Kidneys produce an active form of vitamin D

Today is World Kidney Day! Kidneys produce an active form of vitamin D, remove waste products from the body and control the production of red blood cells. Here are more interesting facts about kidneys.

→ Each kidney has about 1 million nephrons.
→ Kidneys represent 0.5% of the body’s entire weight.
→ Your kidneys clean about 1 litre of blood every minute.
→ Kidneys filter about 2 litres of urine every day.
→ Kidneys receive 20 to 25% of all the blood pumped by the heart.

A glory has been seen for the very first time in the atmosphere of Venus

A glory has been seen for the very first time in the atmosphere of Venus – it’s also the first time one has been fully imagined in another planet! A glory is a natural phenomenon that occurs frequently on Earth. It occurs when sunlight shines on cloud droplets (water), forming a sort of circular rainbow. The one seen in Venus formed when sunlight shone on sulphuric acid droplets.

The study suggests our most recent common ancestor

The study suggests our most recent common ancestor is 8,300 years older than scientists previously believed - and puts him within the timeframe of the "Mitochondrial Eve". According to the researchers: “we can say with some certainty that modern humans emerged in Africa a little over 200,000 years ago". The discovery, published in European Journal of Human Genetics, contradicts a study from 2013 that claimed the human Y chromosome originated in a different species through interbreeding. 

Meet the mother of all spiders.

Meet the mother of all spiders. This 2cm-long fossil arthropod, named Enalikter aphson, was found in 425-million-year-old rocks in the UK. It's part of an extinct group of marine arthropods called megacheira, which may be distant ancestors of all arthropods alive today including lobsters and spiders.