FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Olivia Wylie: Ever read a sci fi book that you know are not scientifically accurate, but you love anyway? Share your faves and tell us why. Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABV MeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf
Tiny-but-tough tardigrades, also popularly known as water bears, aren’t as indestructible as previously believed. These microanimals, which live in both fresh and salt water, are famous for their ability to survive extremes that would kill other organisms. But new research finds that the creatures rapidly wilt under heat. Water temperatures of less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) can kill tardigrades in only a day. As global temperatures rise, that could become a problem for these animals, the authors of the new study said. “Tardigrades are definitely not the almost-indestructible organism as advertised in so many popular science websites,” … Read more
Two piglets recently born in China look like average swine on the outside, but on the inside, they are (a very small) part monkey. A team of researchers generated the pig-primate creatures by injecting monkey stem cells into fertilized pig embryos and then implanting them into surrogate sows, according to a piece by New Scientist. Two of the resulting piglets developed into interspecies animals known as chimeras, meaning that they contained DNA from two distinct individuals — in this case, a pig and a monkey. “This is the first report of full-term pig-monkey chimeras,” co-author Tang Hai, a researcher at … Read more
An oddball sky glow endearingly named “Steve” captivated aurora chasers from the moment they first spotted and photographed the unique light display over Canada in 2016. Steve somewhat resembled an aurora, but its sky-climbing ribbons and ladders of purple and green light were distinctly different in shape and behavior from those produced by a typical aurora. Since then, Steve has intrigued not only hobbyist skygazers but also astronomers from NASA — and filmmakers, too. “Chasing Steve,” a new documentary that was screened Dec. 9 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), highlights the efforts of citizen scientists … Read more
Emma at Modest Fish heard about my mini obsession with tardigrades – also known more fondly as water bears – and sent me this great article to share: You may have heard of water bears and wondered if they’re really as amazing as people make them out to be. As someone who has personally worked with Tardigrades in the lab, I can confirm that, not only are they fascinating, they’re adorable too. And, in this article, I’m going to show you what sets them apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. What Is A Tardigrade? The name Tardigrade literally … Read more
A new study suggests that when some ancient meteorites crash-land on Earth, they bring a dash of extraterrestrial sugar with them. To be clear, this is not table sugar (sadly, scientists still have no insight into whether aliens prefer their coffee black or sweetened). Rather, in the powdered samples of two ancient, carbon-filled meteorites, astronomers have found traces of several sugars that are key to life — including ribose, the sugary base of RNA (ribonucleic acid). According to lead study author Yoshihiro Furukawa, this is the first time that these bioessential sugars have been detected in meteorites. The find gives … Read more
Where did the spiritual concept of evil originate? One possible explanation might be people’s attempts to understand and cope with infectious diseases. Linking diseases and their symptoms to mysterious evil forces is a practice that emerged in traditional belief systems prior to the mid-19th century, when germ theory was introduced, scientists wrote in a new study. Germ theory revealed that microscopic pathogens, rather than malevolent spirits, were the cause of illness. However, the connection between religious convictions about good and evil and the presence of infectious disease lingers today, the researchers discovered. They found that, in geographic regions with high … Read more
A 17-year-old girl in Colombia drops into bouts of sleep that can last for days, weeks, or even months. During her extensive slumbers, the girl often loses her memory; after one 48-day episode, she temporarily forgot her own mother’s face, according to news reports. The girl, Sharik Tovar, is one of the few people with a rare condition called Kleine-Levin syndrome, otherwise known as “Sleeping Beauty” syndrome. Unlike the fictional Sleeping Beauty, people with Kleine-Levin syndrome can be woken up during an episode and may wake up occasionally on their own to eat or use the bathroom, according to the … Read more
In 1855, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the gruesome murder of a bride by her new husband. The story came from the French countryside, where the woman’s parents had initially prevented the couple’s engagement “on account of the strangeness of conduct sometimes observed in the young man,” although he “otherwise was a most eli[g]ible match.” The parents eventually consented, and the marriage took place. Shortly after the newlyweds withdrew to consummate their bond, “fearful shrieks” came from their quarters. People quickly arrived to find “the poor girl… in the agonies of death — her bosom torn open and lacerated … Read more
It’s not every day that scientists discover a new human species. But that’s just what happened back in 2004, when archaeologists uncovered some very well-preserved fossil remains in the Liang Bua cave on Flores Island, Indonesia. The diminutive size of this new human species, Homo floresiensis, earned it the nickname “Hobbit.” Shockingly, researchers believed it had survived until the end of the last Ice Age, some 18,000 years ago. That was much later than Neanderthals lived, later than any human species other than our own. So why did tiny humans wind up living on these islands? For us biogeographers and … Read more