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☆ In Coral Fossils, Searching for the First Glow of Bioluminescence
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Sam Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bioluminescence is used throughout the animal kingdom, particularly in marine environments, to lure prey, startle predators and even act as camouflage in the surrounding light. “We always say it’s light-limited in the deep sea, but there are a lot of organisms that produce their own light,” said Andrea Quattrini, a zoologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington. The dazzling glow of bioluminescence is common in Octocorallia, also known as octocorals, a class of over 3,000 Anthozoa species including sea fans, sea pens and soft corals. The prevalence of bioluminescence in these sessile animals makes a lot of sense, Dr. Quattrini said: “They settle somewhere and they’re there.”How long organisms have been able to emit light is at the center of recent research by Dr. Quattrini and colleagues. Their latest study, published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, resets the timing for the emergence of bioluminescence back to about 540 million years ago, from the existing understanding that it appeared in small marine crustaceans 267 million years ago.

Persons: ”, Andrea Quattrini, Quattrini, “ Organizations: Smithsonian National Museum of, Royal Society Locations: Washington

☆ Giant pandas coming to San Francisco from China
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Paradise Afshar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —China will send giant pandas to live at San Francisco’s zoo for the first time, Mayor London Breed has announced. “The memorandum of understanding signed by Mayor Breed and the (China Wildlife Conservation Association) this morning is the first official leased agreement for Giant Pandas to have residency at the San Francisco Zoo,” a media release from the city on Friday reads. “In 1984 and again in 1985, the San Francisco Zoo temporarily hosted Giant Pandas from China as part of a global tour.”In February, it was announced that China would be sending two giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo – marking the first time it has granted new panda loans in the US in two decades, CNN previously reported. The National Zoo was the first US zoo to showcase pandas, and the end of its program had left Zoo Atlanta as the only other US zoo to feature pandas. Fewer than 2,000 giant pandas remain in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which lists the species as vulnerable.

Persons: Mayor London Breed, Mayor Breed, “, ”, Breed, Xi Jinping, Richard Nixon’s Organizations: CNN, Mayor London, Mayor, China Wildlife Conservation Association, Giant Pandas, San Francisco Zoo, Pandas, San Diego Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoo, Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, World Wildlife Fund Locations: China, Francisco’s, “ San Francisco, Washington, Beijing

☆ 'Mary & George': the Scandalous True Story Behind the Starz Series
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Eve Crosbie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"Mary & George" takes viewers inside the raucous 17th century court of Britain's King James I. AdvertisementNicholas Galitzine as George Villiers in "Mary & George." Tony Curran as King James and Nicholas Galitzine as George Villiers in "Mary & George." Nicholas Galitzine as George Villiers in "Mary & George." "Mary & George" is released weekly on Fridays at midnight on the Starz app and the Starz linear channel at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Persons: Mary, George, Britain's King James I, —, Long, Kris Kardashian, Mary Villiers, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Galitzine, Tony Curran, Countess, Duke of Buckingham, Benjamin Woolley's, James I, England's James I, Scotland's James VI, George Villiers, Mary Villiers's, Sir George Villiers, Moore, what's, James, Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, Laurie Davidson, King James, Carr, Alan Stewart, King James I, Marquess of Buckingham, George Villiers's, George reminisced, King James Until James, Katherine Manners, Earl of Rutland, Katherine, Starz Mary, Woolley, poultices, King Charles I, Charles Organizations: Service, Starz, Royal, Farnham, BBC, Smithsonian Magazine Locations: France, England, Scottish, London, Surrey, Britain

☆ Opinion | 2024, I’d Like You to Meet 1892
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Jon Grinspan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

By 1892, a giddily consumerist, venomously partisan Gilded Age society had gotten good at churning out campaign tchotchkes. The 1892 election marked Cleveland and Harrison’s second contest against each other. The repeated, deadening matchups of Cleveland and Harrison in 1888 and 1892 did just that. There are other rematches in American presidential history, but 1892 was the only time a sitting president lost re-election, ran four years later against his vanquisher, and won. That weird race has a message for all those planning to hit snooze on the coming campaign: Great political change can unfold when the system seems woefully stalled.

