For
the first time, researchers have explained the mechanism behind the
eruptions of supervolcanoes like the one in Yellowstone, Wyoming that
ejected more than 2,000km3 of material some two million years ago. Turns
out these giant volcanic time bombs can erupt simply due to changes in
their huge magma chambers as they slowly cool.
Reading
someone’s mind is easier than you thought – you just need to look at
their pupils. A person who is about to answer ‘yes’ to a question will
have more enlarged pupils than those who will say ‘no’. If the person is
hesitant, the pupils will grow even larger. This is due to signaling
chemicals produced by the brain.
For
the past decade, 350 seals equipped with special headgear have been
collecting crucial information about the Southern Ocean's temperature
flucations and salinity. Scientists are now sorting through the data to
better understand and monitor climate change events in the future.
This
is what an embryonic leopard cub looks like in the womb. It's not a
photograph, but a combination of three-dimensional ultrasound scans,
tiny cameras and computer graphics used to create realistic
representations of animal fetuses for a National Geographic documentary.
The
DNA of a rare, sexually transmissible cancer has been decoded. It arose
in a single, husky-like dog 11,000 years ago and has survived through
millions of genetic changes. The only other known transmissible cancer
is the facial cancer currently devastating our Tasmanian devils.
