Discovered:  remote, polluted lakes, uninformed fish, a comet crossbow, clinical trial check-up and one place to be to find undiscovered invertebrates. 

  • Fossil fuel fallout data point:  A study, published in the journal Science, had a team of researchers investigate why over three dozen remote lakes scattered across the globe were found to have increased amounts of nitrogen deposits. After ruling out several different possibilities for what was described by the Vancouver Sun as "elevated nitrogen levels" they appeared to settle on this conclusion: "Given the broad geographic distribution of our sites ... we believe the best explanation is that human-derived nitrogen was deposited from the atmosphere," said the lead author of a new study, a University of Washington researcher in a news release. Meaning: it's from decades of fossil fuel burning. [Eurekalert, Vancouver Sun]
  • NASA researchers devise a six-foot crossbow to 'harpoon' comets.  You'd think that NASA could piece together  a tractor beam to "grab a chunk of the icy body" of a comet "for study back on Earth," rather than using something that sounds as medieval as a six-foot crossbow. But, as National Geographic informs, scientists are just testing the thing out for future use: "The crossbow is helping the researchers fire tips at various speeds into different materials—such as sand, ice, pebbles, and salt—thought to be similar in texture to comets." It even apparently sounds like something that would be used to breach a castle wall: "The ballista produces a uniquely impressive thud upon firing, somewhere between a rifle and a cannon blast," went the NASA release. [National GeographicNASA]
  • The Australian Outback: a frontier of undiscovered invertebrates. University of Adelaide researchers have been steadily identifying a host of critters in the outback for years and estimate that there's still 3,500 more left underground. Calling all critter-loving scientists: You too could one day unearth a "crustacean that has fangs connected to secretory glands" under arid topsoil in the Outback. And you'd get to name them too, right? [MSNBC]

Image credit: NASA/Rob Andreoli