Scientists used a solar-powered balloon to record the sounds of our planet, both natural and artificial, using a microphone placed on the balloon. To do this, the ball was sent to a height of 21 km in the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, called the stratosphere. And here, scientists have recorded sounds that they still cannot identify, writes Space.

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According to Daniel Bowman of the Sandia National Laboratories, a scientific institution that is part of the US Department of Energy, the stratosphere is the best place to listen to what sounds travel around the planet, both artificial and natural. There is no particularly strong turbulence here and it is relatively quiet so that a sensitive microphone can pick up special sounds that cannot be heard anywhere else on Earth. For example, here you can hear the sounds coming from the collision of ocean waves and thunder, as well as the sounds of working wind turbines or explosions. But sounds can also be found here, the origin of which cannot be established, as a new experiment has shown.

Scientists sent several solar-powered balloons into the stratosphere, with a diameter of 6 to 7 meters, which rose to a height of 21 km. To record sounds in the stratosphere, scientists used instruments for observing volcanoes called microbarometers. These devices can pick up low frequency sounds.

As a result, it turned out that the microphone on one of the balloons recorded very strange sounds that were repeated several times per hour. These audio data were recorded in the infrasonic range, that is, at frequencies of 20 Hz and below, and such sounds cannot be heard by the human ear. Until now, scientists do not know what is the source of these mysterious sounds.

Scientists sent several solar-powered balloons into the stratosphere, with a diameter of 6 to 7 meters, which rose to a height of 21 km

Photo: space.com

As for the balloons themselves, Bowman says they are giant plastic trash bags with a bit of coal dust inside to make them dark. When the Sun illuminates dark orbs, the air inside heats up and the orbs can fly higher. These balloons require materials that can be purchased at hardware stores and cost no more than $50 to create.

Scientists want to continue their observations and still try to find out where unknown infrasound signals come from high in the Earth’s atmosphere.

In addition to being used to study the Earth, these balls can also be used to study other planets. For example, according to scientists, such a ball can be sent to Venus to monitor seismic and volcanic activity on the planet. Also, with the help of these balls, you can study the dense atmosphere of Venus.

As for research on other worlds of the solar system, as Focus already wrote, NASA scientists have created a new robot that will go in search of life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Focus also wrote about a new study by astronomers, which says that our planet should no longer exist, because it could disappear as a result of a cosmic catastrophe. As part of the study, scientists have found the reason why the Earth still exists.

If you’re sick of eating tasteless in-flight food, there’s a scientific explanation for it. Your taste buds work differently at altitude than they do on the ground.

Have you ever tasted airplane food and thought, “Wow, it tastes like cardboard”? But before blaming the chef, consider this: Your taste buds work differently when you’re flying nearly 11km above sea level.

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First, the air in the cabin is dry, like a desert, with only about 12 percent humidity. This lack of moisture can dry out your nasal cavities, which in turn impairs your sense of smell. And since the sense of smell plays an important role in our sense of taste, it can make food less flavorful and, well, a little disgusting.

But that is not all. Low pressure and dry air can also make salt and sugar taste less intense. A study commissioned by Lufthansa found that meals would taste 30 percent undersalted and 20 percent less sweet. It’s like having a cold and not feeling anything to your taste.

What can you do to enjoy your meals? Choose umami-rich foods like tomatoes, mushrooms, and aged meats. Foods high in umami retain their flavor even in the dry cabin air. Therefore, airlines have begun to notice that passengers drink more tomato juice during flights.

But there is another factor to consider: noise. Background noise in aircraft cabins can reach 80 decibels, which is about as loud as an electrical vacuum.

And studies have shown that loud noise can affect our perception of taste, especially sweet and salty. So, if you’re looking for a savory treat, opt for a savory, umami-heavy dish and maybe wash it down with a Bloody Mary.

The next time you have to fly for eight hours with a poor quality dinner, remember this science trick. Your taste buds will thank you. And maybe this time you will even enjoy the food on the plane.

Focus previously wrote about a silent killer in your kitchen: scientists warn against aluminum foil.

We also talked about how to prevent odor from the refrigerator and freezer. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is the presence of microbes, including bacteria, yeast and mold.

Important! This article is based on and does not contradict the latest scientific and medical research. The text is for informational purposes only and does not contain medical advice. To establish a diagnosis, be sure to consult a doctor.

