Paleontology
The world’s largest scorpion lived 415 million years ago
A prehistoric scorpion was the largest ever to exist, and it may have preyed on land and freshwater species.
By Sahas Mehra
Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Life
- Health & Medicine
The New World screwworm has returned to the U.S. Now what?
At least a dozen animals have been found with the flesh-eating maggots. It could take more than a year to eradicate the parasite again, experts warn.
- Animals
Sea cucumbers harbor ‘zombie’ tissues that won’t die
Detached tissues from the sea cucumber's tube feet and feeding tentacles survived for more than three years, a find that could shape the study of aging.
- Paleontology
A textbook assumption about early land vertebrates may be wrong
Three species that lived about 308 million years ago challenge the idea that the first land vertebrates underwent amphibian-like metamorphosis.
- Health & Medicine
A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading
It’s just a matter of time before Sporothrix brasiliensis reaches the U.S. a CDC expert says.
- Science & Society
How real is the Cyclops in The Odyssey?
The iconic one-eyed monster coming to movie screens in July in The Odyssey might have more in common with tiny water critters than with humans.
- Plants
Chinese money plant leaves hide a mathematical pattern
Tiny water-secreting pores appear to organize the major veins of the plant leaves into an arrangement known as a Voronoi diagram.
- Health & Medicine
A blood test for dementia may tell you if you have more than one type
AI helped researchers develop an experimental blood test that might let doctors diagnose overlapping dementias.
- Animals
Songs prep the brains of finches yet to hatch for a hot world
Adult finches make "heat calls" as the temperature rises. Exposure to the song prepares their unhatched young's brains for the heat.
- Health & Medicine
Measles has no treatments. Changing that may not be easy
Vaccination remains the priority, but some researchers are looking for drugs to fight the virus in people who don't get the shot.
