Icefish: 60 million nests found in the seafloor near Antartica

In the Weddell Sea near Antarctica, scientists have found the largest colony of fish nests in the world, covering 240 square kilometres Life 13 January 2022 By Jason Arunn Murugesu Adult icefish sitting on their nests under the ice in Antarctica Alfred Wegener Institute / PS124 AWI OFOBS team The largest colony of fish nests … Read more

Why cat-like creatures vanished from North America for 6 million years

By Chelsea Whyte Ken Barber/Alamy; Schankz/Shutterstock; Advia Image/Shutterstock; Koktaro/Shutterstock LOOKING out over an expanse of scrubby sagebrush, it is hard to imagine that the high desert in eastern Oregon was once home to large creatures that resembled sabre-toothed cats. The land here is mostly dry and grassy, punctuated by sharp hills. There isn’t a lot … Read more

Thawing Permafrost Is Poised to Unleash Havoc in The Arctic, Scientists Warn

Thawing Arctic permafrost laden with billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases not only threatens the region’s critical infrastructure but life across the planet, according to a comprehensive scientific review.   Nearly 70 percent of the roads, pipelines, cities, and industry – mostly in Russia – built on the region’s softening ground are highly vulnerable to … Read more

COVID-19 Vaccines Saved Over 240,000 American Lives in Just 6 Months, Study Finds

COVID-19 vaccines saved nearly 241,000 lives in the United States and prevented more than 1 million virus-related hospitalizations in the first six months of the country’s inoculation program, according to a new research model.    A research letter, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network Open, found coronavirus vaccinations also prevented more than 14 … Read more

Human evolution: Ancient hominins may have started hunting 2 million years ago

Cut marks on animal bones suggest ancient hominins butchered them for their meat, and that they were first on the scene instead of having to scavenge from carnivores like big cats Humans 11 January 2022 By Michael Marshall Notches on a bone left by human butchering activity Jennifer A. Parkinson, Thomas W. Plummer, James S. … Read more

Giant ‘Sea Dragon’ Unearthed From Mud Is The Largest Ever Found in The UK

An astonishing fossil of an extinct ‘sea dragon’ discovered by a wetland conservationist one day at work has been hailed as the largest and most complete fossil of its kind ever found in Britain.   The fossil, identified as an ichthyosaur, an ancient marine reptile that swam in Earth’s prehistoric oceans when dinosaurs walked on … Read more

COVID-19 may have killed nearly 3 million in India, far more than official counts show | Science

India, from the earliest days of the pandemic, has reported far fewer COVID-19 deaths than expected given the toll elsewhere—an apparent death “paradox” that some believed was real and others thought would prove illusory. Now, a prominent epidemiologist who contended the country really had been spared the worst of COVID-19 has led a rigorous new … Read more

Gorgeous HD Footage Shows Humanity’s Final View of The James Webb Space Telescope

We can all breathe a bit easier now. In spite of a launch bedeviled by problem after problem, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is finally in space, making its way to its new home.   And if you needed a little reassurance that this is the case (which is totally understandable), the European Space Agency … Read more

China’s ‘Artificial Sun’ Just Broke a Major World Record For Plasma Fusion

Just seven months after it announced a milestone record for plasma fusion, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has absolutely smashed it. Their ‘artificial Sun’ tokomak reactor is has maintained a roiling loop of plasma superheated to 120 million degrees Celsius (216 million degrees Fahrenheit) for a gobsmacking 1,056 seconds, the Institute of Plasma Physics reports.   … Read more