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A 200 million-year-old parasite has been discovered in fossilised poo, in the latest not-at-all-scary instance of scientists unearthing a species which blighted the Earth in ancient times. Researchers found that the earliest predators on the planet were infested with roundworm, also known as nematodes, among multiple other parasites. The fossilised poo, which is known to palaeontologists as coprolite, is thought to belong to a type of semi-aquatic phytosaur, which was a crocodile-like predator. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It comes weeks after another team revived a prehistoric worm – the catchily named Panagrolaimus kolymaensis – which was found dormant in the Siberian permafrost in a state of “cryptobiosis”. The latest study saw researchers from Mahasarakham University, Thailand, analyse a three-inch-long portion of ancient poo and discover five types of parasitic remnants. The group sliced open the parasitic egg fossils with a diamond saw using a “standard thin section method,” their report said. The ultra-thin slices allowed the palaeontologists to look at cross-sections of the ancient infectious microbes under a microscope. One was identified as a nematode worm egg, while the others are thought to be either more eggs, protozoan cysts or spores from moss and ferns. While modern parasites are often an important part of ecosystems, it is usually more difficult to work out what their ancient equivalents did, because there are so few examples in the fossil record. The creatures often inhabited the soft tissues of their hosts, but are rarely preserved as fossils, making the latest discovery all-the-more significant. This fossilised late Triassic-era coprolite (the poo), was shielded from the elements in the Huai Hin Lat geological formation in Thailand, which is over 200 million years old. It was found by local villagers, according to the study's lead author, paleontologist Thanit Nonsrirach. “The peculiar appearance of these findings intrigued the villagers, who considered them potentially auspicious and capable of bestowing good luck if repurposed as talismans,” Nonsrirach told news outlet Inverse. “In 2010, our team received word of this discovery and embarked on a field expedition, guiding the villagers to the actual fossil site.” The discovery is the first record of parasites in a terrestrial vertebrate host from the late Triassic period in Asia, and provides a rare look at the life of an ancient creature that was infected by multiple species. This discovery also adds to the few known examples of nematode eggs preserved within the coprolites of Mesozoic animals. “Parasites of several species, including Ascaridida (roundworm) eggs were found in a coprolite, probably produced by a crocodile-like reptile and possibly a phytosaur,” said Nonsrirach, who works at Mahasarakham University's Palaeontological Research and Education Center. “This is therefore the first discovery of Ascaridida eggs and evidence of multi-infection in a host assignable to the Crurotarsi from the Late Triassic of Asia. “Coprolite is a significant palaeontological treasure trove, containing several undiscovered fossils and expanding our understanding of ancient ecosystems and food chains. “These findings are therefore a significant contribution to scientific understanding of the distribution and ecology of parasites of the distant past.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Microsoft Corp. won a court’s okay to move forward with its $69 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard

China’s government has appealed to Japan not to disrupt the semiconductor industry after Japanese curbs on exports of chip-making technology took effect, adding to technology restrictions Washington and its allies on security grounds have imposed on Beijing on security grounds

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A woman has gone viral on TikTok after another passenger asked her to move seats on a flight so she could be closer to her child. Sabra, a pharmacist and content creator based in Seattle, posted a short clip from a recent flight she took where she flew from the Pacific Northwest to Paris. In the 6-second video posted to Sabra's TikTok, she films herself in her first class seat with the text overlay reading: "POV: Flight agent asks me if I want to give up my 1A seat so a child sits with their family." In the popular audio used in the TikTok you hear the phrase "girl, f**k them kids and f**k you too". Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The TikTok has been viewed over 9 million times, and has over 800,000 likes. @lifewithdrsabra That’s a no from me dawg ? would you have given up your seat? Also they ended up finding a solution so no, i am not a terrible human being. Also the child was like 13. In the caption of the video, Sabra asked her viewers if they would have given up their seat, but many agreed with Sabra. "Good for you! If they wanted their kid next to them they should've booked adjacent seats," one user commented. Even parents were agreeing with Sabra with one mum commenting "as a parent that's up to me to make sure my family sit together not at the expense of someone else, I would never dare ask someone to move." "Nope, cause, as a mom, it's a parents responsibility to plan ahead. Just travelled to Europe for 1.5 moths with my toddler and no one had to move," added another. One user suggested that passengers do it deliberately: "I wonder if some families actually on purpose buy the cheapest tickets, to plan to ask someone for their seat 'I got kids, pls move'". Sabra also added that the family "ended up finding a solution so no, I am not a terrible human being. Also the child was like 13." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2023--

(Reuters) -Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said on Friday that a cybersecurity incident involving one of its IT hardware suppliers has

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 21, 2023--

Japanese video game giant Nintendo is banking on the latest instalment of its 40-year-old saga "Zelda" to breathe life into its business, after forecasting a...

A range of sporting venues and tourism hotspots across the UK are to be the settings for trials of new types of 5G mobile technology as part of an £88 million Government scheme. Nineteen projects and locations from around the country will host trials of Open RAN mobile tech, which enables different network providers’ equipment to work together to boost mobile coverage, rather than each only working with their own. The locations for the trials include urban centres in Glasgow, Cambridge, Liverpool, Bath, and the City of London, sporting and entertainment venues such as the Principality Stadium in Cardiff and Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, as well as the seaside resorts of Blackpool and Worthing. Whether you’re in a busy city centre or a rural village, a fast and reliable mobile connection is vital to staying in touch, accessing services and doing business Sir John Whittingdale The projects have been chosen via the Government’s Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) Competition, which has looked for schemes to demonstrate new ways of building fast, dependable mobile networks in busy places. Data and digital infrastructure minister Sir John Whittingdale said: “Whether you’re in a busy city centre or a rural village, a fast and reliable mobile connection is vital to staying in touch, accessing services and doing business. “In order to secure that, we need to embrace a diverse and secure range of technology that will underpin the network. “The projects we’re backing today with £88 million in Government research and development investment will use innovative Open RAN solutions to make our mobile networks more adaptable and resilient, with future-proofed technology to support bringing lightning-fast connections across the country for many years to come.” The UK’s major mobile network operators – BT/EE, Three, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone – have endorsed the Government’s plans around more open mobile networks as a way of boosting infrastructure resilience as well as competition. Hamish MacLeod, chief executive of industry body Mobile UK, said: “The development of open and interoperable RAN solutions is important to the UK’s mobile industry. “This announcement highlights Mobile UK’s member operators’ ongoing R&D trial and deployment programmes, helping progress solutions to realise ambitions to grow traffic over open RAN architecture.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

During an August 25th live stream, IShowSpeed was left enraged after encountering a fan who spewed hateful slurs and racial remarks