Archivo: Los Angeles Times
Earliest known medieval Muslim graves are discovered in France
On the outskirts of the ancient Roman city of Nimes in southern France, archaeologists have discovered the graves of three Muslim men that date back to the 8th century. The finding suggests the early medieval presence of Muslims north of the Pyrenees was more complicated, and perhaps more welcome, than previously thought.
How scientists solved the strange case of the missing asteroids
A couple years ago, astronomers made a surprising discovery: A significant number of asteroids were missing from the central region of the solar system.
Bizarre birth defect is on the rise, and researchers are baffled
Physicians are seeing more instances of a birth defect in which infants are born with their intestines extruding from the stomach wall, with a particularly sharp rise among babies born to young African American mothers.
Fluid dynamics on four legs: The brilliance of how dogs drink
The next time your dog heads to his bowl for a drink, take a second to appreciate his mastery of fluid dynamics as he laps up gulp after gulp. Don’t mind the mess he’s probably making — it’s all part of his brilliance.
Humans take note: Artificial intelligence just got a lot smarter
Today’s artificial intelligence may not be that clever, but it just got much quicker on the uptake. A learning program designed by a trio of researchers can now recognize and draw handwritten characters after seeing them only a few times, just as a human can. And can do it so well that people can’t tell the difference.
Kepler’s false-positive rate for some planets is higher than thought
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has found thousands of prospective planets around nearby stars. But the trick is often in confirming whether they’re real or fakes. Now, a new study of gas giant planets in the Kepler dataset finds that more than half of these candidates are false positives, a rate much higher than some originally thought.
Income inequality makes the rich more Scrooge-like
As the annual «season of giving» dawns, a new study finds that stark income inequity — a dramatically rising trend in the United States — makes the «haves» less generous
When pregnant women get cancer, what happens to their babies?
A cancer diagnosis is always upsetting, and that’s especially true when the patient is pregnant. A new study may reassure these patients that their babies can turn out fine despite exposure to the disease and the resulting treatments.
Human fist evolved to punch
Human hands may have developed the ideal shape over time for punching, according to a new study using male cadaver arms.
Old-school and current vaccines have no link to autism (again)
Multiple vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal, administered to macaque monkeys on the schedule that pediatricians followed in the 1990s, resulted in none of the key brain or behavioral changes linked to autism, a new study shows.