Persons: Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, Cleveland, Harrison, tchotchkes Organizations: Cleveland, Biden, Trump Locations: Cleveland

☆ Billy Dee Williams says actors should be allowed to wear blackface
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

I love that kind of stuff.”The origins of blackface date back to the minstrel shows of the mid-19th century. You should do it.”“If you’re an actor, you should do anything you want to do,” he said. Williams, who is best known for playing Lando Calrissian in the “Star Wars” franchise, pushed back. I don’t want to do anything based on this whole idea that ‘you’re a Black person, you’re a White person’ and things of that nature,” he said. I’m a creative entity in this life.”In 2019, Williams spoke about embracing the different parts of his character by using gender-fluid pronouns.

Persons: Billy Dee Williams, Bill Maher, Williams, White, Laurence Olivier’s, ”, Olivier, “, Maher, Olivier wouldn’t, ” Williams, Williams “, should’ve, Lando Calrissian, I’m, ’, ’ I’m, “ I’m, ‘ Organizations: CNN, Southern, Smithsonian’s National Museum of, ”, “, Wars, Esquire Locations: Southern United States

☆ They Came From Outer Space. Now, They’re Going Into Hiding.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Katherine Kornei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If you’re looking for meteorites, here’s a tip: Go south. Roughly 60 percent of all known meteorites have been collected there. That’s because, as temperatures rise, thousands of meteorites will sink into the continent’s ice and disappear from sight every year, according to a new study published on Monday. Rather, meteorites simply tend to be more visible on the Antarctic ice sheet than they would be, say, in your backyard. “Your eye can pick out a dark rock on a white surface super easily,” said Dr. Corrigan, who was not involved in the new research.

Persons: Cari Corrigan, ”, Corrigan Organizations: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum Locations: Antarctica

☆ A Harvard professor is risking his reputation to search for aliens. Tech tycoons are bankrolling his quest.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

The Harvard professor's research is bankrolled by tech tycoons "pissed off" at academia's dogma. But this boundary-pushing is exactly why he's backed Loeb's research. AdvertisementDesch, the astrophysicist from Arizona University, posted a critique of Loeb's work on arXiv alleging "multiple fatal flaws with the manuscript's arguments." Asked whether he no longer believes in a possible technological origin for the meteor, Loeb said they need to investigate further. As he plans more extravagant expeditions to prove the origin of the interstellar meteor, Loeb likens his critics to crows pecking at the neck of an eagle.

Persons: Avi Loeb, Loeb, —, Steven Desch, they're, Loeb's, they've, Charles Hoskinson, that's, Anibal Martel, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Hawking, Lucas Jackson, Oumuamua, Desch, It's, Meech, Hoskinson, Rather, Lane Turner, James Webb, Bill Diamond, Stenzel, AARO, UAPs, Loeb hasn't, Joe Rogan's, Eugene Jhong, Galileo, ", Frank Laukien, Laukien, Charles Alcock, Seth Shostak, Stephen Wolfram, Richard Branson's, Vera, Rubin, Avi Loeb Loeb, what's, Rob McCallum, Mariana Trench, James Cameron, Avi Loeb Hoskinson, spherules, Harvard's Stein Jacobsen, Loeb didn't, Monica Grady, Patricio Gallardo, it's, Diamond, That's Avi, Adam Glanzman Organizations: Harvard, Service, Arizona State University, Netflix, Galileo, Anadolu Agency, Reuters, University of Hawaii, Boston Globe, James Webb Telescope, NASA, SETI Institute, Pew Research Center, Department of Defense, UAP Department of Defense, Jhong, Bruker Corporation, Smithsonian's, for Astrophysics, MIT, Wolfram Research, Harvard University, Survey, US Space Command, Hoskinson, UK's Open University, University of Chicago, Arizona University, U.S . Government, The Washington, Getty, Loeb, Astronomy, Astrophysics Locations: Lexington , Massachusetts, United States, Getty, Loeb's, New York, Cambridge, Massachussetts, UAPs, Colorado, Chile, Papua New Guinea, 2401.09882, IM1

His skills were passed down and cultivated from generation to generation, prompting two of his grandsons to create a construction company in Tennessee, also called McKissack & McKissack. "My father always took us [to] job sites, took us to the office. Today, it brings in between $25 million and $30 million per year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, and manages $15 billion in projects with offices in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Baltimore. She applied for jobs as a federal contractor, getting her foot in the door to work on construction projects at the White House and U.S. Treasury building. Deryl McKissack

