Much to the joy of small children everywhere, scientists from the University of Chicago have unearthed two new species of dinosaur in the Sahara desert and given them awesome names. To their gift shop pantheons of cool plastic figurines, museums can now add "fierce-eyed dawn shark" (Eocarcharia dinops) and "old hidden face" (Kryptops palaois)—which both sound suspiciously like old kung fu movies.
Results tagged “discoveries” from 60 Second Science
Paleontologists discover new carnivorous dinosaurs in the Sahara, 7-year-olds rejoice
Frightening discovery of the day: Australian rat-eating plant
Hold on to your butts: We've all heard of pitcher plants that eat insects and other creepie crawlies, but a new pitcher plant discovered in Australia has been known to eat objects as large as small rats. Sucks for you, Australia — everything you touch in that country can already kill you, and now you have to worry about more than just dingoes eating your babies.
The new species, called "Tenax" (presumably because that just sounds evil) was discovered by James Cook University ecologist Charles Clarke and a colleague near the Jardine River, but the exact location is secret.
(Pic of the rat-eating plant after the rat-eating jump).
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Peking Man 2: Peking Harder
Prehistoric man, you keep on rocking: In what Chinese state media hails as "the greatest discovery since Peking Man," Chinese archaeologists from the Henan Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute have found a nearly complete human skull fossil dating from 100,000 years ago.
Researchers found the skull last month in Xuchang in 16 fragments, resting with stone and bone artifacts and over 30,000 animal fossils. The skull features protruding eyebrows and a small forehead, but most intriguingly, it retains a fossilized membrane on the inside, so scientists can "track the nerves of the Paleolithic ancestors," said archaeologist Li Zhanyang.
After two years of excavation, the archaeologists discovered the skull just days before leaving to party down for Chinese New Year.
Palm's Magnificent Death May Save Its Life [podcast]
Today's 60 Second Science Podcast is brought to you by The Palms Casino & Hotel in sunny Las Vegas:
Palm's Magnificent Death May Save Its Life
Full transcript after the jump...
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New palm tree species self-destructs, can be seen from space, may be 'Cloverfield' monster
Madagascar, the land of weird lemurs, can now add strange palm trees to their list of ecological wonders. An as-yet-unnamed palm tree discovered by scientists from London's Kew Gardens flowers only once every 100 years and promptly dies. This habit probably doesn't help its cause much, since only about 100 are left.
Media sites are making a big fuss about how you can see the palm from space via Google Earth, but I can see the shoe I left on my old apartment doorstep with Google Earth, so I don't get the big deal. But the massive palm grows to 66 feet tall, and possesses 16-foot wide leaves, some of the biggest in the plant world, so I guess it's pretty cool.
Planet X: The planet that just won't die
It seems that since we've been observing the solar system, someone is always trying to find Planet X. Sometimes the search leads to something significant, like Pluto, but usually nothing turns up. But now that Pluto's been demoted, the hunt is on to find another object to replace it.
NewScientist chronicles Patryk Lykawka's attempts to "replace" Pluto with a freezing super-Pluto that has somehow escaped detection thus far. The Kobe University researcher remains utterly convinced that we'll find this distant planet within the next few years.
In a distant region of the Kuiper Belt known as the Kuiper cliff, the number of objects drops off sharply. Also, the rocks within the Kuiper Belt follow three distinct orbits. Lykawka thinks Planet X might have sculpted the Kuiper Belt in this manner.
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Immune System Keeps Your Brain Tidy Too [podcast]
Today's 60 Second Science Podcast is brought to you by the Felco Pneumatic Pruning Shears (not for use on actual neurons):
Immune System Keeps Your Brain Tidy Too
Full transcript after the jump...
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Imagine A 200-Pound Armadillo [podcast]
Today's 60 Second Science Podcast is brought to you by John Carmack's Armadillo Aerospace:
Full transcript after the jump...
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TIME's Top 10 Scientific Discoveries 2007
The end of the year means tons of semi-pointless year-end lists, and TIME Magazine chimes in with a slightly more useful "Top 10 Scientific Discoveries" list. #1 goes to the stem cell breakthroughs of the year, including the researchers who reprogrammed skin cells to behave like stem cells. WIRED coverboy J. Craig Venter had to settle for #2 for his mapping of the human genome. Don't worry, though Craigger -- there's always next year.
Other big winners this year on TIME's list included the brightest supernova recorded (#3), hundreds of new species discovered (#4), and research toward growing a human heart valve.
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Dino mummy reveals rare look at skin, muscle and soft tissue; Hollywood 'excited' about horror movie potential
As a youth, I was positive I'd grow up to be a paleontologist and discover unheard-of species and immaculately preserved specimens in the Dakota bedrock. Then I discovered girls, so I did what any self-respecting male does: I got into comic books. Shockingly, it didn't really help with ladies.
If I had stuck with my first passion, I might have become like Tyler Lyson, who discovered perhaps the best-preserved dinosaur yet. The mummified hadrosaur belongs to the duck-billed family and showcases detailed scales, skin, muscle, tendons and other soft tissue. Though it hasn't been peer-reviewed yet, the discovery is expected to yield new insight into size, body mechanics and physical appearance of dinosaurs in general.
