Joe Cartledge Invented The Jockstrap (or Athletic Supporter) In The 1920s. He Played Hockey, Football,

Faience Star Amulet

Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III, ca. 1390–1353 B.C. 

Excavated at the Palace of Amenhotep III, Malqata, Thebes, Upper Egypt, MMA excavations, 1911–12.   H. 1.7 cm (11/16 in)

 Source: Met Museum 

The World’s Parasites Are Going Extinct. Here’s Why That’s a Bad Thing

A parasite, in essence, is any organism that makes its living off another organism (think bed bugs, leeches, vampire fish and even mistletoe). These freeloaders have been rather successful: up to half of Earth’s 7.7 million known species are parasitic, and this lifestyle has evolved independently hundreds of times. But in a study published this week in the journal Science Advances, researchers warn that climate change could drive up to one-third of Earth’s parasite species to extinction by the year 2070.

Tapeworms, like this one imaged using a scanning electron micrograph, weaken their victims but don’t typically kill them. (Mediscan / Alamy)

Awkward dinosaur illustrations explained! Check out this new book! #paleoart #awkward #dinosaurs #dinosaur #dinofight

I did not know that either. That is one HUGE sea turtle.

Biggest collection of dinosaur footprints found on Australian coast

Paleontologists have published a description of one of the best collections of dinosaur footprints on Earth from a stretch of beach on the northern coast of Western Australia. They include one of the largest dinosaur footprints known, as well as the first fossil evidence of stegosaurs in Australia.

Dinosaur footprints exposed on a Western Australia beach prove to be part of the most abundant track sites on Earth. Some are among the largest ever found.

Image by Steven Salisbury et al.

AI-controlled brain implants for mood disorders tested in people 

Brain implants that deliver electrical pulses tuned to a person’s feelings and behaviour are being tested in people for the first time. Two teams funded by the US military’s research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), have begun preliminary trials of ‘closed-loop’ brain implants that use algorithms to detect patterns associated with mood disorders. These devices can shock the brain back to a healthy state without input from a physician.

The work, presented last week at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting in Washington DC, could eventually provide a way to treat severe mental illnesses that resist current therapies. It also raises thorny ethical concerns, not least because the technique could give researchers a degree of access to a person’s inner feelings in real time.

The general approach — using a brain implant to deliver electric pulses that alter neural activity — is known as deep-brain stimulation. It is used to treat movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, but has been less successful when tested against mood disorders. Early evidence suggested that constant stimulation of certain brain regions could ease chronic depression, but a major study involving 90 people with depression found no improvement after a year of treatment.1

The scientists behind the DARPA-funded projects say that their work might succeed where earlier attempts failed, because they have designed their brain implants specifically to treat mental illness — and to switch on only when needed. “We’ve learned a lot about the limitations of our current technology,” says Edward Chang, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who is leading one of the projects.

Holtzheimer, P.E., et al. Lancet Psychiatry. 4(11):839–849. (2017)

Black Opal - Lightning Ridge, Australia

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