Science is, at its heart, a system for asking questions and seeking answers. Researchers must detect clues amid a cacophony of information. Pharmacist Joseph Lambson is one person with a gift for identifying signals in the noise. When he got a call from a poison control specialist saying that people were overdosing on the drug semaglutide, used to treat obesity and diabetes, he knew what this meant.
Pharmaceutical companies were unable to keep up with demand for the drug, which comes in a prefilled injector pen, and people were buying alternative versions that are not as error-proof. Even with the drug no longer in shortage, the dangers persist. Senior writer Meghan Rosen talked with Lambson as part of her investigation into a proliferating online market where patients say they’re willing to take risks to get what they see as a life-altering drug.
Patterns were also key to a discovery that could transform our understanding of the evolution of human thought. Archaeologists have long believed that “modern” human cognitive skills like planning and collaboration emerged only about 50,000 years ago. But archaeologists now propose that human ancestors were deploying such sophisticated skills as early as 300,000 years ago, behavioral sciences writer Bruce Bower reports. It took decades of digging at a German site discovered during mining operations and sifting through disparate evidence, including weapons, tools, animal bones and ecological data, to uncover what transpired. The results suggest that these early hunters used advanced thinking to herd wild horses into an ambush.
And then there’s the splashiest topic in dinosaur land: Did Spinosaurus swim? Over the last decade, the swimming skills (or the lack thereof) of this huge, toothy predator have become hotly contested based on differing interpretations of the evidence, earth and climate writer Carolyn Gramling reports. The fossil record is skimpy, but paleontologists on both sides of the debate are piecing together fresh clues to support their claims. Depending on how it plays out, Spinosaurus could be crowned the first known swimming dino.
Hollywood has already picked a side. In this summer’s Jurassic World Rebirth, the next movie in the Jurassic Park franchise, three swimming Spinosaurus dinosaurs attack a patrol boat in the Caribbean. Spoiler alert: Things do not go well for the humans, but the movie is a win for all of us who love dinosaurs and the enduring puzzles they represent.