Biological puzzles abound in an up-close look at a human brain.

Science News reports: "Never-before-seen details may eventually lead to a better understanding of how the brain works."

(Free registration may be required) https://flip.it/gX-Ea5

#Brain #Neuroscience #Science #Biology 

 Massive cradle of baby stars revealed in new space telescope images.

AP reports on the European Space Agency's Euclid observatory: https://flip.it/58hAua

#Space #Astronomy #Stars #ESA #Euclid #Science 

 Does anger take a toll on the heart?

@de166c51 reports on a new study showing "that anger may indeed affect the heart because of how it impairs blood vessel function."

https://flip.it/I.u-_h

#Heart #Health #Research #Science 

 The world dumps 2,000 truckloads of plastic into the ocean each day. CNN explores one place where a lot of it ends up: the Western coast of Java in Indonesia.

The package includes amazing (and alarming) photos: https://flip.it/HY-fvr

#Plastic #Pollution #EarthDay #Environment #Ocean #PlasticPollution #Indonesia 

 "A controversial theory posits that life began when RNA spontaneously began to replicate itself — and now researchers are claiming they've replicated part of that process in a lab."

Futurism reports: "The Salk Institute for Biological Studies scientists worked from the theory that before there was DNA or proteins, RNA existed as the initial ingredient in the so-called 'primordial soup.'"

https://flip.it/m.CqvL

#Life #Science #RNA 

 Four astronauts from four countries return to Earth after six months in orbit.

AP reports: "NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, a Marine helicopter pilot, led the returning crew of Denmark’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia’s Konstantin Borisov."

https://flip.it/lgWP2B

#NASA #Space #Astronauts #ISS #SpaceX 

 As climate chaos accelerates, which countries are polluting the most?

CNN reports: "The top 20 global climate polluters were responsible for 83% of emissions in 2022."

https://flip.it/OgW7.P

#ClimateChange #Climate #GlobalWarming #COP28 

 OK, this is a weird one. 🦒 

"Federal customs agents pooh-poohed the plans of an Iowa woman who wanted to make jewelry from giraffe feces she picked up on a trip to Kenya and brought back to the U.S. in her luggage."

From AP: https://apnews.com/article/giraffe-poop-seized-airport-b17d206968cf8b42af85ee863be717d7

#Giraffe #Customs #Animals #Kenya #Africa 

 Vela’s exploded star is the highest-energy pulsar ever seen.

Science News reports: "New data raise questions about how spinning, dead stars can emit such extreme radiation."

https://flip.it/agyqpO

#Space #Stars #Astronomy #Physics #Science 

 Humans are now the African savannah’s top predator, according to new research.

Popular Science reports: "Giraffes, leopards, elephants, and rhinoceroses all were more scared of human voices than lion roars."

https://flip.it/50jS3P

Here's the original research: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01169-7

#Animals #Africa #Biology #SouthAfrica #Science #Human 

 Further evidence points to footprints in New Mexico being the oldest sign of humans in the Americas.

AP reports "The footprints were discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in White Sands National Park and date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago."

https://flip.it/1UVOjB

And here's the original research in Science: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh5007

#Human #Archaeology #WhiteSands #NewMexico 

 No two parakeets sound exactly the same.

Popular Science reports on a new study that finds "unique 'voice prints' could help the chatty birds pick one another out in a flock."

https://flip.it/kiAM.o

#Birds #Science 

 Last month shattered the record for the hottest September on record by such a wide margin that climate scientists say it was almost beyond belief.

One called the extreme temperatures "gobsmackingly bananas."

NBC News has more: https://flip.it/AsDqwa

#ClimateChange #Climate #GlobalWarming #Weather #Heat 

 What is an attosecond? A physical chemist explains the tiny time scale behind Nobel Prize-winning research.

From @c11fa870: https://flip.it/eOjy-a

#Physics #Nobel #Chemistry #Science 

 Amphibians are the world’s most vulnerable animals and threats are increasing.

AP reports: "A new global assessment has found that 41% of amphibian species that scientists have studied are threatened with extinction, meaning they are either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered."

https://flip.it/ILdUNy

#Amphibian #Animals #Frogs #ClimateChange #Environment #Extinction 

 Most, if not all, of us have experienced the extreme cold or wet conditions of a winter storm that just won’t relent. A new study may have identified patterns in the global jet stream that bring polar air southward and lock it in for days or weeks at a time. More from Phys.org: https://flip.it/.GT_1w
#Science #Weather #Climate #Storm #Winter 

 The James Webb Space Telescope discovered a batch of mysterious early galaxies that were so bright they shouldn’t have existed. But a team of researchers using supercomputer simulations may have found an explanation. Live Science reports: https://flip.it/NciHbv
#Science #Space #JWST #SpaceExploration #Galaxies 

 Three scientists who developed quantum dots have won the Nobel Prize for chemistry. Quantum dots glow blue, red or green when exposed to light and are used in QLED TV sets and medical imaging equipment. BBC Science has more: https://flip.it/XLVf6p
#Science #NobelPrize #NobelPrizeChemistry #QuantumDots 

 The world's oldest mummies are decomposing after 7,000 years.