Persons: Deryl, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Moses, Cheryl, McKissack, Moses McKissack, we've, they've, Andrea, William DeBerry Organizations: McKissack, D.C, Smithsonian African American Museum of, CNBC, Howard University, Washington Post, White House, . Treasury, Oxford Locations: Washington, Tennessee, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Baltimore

☆ 7 times a total solar eclipse revolutionized science
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In the middle of the afternoon, day will shift to night, as a total solar eclipse touches 15 states. We know now what causes a total solar eclipse. Here are seven times a total solar eclipse has helped advance human science. Culture Club/Bridgeman via Getty ImagesOn March 14, 189 BCE, a total solar eclipse swept over what is now northern Turkey. Corbis via Getty ImagesGemini 12 astronauts Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to see a total eclipse from space.

Persons: —, China's emporer, Edmond Halley, De, Anaxagoras, Hipparchus, Nicaea, Edmond, Halley, Isaac Newton's, Norman Lockyer, Pierre Jules César Janssen, Janssen, Lockyer, James Craig Watson, Vulcan, Albert Einstein, Einstein, Corbis, Jim Lovell, Buzz Aldrin Organizations: Service, Business, Getty, Alexandria . Culture Club, Bridgeman, Science, Society Picture Library, Sun, Mercury, Wallops, Smithsonian Magazine, NASA Locations: Ireland, China, Alexandria, Turkey, Egypt, England, India, French, Guntur, Brazil, Principe, Africa, Virginia, Peru

☆ Part scary, part exciting: How artists are using AI in their work
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

But they also said they were excited about what generative AI might bring. Installation artist Rubem Robierb was "shocked" when he first saw what generative AI could do, he told CNBC by phone. "In its infancy, [generative] AI can create more images in a second [than] the human brain can even process. As it exists right now, [generative] AI sources from known images, known artwork, and known artists to complete a task. Generative artUsing generative AI in an ethical manner is a key consideration for London gallery the Serpentine, which has developed AI projects with artists since 2014, according to its CEO Bettina Korek.

Persons: Refik, Hugo Glendinning, OpenAI's DALL, Rubem Robierb, Robierb, Dandara dos Santos, Rubem, Bettina Korek, Refik Anadol, Korek, Anadol, Julian Espagnon, Danilo S, Shane Guffogg, Carlucci, Holly Herndon, Mat Dryhurst, Jordan Meyer, Guffogg, I'm Organizations: CNBC, Celebrity Cruises for Edge, Smithsonian Institution, Economic, United Arab, & Systems, gallery's Arts Technologies Locations: London, New York City, Fortaleza, Brazil, New York, Miami, Europe, Serpentine, Davos, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Herndon, Venice, Italy, California

☆ Dazzling selection of the world’s biggest, finest and most unusual gems unite in a single exhibition
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Julia Carmel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“It’s really personal.”It’s easy to understand why: As the curator of mineral sciences for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, Celestian oversees the Gem & Mineral Hall. The 125-carat "Jonker I" diamond, one of the most storied gems of its kind in history. “The story goes: It was raining one day… and then because all the rain just washed away the sediment, they found a 726-carat rough diamond,” Celestian said. Courtesy the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles CountyA view inside the Hixon Gem Vault, featuring highlights from the "100 Carats" exhibition. Though nothing else is quite as rare, the other gems in this exhibition are unique, vividly colored, and mostly unseen.

Persons: CNN — Aaron Celestian isn’t, ”, they’re, It’s, Celestian, Robert Procop, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, Harry Winston, Winston, Lazare Kaplan —, King Farouk of, ” Celestian, Shirley Temple, hasn’t, Procop, Angelina Jolie, “, ” Procop, Lori Bettison, Varga, — Organizations: CNN, of Los, Gem, Mineral, American Museum of, “ Locations: of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, South Africa, New York City, King Farouk of Egypt, Egypt, ”, Los Angeles County, New York, Tanzania, Myanmar, Colombia

☆ This new photo of a supermassive black hole is unlike any before, showing powerful magnetic fields spiraling around it
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewThe supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy has a side you've never seen before. A new image reveals powerful magnetic fields swirling around our hometown black hole, which is called Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star"). EHT had previously imaged its first black hole, Messier 87, in polarized light as well, though it doesn't look quite as striking:The Messier 87 supermassive black hole imaged in polarized light. EHT CollaborationSince both black holes have similar structures of magnetic fields, despite their immense difference in size, the EHT scientists now suspect that all supermassive black holes might have magnetic structures like this. Bigger black hole breakthroughs may be in storeFurther imaging with new innovative techniques and technologies could reveal even more secrets of supermassive black holes, both big and small.

