago, Judith Hansen popped awake in the predawn hours, thinking about her father’s brain. His brain was unusual, too, even after he recovered from a stroke at 99. Although he left school after the eighth grade to work, Mr. Markoff became a successful businessman. He was a healthy centenarian when he exhibited his work at a gallery in Los Angeles, where he lived. At 103, he published a memoir called “Keep Breathing.” He blogged regularly, pored over The Los Angeles Times daily, discussed articles in Scientific American and followed the national news on CNN and “60 Minutes.”

Persons: Judith Hansen, Morrie Markoff, Markoff, ” Organizations: Los Angeles Times, Scientific, CNN, “ Locations: United States, Los Angeles

☆ Earth’s inner core has slowed so much it’s moving backward, scientists confirm. Here’s what it could mean
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Comparing the timing of seismic signals as they touched the core revealed changes in core rotation over time, confirming the 70-year rotation cycle. But the depth and inaccessibility of the inner core mean that uncertainties remain, she added. The mysterious region where the liquid outer core envelops the solid inner core is especially interesting, Vidale added. “We might have volcanoes on the inner core boundary, for example, where solid and fluid are meeting and moving,” he said. Because the spinning of the inner core affects movement in the outer core, inner core rotation is thought to help power Earth’s magnetic field, though more research is required to unravel its precise role.

Persons: seismologist Inge Lehmann, —, ”, Lauren Waszek, “, ” Waszek, John Vidale, “ We’ve, ” Vidale, we’ve, what’s, Vidale, Seismologists, Lehmann, Waszek, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, James Cook University, Earth Sciences, University of Southern California’s Dornsife, of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Geological Survey, Scientific Locations: Australia, New Zealand, South Sandwich, South

☆ Drone-on-drone clashes in Ukraine are like WWI dogfights — and tactics are evolving fast
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Read previewThe sheer scale of drone use in Ukraine has given rise to an increasing battle for the skies, and the rise of drone-on-drone dogfights. He described how a small commercial drone out on reconnaissance might notice an enemy drone in the sky, fly above it, and drop down to clip its rotors. Armed Forces of UkraineOne of the simplest attacks is using an FPV drone to crash into an enemy drone, with or without an explosive attached. Ukrainian drone footage shows a Russian drone with an explosive payload hanging from it. Drones can be sent to look for antenna peeking out of windows — "a tell-tale sign of an enemy drone pilot covertly operating," he said.

Persons: —, James Patton Rogers, Mike Monnik, DroneSec, Monnik, DroneHunter, Skip, Patton Rogers, John Moore, we'll Organizations: Service, Business, Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute, Armed Forces of, Royal United Services Institute, Ukraine's Center, Strategic Communications, Information Security, Scientific, BI, Ukrainian Army's 93rd Brigade, Aircraft Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Ukrainian, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Bakhmut

☆ Flipping a famous fossil around reveals our earliest vertebrate ancestor, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Scientists recently identified the animal’s nerve cord by using a topsy-turvy twist. In 2012, after decades of studying Pikaia fossils, researchers described its fossilized internal structures in great detail. However, recent analysis of Pikaia fossils by another team of scientists, published June 11 in the journal Current Biology, has upended this view and all other earlier studies about Pikaia. The presumed blood vessel was a nerve cord, a feature associated with the animal group known as chordates, in the phylum Chordata. While there are no living analogues for Pikaia, the fossil arthropod data gave the scientists a more detailed frame of reference for Pikaia’s nerve cord.

Persons: Charles Doolittle Wolcott, Giovanni Mussini, Pikaia, ”, Jon Mallatt, Mallatt, “ Pikaia’s, Jakob Vinther, Mussini, ” Mussini, we’ve, ” Mallatt, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Smithsonian National Museum of, Royal Ontario Museum, University of Idaho, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, Scientific Locations: Burgess, British Columbia, macroevolution, United Kingdom, mudskippers, chordates

☆ Extinct ‘thunder bird’ from Australia was a giant goose, skull reveals
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —For more than a century, scientists have been unsuccessfully hunting for skull fossils for the thunder bird species Genyornis newtoni. Now, the discovery of a complete G. newtoni skull has resolved this longstanding mystery, giving scientists their first face-to-face encounter with the massive mihirung. Pictured here is the skull of G. newtoni, which is helping resolve a long-standing mystery about the giant bird's face. The illustration also highlights how G. newtoni stacks up sizewise to its closest relative, Anhima cornuta (nearest to G. newtoni) and the cassowary (not related). From there, he constructed a scaffold that was consistent across multiple skull fossils.