The researchers believe that friendship between men is not at all as cold and dry as previously thought, they just express their emotions differently.

There is an opinion that the friendship of adult men is something cold, inhospitable, devoid of care and emotional support. However, researchers now believe that this is not actually the case. Moreover, they suggest that the much talked about crisis of loneliness among men is also exaggerated, writes the Daily Mail.

In a new study, University of Sydney sociologist Alex Broom and his co-author Damien Ridge, a practicing psychotherapist at the University of Westminster in the UK, focused on male friendships. Researchers have found that men often actually treat friends differently than women.

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However, researchers now believe that “supposed signs of aggression” such as offensive comments, barbs and mocking jokes may actually be signs of real intimacy.

Scholars point out that by focusing on the relative lack of verbal expression, society has assumed that “male friendships are not intimate.” Moreover, it is generally accepted that men avoid serious topics by ridiculing them. However, researchers believe that the truth can often be just the opposite.

In the course of the study, the researchers examined the peer-reviewed academic literature on male bonding over the past two decades. After analyzing this data, they released an article citing about three dozen Israeli military personnel collected in interviews by behavioral scientists from Tel Aviv University. Then the researchers found that men often use humor, and sometimes insults, to create a sense of togetherness.

In their interviews, the veterans described a number of actions that were actually a manifestation of friendly feelings, for example:

idioms; nicknames; swear words; pointless conversations; aggressive gestures; hugs.

But all these incomprehensible on-duty messages, according to the researchers, were like a tease, designed to interest colleagues and bring them closer to real friendships. One of the participants in another study, which was also cited by scientists, said that such communication is, as it were, a test before “close friendship.”

Study participants also stated that other men hear someone talking to other guys and can immediately understand that “they are good friends.” What’s more, the researchers found that the offer to “drink a beer” is a classic excuse for men to open up and express themselves.

In one study, 15 young Irish men aged between 19 and 30 who had struggled with the loss of a close friend to suicide for the past 5 years reported that “guys will only talk when there is beer on board”, allegedly this moment “all clamps are removed”.

But the pub was not the only option. In fact, Broome and Ridge found that men can create emotional intimacy in everything from volunteer organizations to DIY workshops and hobby groups.

The study also shows that most men question their natural instincts to form close friendships. The authors of the study found that most of the study participants first learned about “close trusting relationships” from their mothers, sisters or first girlfriends. So, according to the study participants, they realized that they were doing something wrong. However, the researchers note that it is extremely important to let men get close and build friendships in their own way.

Previously, Focus wrote that scientists have found out why men are not ready to give up meat.

The researchers suggest that the new discovery will help create more effective mosquito repellents.

No animal is more deadly to humans than the mosquito due to the many microbes it can carry. That is why scientists have been trying for decades to develop effective repellents that would protect us from female blood-sucking mosquitoes, writes Gizmodo.

In a new study, scientists have come to an unexpected discovery: soap can serve as an excellent ingredient for creating an effective mosquito repellent. The researchers note that while some types of soap attract the attention of female blood-sucking mosquitoes, others seem to be unpleasant and repel annoying insects.

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Statistics show that more than a million deaths each year are attributable to mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria. It is also known that these insects are not equal opportunity pests. According to study author Clement Winauger, a biochemist and geneticist at Virginia Tech, he and colleagues believe that about 20% of potential human hosts are responsible for 80% of the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.

Scientists have focused on understanding what causes mosquitoes to bite some people more than others. Previous research has identified substances in our body odor that attract mosquitoes. However, the researchers note that there hasn’t been much research into how the smells we put on ourselves affect the attention mosquitoes give us.

Female mosquitoes are known to feed on blood, but like males, they also feed on nectar. As a result, the scientists speculated that some soap-like odors might affect their eating habits.

It is no secret that, as a rule, we prefer to choose soaps that smell pleasantly of flowers or plants. But the problem is that mosquitoes also use the volatiles released by plants to find them and get sugar from the nectar. Next, Winauger and his colleagues decided to test this theory experimentally.

