National Geographic

Top 10 Headlines Today: World’s First Abs, Gene Patent Decision…


The top 10 news stories on our radar today.
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  1. Prehistoric Armored Fish Had the World’s First Abs

    “We thought that the specialised stomach muscles were unique to land animals, but new fossils show that they also evolved in a ferocious armour-plated fish. The new fish fossils contain the oldest preserved muscles
    ever found. ” New Scientist


  2. Supreme Court Rules Out Some—But Not All—Gene Patents

    “The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Myriad Genetics Inc. cannot patent the BRCA genes, which are tested to check a woman’s risk for breast and ovarian cancer.” Los Angeles Times


  3. First Fluorescent Protein in a Vertebrate

    “The Japanese freshwater eel (Anguilla japonica) has more to offer biologists than a tasty sushi snack. Its muscle fibres produce the first fluorescent protein identified in a vertebrate, researchers report in Cell1.” Nature


  4. The Antarctic’s New Way to Melt

    “Ice shelves lose more mass through melting where the ice meets the sea than by shedding icebergs, a new study says.” National Geographic


  5. High Altitude Homes Can Change Your Speech

    “Living at high altitudes can change the way people speak and may help to explain why different languages have evolved around the world.” The Telegraph


  6. How Marine Mammals Hold Their Breath

    “Scientists say they have solved the mystery of one of the most extreme adaptations in the animal kingdom: how marine mammals store enough oxygen to hold their breath for up to an hour.” BBC


  7. Ancient Siberians Rarely Hunted Mammoths?

    study finds.” Science News


  8. NASA Goes ‘Green’ with Reusable Spacecraft

    “The crew module on the Orion spacecraft is designed for multiple flights.”


  9. Scientists Reconstruct Medieval Leprosy Genome

    “The results, published in the journal Science, reveal new insights into the obscure historical period as well as introducing a new method for understanding epidemics.” Nature World News


  10. Video: Rare Two-Faced Kitten Born

    “There was a very rare birth in Amity, [Oregon] Tuesday morning. A kitten was born with two faces, one body and an apparently healthy set of organs.” KGW

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