ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 525

March 30, 2016

Mysterious Text In “Lost Language” Discovered On Ancient Stone Slab

Editor's Blog





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The ancient slab, or stele, was found embedded in the foundations of a temple. Mugello Valley Project



Archaeologists in Tuscany, northern Italy, have uncovered a rare example of what they believe to be an Etruscan sacred text dating back to the 6th century BCE. Found embedded in the foundations of an ancient temple, the inscription is expected to reveal details of the Etruscan pantheon of gods, enabling researchers to fill in the gaps in their knowledge about this long-lost culture, while also refining their mastery of the Etruscan language.

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Published on March 30, 2016 15:53

New Extinct Bat Species Doubles Hawaii’s Diversity Of Native Land Mammals

Plants and Animals





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Skeleton of Synemporion keana on the floor near the lower end of Māhiehie Cave on Maui. American Museum Novitates



The discovery of a new bat species that went extinct about a thousand years ago brings Hawaii’s grand total of native terrestrial mammals to two. Synemporion keana was described in American Museum Novitates last week. 

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Published on March 30, 2016 15:50

Smoking Alters The Bacteria Living In Your Mouth

Health and Medicine





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Smoking is associated with a range of health risks, and new research suggests that changes to oral bacteria may contribute to these. Pe3k/Shutterstock



Inhaling cigarette smoke drastically alters the composition of the oral microbiome, according to the results of a study published this month in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal. While more research is needed in order to establish a concrete connection between this effect and the development of smoking-related diseases, evidence suggests that changes to the bacterial populations in smokers’ mouths could increase their susceptibility to the toxic effects of tobacco smoke.

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Published on March 30, 2016 15:27

Giant Rats Are Being Used To Sniff Out Tuberculosis

Health and Medicine





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A rat peeks through a feeding hole. Maarten Boersema/APOPO's HeroRATs



Rats don't have the best reputation when it comes to diseases. But giant rats are actually being used to detect and prevent tuberculosis (TB) with a huge amount of success. Even more recently, they’ve specifically turned their noses to sniffing out the disease in East African prisons.

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Published on March 30, 2016 15:09

Dinosaur Extinction May Have Been Caused By An “Interstellar Cloud”

Space





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Herschel Hoffmeyer/Shutterstock



What killed the dinosaurs? No, it wasn’t the ice age, despite what Mr. Freeze would have you believe. Most scientists agree that a large impact event 66 million years ago was the cause, creating the famous Chicxulub impact crater in Mexico.

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Published on March 30, 2016 15:07

March 29, 2016

LGBT-rights groups file federal lawsuit over new North Carolina law

Photo credit: Emery P. Dalesio / Associated Press


By Associated Press


Gay and transgender rights supporters wasted little time in challenging a new North Carolina law, filing a federal lawsuit Monday that called it discriminatory and said it singles out LGBT people for “disfavored treatment.”


The law, which has also drawn strong opposition from major corporations including Apple and Google, was signed by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory last week. The GOP-controlled legislature passed the law in response to a broad Charlotte ordinance that allowed transgender people to use the restroom aligned with their gender identity. The new state law also prevents all cities and counties from extending protections to cover sexual orientation and gender identity at restaurants, hotels and stores.


“By singling out LGBT people for disfavored treatment and explicitly writing discrimination against transgender people into state law, [the new law] violates the most basic guarantees of equal treatment and the U.S. Constitution,” the lawsuit said.


With the law, North Carolina became the first state to require public school and university students to use only those bathrooms that match their gender on their birth certificates, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures.


Advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights say state legislators demonized them with bogus claims about bathroom risks. Supporters say the new law protects all people from having to share bathrooms with people who make them feel unsafe.


Two transgender people, a lesbian law professor and several civil liberties groups sued.


Lawsuit defendants include McCrory and the University of North Carolina system, where one plaintiff works and another attends college. The system’s 17 campuses also must comply with the law.



Source: Los Angeles Times

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Published on March 29, 2016 18:05

American Bison To Return To Northern Montana Reserve For First Time In Over 100 Years

Plants and Animals





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A plains bison decendent from the Allard-Pablo herd in Elk Island National Park. ceasol/Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0



Some of the few remaining purebred American plains bison will be returning to the land from which they were originally taken in northern Montana over 100 years ago. The last large herd of wild bison, also referred to as buffalo, were captured from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in 1907 and sold to the Canadian government, who then released them into what is now Elk Island National Park.

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Published on March 29, 2016 15:11

Why Some Bird Parents Ignore Their Begging Chicks

Plants and Animals





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Great tit nestlings beg for food using a mixture of calls, begging postures, and brightly colored mouths. Camilla Hinde



Sometimes bird moms and dads have to pick which of their chicks to feed. According to a new Nature Communications study, that decision depends largely on environmental conditions. Parents in a quarter of the bird species studied ignore their begging chicks, and some even neglect smaller chicks that beg more in favor of bigger chicks that beg less. 

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Published on March 29, 2016 15:10

Uncertainty Can Be Worse Than Certain Pain

The Brain





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Volunteers in a study had to turn over rocks in a computer game and avoid the snakes beneath. visualdesign/Shutterstock



Would you prefer to know you were about to receive a painful electric shock, or face a 50 percent chance of the same thing? The choice seems easy. However, a study has found the possibility of pain induces more stress than the certainty.

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Published on March 29, 2016 15:09

Groundbreaking Inflatable Module To Be Launched To The ISS Next Week

Space





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An artist's impression of BEAM attached to the station. NASA



Next week, a rather exciting development is going to take place on the International Space Station (ISS). For the first time, NASA is going to test the viability of an inflatable, expandable module, a derivative of which may one day be used for missions to deep space, including to Mars.

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Published on March 29, 2016 15:08

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