COVID-19 has now killed as many people in the U.S. as the 1918 Spanish flu

Underwater views of Antarctic jellies are 'a magic portal to another world' | COVID-19 has now killed as many people in the U.S. as the 1918 Spanish flu | Space rock that destroyed ancient city may have inspired biblical story of Sodom Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( September 21, 2021 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [Underwater views of Antarctic jellies are 'a magic portal to another world']( [Underwater views of Antarctic jellies are 'a magic portal to another world']( (Emiliano Cimoli) The gelatinous, transparent bodies of bizarre jellylike sea creatures — illuminated by the twinkling of an internal light, and some with a recent meal still visible in their bellies — tumble and drift in hypnotic footage that was captured below the Antarctic ice. Edited into a "trippy video composition," as filmmaker and scientist Emiliano Cimoli described the film in a statement, the footage presents close-up views of jellyfish, comb jellies and other soft-bodied, see-through ocean life in the Ross Sea, a deep body of water in the Southern Ocean at McMurdo Sound. The exceptional detail in the video enabled researchers to spot a dozen species of gelatinous animals, of which two species of jellyfish and three comb jelly species are as yet unknown to science, according to a new study. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] COVID-19 [] [COVID-19 has now killed as many people in the U.S. as the 1918 Spanish flu]( [COVID-19 has now killed as many people in the U.S. as the 1918 Spanish flu]( (Shutterstock) COVID-19 has now killed as many people in the U.S. as the 1918 flu pandemic, which is often cited as the most severe pandemic in recent history, according to the Associated Press. As of Tuesday (Sept. 21), more than 676,200 people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard. The 1918-1919 flu pandemic is thought to have killed roughly 675,000 people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But it's not exactly clear how many people died a century ago, due to incomplete records and poor understanding of the illness cause, according to the AP. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] History & Archaeology [] [Space rock that destroyed ancient city may have inspired biblical story of Sodom]( [Space rock that destroyed ancient city may have inspired biblical story of Sodom]( (Allen West and Jennifer Rice,CC BY-ND) As the inhabitants of an ancient Middle Eastern city now called Tall el-Hammam went about their daily business one day about 3,600 years ago, they had no idea an unseen icy space rock was speeding toward them at about 38,000 mph (61,000 kph). Flashing through the atmosphere, the rock exploded in a massive fireball about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the ground. The blast was around 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The shocked city dwellers who stared at it were blinded instantly. Air temperatures rapidly rose above 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius). Clothing and wood immediately burst into flames. Swords, spears, mudbricks and pottery began to melt. Almost immediately, the entire city was on fire. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Ancient bones reveal previously unknown Japanese ancestors]( [Ancient bones reveal previously unknown Japanese ancestors]( (Shigeki Nakagome, lead researcher, assistant professor of psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin.) Researchers have rewritten Japanese history after uncovering a third, and previously unknown, group of ancestors that migrated to Japan around 2,000 years ago, of modern-day Japanese populations. Ancient Japan can be split into three key time periods: the Jomon period (13,000 B.C. to 300 B.C.), a time when a small population of hunter-gatherers who were proficient in pottery lived exclusively on the island; the overlapping Yayoi period (900 B.C. to A.D. 300), when farmers migrated to Japan from East Asia and developed agriculture; and the Kofun period (A.D. 300 to 700), when modern-day Japan began to take shape. Previous research had suggested the two main genetic origins of modern-day Japanese populations were the original hunter-gatherers who lived during the Jomon period and the farmers who migrated to Japan during the Yayoi period. Now, an analysis of the DNA found in ancient bones has revealed a third genetic origin during the Kofun period, when a group of previously unknown ancestors migrated to Japan, researchers reported in a new study. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Natural Disasters [] [La Palma volcano spews lava hundreds of feet in the air, but don't expect a 'mega-tsunami']( [La Palma volcano spews lava hundreds of feet in the air, but don't expect a 'mega-tsunami']( (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images) A volcano on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma sent lava fountains shooting hundreds of feet into the air on Sunday (Sept. 19), forcing thousands of people to evacuate the area. The volcano, called La Cumbre Vieja or "The Old Summit," last erupted in October 1971, when lava continually poured from the volcano for more than three weeks, according to NPR. This time around, the volcano is expected to remain active only "for the next few days," the president of the Canary Islands Ángel Víctor Torres said, Reuters reported. Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Astronomy & Astrophysics [] [Jupiter just got smacked by a space rock and an amateur astronomer caught it on camera]( [Jupiter just got smacked by a space rock and an amateur astronomer caught it on camera]( (José Luis Pereira) Jupiter got whacked again. Brazilian observer José Luis Pereira captured a bright flash on the solar system's largest planet Monday night (Sept. 13), memorializing the fiery death of a space rock high in the Jovian atmosphere. "I am an assiduous planetary observer," Pereira told Space.com in a written statement Tuesday (Sept. 14). "When the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are in opposition, I try to make images in every possible night of clear skies. Especially [of] the planet Jupiter, my favorite." Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Curious Creatures [] [Dozens of endangered penguins killed after being stung in the eyes by swarming honeybees]( [Dozens of endangered penguins killed after being stung in the eyes by swarming honeybees]( (Shutterstock) In a bizarre incident, 64 endangered African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) have been killed in South Africa after being stung in and around their eyes by Cape honeybees (Apis mellifera capensis). Rangers from the South African National Parks organization (SANParks) discovered 63 of the 64 dead penguins among a colony near Cape Town in Table Mountain National Park on Friday, Sept. 17. African penguins are a protected species in South Africa and are currently listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with around 42,000 mature individuals globally. "The deaths occurred suddenly sometime between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning," SANParks said in a Facebook post. "No external physical injuries were observed on any of the birds." Full Story: [LiveScience]( (9/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: What is the name of yesterday's full moon? (Learn the answer [here]() [Vote]( [Harvest Moon]( [Vote]( [Wolf Moon]( [Vote]( [Pink Moon]( [Vote]( [Flower Moon](   [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