Archive for January, 2026
Stats add teeth to gripping news about Tyrannosaurus rex
In a page ripped out of Michael Crichton’s book Jurassic Park, featuring brilliant mathematician and “chaotician” (chaos theory specialist) Ian Malcom, three scientists applied a new statistical approach to combine analyses from 17 different T. rex specimens, thus revealing that these tyrant lizard kings did not reach maturity until age 40.* Enjoy some fearsome pictures of T. rex’s big and small in this press release from Oklahoma State University citing lead author Dr. Holly Woodward, professor of anatomy and paleontology.
Dr. Woodward says that previous studies estimated that T. rex growth stopped around age 25. The longer development time expands the role of knife-teethed, fleet-footed juvenile T. rex’s to dominate the mid-carnivore niche.
A four-decade growth phase may have allowed younger tyrannosaurs to fill a variety of ecological roles within their environments. That could be one factor that allowed them to dominate the end of the Cretaceous Period as apex carnivores.
– Coauthor Jack Horner, technical advisor for the Jurassic Park films (inspiring the Alan Grant character)
Sensational!
For a healthy 2026, resolve to lengthen your walks
I love to walk, cross-country ski or bike. It invigorates me physically and mentally. Thus, I found it interesting that, according to this October 2025 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, longer walks might provide more benefits than shorter ones at the same step counts.
But be careful drawing this conclusion because the results show correlation, not causation. Furthermore, the study focused on suboptimally active adults with step counts at 8000 or less per day. I am satisfied only by achieving at least 10,000 steps in a day.
I think a good new year’s resolution is to increase your step count per day by taking longer walks. However, on days when you cannot spare much time, try taking a number of short walks and do so a bit faster.
If you also like to walk and/or are resolved to do so this new year of 2026, see today’s post by RTÉ—the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland’s National Public Service Media—on 5 ways to make your daily walk more beneficial in 2026.
Get a move on!