Four volunteers took part in the study. The scientists identified each recipient’s unique scent and then asked them to wash dishes with four different brands of soap: Dial, Dove, Native and Simple Truth. Next, the scientists used the clothes in which the volunteers were, and launched the female mosquitoes. The results of the study showed that after soaping, the smells became “more attractive”, but the degree of attractiveness also depended on the smells of the volunteers and brands of soap.

The researchers found that the smell of some participants in the experiment became more attractive after applying Dove and Simple Truth soap, and the use of Native soap consistently repelled mosquitoes. Next, the researchers extracted potential chemicals in soap that most attracted and repelled insects. It turned out that the chemical with the smell of coconut was the most effective in repelling female blood-sucking mosquitoes.

The scientists note that more, broader research is needed to understand what other scents can repel mosquitoes and how they can be used to create an effective repellant.

Previously, Focus wrote that mosquitoes really bite some people more often: scientists have found out why this happens.

The researchers believe that the new technology can diagnose cancer at an early stage.

A new diagnostic tool developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US will require little more than a urine sample and can be done at home. In fact, it works in the same way as a pregnancy test, and therefore does not require a trip to the doctor or hospital, writes Science Alert.

The researchers note that this test will be able to detect some types of cancer at an early stage and will not require expensive scans or tedious blood tests. However, despite the fact that the new method may seem simple, it is based on a very complex technology based on the presence of enzymes specific to the occurrence of a particular type of cancer.

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In the course of the study, the scientists developed a new type of nanoparticles coated with proteins labeled with a set of DNA sequences. When cancer-related enzymes encounter nanoparticles in the blood, they cut off a protein that is specific to that enzyme. Scientists note that protein-related sequences excreted from the body with urine can, in fact, be read as a barcode that signals the presence of cancer.

The researchers note that the nanoparticles have already been tested on mice and injected into them. However, they can ultimately be designed so that the person takes them in other ways, such as:

orally; through an inhaler; as a cream.

It is assumed that various barcodes of DNA nanoparticles will be able not only to determine the presence of a tumor, but also its type and the presence of metastases. The results of the study show that nanoparticle sensors are able to capture 5 different enzymes produced by tumors. Up to 46 different DNA barcodes could potentially be expressed in a single sample after further expansion of the technology.

Cancer biomarkers are often difficult to detect, but the synthetic nanoparticles they have developed could be used to amplify these signals in reports of the type of cancer and how it progresses, according to study co-author Liangliang Hao, a biomedical engineer at Boston University.

The authors of the study note that in this way, patients will be able to independently control the detection of the disease, as well as its progress. Moreover, it is expected that the test will help to identify some types of cancer at an earlier stage, and thus provide access to more effective treatment.

However, scientists note that the new test will still have to undergo human clinical trials before people around the world can use it at home.

Focus previously wrote about what scientists discovered when cancer first appeared in humans.

Important! This article is based on and does not contradict the latest scientific and medical research. The text is for informational purposes only and does not contain medical advice. To establish a diagnosis, be sure to consult a doctor.

Scientists have finally identified a new species of deep sea shark, and it has some pretty creepy features. This creature, called Apristurus ovicorrugatus, was ignored by researchers for decades, but now its day has come, writes Live Science.

The first clue was a mysterious egg shell found in the collection of the Western Australian Museum, but it wasn’t until scientists looked at it a second time that they realized they were dealing with a completely new species.

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What makes A. ovicorrugatus so unique? To begin with, she has white eyes that shine brightly in the deep dark waters where the animal lives. This is a rare trait among deep sea species, with only one known example found in Apristurus nakayai from New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea.

She has bright white eyes that shine brightly in the deep dark waters where the animal lives.

Фото: White et al/Journal of Fish Biology

But that’s not all – A. ovicorrugatus egg shells are unlike anything scientists have seen before. These frilled shells, also known as mermaid pouches (egg pods), allowed researchers to identify the species and give it its name.

Apristurus is a genus of cat sharks, and although about 40 species are known in this family, A. ovicorrugatus stands out for its unique features. Most sharks give birth to live young, but species such as A. ovicorrugatus lay eggs instead.

These ovipositions can have long antennae that attach to algae or rocks and are an important part of understanding where these sharks breed.

These ovipositions can have long antennae that attach to algae or rocks and are an important part of understanding where these sharks breed.

Фото: White et al/Journal of Fish Biology

In the case of A. ovicorrugatus, the egg shell was found attached to corals, suggesting that these organisms may play a vital role in the reproduction of the species.