Persons: —, EHT, Sara Issaoun, Issaoun, We've, NASA's, Michael Johnson, Johnson, that's Organizations: Service, Business, Messier, Harvard, Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, American Astronomical Society Locations: Greenland

☆ Scientists name newly discovered ancient amphibian species after Kermit the Frog
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Scientists have discovered a new species of proto-amphibian that lived 270 million years ago. They have named it the Kermitops gratus, after "The Muppet Show" character Kermit the Frog. The new discovery should help scientists understand how these ancient species evolved. AdvertisementScientists say they have discovered a new species of proto-amphibian that lived 270 million years ago — and they've named it after "The Muppets Show" character Kermit the Frog. "Because this animal is a distant relative of today's amphibians, and Kermit is a modern-day amphibian icon, it was the perfect name for it," he said.

Persons: Kermit the, —, they've, Nicholas Hotton III, Hotton, Arjan Mann, Mann, gratus, Calvin So, Kermit Organizations: Service, Smithsonian National Museum of, Smithsonian, Zoological, George Washington University Locations: Texas

☆ An ancient dinner still sits in a Bronze Age village 2,850 years later
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

First, one of the crew found a marble head of a Roman lady, and two weeks later its bust surfaced nearby, reuniting the pieces. Cambridge Archaeological UnitMust Farm was a thriving Bronze Age stilt village, perched above a river in eastern England, when it burned down 2,850 years ago — just nine months after its inhabitants had built it. The site, acclaimed by experts as “Britain’s Pompeii,” preserved rare information that reveals a new, less hierarchical portrait of Bronze Age society. Malhan/MPIAAstronomers have spied two streams of ancient stars that likely helped build the Milky Way galaxy billions of years ago. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Earl of Exeter, ”, Chris Wakefield, Kermit the, Jim Henson’s, Payne, Shiva, Li Yibo, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Burghley, University of Cambridge, Smithsonian National Museum of, NASA, Force, Xinhua News Agency, Getty, CNN Space, Science Locations: United Kingdom, Peterborough, England, Cambridge, Africa, Ethiopia’s, China, Shaanxi, Iran

☆ Abortion opponents settle lawsuit against D.C. museum over 'pro-life' hat ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Patrons enter the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum for the public reopening of the museum’s west end galleries on the National Mall in Washington, U.S. October 14, 2022. The federally funded museum agreed to pay the more than a dozen plaintiffs a total of $50,000 to settle the suit, according to the filing in U.S. District Court in Washington. And the Smithsonian agreed to notify security personnel at all of its museums and the National Zoo about its policy allowing hats and other articles of clothing bearing messages, "including religious and political speech." The settlement comes four months after the National Archives Museum in Washington agreed to pay $10,000 to a smaller group of plaintiffs and to abide by similar conditions to settle a similar lawsuit. The plaintiffs in that case were told by National Archives guards to either cover clothing bearing "pro-life" messages or leave that federally operated institution on Jan. 20, 2023.

Organizations: Air and Space Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Washington , D.C, Smithsonian, National Zoo, National Archives Museum, National Archives Locations: Washington , U.S, Washington ,, South Carolina, Washington

☆ FBI returns looted artifacts found in Massachusetts attic to Japan
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The FBI has returned a trove of looted Japanese art to its country of origin after a family found a stash of artifacts in their late father’s Massachusetts attic. They looked old and valuable,” Special Agent Geoffrey J. Kelly, art crime coordinator for FBI Boston and a member of the FBI Art Crime Team, said in a statement. A typewritten letter found alongside the artifacts in Massachusetts helped confirm they were looted during the last days of World War II, the FBI added. “When taken together, they really represent a substantial piece of Okinawan history,” Kelly said of the artifacts. The artifacts were returned to Okinawa last week, the FBI said, but noted that several Okinawan objects are still missing and are listed in the National Stolen Art File.

