Studied

A new analysis of Viking-era teeth – dating back around a thousand years – has given us some interesting insight into the dentistry of the time, which looks to have been more advanced than previously thought.Researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the Västergötlands Museum in Sweden looked at a total of 3,293 teeth from 171 of the Nordic marauders, including both kids and adults.Modern-day dentistry assessments were carried out on the teeth, including the use of X-ray scans and dental probes, and it turns out…

For Nadji Jeter, stepping back into the role of Miles Morales for Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 was a chance to learn some new skills — outside the realm of webswinging. Among them was studying American Sign Language, which Miles uses to communicate with street artist Hailey Cooper in the game, which has been praised for its deaf representation. “We had great teachers on set. I’ve always embraced it, because I feel like we’re touching a lot of communities,” Jeter tells The Hollywood Reporter. “A lot of…

Walking is a popular mode of transportation in Ghana. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Linda Fletcher Dabo Walking has health and environmental benefits—but it's not always a person's choice for getting around. And it does come with hazards. One fifth of the people killed on the roads globally are pedestrians. In Ghana, like other…

We all have a built-in clock telling us when it's time to eat, time to sleep, and time to get up and do something with the day. Many organisms do, in fact, which is why it's such an important area of research for scientists.Now the circadian clock and its responses to environmental cues has been studied in a way that has never been done before. Scientists were able to track the clock and its functions in real time, using a tiny aquatic organism called a cyanobacterium (Synechococcus elongatus). Given its clock works in a…

Archaeological evidence of severed hands in Hyksos Period Tell el-Dab‘a, Northern Egypt (images ÖAI, M. Bietak): (A) Nile Delta, Northern Egypt (Apple maps) and position of the site Tell el-Dab‘a/Avaris in the Nile Delta. This map has been modified from Fig. 1 (drawn by Nicola Math, modified by Dominik Fill, Austrian Academy of Sciences) in: Manfred Bietak, "Hyksos" in "Hyksos," R. Bagnell, et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Ancient History, vol. 6, 1st…

Allan Henry, the motion capture performer who played the infamous Cocaine Bear in Elizabeth Banks’ latest film, had quite the challenge on his hands. The bear, known as “Cokey,” is a drug-addicted, 500-pound beast that is not as humanistic as the apes in the “Planet of the Apes” trilogy, which Henry also worked on. However, he managed to bring Cokey to life with realistic movements and reactions to create a believable on-screen character. Taking Inspiration from Famous Bears To get into the mind of a bear, Henry…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeThe performer behind the titular bear in Cocaine Bear has revealed what research went into playing the drug-fuelled animal.The newly-released film, which is based on a true story, follows a black bear in Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia, that goes on a rampage after consuming vast quantities of lost cocaine.New Zealand actor Allan Henry – who has played orcs in Peter Jackson’s…

Black holes are bizarre things, even by the standards of astronomers. Their mass is so great it bends space around them so tightly that nothing can escape, even light itself.And yet, despite their famous blackness, some black holes are quite visible. The gas and stars these galactic vacuums devour are sucked into a glowing disc before their one-way trip into the hole, and these discs can shine more brightly than entire galaxies.Stranger still, these black holes twinkle. The brightness of the glowing discs can fluctuate…

Knowing jazz standards is your ticket to join ensembles. Credit: Josephine Bevan/Unsplash We are two female jazz singers, jazz researchers and lovers of jazz. And we have discovered jazz gave us another shared experience—sexism. …

Credit: Shutterstock Are women as successful as men in securing a patent for their invention? We set out to investigate gender bias in patent outcomes at IP Australia—the government…