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New images, captured in stunning detail by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope, show 650 light-years of gas structures that shroud our galaxy's central black hole. The stunning images could help scientists better understand how the Milky Way evolved.
Tigers are set to roam their historic Central Asian lands after more than 70 years of local extinction, with an initiative that plans to bring them back by the end of the year.
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The tigers themselves will likely be imported from Russia, as Siberian tigers were part of the same population as Kazakhstan's Amur tigers until they were separated in the 19th century. As for the big cats' food, the burgeoning ecosystem offered by the seedlings is already shaping up to be a home for boar and Bactrian deer. Though they're pretty cute, if they go unchecked by a predator, these herbivores could multiply until they destabilize their newly restored ecosystem. So, go get 'em, tiger.
Lobster rolls, Moxie, rocky coasts, Stephen King and … Scandinavian invaders? Maine is known for many things, but an 11th-century silver Norse coin discovered there in the 1950s raises the question of whether it was a landing point for Viking seafarers. But did the Vikings actually make it to the Pine Tree State? Or did the coin take another route?
In parts of Vietnam, permanently blackened teeth have been fashionable for centuries. The traditional practice involves using an iron-tannin mixture or chewing betel nuts to stain the teeth with a jet-black sheen.
Now, archaeologists have traced this practice all the way back to the Iron Age, 2,000 years ago. The excavation of skeletons from a site in northern Vietnam's Red River delta revealed that numerous individuals from that era also had Stygian-hued gnashers. Yet it remains unclear exactly why the practice arose — whether as a rite of passage or a way of hiding betel nut stains.
The genetic cause of "monogenic" diseases seemed fairly clear to scientists: A mutation in a single gene led to predictable, hereditary disease patterns that would be diagnosed as genetic disorders. But it turns out, that's not right at all.
According to a growing body of research, monogenic diseases aren't caused by single gene mutations, as many healthy people have them without showing any sign of illness. So what's the deal? Live Science contributor Stephanie Pappas investigated in this long read.
Something for the weekend
If you're looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best skywatching guides, opinion pieces and word puzzles published this week.
This stunning Hubble Space Telescope image, which looks like a cosmic lighthouse swinging its beams through wide arcs of space, shows the Egg Nebula — the first, youngest and closest pre-planetary nebula ever discovered.
The light in the dust cloud comes from its star, which spewed its dense disk of dust a few hundred years ago. This light now escapes through polar openings around this dust shield, creating twin beams.
Ben Turner is a U.K. based writer and editor at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.
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