A new organ was discovered in the human body and helps in better understanding evolution, devolution of man

Anatomical diagram of the mesentery. J Calvin Coffey/D Peter O'Leary/Henry Vandyke Carter/Lancet

Updated 14/05/2020

Last year – although a rather grim one by other measures – was a splendid one for research. From gravitational waves to cooing dinosaurs, we’ve uncovered a lot about the world around us, but as a remarkable new study has revealed, there’s a lot within us we’ve yet to discover too.

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Writing in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, scientists have officially announced the discovery of a new organ inside the human body. That’s right, there’s a brand new organ hiding in our abdomen and it’s only just been classified.

Known as the mesentery (meaning “in the middle of the intestines”), it can be found in our digestive systems. Leonardo da Vinci actually gave one of the first descriptions of it back in the day, but until around 2012 it was thought to be a series of separate structures keeping the intestines attached to the abdominal wall, like a series of support girders.

Mesentery - Mayo Clinic

A team from the University of Limerick, however, used complex microscopy work to confirm that the structures are all interconnected and appear to be part of one overall structure. Much of the research was conducted on patients undergoing an operation to remove most or all of their colon.

Having been taught to medical students since 2012 as being a new organ, it has now been added to the famous Gray’s Anatomy textbook and described in this new paper.

Gray's Anatomy (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions)

“In the paper, which has been peer reviewed and assessed, we are now saying we have an organ in the body which hasn’t been acknowledged as such to date,” Calvin Coffey, a professor of surgery at the University of Limerick and coordinating author of the study, said in a statement.

Rather wonderfully though, apart from its supportive nature, medical experts aren’t any the wiser as to what the mesentery actually does. Its proximity to the intestines may give researchers a hint, but no definitive conclusions have yet been made.

New Organ Evolution

“We have established anatomy and the structure. The next step is the function,” Coffey added. 

“If you understand the function you can identify abnormal function, and then you have disease. Put them all together and you have the field of mesenteric science…the basis for a whole new area of science.”

Mesenteric Evolvinglymph nodes Pinterest

Blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatic tubes – carrying a blood plasma-like fluid that is rich in white blood cells – go via the mesentery to the intestines, so it clearly has an active function. Far more research needs to be done to actually find out what it does, though.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Iflscience . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

A new treasure has been discovered in Greece it was found in the ruins of an ancient city dating back 2,500 years

A piece of pottery dating to the late 6th century B.C photo: atlasobscura.com

You would think that every single bit of archaeological evidence for ancient life in Greece would have been uncovered by now. But there are still discoveries to be made. A team of archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and the University of Bournemouth in England took a deeper look at a site that had been dismissed as unimportant and found the ruins of an ancient city dating back 2,500 years, reports the Local.The city was located on a hillside near Vlochós, five hours north of Athens. 

Mysterious lost Greek city photo: DailyMail.co.uk

Part of the ruins there had been previously known, but since this area of Greece was thought to be a backwater in ancient times, this place was thought to be a small settlement of little interest.

To this team, though, “the fact that nobody has ever explored the hill before is a mystery,” said Robin Rönnlund, the Ph.D student who led the fieldwork.

From the air, the walls are visible photo: atlasobscura.com

Since they started exploring the city, the archaeologists have found the city’s walls, gates, and towers, along with pottery and coins, dating as far back as 500 B.C. The team is using ground-penetrating radar to map the city and avoid disturbing the site through excavation. It’s “quite a large city,” says Rönnlund, and could reveal more about ancient life in this overlooked part of Greece—at least about life up until about 300 B.C., when the city looks to have been abandoned.


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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by AtlasObscura . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

A medicine that promises to treat Alzheimer has been tested on humans

Alzheimer's has remained the most common form of mental illness and is the sixth cause of death in the United States, but a viable and safe drug could not be achieved until now. According to the Alzheimer's Association di US, about 5.4 million Americans suffer from this condition.

But a new drug has shown that it can provide favorable solutions in terms of treating this disease, evidence that came to light after a few small studies. Moreover, it had no adverse effect on the participants in this study.

The drug, whose name is Verubecestat, target protein plaques in the brain in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer possibly face neurodegeneration. This has the effect that it is an inhibitor of the BACE1, an enzyme essential for the production of the toxic amyloid beta protein. By inhibiting the enzyme, this drug stops the formation of proteins or decreases the possibility that they group together. Drugs had earlier sought the same procedure side effects, such as liver toxicity or neurodegeneration. But it has not made any long-term adverse effect of mice and monkeys, and humans.

The final results of these studies are expected in 2017 and 2019, but this is not the only drug that promises to treat this disease, another called Aducanumab promises direct removal of the plates. Some researchers believe that they could be administered together.


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Source: Futurism

Researchers have revealed how Lucy, the oldest human ancestor, died

The known fossil of an ancestor is known by the name of Lucy. The new details about how he died were published in a study.

By using CT researchers have evaluated the fossil fractures of 3.81 million years ago. Lucy fractures by comparing with those of chimpanzee medical cases, experts have found that fractures are similar to those produced by the fall from the tree. A number of fractures of the upper right arm were the best indicator of a fall from the tree. Lucy probably tried to mitigate the fall before putting his arm. Other fractures were found in the left hip, left knee and left pelvis.

,, Death is one of the things that allow us to create a bridge between us and others. By discovering that I was more aware of it as an individual, '' said study author John Kapplerman, of the University of Texas.


Study fuels debate on how the members of the species Australopithecus afarensis lived in trees. Lucy probably lived mostly on land, but would have climbed the tree to protect from predators, suggested Kappleman.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by TIME  . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.