Mammals munching on dinosaurs in China, Greenland’s melted past, coral catastrophe in Florida, and much more in this month’s Quick Hits
AUSTRALIA
Australia is the first country to legalize psilocybin and MDMA for the treatment of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. As clinical trials for these and other psychedelics gain momentum worldwide, Australia could be a model for governments considering regulation of these substances as medications.
CHINA
A 125-million-year-old fossil of a badgerlike animal biting a beaked dinosaur was unearthed in northeastern China. Most paleontologists thought mammals only scavenged dinosaur remains, but the find suggests early mammals hunted live dinosaurs several times their size.
GREENLAND
A mile-thick ice sheet in Greenland melted during a period of moderate warming 416,000 years ago, sediments show. This overturns long-held beliefs that the island remained an icy fortress for the past 2.5 million years, revealing its vulnerability to today’s human-induced climate change.
KENYA
Construction has begun on a 35-megawatt geothermal power project in Menengai, Kenya, the top geothermal-energy-producing country in Africa. Geothermal plants provide 47 percent of Kenya’s energy, and production is expected to grow as droughts reduce hydropower sources.
LAOS
Human skull and shinbone fossils found in a Laos cave suggest modern humans arrived in mainland Southeast Asia up to 36,000 years earlier than thought. This discovery challenges hypotheses that humans rapidly spread from Africa through Asia 80,000 years ago.
U.S.
Ocean temperatures off Florida spiked to a record 100 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the worst coral-bleaching event in the state’s history. Conservationists say some reefs face “100 percent coral mortality,” meaning the reefs won’t recover without active, ongoing restoration work.
This article was originally published with the title “Quick Hits” in Scientific American 329, 3, 17 (October 2023)
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1023-17b
