Double pig kidney transplant successfully performed in brain-dead patient

Double pig kidney transplant successfully performed in brain-dead patient | 164 million-year-old plant fossil is the oldest example of a flowering bud | Ancient Chinese tombs hold remains of warriors possibly buried alive Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( January 20, 2022 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [Double pig kidney transplant successfully performed in brain-dead patient]( [Double pig kidney transplant successfully performed in brain-dead patient]( (UAB News) Scientists successfully transplanted two kidneys from a genetically modified pig into a human recipient and found that the organs produced urine and were not rejected during the days-long experiment. The procedure was performed in a brain-dead patient who was a registered organ donor and whose family authorized the research, according to the new study, published Thursday (Jan. 20) in the American Journal of Transplantation. The research team intends to eventually transplant pig kidneys into living patients, in formal clinical trials — but first the team wanted to address some critical safety questions. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] History & Archaeology [] [164 million-year-old plant fossil is the oldest example of a flowering bud]( [164 million-year-old plant fossil is the oldest example of a flowering bud]( (NIGPAS) Researchers have uncovered the earliest example of a flower bud in a 164 million-year-old plant fossil in China. The discovery firmly pushes back the emergence of flowering plants into the Jurassic period, between 145 million and 201 million years ago. The fossil, which was uncovered in the Inner Mongolia region of China, is 1.7 inches (4.2 centimeters) long and 0.8 inches (2 cm) wide. It contains a stem, a leafy branch, a bulbous fruit and a tiny flower bud around 3 square millimeters in size. The researchers have named the new species Florigerminis jurassica. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Ancient Chinese tombs hold remains of warriors possibly buried alive]( [Ancient Chinese tombs hold remains of warriors possibly buried alive]( (Anyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology) The 3,000-year-old tombs of a wealthy clan, including the remains of warriors and warhorses that seem to have been sacrificed at their funerals, have been unearthed in an ancient capital city of China. The complex of 24 tombs was discovered at an archaeological site within the city of Anyang in Henan province, less than 2 miles (2.4 km) from the UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site of Yinxu at the city's center. The ruins there are from the ancient city of Yin, the capital of the Shang dynasty, which ruled between about 1600 B.C. to 1046 B.C. — the earliest dynasty ever recorded in China. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Life’s Little Mysteries [] [When humans are gone, what animals might evolve to have our smarts and skills?]( [When humans are gone, what animals might evolve to have our smarts and skills?]( (Getty Images) Humans are pretty unique among life on Earth. As far as we know, we're the only living species to evolve a higher intelligence, wear clothes, cook our food, invent smartphones and then get locked out of them when we forget our passwords. But what if humans suddenly went extinct? What other animals might evolve to have the smarts and skills to create large, complex societies like we have? Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Featured Content Sponsored Content from Gigabyte [Unleash your gaming potential with Gigabyte Aero laptops]( When it comes to editing and rendering, performance is all that matters to content creators. Inspired by the "performance-above- all" mentality, Gigabyte delivers to the market a solution that satisfies the most fastidious content creators, the Aero laptop series. [Read more and enter to win a 15" Aero laptop]( [] Space Exploration [] [Curiosity rover finds 'tantalizing' signs of ancient Mars life]( [Curiosity rover finds 'tantalizing' signs of ancient Mars life]( (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS) NASA's Curiosity rover has found some interesting organic compounds on the Red Planet that could be signs of ancient Mars life, but it will take a lot more work to test that hypothesis. Some of the powdered rock samples that Curiosity has collected over the years contain organics rich in a type of carbon that here on Earth is associated with life, researchers report in a new study. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Math & Physics [] [Centuries-old 'impossible' math problem cracked using the strange physics of Schrödinger's cat]( [Centuries-old 'impossible' math problem cracked using the strange physics of Schrödinger's cat]( (agawa288/Getty Images) A math problem developed 243 years ago can be solved only by using quantum entanglement, new research finds. The mathematics problem is a bit like Sudoku on steroids. It's called Euler's officer problem, after Leonhard Euler, the mathematician who first proposed it in 1779. Here's the puzzle: You're commanding an army with six regiments. Each regiment contains six different officers of six different ranks. Can you arrange them in a 6-by-6 square without repeating a rank or regiment in any given row or column? Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Astronomy & Astrophysics [] [40 quintillion stellar-mass black holes are lurking in the universe, new study finds]( [40 quintillion stellar-mass black holes are lurking in the universe, new study finds]( (Nicholas Forder/Future Publishing) Scientists have estimated the number of "small" black holes in the universe. And no surprise: It's a lot. This number might seem impossible to calculate; after all, spotting black holes is not exactly the simplest task. Because they’re are as pitch-black as the space they lurk in, the light swallowing cosmic goliaths can be detected only under the most extraordinary circumstances — like when they’re bending the light around them, snacking on the unfortunate gases and stars that stray too close, or spiraling toward enormous collisions that unleash gravitational waves. But that hasn't stopped scientists from finding some ingenious ways to guess the number. Using a new method, outlined Jan. 12 in The Astrophysical Journal, a team of astrophysicists has produced a fresh estimate for the number of stellar-mass black holes — those with masses 5 to 10 times that of the sun — in the universe. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Curious Creatures [] [Parasitic worm forces tarantulas to tiptoe, then starves them to death]( [Parasitic worm forces tarantulas to tiptoe, then starves them to death]( (Adler Dillman/ UCR) Researchers have discovered a new species of parasitic worm that makes its home in the mouths of tarantulas — then slowly starves the spiders to death. The worms first appear as white splotches around a tarantula's mouth, according to a new study published Jan. 17 in The Journal of Parasitology. After being infected, the arachnid host loses control of the appendages that control its fangs, then stops eating. Infected tarantulas may also show other strange behaviors, such as walking on their tiptoes, the study authors wrote. From there, it's a slow tiptoe toward certain death. 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