Top news from around the world
U.S.
A hiker found two rusted, unexploded bombs from 1935 on the Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. The bombs had been intended to help divert lava flow during an eruption.
FRANCE
Researchers report dinosaur footprints up to 1.25 meters long on the roof of a cave in France, likely coming from a type of titanosaur. Geologic processes buried and shifted the shoreline footprints to the cave’s roof, 500 meters deep.
KENYA
A 20-year experiment revealed that cattle-grazing areas frequented by elephants store almost twice as much carbon as areas that bar the animals; soil in these areas also has higher nutrient levels.
GERMANY
In a Leipzig waste site, scientists found a soil bacterium that can break down components of polyurethane—and survive the toxic chemicals released in the process.
OMAN
Daily growth rings on a 70-million-year-old fossilized mollusk indicate that Earth turned faster at the time, squeezing 372 days into each year. The creature’s former habitat, a shallow seabed, is now on a mountain in Oman.
AUSTRALIA
Seven new peacock spider species—including one with a van Gogh Starry Night–like design—were discovered among crowd-sourced photographs from across the continent. The spiders are known for their vividly colored abdomens.
This article was originally published with the title “Quick Hits” in Scientific American 322, 6, 17 (June 2020)
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0620-17