NPR has a 12-minute broadcast with archeologist Marcela Sepulveda, who explains what's happening: https://flip.it/gVCb9y

#Archaeology #Mummy #Chile #ClimateChange 

 Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded for discovery of quantum dots that changed everything from TV displays to cancer imaging.

CNN reports on prize recipients Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov:  https://flip.it/qbFUSU

#Chemistry #Nobel #Quantum #Science 

 Since the late 1990s, Friends of the Elephant Seal, a nonprofit based in Piedras Blancas, California, has been educating the public about how to coexist with these enormous marine mammals. Their work has been instrumental in bringing the seals back from near-extinction. Smithsonian Magazine talked to volunteers and experts about what they do and why they do it.
https://flip.it/emNwgd

#Nature #Science #Ecology #ElephantSeals #Volunteering 

 The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier for their work using attosecond (one billionth of a billionth of a second) pulses to study electrons inside atoms. @9f023162 reports for @872ab8e1 on how the work developed and the winners' responses to the news. L'Huillier, only the fifth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, was lecturing when she heard, and kept on teaching.

https://flip.it/4jv4Zk

#NobelPrize #Physics #Science 

 Researchers from the University of Tübingen have demonstrated that crows are able to use statistical inference, which is typically considered a human trait, to make decisions. The scientists devised an experiment where two carrion crows were trained to associate nine shapes with a probability of receiving food. The birds understood the game and remembered the rules later. Big Think has all the details.

https://flip.it/PkYEu6

#Science #Birds #Animals #Crows 

 Biochemist Katalin Karikó and immunologist Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on mRNA. Here, Karikó explains to Adam Smith from the Nobel Prize organization how she feels about the prize, what it means to her, a decade after she was forced to retire from UPenn, and the importance of perseverance.

https://flip.it/wsUH0x

#Science #NobelPrize #KatalinKariko 

 How cool! New patch inspired by octopus suckers could deliver drugs without needles.

Smithsonian Magazine explains: "Medicine-filled suction cups attached to the inside of the cheek could be an effective alternative to oral tablets or injections."

https://flip.it/AFS5z2

#Octopus #Medicine #Research #Science 

 Roughly 120 rare river dolphins have perished in a tributary of the Amazon River over the past week, a mass death that experts think may be linked to an extreme drought and heat that is plaguing the region.

Vice reports: https://flip.it/_g3Qyf

#Amazon #Dolphins #ClimateChange #Climate #Brazil 

 Sci-fi books are rare in school even though they help kids better understand science.

That's the view of one professor who says "Science fiction can lead people to be more cautious about the potential consequences of innovations."

From @c11fa870: https://flip.it/T2vmZY

#SciFi #ScienceFiction #Science #Books 

 Two pioneers of mRNA research — the technology that helped the world tame the virus behind the Covid-19 pandemic — won the 2023 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology on Monday.

@eea6735f reports on Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman: https://flip.it/30I-SJ

#Nobel #COVID19 #COVID #MRNA #Vaccines 

 From BBC Science: It’s a question of when, not if, will we find life elsewhere in the Universe. From the James Webb Space Telescope’s tantalizing imagery to one scientist’s prediction of life on one of Jupiter’s moons, here’s when many are optimistic that life on a faraway planet will soon be detected. https://flip.it/8aKPME
#Space #Science #JWST #Jupiter #SpaceExploration 

 How did our earliest ancestors and extinct human relatives procure enough food to sustain themselves millions of years ago? It wasn’t easy, you can imagine. Popular Science has more: https://flip.it/vPf_12
#Science #Humans #Pleistocene #Animals #Survival 

 For years, great white sharks had been swimming off the shores of South Africa. Then, the creatures often turned up dead in the country’s beaches missing something critical — their livers. Science Alert points out orcas as the culprits, and discusses how the sharks reacted. https://flip.it/.IpSK3
#Science #GreatWhiteShark #Sharks #Oceans #Orca #Whales 

 Crows never cease to amaze. Their cognitive abilities are well-documented, but now we can tack one more cerebral skill onto their resume: statistical inference. Here’s more from ZME Science: https://flip.it/ITGyR1
#Science #Birds #Ornithology #Animals 

