Science Stories with Joe Johnson: From Dinosaur Graveyards to Deep Space

A mass collection of dinosaur fossils. New questions about artificial sweeteners and brain health. A spacecraft preparing to explore one of the most intriguing worlds in our solar system.

In this edition of Science Stories, our science contributor Joe Johnson looks at three stories capturing researchers’ attention — beginning with a discovery that offers a glimpse into the age of dinosaurs.

Scientists studying a newly identified dinosaur graveyard are examining what the concentration of fossils can reveal about these ancient creatures, including how they may have lived together and what events may have brought them to their final resting place.

Johnson also explores emerging research on artificial sweeteners and cognitive decline. The findings have raised questions about whether certain dietary choices could be linked to changes in brain health, while researchers continue to investigate what the science can — and cannot — tell us.

And he looks ahead to NASA’s Dragonfly mission, an ambitious effort to send a robotic rotorcraft to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Scientists hope the mission will provide new insights into Titan’s unusual environment and the chemistry that may offer clues about the origins of life.

Image: Artist’s concept of NASA’s Dragonfly on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan. The car-sized rotorcraft will be equipped to characterize the habitability of Titan’s environment, investigate the progression of prebiotic chemistry in an environment where carbon-rich material and liquid water may have mixed for an extended period, and even search for chemical indications of whether water-based or hydrocarbon-based life once existed on Titan. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben)