Tomorrow, Earthlings will get a dress rehearsal of what it may be like to receive a message from an extraterrestrial civilization. A message will be sent from the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) on May 24 at 7 pm UTC (12 pm PDT). About 16 minutes later, it will be picked up […]
Some Dinosaurs Could See Others’ Point Of View Long Before Mammals Could
Dinosaurs have been defamed. Far from the ruthless, small-brained creatures often portrayed, a new study proposes they achieved a major advance in intellectual development 60 million years before our mammalian ancestors. Known as “visual perspective taking” it’s the capacity to recognize that not everyone sees the world the same way you do. It’s hard enough […]
The Benefits Of Starting Early With Financial Planning For Scientists
With the pandemic and the increased cost of living, our financial situations may be playing more heavily on our minds than ever before. We wondered what financial assistance a financial advisor can give young scientists emerging from the pandemic. As such, we caught up with the founder and lead advisor for Elliott Wealth Management Services, […]
Memories May Be Stored In The Membranes Of Your Neurons
Your brain is responsible for controlling most of your body’s activities. Its information processing capabilities are what allow you to learn, and it is the central repository of your memories. But how is memory formed, and where is it located in the brain? Although neuroscientists have identified different regions of the brain where memories are […]
Getting Too Excited Can Stop Men From Orgasming – But There’s A Solution
The way sex is portrayed in pop culture films and music could easily give you the idea that it, at least physically, should happen easily – particularly for men. Sex may seem like a straightforward activity but it actually involves a high degree of coordination between the brain and body parts. Recent data suggests that […]
New High-Resolution Images Of The Sun Are A Tease Of Things To Come
After over a year of observations, the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has completed the first cycle of its commission phase. To mark the occasion, eight new images have been released showing some highlights of the work undertaken there. The images focus on the photosphere, the region commonly referred to as the […]
Woman Visits Her Own Heart On Display In Museum 16 Years After It Was Removed
A woman who underwent a heart transplant at 22 years old has visited her old heart, now on display at the Hunterian Museum in London. At university, Jennifer Sutton realized she was struggling with moderate exercise, the BBC reports. Soon, she was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy – a rare condition where the heart’s chambers stiffen […]
Chronic Pain Detected Directly From The Human Brain For The First Time
For the first time, scientists have been able to detect chronic pain as it happens, using electrodes implanted in the brains of four human volunteers. The detected brain signals could accurately predict an individual patient’s pain levels, and could one day lead to a solution to chronic pain where other treatments have been unsuccessful. Chronic […]
Apollo 11’s Eagle Might Still Be Orbiting Around The Moon
Almost 54 years ago, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the Lunar Module Eagle and landed on the Moon. After less than a day on the surface of our natural satellite, they lifted off, to meet up again with Michael Collins in the command module Columbia. Once back on Columbia, the Eagle […]
Socotra: Legend Of Cain And Abel Lives On At This Troubled Island
Steeped in mythology and peculiar plant life, Socotra is arguably among the most unique places on the planet. Unfortunately, this island of beautiful natural landscapes has since fallen on hard times after becoming entangled in the messy civil war of Yemen, one of the globe’s worst humanitarian crises. Socotra is located in the Indian Ocean […]
Perfect For Cheating? New WhatsApp Feature Sparks Jokes And Worries
WhatsApp has revealed a new “Chat Lock” feature that will allow users to hide personal conversations in a folder that’s sealed with a password or biometric authentication. While the company said it’s been designed to add “one more layer of security” to its instant messaging platform, many have dubbed the update as a “feature for […]
Sliding Into A Dead Whale Was Once Thought To Cure Rheumatism
During the late 19th and early 20th century, in the seaside town of Eden, Twofold Bay, Australia, there was a very curious and smelly “cure” for rheumatism. This cure relied on locating a dead whale, making a hole in the skin, and crawling inside as if it were a slimy, meaty, rotting sleeping bag for […]
Fungi Eating Plastic In Habitats Made Of Trash Could Help Us Clean The Planet
Fungi found feeding on plastics have given researchers fresh hope that we may one day be able to clean up the new habitats humans have made on Earth by leaving anthropogenic trash laying around. These “plastispheres” have been recognized as a habitat for marine organisms, but new research looking at these unique ecological niches on […]
Jupiter’s Color-Changing Mystery Might Finally Have An Answer
Jupiter is a very pretty planet. Whether seen with a small telescope or up close by spacecraft, the planet’s colorful stripes and storms are a stunning defining feature. They are the product of a complex atmosphere always churning, which can regularly lead to stripes changing color. The reason for it has been quite the cosmic […]
Individuals’ DNA Can Be Easily Identified From Thin Air, And That’s A Big Problem
DNA left behind in the surrounding environment could act as an invisible fingerprint, identifying the exact people to have been there previously, according to new research. The findings suggest there may be no place to hide from future scientists or law enforcement, posing a new ethical dilemma of how such information could be gathered and […]
The Corrupted Blood Incident: How A Videogame Accident Eerily Predicted The COVID-19 Pandemic
On September 13, 2005, a disease began to spread in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. An update to the game had introduced a new area for higher-level players, known as Zul’Gurub. In the area, there was a boss called “Hakkar the Soul Flayer” (warning: this article may contain words used […]
N47BA: The Plane That Flew While Everyone Inside Was Likely Dead
In 1999, a plane took a strange course across the United States. It had climbed to its designated altitude as usual, but instead of heading towards Dallas, it began flying straight over the US towards Canada. No contact could be made with the crew, and military jets scrambled to intercept the phantom flight, fearing the […]
Our Brains Seem To Prefer Positive Human Sounds That Come From Our Left
Sounds may be physical phenomena, but to humans they also carry meaning and certain qualities. For instance, some sounds are more pleasing than others, while some are more ominous or unsettling, relaxing and soothing, or just plain noise. Now a group of Swiss researchers have discovered that our brains show a preference towards pleasing sounds […]
Atypical Case Of Mad Cow Disease Detected In The US
Mad cow disease – or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) – has made a rare appearance in the US, although the detection of the condition in a single cow in South Carolina does not pose any danger to people. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the animal was identified and isolated before it had […]
Man Hospitalized After Mistaking NOS Octane Booster Racing Formula For Energy Drink
A medical case report documents the time a man drank a big bottle of NOS Octane Booster, believing it to be an energy drink. The 54-year-old man showed up at the emergency department in Washington, Seattle, after experiencing seizures and a state of agitation. Usually the onset of seizures would require a bit of investigation, […]