The discovery highlights the importance of the shape of egg shells in identifying new species and provides valuable information for scientists studying deep-sea sharks.

But this is only the beginning! With new technology and renewed focus on museum collections, researchers like Will White and colleagues are looking for new shark species that have been overlooked or misidentified.

Who knows what other types of sharks might be hiding in front of our noses? Be careful and keep your wetsuits ready, because the world of deep-sea sharks just got a lot more interesting.

Previously, Focus wrote about the horror from the bottom of the ocean. Scientists have resurrected the appearance of an ancient monster that lived on Earth 300 million years ago.

And we also said that scientists managed to find an ancient bacterium in a completely unexpected place – in the dental plaque of Neanderthals.

A new study sheds light on how the most gigantic animals on earth managed to reach such sizes.

At a time when our distant ancestors were tiny creatures no larger than a rat and crawled along the “carpet” of prehistoric forests, super-giant dinosaurs were already combing the treetops with might and main, writes Science Focus.

In a new study, paleontologists at Adelphi University in the US have focused on understanding how and when giant dinosaurs managed to become so huge. Note that sauropods (a group of the largest dinosaurs) were the largest animals that ever roamed the Earth. Researchers have focused on uncovering their evolutionary path, and now believe that their incredible success was that they were not too lazy to evolve.

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According to study co-author and associate professor of biology at Adelphi, Dr. Michael D’Emic, he and colleagues found that instead of changing their size once or twice in the entire history of evolution, these hard-working dinosaurs did it dozens of times. For example, some of them have evolved 36 times in 100 million years.

The researchers note that sauropods were physiologically distinct from each other, with different teeth, heads and bodies. That is, in fact, each of them managed to find a form that helped them survive and not compete with each other. As a result of the study, scientists also refuted the theory that sauropods became giant over time – the results of the study indicate that they were giants at the beginning of their evolutionary path.

In the study, scientists estimated the body weight of about two hundred species of sauropods based on the size of their limbs. Next, the data was applied to the evolutionary tree of the group. The results of the study show that with the advent of each new family of sauropods, at least one lineage independently became supergiant. For example, the iconic long-necked Brachiosaurus that grew to 30 meters in length was one of them, as well as the stocky Apatosaurus, 21 meters long.

The researchers found that the first sauropods reached about 6 meters in length and weighed about 800 kilograms. The largest, Brachiosaurus, has evolved to grow to over 30 meters and weigh up to 60,000 kilograms. By the way, scientists also found that some sauropods in the process of evolution, on the contrary, became smaller – for example, the smallest reached 4.6 meters.

In future research, the scientists plan to focus on understanding why some lineages of sauropods became supergiants while others did not.

Previously, Focus wrote that scientists had figured out how huge dinosaurs moved so as not to fall.

Death, in principle, is not the most pleasant process, but dying in one of these ways seems like a mockery of fate.

For decades, scientists have been trying to understand how people feel at the time of death – many studies have already shown that human near-death experiences trigger some activity in the brain, however, what exactly we feel when we die is still unknown, writes IFLScience.

Some people who have had a near-death experience say that they saw a light at the end of the tunnel, others imagined long-dead relatives and friends, and someone even hovered over their own lifeless body. One way or another, the process of death itself can hardly be called pleasant.

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In a new study, scientists have compiled some of the most disgusting ways to die, and it’s worth noting that they are all based on someone’s depressing experience.

radiation incident

Radiation poisoning, perhaps, can be called one of the most debilitating ways to leave this world. Radiation poisoning occurs when we receive a large amount of radiation in one large dose or over time.

With constant exposure to radiation, the highest risk of getting cancer. This is exactly what happened to the American Eben Byers, who for a long time drank Radithor, a radium drink advertised as a miracle cure. It is known that the man used “radiation juice” for several years, and then began to lose weight, he began to have headaches and his teeth began to fall out. He went to the doctor and the consequences of drinking the drink were colossal.

Lawyers seeking to regulate the radiation products said during the trial that most of Byers’s upper jaw, with the exception of two teeth, and part of Byers’ lower jaw were removed. What’s more, his bones throughout his body began to disintegrate, and “holes actually formed” in his skull.

