Reuters Science News Summary
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Vaccine-linked heart condition tends to resolve quickly; Delta variant fuses cells to infect more efficiently
The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Vaccine-associated myocarditis tends to resolve quickly
Meet Nesher Ramla Homo - new early human discovered at Israeli cement site
Scientists said on Thursday they had discovered a new kind of early human after studying pieces of fossilised bone dug up at a site used by a cement plant in central Israel. The fragments of a skull and a lower jaw with teeth were about 130,000 years old and could force a rethink of parts of the human family tree, the researchers from Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said.
Archaeologist discovers 6,000 year-old island settlement off Croatian coast
Archaeologist Mate Parica was examining satellite images of Croatia's coastline when he spotted something unusual. "I thought: maybe it is natural, maybe not," said Parica, a professor at the University of Zadar.
"Space is for everyone": Europe's Space Agency to hire first disabled astronaut
The European Space Agency hopes to hire and launch the world's first physically disabled astronaut and several hundred would-be para-astronauts have already applied for the role, ESA head Josef Aschbacher told Reuters on Friday. The 22-member space programme has just closed its latest decennial recruitment call for astronauts and received 22,000 applicants, Aschbacher said.
Bezos' 2021 Space Odyssey a risk too far for insurers
Launching one of the richest individuals on earth into orbit has proved a leap too far for insurers, who are not ready to price the risk of losing Jeff Bezos or his fellow space travelers. Amazon CEO Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast, has been vying with Elon Musk and Richard Branson to become the first billionaire to fly beyond the earth's atmosphere.
Fossil find adds to evidence of dinosaurs living in Arctic year-round
Fossils from tiny baby dinosaurs discovered in northernmost Alaska offer strong evidence that the prehistoric creatures lived year-round in the Arctic and were likely warm-blooded, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology. The fossils are from at least seven types of dinosaurs just hatched or still in their eggs about 70 million years ago. Researchers have never found evidence of dinosaur nests so far north, said lead author Pat Druckenmiller, director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North.
'Normalizing' UFOs - retired U.S. Navy pilot recalls Tic Tac encounter
Retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich has found herself in the glare of media attention ahead of a highly anticipated government report on UFOs, a subject she says she has little interest in, despite actually encountering one on the job. "I don't consider myself a whistle blower ... I don't identify as a UFO person," the former fighter pilot told Reuters in a Zoom interview, days before the report, expected to feature her own experience and dozens of others like it, was due for presentation to Congress.
Frog whisperer: Australian scientist speaks to frogs, fears their silence
Wading through a moonlit pond on Australia's east coast talking to frogs makes Michael Mahony feel like a kid again. The 70-year-old biology professor and conservationist at Australia's University of Newcastle has mastered imitating and understanding the shrills, croaks and whistles of frogs.
