Researchers have identified a new carnivorous reptile, Tainrakuasuchus bellator, from southern Brazil that lived 240 million years ago, according to a study in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology. The reptile, part of the Pseudosuchia lineage, was built for speed and precision hunting. The discovery highlights the complexity of Triassic ecosystems before the rise of dinosaurs.

A study published in PLOS Biology reveals that humans often blink in sync with the beat of music, demonstrating a form of auditory-motor synchronization. Researchers found that participants' blinking and brainwaves aligned with the tempo of Western classical music, even when the songs were played backward.

Researchers have found the earliest chemical evidence of life on Earth in 3.33-billion-year-old rocks from South Africa, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that used machine learning to identify biotic patterns in ancient carbon traces. "Rather than focus on individual molecules, we looked for chemical patterns, and those patterns could be true elsewhere in the universe," said Robert Hazen, who led the study.

A study in Fossil Record has analyzed decapitated Aspidorhynchus fossils from Bavaria's Solnhofen Archipelago, revealing the fish's diet and predatory habits. The fossils, with gastrointestinal tracts still attached, show that Aspidorhynchus preyed on small teleosts and occasionally larger fish. The study also suggests that the fish were decapitated by larger predators such as ichthyosaurs, pliosaurs and marine crocodiles.

Kissing first appeared over 21 million years ago in the common ancestor of humans and great apes, new research in the Journal of Human Behavior has found. The study found that kissing is not unique to humans and is observed in a wide variety of species, including wolves, prairie dogs, polar bears, albatrosses, and especially among primates.

A study using Medicare data has found that drug-coated devices do not pose an increased mortality risk for patients with peripheral arterial disease. The SAFE-PAD study, published in the European Heart Journal, found similar death rates between users of drug-coated and non-drug-coated devices over an average of 4.3 years.

The NIH has awarded over $8 million to the Kennedy Krieger Institute for research on rare pediatric neurodegenerative disorders, specifically Batten diseases. The funding will create a network to advance treatments for these inherited conditions, which begin in childhood and can cause vision loss, cognitive decline and premature death.