Note that in large single doses of radiation, death occurs much faster. For example, Hisashi Ouchi, a worker at an experimental reactor in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan, suffered such a fate. He and two other colleagues were asked to mix 2.4 kg of enriched uranium with nitric acid, disregarding all safety procedures — essentially just mixing everything in a stainless steel bucket. No wonder something went wrong.

At 10:35 the uranium reached its critical mass and started an uncontrolled chain reaction that emitted radiation for the next 20 hours. Three workers conducting the “experiment” said they saw a blue flash before losing consciousness. The men were rescued by colleagues and taken to a local hospital.

Ouchi suffered severe radiation burns to most of his body, as well as damage to his internal organs, causing him to lose a lot of blood. After 58 days, low oxygen levels caused his heart to stop. Then, the doctors managed to resuscitate him, but on the 83rd day after the “experiment” he died of a heart attack.

Hyena attack

Large predators such as lions tend to strangle their prey by breaking or biting through the neck. Alas, they are not at all merciful, but only try to make the victim not resist. However, the hyenas have a different approach – a tougher one.

Hyenas hunt in packs, they follow the pack at a constant pace and act alone, delivering precise blows to the limbs of their prey. As soon as the animal stops and fights off its relatives, the hyenas attack with the whole flock. They stop hunting and pounce on the victim, ripping open her belly and eating soft internal organs, while the victim’s heart is still beating.

Note that hyena attacks on people are extremely rare, but they still happen. Statistics show that most often the victims of attacks are children and the elderly.

Drowning in a cesspool

People who have experienced similar near-death experiences report that drowning usually causes panic and pain, followed by a feeling of peace and calmness, probably related to the lack of oxygen. Some even consider drowning to be one of the “most peaceful ways to get away.” However, one can hardly say so if drowning takes place in a cesspool.

Note that this happened to a group of nobles in 1184, when they agreed to meet at St. Peter’s Church in Erfurt to resolve a certain conflict. They hardly thought then that the floor of the church might not withstand and they would all end up in the cesspool located under it. But it still happened, as a result, about 60-100 people drowned in the feces and urine of the monks.

cancer worms

Death from cancer is terrible, but imagine a person who died after his parasitic worms got cancer. This is a very real story that happened in 2015 with a resident of Colombia. A 41-year-old HIV-positive man died because his tapeworm contracted cancer. As a result, the worm’s cancer cells spread throughout the man’s body, he began to become very tired and lose weight, and also suffered from cough and fever.

Doctors did a CT scan and found that the man’s lungs and liver were filled with tumors of an unusual type. Ultimately, testing showed that the cancer cells contained Hymenolepis nana DNA, but the patient died 72 hours after admission.

Then scientists noted that this is the first case known to science when a human disease is caused by cancer cells of parasitic origin.

Cave Incident

To the west of Utah Lake is an amazing cave with the cute name of Nutty Patty, or as it is also called “Nutty Putty”. Alas, the name is the only thing cute about this place.

It is known that the cave got its name from the viscous clay on its walls, which oozes and resembles a “silly putty” when touched. Travelers and explorers liked to explore the cave with its narrow passages, but this, alas, led to several rescue operations at once.

In November 2009, John Edward Jones and his brother Josh went to the cave in search of a narrow passage, also called the Birth Canal. Unfortunately, the men got lost and ended up in a part of the cave that was not mapped.

John spotted the hole, turned 70 degrees down and started crawling in. He thought he saw the hole from the other side, but he was wrong, and, making his way centimeter by centimeter, he got stuck there. The man tried to take a deep breath to squeeze through the narrow opening, but the moment he took another deep breath, he found himself in a trap from which he could no longer get out.

The next day, rescuers tried to get the man out of the cave, but they failed. John spent 27 hours in a position that greatly strained his heart and it simply could not pump blood from the brain. As a result, the man died, and the Natti-Patti cave was forever sealed to visitors.

Previously, Focus wrote that the new “death simulator” will allow one eye to look at the afterlife.

The study shows that cigarette filters should be “completely removed from the market”.

It’s no secret that smoking itself is a bad habit, but now researchers believe that cigarette filters, instead of making smoking safer, are doing quite the opposite, writes Express.

