Science News Roundup: Dutch 'living coffin' aims to provide source for life after death; Kenya harnesses fly larvae's appetite to process food waste and more

Reptile dubbed 'Jaws of Death' terrorized Cretaceous seas Roughly 80 million years ago in the shallow inland sea that once split North America into eastern and western land masses, a fearsome 33-foot-long (10-meter-long) marine reptile with powerful jaws and tremendous bite-force was one of the apex predators. Pliosaurs were reptiles from about 160 million years ago with a more powerful bite than Tyrannosaurus rex, according to University of Chile researchers.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 25-09-2020 10:32 IST | Created: 25-09-2020 10:30 IST
Science News Roundup: Dutch 'living coffin' aims to provide source for life after death; Kenya harnesses fly larvae's appetite to process food waste and more
Representative image Image Credit: Wikipedia

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Dutch 'living coffin' aims to provide source for life after death

A Dutch start-up has created a biodegradable "living coffin" made of a fungus, instead of wood, which it says can convert a decomposing human body into key nutrients for plants. The company, Loop, says its casket is made of mycelium, the underground root structure of mushrooms, and filled with a bed of moss to stimulate decomposition.

Kenya harnesses fly larvae's appetite to process food waste

Rotten bananas? Mushy avocados? Pulped oranges? Talash Huijbers wants them all. The 25-year-old is the founder of Insectipro, a Kenyan farm rearing black soldier fly larvae for animal feed. In the 10 days it takes for them to grow, the larvae need to be fed too - and fruit waste from factories and food markets in the capital Nairobi is just the thing.

Reptile dubbed 'Jaws of Death' terrorized Cretaceous seas

Roughly 80 million years ago in the shallow inland sea that once split North America into eastern and western land masses, a fearsome 33-foot-long (10-meter-long) marine reptile with powerful jaws and tremendous bite-force was one of the apex predators. A type of seagoing lizard called a mosasaur that ruled the oceans at the same time dinosaurs dominated the land, it has now been given a name meaning "Jaws of Death."

Colombian miners strike fossilized gold: a mastodon

Fossils of a mastodon, a giant prehistoric relative of today's elephants, have been discovered at an artisanal gold mine in central Colombia in a find which researchers say could herald a trove of similar specimens. Gold miners working a tunnel near the town of Quinchia, in Risaralda province, came across what they soon realized were bones on Tuesday.

Remains of Jurassic sea predator found in Chile's Atacama desert

Scientists have unearthed the remains of Jurassic sea predators resembling killer whales in the world's driest desert in Chile. Pliosaurs were reptiles from about 160 million years ago with a more powerful bite than Tyrannosaurus rex, according to University of Chile researchers. The fossils are the second oldest record of this species in the Southern Hemisphere.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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