Earliest Evidence Of Making Fire Has Been Discovered, X-Rays Of 3I/ATLAS Reveal Signature Unseen In Other Interstellar Objects, And Much More This Week

This week, a first-ever sauropod fossil with melanosomes suggests Diplodocus may have had a speckled color pattern, a new report outlines the priorities for a NASA-led human mission to Mars, and a new study has found that scheduling cancer immunotherapy in the morning may lower the risk of death by up to 63 percent. Finally, we asked an intensive care doctor if the burglars in Home Alone would have survived Kevin McCallister’s festive hijinks.

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The Earliest Evidence Of Making Fire Has Been Discovered, Dating To 400,000 Years Ago

Never mind AI, the internet, or the rocket – it’s been argued that the control of fire was the most pivotal technological breakthrough in history. It gave our ancestors protection, the ability to cook food, and a reason to gather, transforming our genus from knuckle-dragging beasts to social creatures. Why do you think the gods were so pissed at Prometheus? Now, the timeline of fire mastery has been rewritten. Read the full story here

What Color Was Diplodocus? First-Ever Sauropod Fossils With Melanosomes Bring Us A Step Closer To Finding Out

What did dinosaurs look like? It’s not easy to figure out when all you have to go on is scant fossil evidence, but every now and then a rare find gives us a fresh glimpse into the past. Most recently, that includes some fossilized Diplodocus skin that has preserved evidence of melanosomes – specialized organelles in the skin that give it pigmentation; the first ever to be found from a sauropod dinosaur. Scientists saw evidence for two potential types of melanosomes in the fossil, but one variety was a bit bizarre… Read the full story here

30-Cargo-300: Major Report Outlines The Priorities For A NASA-Led Human Mission To Mars

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has laid out potential priorities and practicalities of a human mission to Mars. As well as setting out a key priority for such a mission – searching for extinct or even extant life on the Red Planet – the report delves into what the first human mission to Mars could look like, including an ambitious 300-sol mission. Read the full story here

Scheduling Cancer Immunotherapy In The Morning May Lower Your Risk Of Death By As Much As 63 Percent

Even if you are a natural late riser, if you’re ever faced with cancer, it might be time to make an exception. A study of patients receiving immunotherapy for small-cell lung cancer found a remarkably large difference in survival between those treated early and late in the day. Read the full story here

First X-Ray Image Of Comet 3I/ATLAS Reveals Signature Unseen In Other Interstellar Objects

The emission of X-rays is usually the domain of the energetic events of the universe: hot stars, supermassive black holes, and the like. However, since 1996, with Comet Hyakutake, we have learned that even comets can emit X-rays. But despite efforts, no such signal was ever seen for an interstellar object. Enter this year’s superstar, Comet 3I/ATLAS, breaking yet another record. Read the full story here

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Feature of the week:

Would The Burglars Have Survived “Home Alone”? We Asked An Intensive Care Doctor

Home Alone, it’s a Christmas classic. There’s not a year that’s gone by where I’ve not returned to the McCallister’s mansion-esque home during the festive period (did you hear the theory his dad was some kind of mobster boss?). I love it, one of my top 10 favorite movies easily, but recently it’s had me wondering something: wouldn’t Harry and Marv be dead by the end? So, I asked an intensive care doctor. Read the full story here