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Bioluminescent Fishes, CRISPR on RNA, Deglaciating Bison, Pre-Columbian Trade, Fish Face, Fiber-Optic Eyes, Microplastic Bothers, Interview w/ Dr. Elizabeth Sibert on World Oceans, Slime Mold Problem-Solvers, Jumping Eels, Provisional Names!, New Chemical Rules!, Inbred Neander News, Not Lost City, And Much More…
Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!
Right now, at this very moment, there is an archeological site directly beneath your feet…
Beneath the paved roads and home foundations…
Under the swimming pools and strip malls…
Within the soil, in the rocks, and in-between the roots of trees…
there are clues to the history of the planet and the creatures who have called it home…
And this history can be revealed…
And if you happen to live in the Americas…
There is an ancient peoples beneath your feet…
A people that lived in the Americas ten thousand years before bronze-age men poured into Europe for the first time…
A people who fished and farmed and traded goods,
before the pyramids of Egypt were built…
A people who hunted ice age megafauna…
while Scandinavian lands were still too cold for Vikings to inhabit…
A people who traveled further from our collective origins than any others in exploration of our planet…
And it’s all there, wherever you happen to be standing…
a treasure trove of history, right there beneath your feet.
As with most knowledge…
its not your proximity to the information,
but how you search for it that counts…
And lucky for you your search has brought you here as you are now closer than you think to another episode of…
This Week In Science…
coming up next!
Bioluminescent Fishes
A recent study suggests that we are vastly underestimating the number of times that bioluminescence has evolved in organisms around the world. In its review of fish species, the study found that bioluminescence evolved separately at least 27 times.
CRISPR on RNA
In a new CRISPR development, researchers have confirmed a form of CRISPR/Cas9 that cleaves single-stranded RNA, potentially opening up a novel direction for therapeutic innovations.
Deglaciating Bison
Finding once frozen fossils of the bison that people in the ancient Americas used to hunt is telling us more about those people.
Pre-Columbian Trade
Turns out people in the Americas were trading with people across the sea well before Colubus ever showed up.
Fish know your face
If fish can differentiate human faces, then it may be a skill we have overlooked in many, many types of animals.
Fiber-optic eyes?
Squid use what looks like a evolutionary mistake to create a pseudo-invisibility cloak!
Microplastics are bothering fish more than just in their tummies
As larvae, plastics inhibit development, too. Just another reason to reduce plastic entering our waterways!
Support us on Patreon!
Interview with Dr. Elizabeth Sibert. Having recently completed her PhD in the Norris lab at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Elizabeth Sibert is both a paleontologist and an oceanographer. She studies tiny fossils called ichthyoliths, and is here to discuss the oceans with us.
Slime Molds solve problems!
A life form without a brain, or even neurons, can make strategic, logical decisions. Dude…
Jumping Eels
The electric eel jumps out of the water to shock its prey or intruders. Shocking!
Provisional Names!
Names have been proposed for the heavy elements recently added to the periodic table: nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson.
New Chemical Rules!
The US Senate has finally ratified a reform bill that changes the decades old and out-of-date Toxic Substances Control Act, aiming to bring more science into the regulation of new chemicals.
Inbred Neander News
Inbreeding among the neandertals has left humans with genetic troubles.
Lost city under the sea lost no more!
They thought it was Atlantis. But, they were wrong. It was just rocks.
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