Persons: newtoni, Larry Witmer, ” Witmer, “ It’s, ”, Witmer, Phoebe McInerney, ” McInerney, “ Genyornis, Genyornis, dromornithids, Anhima, Jacob Blokland, ” Blokland, Blokland, McInerney, Blockland, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Flinders University G, Ohio University, “, Flinders University, Flinders Palaeontology, Flinders University Big, Scientific Locations: Australia, Australia’s, it’s, South Australia, South America, “

☆ Ancient Egyptian medicine may have included cancer surgery, skull analysis reveals
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Now, new evidence from a skull more than 4,000 years old has revealed that ancient Egyptian physicians may have tried to treat certain cancers with surgery. “We can see that ancient Egyptian medicine was not solely based on herbal remedies like medicine in other ancient civilizations,” said Badr, who was not involved in the new research. “There is an urgent need to reevaluate the history of Egyptian medicine using these scientific methodologies,” Badr said. The earliest recorded observation of cancer is in an ancient Egyptian medical text known as the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, which dates back to around 3000 BC to 2500 BC. But there was none for the breast cancer patient’s tumors, Camarós said.

Persons: ”, Edgard Camarós, Camarós, ” Camarós, Isidro, Ibrahem Badr, Badr, Duckworth, ” Badr, Edwin Smith Surgical, Edwin Smith, “, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN — Cancer, Laboratory, University of Cambridge, University of Santiago, CNN, Misr University for Science, Technology, Duckworth Laboratory, Scientific Locations: Egypt, United Kingdom, Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Coruña, Spain, Camarós, Giza, Europe, United States

☆ Gold earring found in burned Iron Age village may reveal ‘moment in time,’ archaeologists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The inferno consumed the wooden structure, situated in an Iron Age settlement, killing six animals penned in the stable. The presence of a horse in the stable suggested that these people were wealthier than some of their neighbors, Olesti Vila said. The site provides important insights into the daily lives of Iberian Iron Age populations in the Pyrenees at this pivotal time in history, Arnold said in an email. During the Iron Age, when people lived in wooden homes heated by fires, buildings often accidentally burned. “This is also an indication of some kind of conflict or some kind of violent aggression,” Olesti Vila said.

Persons: Oriol Olesti Vila, Baltarga, Francesc Riart, Olesti Vila, “, weren’t, ”, Bettina Arnold, Arnold, ” Arnold, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Autonomous University of Barcelona, University of Wisconsin -, Scientific Locations: Iberia, Spain, Tossal, Baltarga, Iron, Hannibal, Roman Republic, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Pyrenees, “, Europe

☆ ‘Alphabet’ of sounds reveals complexity of sperm whale communication, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

They’ve identified previously unknown complexity in whale communication by analyzing thousands of recorded sequences of sperm whale clicks with artificial intelligence. What sperm whales are saying with their clicks remains a mystery to human ears. “This work builds on a lot of prior work focused on understanding the calls of sperm whales. For the new study, the researchers used machine learning to detect patterns in audio data collected by The Dominica Sperm Whale Project, a repository for observations of sperm whales that inhabit the Caribbean Sea. The study authors defined four features in codas: rhythm, tempo, rubato and ornamentation.

Persons: They’ve, ”, Daniela Rus, ” Rus, Luke Rendell, Andrews, Rendell, “, it’s, Rus, ” Rendell, Brenda McCowan, McCowan, ” McCowan, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN —, Nature Communications, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, MIT, University of St, University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Scientific Locations: United Kingdom, Dominica, Eastern, Caribbean, Alaska

☆ Stone Age humans once sheltered in lava tube caves
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Beginning in the Stone Age, Neolithic herders descended into and occupied these vast tunnels, known as lava tubes, archaeologists have discovered. Umm Jirsan spans nearly 1 mile (1.5 kilometers), with passages that are up to 39 feet (12 meters) tall and as much as 148 feet (45 meters) wide. The researchers enter Umm Jirsan, the longest lava tube system in the region. Animal carvingsIn another tunnel near Umm Jirsan, the researchers found 16 panels of engraved rock art. “Collectively, the archaeological findings at the site and in the surrounding landscape paint a picture of recurrent use of the Umm Jirsan Lava Tube over millennia,” Stewart said.

Persons: Jirsan, haven’t, Umm, ”, Mathew Stewart, ” Stewart, Umm Jirsan, Guillaume Charloux, Charloux, Stewart, “, —, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN —, Australian Research Centre, Griffith University, CNN, Umm, French National Centre for Scientific Research, ’, Saudi Geological Survey, Arabia, Scientific Locations: Medina, Saudi Arabia, Umm Jirsan, Australia, Arabia, Asia

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