Month: February 2022

  • First case of respiratory infection in dinosaurs

    First case of respiratory infection in dinosaurs

    Around 150 million years ago, a long-necked dinosaur in southwest Montana became very ill. The unfortunate sauropod might have endured a sore throat, headaches, and difficulty breathing.  Although the dinosaur in question is long dead, signs of this sickness are preserved in its neck bones as lumpy growths. These abnormal structures may have been caused…

  • Gene therapies for sickle cell disease come with hope and challenges

    Gene therapies for sickle cell disease come with hope and challenges

    Today, it’s clear that our genes not only cause many diseases, but also hold potential cures. But that wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t until 1949 that scientists first found the molecular culprit of a disease — its roots in the genetic code. The disease was the blood disorder known as sickle cell disease, an…

  • New research identifies Roman jars used as chamber pots | HeritageDaily

    New research identifies Roman jars used as chamber pots | HeritageDaily

    In a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, archaeologists have identified Roman jars that were used as chamber pots. Researchers from the University of Cambridge analysed a layer of crusty material formed on the inside of ceramic pots, found in a Roman villa from the 5th century in Sicily. Roger Wilson, a…

  • Heritage sites in Africa threatened by climate change | HeritageDaily

    Heritage sites in Africa threatened by climate change | HeritageDaily

    Heritage of Outstanding and Universal Value located along the African coast is at risk from climate change. A global team of climate risk and heritage experts, where Dr Nicholas Simpson from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) was one of the leading contributors, have provided the first comprehensive assessment…

  • 3 Questions: Kuheli Dutt reflects on diversity in science | MIT News

    3 Questions: Kuheli Dutt reflects on diversity in science | MIT News

    In summer 2021, the MIT School of Science welcomed Kuheli Dutt, one of the six assistant deans for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the Institute. Dutt came to MIT from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where she led Lamont’s DEI efforts and initiatives since 2008. At Columbia, she also co-chaired the university’s Senate Commission…

  • Deep-sea Arctic sponges feed on fossilized organisms to survive

    Deep-sea Arctic sponges feed on fossilized organisms to survive

    In the cold, dark depths of the Arctic Ocean, a feast of the dead is under way. A vast community of sponges, the densest group of these animals found in the Arctic, is consuming the remains of an ancient ecosystem to survive, researchers report February 8 in Nature Communications. The study highlights just how opportunistic…

  • Bronze Age women altered genetic landscape of Orkney | HeritageDaily

    Bronze Age women altered genetic landscape of Orkney | HeritageDaily

    An international team led by researchers at the University of Huddersfield has used ancient DNA to rewrite the history of the Orkney islands to show that Orkney actually experienced large-scale immigration during the Early Bronze Age, which replaced much of the local population. The project was a close collaboration between genetic researchers in Huddersfield and…

  • The Primordial Soap – Chemistry | Weizmann Wonder Wander

    The answers to life’s greatest questions – the when, what and how of its origins – have yet to be fully resolved. Currently, the leading hypothesis within the scientific community is that life developed from RNA molecules, known for their self-replication ability. Yet for the past two decades, Prof. Doron Lancet, of the Weizmann Institute…

  • Cosmic cataclysm may have caused downfall of the Hopewell Culture | HeritageDaily

    Cosmic cataclysm may have caused downfall of the Hopewell Culture | HeritageDaily

    Researchers from the University of Cincinnati have found evidence of a cosmic cataclysm 1,500 years that may be responsible for the downfall of the Hopewell Culture. The Hopewell Culture was a widely dispersed set of pre-Columbian Native American populations connected by a common network of trade routes from 100 BC to AD 500 in the…