Doctors crack a medical cold case, while scientists spot diamonds in an unexpected place:
1. Revolutionary Robespierre gets a modern diagnosis: The guillotine ended the life of French revolutionary Maximilien de Robespierre in 1794, but the 36-year-old might not have been long for this earth anyhow, a new study suggests.
2. Antarctica may hold a stash of diamonds: As a scramble for the Arctic’s resources looms, scientists have spotted evidence of mineral riches at the planet’s southern pole. An Australian-led team discovered rocks signaling large diamond deposits on the icy slopes of Mount Meredith — but there’s one big problem.
3. 1 in 200 women say they’ve had a ‘virgin pregnancy’: An unbelievable-sounding new study finds that one in 200 young American women claims to have experienced a virgin pregnancy, à la the Virgin Mary. Bizarrely, the study found “virgin fathers” as well. Here’s how researchers arrived at their findings.
4. Rare Ritalin side effect: Painful erections: Labels on Ritalin and other drugs used to treat ADHD will soon have a new warning: Beware long, painful erections. The problem is a chemical in the drugs called methylphenidate, and cases have been seen in kids as young as 8 years old.
5. For early plague in Europe, blame Halley’s Comet? Halley’s Comet provided more than just a light show for residents of planet Earth in the year 530 AD — a chunk of it may have slammed into Greenland, creating a massive dust storm and perhaps paving the way for the first recorded instance of the Black Death in Europe.
Source: USA Today
