Bizarre pig-faced shark found dead in the Mediterranean Sea. Is it real?

Bizarre pig-faced shark found dead in the Mediterranean Sea. Is it real? | Lumpy tumor shown on facial reconstruction of Neanderthal who lived on 'drowned land' | 1st 'atom tornado' created from swirling vortex of helium atoms Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( September 14, 2021 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [Bizarre pig-faced shark found dead in the Mediterranean Sea. Is it real?]( [Bizarre pig-faced shark found dead in the Mediterranean Sea. Is it real?]( (Courtesy Isoladelbaapp.com) In the water, it looks like any other shark: a swift, gray hunter with steep dorsal fins poking out of its back. But take a close look at its face, and suddenly you're locking eyes with a real-life pig emoji. Meet the angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina) — better known in some harbors as the "pig fish." Naval officers in Elba (an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea not far from Tuscany) created an online stir when they pulled one of these beauties from the water on Sept. 3, posting pictures of the snub-headed oddity on Facebook. If the shark's flat head, wide-set eyes and blunt, pinkish snout weren't enough to earn the "pig fish" its nickname, then a single utterance from its mouth should put all doubt to rest. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/14) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] History & Archaeology [] [Lumpy tumor shown on facial reconstruction of Neanderthal who lived on 'drowned land']( [Lumpy tumor shown on facial reconstruction of Neanderthal who lived on 'drowned land']( (RMO) You can now gaze into the crinkly eyes of "Krijn," a young Neanderthal man who had a tumor growing on his skull when he died up to 70,000 years ago. In 2001, an amateur paleontologist found a piece of Krijn's skull while sifting through sediments collected from the bottom of the North Sea, off the coast of the Netherlands. Now, paleo-anthropological artists have used that hunk of skull to create a lifelike bust of Krijn, including the bulge above his right eyebrow where the tumor sat. "Luckily, it's a very distinctive piece," Adrue Kennis, a paleo-anthropological artist with Kennis & Kennis Reconstructions, said of the skull specimen in a translated video created by the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO) in the Netherlands, which is showing Krijn's bust in a new exhibit. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/13) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Math & Physics [] [1st 'atom tornado' created from swirling vortex of helium atoms]( [1st 'atom tornado' created from swirling vortex of helium atoms]( (Weiquan Lin via Getty Images) Physicists have created the first-ever atomic vortex beam — a swirling tornado of atoms and molecules with mysterious properties that have yet to be understood. By sending a straight beam of helium atoms through a grating with teeny slits, scientists were able to use the weird rules of quantum mechanics to transform the beam into a whirling vortex. The extra gusto provided by the beam's rotation, called orbital angular momentum, gives it a new direction to move in, enabling it to act in ways that researchers have yet to predict. For instance, they believe the atoms' rotation could add extra dimensions of magnetism to the beam, alongside other unpredictable effects, due to the electrons and the nuclei inside the spiraling vortex atoms spinning at different speeds. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/14) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Otherworldly 'time crystal' made inside Google quantum computer could change physics forever]( [Otherworldly 'time crystal' made inside Google quantum computer could change physics forever]( (Eric Lucero/Google, Inc.) Researchers working in partnership with Google may have just used the tech giant's quantum computer to create a completely new phase of matter — a time crystal. With the ability to forever cycle between two states without ever losing energy, time crystals dodge one of the most important laws of physics — the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the disorder, or entropy, of an isolated system must always increase. These bizarre time crystals remain stable, resisting any dissolution into randomness, despite existing in a constant state of flux. According to a research article posted July 28 to the preprint database arXiv, scientists were able to create the time crystal for roughly 100 seconds using qubits (quantum computing's version of the traditional computer bit) inside the core of Google's Sycamore quantum processor. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/14) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Astronomy & Astrophysics [] [Travel through galaxies and the dark matter web in this stunning universe simulation]( [Travel through galaxies and the dark matter web in this stunning universe simulation]( (Tomoaki Ishiyama) A new simulation of the universe is a map and a time machine rolled up into one. Called Uchuu, which is Japanese for "Outer Space," the map doesn't include Casseipoia or the moons of Neptune; instead, it's a map of large-scale galaxies and galaxy clusters, all glued together by an invisible web of dark matter, which emits no electromagnetic radiation but still exerts a gravitational force upon the universe. Researchers from Chiba University in Japan, the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain and several other institutions in Europe, the United States, Argentina and Chile developed the simulation in order to study the structure of the universe over almost its entire 13.8 billion-year history. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/14) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Curious Creatures [] [Tick transforms into a glowing alien from a sci-fi nightmare in trippy photo]( [Tick transforms into a glowing alien from a sci-fi nightmare in trippy photo]( (Photo by Dr. Tong Zhang & Dr. Paul Stoodley/Courtesy of Nikon Small World) A prizewinning microscopy image of a tick's head rendered in psychedelic colors may change the way you look at bloodsucking parasites. The intense magnification — combined with glowing hues that illuminate the creature's protruding head, internal structures and armored, spiky exoskeleton — make the tick seem more like a bizarre (or beautiful?) visitor from another world. The image offers a perspective of the tiny arthropod that you've probably never seen before. And that's exactly the point of this and other standout entries that were recently honored in the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition, now in its 47th year. The tick photo, and more than 100 others chosen for the contest's top awards, showcase the science and beauty of organisms, minerals and other objects that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/14) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: Can rocks grow? (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