Photographer and free diver Franco Banfi was diving in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of the island country of Dominica, when he came across a pod of the giant aquatic mammals some 20 meters (65 feet) below the surface. And get this: They sleep "standing up."
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Homo erectus looked a bit different from Neanderthals and modern humans, but you probably wouldn't notice they're a different species if you ran into one on the street. They grew to nearly average modern human height and had similar proportions.
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For the longest time, it was believed that we killed off Neanderthals, since they seem to have disappeared shortly after we traveled out of Africa. The takeover was thought to be a gradual one. All the evidence suggested we were smarter, with more advanced weapons, hunting techniques, and language.
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While we know that humans are led by senses such as sight and sound, a recent study has found that humans are also led by their noses and their senses of smell. Here's what you probably didn't know about humans' sense of smell according to science.
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The creature is part of the Oviraptoridae family that roamed the Asian and American continents over 60 million years ago. With the discovery of Anzu, scientists have been able to fill in evolutionary gaps within the Oviraptorid evolutionary tree. In the world of paleontology, this is a big deal.
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Genes are complex and responsible for such things as health and susceptibility to certain diseases, body type, height, eye color, intelligence, and more. Genes can also cause quirks among us. Here's a look at some of the genetic quirks that are perceived to be normal occurrences but aren't.
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If you were one of the thousands who watched the SpaceX launch, you might have noticed that the feed came from Florida. A lot of space shuttles and rockets take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, and there's a reason for it. But no, it isn't because astronauts get to enjoy the fun and sun.
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2021 could hold some of the most exciting scientific advancements yet for our species. From another habitable planet to flying cars to artificial intelligence helping with climate change, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic for our future. Here are possible achievements for 2021.
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The publishers of the Farmers' Almanac have kept a close lid on how the book makes its predictions without the aid of a satellite or even a groundhog. According to the Farmers' Almanac website, they follow a specific formula, and only one person knows it: Caleb Weatherbee.
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The U.S. has its share of dangerous scaley slitherers. Land.com provided an un-ranked list of the deadliest snakes in North America, noting that the eastern diamondback rattlesnake is not only the largest snake on the list, but also boasts the largest fangs of any rattlesnake in the world.
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These female scientists invented and discovered remarkable things that turned into lifesaving breakthroughs. Here are some of the women of scientific history.
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Yes, outer space is mostly empty ... well ... space. But don't think it's going to stay that way! The fact is that, thanks to human meddling (it's what we do best!) there's a whole lot of really bizarre stuff floating out among the stars. This is only some of it.
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The dream of commercial space travel will be a lot closer when SpaceX and NASA launch its module to the International Space Station (ISS). Planned for November 14, it will bring four astronauts to the ISS. SpaceX, owned by Tesla founder Elon Musk, partnered with NASA to take astronauts to the ISS.
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As of 2020, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is still considered the worst oil spill in the history of U.S.
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Turning a spherical surface into a rectangle is a mathematical challenge, one that has plagued mapmakers for centuries. Unfortunately, there's no way to perform this geometric feat (called "projection") perfectly; any map will have a distortion of size, a distortion of shape, or some other error.
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Since billions of people are now considering being injected with something created by this man's company, many are wondering: Who is Albert Bourla, and what is his background? Will his revolutionary vaccine save the world, or is he just looking for publicity to send his company's stocks sky high?
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In the 1880s Pfizer began manufacturing citric acid, used in the production of increasingly popular soft drinks and fueling the company's growth. In 1936, Pfizer became the world's leading manufacturer of Vitamin C, and through the 1940s Pfizer became the world's leading manufacturer of vitamins.
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The world finally received some mildly encouraging news on Monday, November 9, 2020, when Pfizer reported that its COVID-19 vaccine could have an efficacy rate as high as 90%. The data is still early, so that number could change. Here's what it's like inside Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine trial.
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As Pfizer works toward getting its COVID-19 vaccine approved, people are starting to think about how they're going to get the shots. While testing is currently free in some scenarios in the U.S., will the vaccine be free as well? Here's what Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine could cost.
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Coal is formed through the fossilization of dead plant matter. Since land plants only emerged on Earth about 450 million years ago, coal itself dates back only 300 or 400 million years. This means that diamonds -- which are over a billion years old -- predate coal by hundreds of millions of years.
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We've also littered the heavens. We know it might be a problem someday. There's everything we've left behind on the Moon and on Mars, the probes we've sent deep into space, and probes like Venera 7 that have dropped onto Venus. Closer to home is the trash currently orbiting Earth itself.
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Although they can be annoying at times, nose hairs actually serve a vital health purpose. Coated with a thin layer of mucus and as dense as the hair on your head, nose hairs protect us from pollen, dust, germs, and other airborne particles we would otherwise breathe in -- a first line of defense.
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In a humble petri dish at The Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science in Moscow, two prehistoric creatures began to move and eat. Both are believed to be female. One is thought to be around 32,000 years old, while the other is pushing 42,000 years old.
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Bilirubin is sent from the liver to the bile ducts and lastly the intestines before being excreted with the body's food waste. If this process is disrupted for one of a number of reasons, the bilirubin accumulates within the body, causing the skin and the whites of the eyes to turn yellow.
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The Animal Kingdom's ability to evolve continually amazes. Case in point: the white-throated rail (also known as the Dryolimnas cuvieri). This chicken-sized bird species became flightless twice, according to Live Science. Yes, you heard that correctly ... twice. The bird came back from the dead.
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On October 26, 2020, two articles were published in the scientific journal Nature, which may change the whole future of space travel and the coming decades for humanity as we know it. Namely, that the Moon appears to harbor far more water than scientists have previously thought.
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We love bees. We love them so much that Jerry Seinfeld made a movie about them. The industrious little bugs generate the world's supply of honey and inspire folksy art the world over, but they're also a vital part of both our ecosystem and our economy. Without them we'd be in a sea of troubles.
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