Italian shark has 'virgin birth' after 10 years in all-female shark tank

Italian shark has 'virgin birth' after 10 years in all-female shark tank | What chronic fatigue syndrome can teach us about 'long COVID' | This deworming drug won't treat COVID-19, but it might kill you, CDC warns Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( August 27, 2021 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE]( [] Top Science News [] [Italian shark has 'virgin birth' after 10 years in all-female shark tank]( [Italian shark has 'virgin birth' after 10 years in all-female shark tank]( (Shutterstock) A shark's rare "virgin birth" in an Italian aquarium may be the first of its kind, scientists say. The female baby smoothhound shark (Mustelus mustelus) — known as Ispera, or "hope" in Maltese — was recently born at the Cala Gonone Aquarium in Sardinia to a mother that has spent the past decade sharing a tank with one other female and no males, Newsweek reported. This rare phenomenon, known as parthenogenesis, is the result of females' ability to self-fertilize their own eggs in extreme scenarios. Parthenogenesis has been observed in more than 80 vertebrate species — including sharks, fish and reptiles — but this may be the first documented occurrence in a smoothhound shark, according to Newsweek. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/26) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] COVID-19 [] [What chronic fatigue syndrome can teach us about 'long COVID']( [What chronic fatigue syndrome can teach us about 'long COVID']( (Shutterstock) Brain fog. Fatigue. Sleep problems. These symptoms plague many people with "long COVID" for weeks or months after recovering from COVID-19. But these symptoms are also remarkably similar to those of another disorder that's been studied for decades: myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which is characterized partly by unexplained fatigue. Researchers hypothesize that the two conditions may have similar causes. They also hope that existing knowledge about ME/CFS might be able to help some long COVID patients and that the study of long COVID may spur treatments for ME/CFS and better care for patients. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [This deworming drug won't treat COVID-19, but it might kill you, CDC warns]( [This deworming drug won't treat COVID-19, but it might kill you, CDC warns]( (Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Thousands of Americans may be taking potentially dangerous doses of an anti-parasitic drug because of misinformation that it will prevent or treat COVID-19, according to a new warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On Thursday (Aug. 26), the CDC alerted doctors that there's been a surge in prescriptions for the drug, called ivermectin, since the pandemic began, along with a five-fold increase in calls to poison control regarding toxic effects from the drug. People are even taking forms of the drug intended for use in animals, which can be bought over the counter but are not safe for human use, and can cause serious side effects, according to the CDC. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/26) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] History & Archaeology [] [Ancient monument linked to King Arthur is older than Stonehenge, research finds]( [Ancient monument linked to King Arthur is older than Stonehenge, research finds]( (University of Manchester) A mysterious stone tomb in western England — known as Arthur's Stone because of its links to the mythical King Arthur — originated almost 6,000 years ago as part of an elaborate "ceremonial landscape" across the whole area, according to archaeologists. Excavations this year near the ancient stone structure in rural Herefordshire, just east of the River Wye between England and Wales, show that the site was first occupied by an earthen mound pointing to another ancient structure nearby; but that a few hundred years later, it was rebuilt and realigned to point to hills much farther south, project leader Julian Thomas, a professor of archaeology at the University of Manchester in the U.K., told Live Science in an email. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Amazing Earth [] [6 mysterious structures hidden beneath the Greenland ice sheet]( [6 mysterious structures hidden beneath the Greenland ice sheet]( (Martin Zwick/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group) Fridtjof Nansen, the leader of the first expedition to cross Greenland, once described what he found in the Arctic as "the great adventure of the ice, deep and pure as infinity." Nansen, who made his journey in 1888, could not have known of the wonders hidden below the icy landscape beneath his skis. Today, thanks to radar and other technologies, the part of Greenland that sits below its 9,800-foot-thick(3,000 meters) ice sheet is coming into focus. These new tools reveal a complex, invisible landscape that holds clues to the past and future of the Arctic. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] In the Sky [] [Satellite images show crowds at Kabul airport before two reported explosions]( [Satellite images show crowds at Kabul airport before two reported explosions]( (©2021 Maxar Technologies) Massive crowds converged at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan before two explosions there killed and injured dozens on Thursday (Aug. 26), as shown in recent satellite photos ahead of the suspected terror attacks. The pictures from Maxar Technologies, taken over several days, show hundreds of people crowding the gates at Hamid Karzai International Airport. A fundamentalist militia called the Taliban took over Kabul and other major Afghan cities earlier in the month. There have been reports of people clinging to planes as the United States and other countries evacuate people from the airport. At least two explosions — one at the airport's Abbey Gate and a second explosion at the nearby Baron Hotel — were reported on Thursday. CNN reported the Abbey Gate explosion at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT or 5:40 p.m. local time in Kabul), and Pentagon officials confirmed the second attack at or near the Baron Hotel. ISIS-Khorasan, the Islamic State's arm in Afghanistan and Pakistan, issued a statement taking responsibility for the attack, The Washington Post reported. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Astronomy & Astrophysics [] [Martian 'blueberries' may hold signs of ancient water, new study suggests]( [Martian 'blueberries' may hold signs of ancient water, new study suggests]( (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/USGS) The surface of Mars is dotted with millions of tiny, spherical crystals averaging about a tenth of an inch (2.5 millimeters) in diameter. Even though these teensy spherules help give the Red Planet its rusty color, their seemingly blue appearance in a false-color NASA image from 2004 has earned them the nickname "blueberries." Desperate astronauts trying to juice these "berries" will be disappointed to learn that they are actually hematite — mineral compounds composed of iron and oxygen. However, a new analysis of similar minerals on Earth suggests that this may not always have been the case. According to a new study, the blueberry stones of Mars may really be hydrohematite — iron oxide minerals that also hold microscopic traces of ancient water. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Scientists detected the radio 'colors' of an FRB for the first time]( [Scientists detected the radio 'colors' of an FRB for the first time]( (Joeri van Leeuwen) Scientists connected two of the largest radio telescopes in the world to take a close look at the mysterious "colors" of the intergalactic phenomena known as fast radio bursts (FRBs). The researchers found that, while these millisecond-long flashes of light are invisible to human eyes, they glow with a veritable rainbow of radio wavelengths — and that could have big implications for what's causing them. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Moon-in-a-jar recreates the hazy atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon]( [Moon-in-a-jar recreates the hazy atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon]( (Getty / MARK GARLICK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY) Scientists recreated the unique chemical conditions found on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in tiny glass cylinders here on Earth, and the experiment revealed previously unknown features of the moon's mineral makeup. Titan is the second-largest moon in the solar system, behind Jupiter's Ganymede, and sports a dense atmosphere of mostly nitrogen with a dash of methane, according to Space.com. This yellowish haze hovers around minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 180 degrees Celsius). Below the atmosphere, lakes, seas and rivers of liquid methane and ethane cover Titan's icy crust, particularly near the poles. And similar to liquid water on Earth, these natural gases take part in a cycle in which they evaporate, form clouds and then rain down on the moon's surface. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (8/26) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: Can we ever stop thinking? (Learn the answer [here]() [Vote]( [Yes]( [Vote]( [No]( [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:livescience@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( © Future US, Inc. 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004