The researchers concluded that cigarette filters should be “completely removed from the market” because they actually increase health risks and cause enormous damage to the environment. Firstly, cigarette filters are one of the most common types of garbage, and secondly, they leach various toxic chemicals and microplastics into the environment. This is the conclusion that environmental scientists from Sweden came to in their new study.

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Note that cigarette filters were invented in the 1950s to make cigarettes “safer”. Today they are used in 90% of cigarettes sold. Statistics show that about 4.5 trillion filter cigarettes are smoked every year, and 65% of them are not thrown into the bin or ashtray.

In a new study, scientists from the University of Nöteborg focused on understanding how cigarette filters affect human health and the environment. According to co-author of the study, ecotoxicologist Professor Bethany Carney-Almroth, she and her colleagues found that cigarette filters not only do not make smoking safer, but are extremely dangerous to health, as they are filled with “thousands of toxic chemicals and microplastic fibers.”

The researchers concluded that about 0.3 million tons of plastic fibers enter the environment from filters every year. For comparison, this is about the same amount that is thrown out of clothes through all household washing machines in the world.

In the study, the scientists exposed the larvae of aquatic mosquitoes to toxins found after smoking, as well as substances that are in the filter from the very beginning. The results of the analysis suggest that toxins in cigarette filters led to a 20% increase in the mortality of young insects.

Note that earlier studies have already shown that toxins in filters can have adverse effects on various aquatic organisms. Another study showed that just 2 cigarette butts left in a liter of water for 4 days released toxins at a concentration sufficient to kill fish.

Professor Carney-Almort notes that cigarette filters are also a major source of microplastics entering the environment. That is why the researchers insist that cigarette filters should be recognized as dangerous to human health and the environment and completely banned.

Previously, Focus wrote that smoking cigarettes changes the structure of bones and makes them brittle: why this happens.

Advances in computed tomography and 3D imaging have enabled researchers to reconstruct the skull of Crassigyrinus Scoticus for the first time, shedding new light on the appearance and behavior of the ancient predator. As an early tetrapod, Crassigyrinus was a huge aquatic predator that lived in the coal marshes of Scotland and parts of North America during the Lower and Middle Carboniferous, writes IFLScience.

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Although closely related to some of the first species to make the transition from water to land, Crassigyrinus itself never landed on it.

For almost a century, scientists have been studying the remains of this aquatic animal. However, their progress was hampered by the fact that all known fossils were severely crushed due to being preserved in fine-grained rock. This led to the fact that many broken and deformed bones, with fragments lying randomly on top of each other, made it very difficult for researchers to restore their appearance.

But now, thanks to advances in computed tomography (CT) and 3D imaging, the team has been able to digitally reconstruct the skull of Crassigyrinus for the first time. Using pieces from four samples of all the skull bones, they were able to put the pieces together like a 3D puzzle.

Thanks to advances in computed tomography (CT) and 3D imaging, the team was able to digitally reconstruct the skull of Crassigyrinus for the first time.

Фото: Porro et al., Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2023 (CC BY 4.0)

Dr Laura Porro of University College London, lead author of the study, found that the animal had a skull similar to that of modern crocodiles, with large teeth and powerful jaws.

Thanks to them, they could devour everything that happened on the way. Combined with recent body studies, this suggests that the animal was rather splashy with short limbs, allowing it to hide below the surface of the water and grab prey with a powerful bite, similar to modern crocodiles.

The reconstructed skull also showed that Crassigyrinus had specialized sensory organs that helped it track prey, including large eyes. Thanks to them, he could see in the darkness of the coal marshes, as well as lateral lines that detected vibrations in the water.

There is also an amazing gap in the front of the skull, which may have given it other senses as well. One theory is that this gap may have contained a rostral organ that allowed Crassigyrinus to detect electric fields, or an early example of Jacobson’s organ that allowed him to distinguish between various chemicals. However, whatever was in this gap, it was not preserved and remains a mystery.

The study is dedicated to co-author Professor Jenny Kluck, a pioneering paleontologist who revolutionized our understanding of early tetrapod evolution and died in 2020. The new reconstructions are now being used to experiment with a series of biomechanical simulations to see what this terrifying predator was really capable of.

Focus previously wrote about a new discovery that rewrites dinosaur history. It turns out they walked the Earth millions of years earlier.

We also talked about a 180-million-year-old fossil: how the remains of ancient marine reptiles have survived to this day.