"Incredible" Dinosaur Feathers Found in Amber. Update: Man Bikes Around the World with $2 in Pocket. Ever dream about packing up and leaving it all behind?
Ten years ago that’s exactly what Keiichi Iwasaki, then 28 years old, did. Fifty Exoplanets Found—Largest Haul Yet. ," {*style:<b> have been found—the largest extrasolar planet haul announced at one time, astronomers say. </b>*} The discoveries bring the total number of known extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, to 645. {*style:<b> Sharks' Virus Killer Could Cure Humans, Study Suggests.
Sharks aren't just tough on the outside—a substance in their bodies can stop viruses in their tracks, a new study says.
A cholesterol-like compound found in dogfish sharks' tissue has been shown to combat several viruses that cause hard-to-treat human diseases, such as dengue fever and hepatitis, a new study says. (Take a quiz on infectious diseases.) Called squalamine, the compound is already in human clinical trials for cancer and eye disorders, and several hundred people have been exposed without major side effects. The new study revealed that squalamine can also disrupt a virus's life cycle and prevent it from replicating in both tissue cultures and live animals.
Though there are plenty of drugs to treat bacterial infections, there are few pharmaceuticals that are effective against viruses. (See "New Drug Cures Multiple Viruses in Human Cells. ") "It's a whole new approach to treatment of viral disease," said study leader Michael Zasloff, of the Georgetown University Medical Center. National Geographic. "Gorgeous" Dinosaur Nest Found Full of Babies. 8 strange but true spider facts Black widows are known for cannibalizing their mates, but this doesn’t actually happen all the time.
The exception seems to be the red widow, where the male force feeds himself to the female by placing himself into her mandibles. If she ‘spits him out,’ so to speak, he will keep placing himself there until she eventually eats him. Certain species of salticids (jumping spiders) can see into spectrums we humans cannot. Egyptian Mummification Rituals Uncovered at Natural History. Why Do We Dream? To Ease Painful Memories, Study Hints. Dreaming may act like a type of overnight therapy, taking the edge off painful memories, a new study says.
In a recent experiment, brain scans of people who viewed emotionally provocative pictures and then went to sleep showed that the part of the brain that handles emotions powered down during rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep—the stage in which dreams occur. What's more, the subjects reported that the images had less of an emotional charge the morning after. This suggests that REM sleep may help us work through difficult events in our lives, the researchers say. Why we sleep is still unknown, and even more elusive is the relationship between sleep and our emotional well-being, said study leader Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley. (Read about the mysteries of why we sleep in National Geographic magazine.) And clinical data show that psychiatric mood disorders, from anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder, can lead to sleep abnormalities.
NASA Lands on Underwater "Asteroid" Kraken Sea Monster Account "Bizarre and Miraculous" The curious arrangement of giant bones in a prehistoric ocean graveyard has caused one paleontologist to propose the existence of a giant squid-like kraken that preyed on bus-size "sea monsters. " Iceman Autopsy - Photo Gallery. Male Spiders Give "Back Rubs" to Seduce Their Mates. When a male golden orb-weaver spider Nephila pilipes wants to get busy, he pulls out a special trick: He gives his mate a "back rub," new research shows. For many spiders, females of the species are much bigger than the males— N. pilipes females are up to ten times larger—so mating is always a risky proposition. An unlucky suitor might get interrupted in his carnal embrace when a female kicks him off and eats him. (Related: "Largest Web-Spinning Spider Found.
" ) Male spiders have evolved multiple techniques to avoid this fate, at least before finishing the deed. Male black widows , for instance, pick up scents from females that help the males determine how hungry their love interests are before attempting to mate. N. pilipes' s strategy involves another trait common among spiders: pedipalps, a pair of appendages that includes male genitals, said study co-author Matjaz Kuntner , of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Giant Sunspot Now Aimed Directly at Earth. Dubbed Active Region 1339, the cluster of magnetic activity was first spotted by satellites as it started making its way around the sun's northwestern edge.
The monster spot came into view of Earth-bound telescopes last week. (Related: "Sunspots Can Now Be Predicted Days in Advance. " ) Astronomers soon realized this is not your average sunspot—it's a giant cluster of sunspots, several of which are larger than our entire planet. In fact, viewed from Earth, AR 1339 is large enough to be visible to the naked eye. 12 World Monuments at Risk. Extreme Photo of the Week. Mysterious Viking-era Graves Found With Treasure. Photograph courtesy S. Gronek. Rare "Cyclops" Shark Found.