A piece of jawbone was found by a Tibetan monk in 1980 at an elevation believed to be populated by humans about 40k years ago. The bone has been found to be 160k years old. The jawbone has been determined to belong to a Denisovan, an ancient human species. Before the discovery the only evidence of the […]
Previously only about 15k ocean viruses were known to exist. The samples containing the viruses were collected by the vessel Tara between 2009 and 2013 and analyzed for everything from organisms as small as viruses to as large as fish eggs. Analysis showed the viruses were organized into five ecological zones. To the researchers surprise […]
In a video posted to twitter, NASA astronaut Drew Feustel showed his attempt to walk heel-to-toe with his eyes closed after over six months in space. Surrounded by a team of researchers, Feustel stumbles forward looking much worse than a drunk person trying to pass a field sobriety test. The best comparison is like a baby […]
Studies in mice have shown the direct transmission of exercise-induced effects through the father’s sperm. Before you get up in arms, I know humans aren’t mice but the results are promising. After the mice-dads completed an exercise regiment, different genes were expressed in the hippocampus and improved their performance on memory exams. Mice born from the […]
Wildlife researchers near the Farallon Islands, near San Francisco, have found that after sharks encountered Orcas they swam away and didn’t return to the area for an entire year. Normally their migration patterns don’t bring the two species into contact with each other but in the rare instance when they did meet the sharks swam away […]
There are only 3 known specimens of the Yangtze giant softshell turtle left alive, all male, after the one female specimen died in a Chinese zoo. She had been living with one of the males in the zoo; the other two males live in a lake in Vietnam. It is hard to determine an average size due […]
A new study out of Tel Aviv suggests that the ancestors of Elephants and the ancestors of humans share characteristics which allowed them to live in Europe during the Ice Age. Mammoths were a known food source for Neanderthals, the large animals providing the calories necessary for their survival. The similarities are present in genes which […]
In a report released by the Environment Agency (UK) the impact of different kinds of carrier bags were assessed on their ability to combat global warming. It takes into account the production, use, and disposal of four main type of bags: standard grocery bags, thicker plastic bags, paper bags, and cotton bags. The bags were […]
The teeth, found in a cave in the Tongzi county of southern China, have been dated to approx. 200,000 years ago. At first they were thought to belong to Homo Erectus but it turns out they don’t belong to Erectusor the more advanced Neanderthals. The teeth have both ancient and modern traits. Erectus teeth are distinctive because of a crinkled tissue […]
In the end of March 2019, India became the fourth country to demonstrate the capability to shoot down an orbiting satellite, joining the United States, Russia, and China. The satellite they shot down was one of their own, roughly 185 miles in space. Simulations suggest over 6,500 pieces of debris larger than a pencil eraser were created. […]
