Did Alzheimer’s ail the elderly in antiquity? With dementia cases on the rise in modern times, it’s an intriguing question and, thankfully, a new study has some answers. Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common type, is not a specific disease, but rather a term used to describe symptoms related to memory loss. Today, it […]
Millions Of Cicadas Emerge Simultaneously Every 13 Or 17 Years, But How Do They Know When To?
Periodical cicadas don’t emerge often – only once every 13 or 17 years, to be precise – but when they do they arrive in their millions, and even billions. It’s now accepted that this pattern of emergence helps them avoid falling in sync with any predators, but how do they know to emerge all at […]
Ordinary Kitchen Scraps Enhance Concrete Strength By 30 Percent
Researchers in Australia have used spent coffee grounds to make concrete 30 percent stronger. Simply by replacing a percentage of sand with waste coffee, something common to many households, it is possible to make construction more efficient and greener. As a household item, coffee grounds are everywhere. It is currently estimated that around 60 million tons […]
Ingenuity’s Final Image Shows Why It Will Never Fly Again
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter concluded its 72nd flight with a rough emergency landing, losing contact with the rover Perseverance when it was still about 3 meters (10 feet) from the ground. One communication was established, the American space agency announced that they had seen images that confirmed that after almost 1,000 days of service, Ingenuity had […]
This Freaky Deep-Sea Creature Has Been Hunting In The Dark For 300 Million Years
A new species of giant deep-sea isopod has been identified in the Bahamas after researchers with OceanX deployed traps on the seabed. A cousin of the much beloved terrestrial roly-poly pill bugs, they serve a similar ecological role in the nutrient cycle, making them a vital part of the ecosystem. These alien-like critters have see-through […]
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome May Be Linked To Memory Problems In Later Years
A 30-year study of over 900 participants has found an association between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and problems with memory and cognition. While it’s not possible to say for sure that PCOS caused the observed issues, the scientists behind the work say more research is now needed to better understand these potential risks of a […]
Cloud Nine: The 1960s Idea To House Billions Of People In The Sky
Visions of the future from the past tend to involve a lot more stuff flying around in the sky than ends up happening in real life. Disappointing as it is that we didn’t get flying cars, we have also missed out on Cloud Nine; Buckminster Fuller’s vision of the future population being housed inside gigantic […]
Rubbing Testosterone Gel On Men Made Them Less Aware Of Being Watched
Ever feel like you’re being watched? More specifically, ever think to yourself, “I probably should/shouldn’t do that,” because someone might see you? Well, here comes science to throw a spanner in the works. When one group of researchers applied testosterone gel to some men, it made them much less sensitive to being observed, and consequently […]
Rare Disorder Causing Extra Fingers And Toes Identified From DNA Differences
By comparing the DNA of individuals born with a range of birth defects, including extra fingers and toes, researchers have identified a new rare disorder and with it, opened up an avenue towards improved diagnosis and treatment. The findings were described in a study that examined three children sharing a rare combination of traits: polydactyly, […]
Watch A Parrot Swing On Its Beak Like A Monkey In World First Footage
While you might hear parrots and think of them flying majestically through the trees in the Amazon – or even that one time a flightless parrot in New Zealand got up close and personal with a zoologist – your mind probably wouldn’t go to the idea of them swinging through the forest by their beaks. […]
Mysterious Low Rumbling Noise Heard In Florida For Years Gets NSFW Explanation
A mysterious low noise regularly heard by residents in South Tampa, Florida, over the last three years may have an explanation. In 2021, residents from Port Tampa to Davis Islands heard what has been described as a “mysterious deep bass sound”. Advertisement “Everyone seems to have their favorite theory,” resident Sara Healy explained in a […]
Oldest Homo Sapiens Discovery In Northern Europe Proves Long Overlap With Neanderthals
Bone fragments found near, Ranis, central Germany, prove Homo sapiens were in the area at least 45,000 years ago, possibly the earliest date for our species in northern Europe. The discovery indicates that modern humans and Neanderthals lived side by side for thousands of years, rather than our ancestors’ arrival spelling immediate doom for humanity’s […]
90,000-Year-Old Human Footprints Found In Morocco Are Among World’s Oldest
Along the coast of Morocco, archaeologists have uncovered the oldest human footprints ever discovered in Northern Africa and the Southern Mediterranean. Dating to some 90,000 years ago, they are also “among the oldest footprints attributed to Homo sapiens worldwide.” An international team of archaeologists recently discovered the footprints near the city of Larache on the […]
Celestial Mechanics Used In Optics To Trap And Guide Light
Since the 18th century, we’ve known that there are special points around two massive bodies in space as long as one orbits the other. There are places that move with the smaller orbiting object, never changing distance from it; they are great places to park spacecraft and telescopes. And it turns out, you can copy […]
People Are Asking Why Light Doesn’t Take On The Velocity Of Its Source
Over in the Facebook group Physics is Fun, one member stirred things up a bit by claiming “light takes on the velocity of its source”, meaning that if you were to cycle forwards and turn on your bike light, the light emitted from it would travel at light speed + whatever incredible speed you are […]
Astronaut Snaps Breathtaking View Of Earth’s Airglow From Space
The interaction between light from the Sun, charged particles, and molecules in the atmosphere can create a variety of glowing phenomena. The best known are the Northern and Southern Lights. They truly put on a show, but they are not the only ones. A more subtle phenomenon is called airglow, and while it is possible […]
Some Dinosaurs May Have Had Arthritis 90 Million Years Ago
Fossils can tell us a lot about dinosaurs, and sometimes, it can be pretty surprising. That’s certainly the case for a new study that analyzed the bones of everyone’s favorite bipedal predators, the theropods. The research revealed that this group of dinosaurs may have been affected by bone diseases, and that particular types of theropods […]
Hope You Like Seaweed, Because We’ll All Be Eating It After Nuclear War (If You Survive)
If worst comes to worst and atomic warfare erupts, seaweed could become the unlikely savior of humanity. In a nuclear war, mushroom clouds and searing hot fireballs are just the start of the problems. Radiation will poison the land and vast plumes of soot will be blasted into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight from reaching Earth’s […]
Exomoon Or Not? Astronomers Argue Over Possible Discovery Of Moons Beyond The Solar System
The tentative detection of the first-ever exomoons – moons orbting planets outside the Solar System – was called into question at the end of last year when scientists using a new detection algorithm said they couldn’t find them. The exomoons have been at the center of plenty of drama over the five years since their […]
Face Yoga Is TikTok’s Latest Anti-Aging Trend, But Does It Actually Work?
TikTok abounds with techniques that will supposedly keep us looking young, which seems a tad odd considering the biggest proportion of its users are under 25. Regardless, it’s full of advice about 20-step skincare routines and “anti-aging” straws (yes, you read that right). And the latest trend? Face yoga. What is face yoga? The idea […]