Australian Science Illustrated — Issue 54 2017

SHOOTING STAR – The Crab Nebula

500 m

• is the height of a wind turbine that 6 institutions aim to build, i.e.
  higher than the Empire State Building. The wings measure 200 m.

And talking of placebo ...

NEWS FLASH!

The placebo eff ect works,

even if patients know

about it, according to a

new study of people with

chronic conditions. They

felt better after consum-

ing placebo, though they

knew it was a "fake drug".

16 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED

Doctors also perform

placebo surgery.

Surgeons cut into the patient,

as if they are about to carry

out traditional surgery – but

they leave out the most

important incision.

The placebo effect has

been documented to

regulate a series of bodily

functions. Patients have

experienced that fake drugs

have relieved heart trouble

and asthma.

The effect of placebo

pills remains a mystery

to scientists. According to one

theory, a patient, who expects

a specific effect of a pill, will

change his behaviour to

achieve the effect.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Dinosaur fossil with skin excavated

PALAEONTOLOGY In a quarry in

Northern USA, palaeontologists have made

an epoch-making discovery: an almost intact

fossil of an unknown dinosaur species.

So far, scientists have managed to excavate

the creature’s skull and tail – the rest remains

embedded in a 15 tonne rock and will take

several years to "free". The fossil is so well-

preserved that skin, keratin, and soft bone

parts such as the dinosaur’s armour have been

preserved in the rock. The herbivorous dinosaur

lived in what is now Montana some 75 million

years ago. The new species, which has been

named Zuul crurivastator, is an ankylosaurus,

which is known to have a club-like tail. Zuul is

from the Ghostbusters film, which includes a

monster resembling the fossil.

Crurivastator means “crusher of shins”,

referring to the 3-m-long tail.

LYON GROUP

Neutron star shines in the Crab Nebula //
Astronomers have created an image of the Crab Nebula in bright neon colours by combining
data from telescopes covering almost the entire electromagnetic spectrum. At the centre,
they can now see a pulsar – a neutron star, which is rotating very fast, emitting light pulses.
NASA/ESA

The well-preserved dinosaur was

6 m long and weighed about 2,500 kg – the

same as a large rhino.

BY THE WAY

SCIENCE UPDATE