Persons: Geoffrey J, Kelly, ” Kelly, ”, you’re Organizations: CNN, FBI, FBI Boston, Okinawa FBI, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian, Washington , D.C Locations: Massachusetts, Japan, Okinawa, Washington ,

☆ For Ytasha Womack, the Afrofuture Is Now
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Katrina Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

And as with many things Afrofuturistic, Ytasha Womack’s fingerprints are all over it. (In 2023, Ms. Womack published “Black Panther: A Cultural Exploration,” Marvel’s reference book examining the films’ influences.) Afrofuturism is a way of thinking about the future, with alternate realities based on perspectives of the African diaspora. People have used imagination to transform their circumstances, to move from one reality to another. And so to claim your imagination — to embrace it — can be a way of elevating your consciousness.

Persons: Womack, “, Octavia Butler, Nyota Uhura, Janelle Monáe, Henrietta, “ Niyah Organizations: Adler, Carnegie Hall’s, National Museum of, Star, New York Times Locations: Chicago

☆ Gold and sacrificial victims found in tomb of ancient leader, archaeologists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Researchers found the ancient tomb in El Caño Archaeological Park, a site in Coclé province known as a hotbed for pre-Columbian discoveries, particularly lavish burial chambers. The civilization of the region surrounding El Caño at the time treated the site as sacred and worshipped their “ancestors,” referring to those remembered for having done important things. The grave is the ninth tomb excavated by researchers at the El Caño Archaeological Park, which is known for its richness in archaeological discoveries and lavish burial chambers. Ancient burial practicesThe archaeologists found the body of the supposed religious leader buried face down and on top of the body of a woman, the release stated. There have been two attempts — the most recent in 2021 — to figure out whom the various tombs found at the El Caño site once belonged to, Mayo said.

Persons: Julia Mayo, ” Mayo, Fundación El, Mayo, El Caño, ”, Nicole Smith, Smith, Guzmán, Ana María Navas Méndez, Caño, Gúzman, —, ” Navas Méndez Organizations: CNN, Panama’s Ministry of Culture, El Caño Foundation, El, Smithsonian Tropical Research, Sierra, Illinois State University Locations: Panama, El, Coclé, Panama City, America, Quimbaya, Colombia, South America, ” City

☆ What happened to the extra copies of the Voyager mission's golden records
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk posted on X that he has a Voyager golden record. Two golden records went to space on the twin Voyager spacecraft. AdvertisementBut his post had me wondering: Who has the original golden records? When I started looking into the golden records, I noticed conflicting numbers for how many originals were created. While the golden records on the Voyager spacecraft are expected to last over a billion years, Lomberg said the probes will probably crash on another planet or star eventually.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Musk, Carter, U.N, General Waldheim, Carter couldn't, Jon Lomberg, Lomberg, Carl Sagan, wasn't, Sagan, Calla Cofield, Cofield Organizations: NASA, Service, SpaceX, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Propulsion Laboratory, Space Center Kennedy Space Center Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center Goddard Space Flight, National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian The, United Nations, Langley Research Center, Sotheby's

☆ Titanosaur skeleton discovered in France is 70 million years old
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A chance discovery made in southern France has revealed a rare specimen — an almost complete dinosaur skeleton found connected from its hind skull to its tail. The Archaeological and Paleontological Cultural Association at the Cruzy Museum, in collaboration with the French National Center for Scientific Research, identified the nearly 10-meter-long (32.8-foot-long) fossil as a Titanosaur skeleton upon excavation. The recently revealed 70% complete Titanosaur skeleton was retrieved during the excavation along with several fossils of various dinosaurs and other vertebrates, including some in anatomical connection and near complete. The Titanosaur skeleton currently resides in the Cruzy Museum’s laboratory, where it will be further studied, Veyssières said. Remains of Titanosaur fossils are widely unearthed in Europe, but few are discovered in anatomical connection, Boschetto said.

Persons: CNN —, Damien Boschetto, Boschetto, ” Boschetto, Jean, Marc Veyssières, ”, Veyssières, Damien Boschetto Titanosaur, Matthew Carrano, ” Carrano Organizations: CNN, Cruzy, French National Center for Scientific Research, Cruzy Museum, Smithsonian Institution National, of Locations: France, Montouliers, Cruzy, Europe

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ancient stone tools found in western Ukraine may be the oldest known evidence of early human presence in Europe, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Archaeologists used new methods to date the layers of sedimentary rock surrounding the tools to more than 1 million years old. The chipped stone tools were likely used for cutting meat and perhaps scraping animal hides, he said. The very earliest stone tools of this type were found in eastern Africa and date back to 2.8 million years ago, said Rick Potts, who directs the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program. “The oldest humans with this old stone tool technology were able to colonize everywhere from warm Iberia (Spain) to Ukraine, where it's at least seasonally very cold – that’s an amazing level of adaptability,” said Potts.

