Lab notes: Dracula, weird sex and hunting for aliens – a B-movie week in science

The biggest and most exciting news this week is, of course, that remarkable success in adrug trial for Huntington ’s disease meanswe may be at a turning point in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the stories that have most captured reader imagination are, naturally, the ones to do with thediscovery of the first solar system with as many planets as our own, scanning ‘Oumuamuafor signs that it might be an alien spacecraft and another story aboutweird monkey-deer sex (following on fromJanuary ’s monkey-deer sex revelation). Add to that anenormous ancient penguin,Dracula, the bloodsucking tick which feasted on dinosaurs 99m years ago, found by fossil-hunters amongst the remains of a feathered dinosaur nest and the grim news that therisk of a fatal motorcycle crash is higher under a full moon and frankly you ’ve probably got enough to keep your brain busy until the new year.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Science Source Type: news