Persons: ”, Mads Faurschou Knudsen, it's, Roman Garba, Rick Potts, “, Potts Organizations: WASHINGTON, Aarhus University, Czech Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Korolevo, Denmark, Spain, Africa, Iberia

☆ Scientists use cosmic rays to date earliest evidence of humans in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Archaeologists have recovered 90,000 stone tools from the site, which lies close to Ukraine’s southwestern border with Hungary and Romania. Some 90,000 stone tools made by early humans have been found at the site but no human fossils. Garba‘s colleagues measured two nuclides, aluminum-26 and beryllium-10, found in quartz grains from seven pebbles discovered in the same layer as the stone tools. The earliest human fossils unearthed in Europe are from the Atapuerca site in Spain and date back 1.1 million years, according to the study. Korolevo would have been appealing to ancient humans because it’s near the Tisza River, which leads to the Danube, and there was a readily available source of hard rock to knap stone tools, Garba said.

Persons: Roman Garba, ”, “, ” Garba, Garba, It’s, Briana Pobiner, wasn’t, hominins Organizations: CNN, Czech Academy of Sciences, Archaeological Institute, NAS, Smithsonian National Museum of Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Prague, Hungary, Romania, Africa, Spain, Georgia, Dmanisi, Washington , DC, hominins

☆ Oprah has left WeightWatchers, sending stocks spiraling and spelling doom for the diet of our foremothers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Mia De Graaf | Rachel Hosie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Oprah Winfrey will not seek reelection to the board of WW International, known as WeightWatchers. It was a surprising time to jump on board — WeightWatchers had been shedding users, and its stock price was dwindling. AdvertisementDespite not naming the brand, there was an immediate spike in demand for GLP-1 medications — the popular new class of weight-loss drugs. That same day, WW added a weight-loss drug arm to its business, acquiring Sequence, a service that provides weight-loss drugs. AdvertisementLong-term, WW needs to find a new identityOver time, WW will benefit from being a purveyor of hard-to-access weight-loss drugs.

Persons: Oprah Winfrey, —, Oprah giveth, Oprah taketh, maven, Winfrey, — WeightWatchers, Axios, Oprah, Forbes, Craig, Alex Fuhrman, Winfrey's, We're, Atkins Organizations: WW International, Service, SEC, Guardian, People Magazine, MarketWatch, Mayo Clinic, Business, Smithsonian's National Museum of, CNBC, Slate Locations: GLP, WeightWatchers

☆ North Korea's twice-failed spy satellite is now up and running, aerospace experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A North Korean spy satellite was spotted adjusting its orbit in space, experts said. AdvertisementA North Korean spy satellite has made maneuvers in orbit that show it is very much "alive," contrary to previous assessments that suggested it was inactive, experts said on Tuesday. North Korea announced it had launched Malligyong-1 into orbit in November, after two failed attempts. The launches drew condemnation from the US, which viewed them as cover for North Korea testing missile technology. The latest findings come as South Korea warned that Pyongyang could launch a new spy satellite as soon as March, The Korea Times reported.

Persons: Marco Langbroek, —, Korean Defense Minister Shin Won, sik, Langbroek, Jonathan McDowell Organizations: Service, Delft University of Technology, Korean Defense Minister, Korea Times, Harvard - Smithsonian Center, Astrophysics, NK News, White, Pentagon, US, Guardian, The Korea Times Locations: Korean, South Korea, Leiden, Netherlands, North Korea, Pyongyang

☆ Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Carl Zimmer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last August, a team of paleontologists announced that they had discovered the fossilized bones of a gigantic ancient whale. Perucetus, as they named it, might have weighed over 200 tons, which would make it the heaviest animal that has ever lived. But in a study published Thursday, a pair of scientists have challenged that bold claim. The bones had many hallmarks of whales’ bones. Dr. Urbina and his colleagues reconstructed the full skeleton of Perucetus by studying the much smaller whales that lived at the same time.

Persons: ”, Nicholas Pyenson, Pyenson, Ryosuke, Perucetus, Mario Urbina, Urbina Organizations: Smithsonian National Museum of, University of California, Museum, National University of San Locations: Davis, National University of San Marcos, Lima , Peru, Peru

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