 Mathematicians have discovered a strange link between the way zebra stripes form and how sperm swim. If you’re one of the few who saw this coming, you have something in common with Alan Turing, the famed English mathematician who once saw a connection between how squiggly or spotty patterns arise in nature. Here’s more from Science Alert: https://flip.it/ye0Iml
#Science #Math #Animals #Zebras #AlanTuring 

 Scary thought for gardeners: An Australian woman has become the first person to survive a deadly “blackleg” bacteria. The woman was believed to have been infected while gardening with bare hands that had been scratched be a cat. More from Live Science: https://flip.it/pQVFCT
#Science #Bacteria #Infections #Health 

 NASA will launch three rockets during the 2023 annular eclipse in October to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects the upper atmosphere. Miles Hatfield, writing for NASA.gov explains: https://flip.it/FGJtqR
#Science #NASA #Eclipse #Atmosphere 

 New research from Stony Brook Medicine may shed light on the prostate cancer survivability rate among Black men. From Phys.org: “The disparity in prostate cancer survival between Black and White men—nearly 75%—could be attributed to modifiable risk factors, such as later diagnosis, absence of health insurance or even differences in access to cancer screening.”
https://flip.it/GrLkqV
#Science #Health #ProstateCancer #Medicine 

 The invasive spotted lanternfly has spread to Illinois in the central U.S., threatening trees and crops.

AP reports: "Although the inch-long planthopper looks pretty with its distinctive black spots and bright red wing markings, the sap-sucking bug ... [poses] a danger to crops and native trees."

https://flip.it/HE8xvJ

#Insects #Bugs #Entomology #Lanternfly #Invasivev 

 A strange pair of galaxies several billion light-years away could be evidence of a hypothetical “crease” in the Universe's fabric known as a cosmic string. Science Alert has more, including how the two galaxies may not be distinct objects, but one could be a duplicate image caused by a trick of the light.
https://flip.it/Cxk9sP
#Science #Space #SpaceExploration #Galaxies #Universe 

 Distant galaxies are gobbling up an unexpected amount of gas.

New Scientist reports: "Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have found that the most distant galaxies are being 'watered down' with pristine gas from their surroundings far more than nearby ones."

https://flip.it/Nv5Bfq

#Space #NASA #Galaxy #Astronomy #Webb 

 If you're worried about our near-term future, here's a long-term worry to add to your list.

Up to 92% of Earth could be uninhabitable to mammals in 250 million years, researchers predict.

Nature reports on the research into Pangaea Ultima, a new supercontinent that's expected to form: https://flip.it/D5tXPT

#Earth #PangaeaUltima #Extinction #Science 

 Antarctic sea ice fell to an all-time lowest seasonal peak, reaching about 398,000 square miles below the previous record in 1986, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Axios quotes a scientist: "The trend in the past five months is so different from the past 45 years that all of us sat up and took notice."

https://flip.it/A.lvDp

#Antarctica #SeaIce #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #Climate #Environment 

 Three astronauts return to Earth after a year in space, with Frank Rubio setting a U.S. space record.

AP reports: "What should have been a 180-day mission turned into a 371-day stay."

https://flip.it/4FsEt5

#Astronaut #NASA #Space 

 How a Smithsonian curator discovered the Hope Diamond’s many secrets.

Smithsonian Magazine reports: "The storied past of the 45.52-carat sapphire-blue gemstone hails back to the days before the French Revolution."

https://flip.it/ZP2._O

#Diamond #Gems #Smithsonian #History #Geology #Museum 

 Earth’s stinkiest flower 🥀 is threatened with extinction.

Popular Science reports: "Rafflesia, which smells like rotting flesh, is facing habitat loss."

https://flip.it/gdst8u

#Flowers #Extinction #Endangered #Environment #Botany #Science 

 New Orleans braces for drinking water emergency from drought-stricken Mississippi River.

NBC News reports: "Lingering drought conditions have kept the Mississippi River at abnormally low levels and significantly weakened its flow, allowing salt water to creep in."

https://flip.it/ng-SZx

#NewOrleans #Water #MississippiRiver #Drought #Environment #ClimateChange 

 The Biden administration hopes to create a commercial nuclear fusion facility within 10 years as part of the nation’s transition to clean energy, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Monday.

AP reports: https://flip.it/jEWOyT

#Energy #Nuclear #CleanEnergy #Biden 

 A recent flurry of partnerships between Indigenous tribes and Western researchers foretells a new philosophy of science.

Fascinating article from Atmos: "Towards A Symbiotic Science."

https://flip.it/WcHgUc

#Science #Indigenous #Nature #Environment #EnvironmentalJustice 

 More than three years into the pandemic, the millions of people who have suffered from long COVID finally have scientific proof that their condition is real.

NBC News reports: "Scientists have found clear differences in the blood of people with long COVID — a key first step in the development of a test to diagnose the illness."

https://flip.it/bHHxq-

Here's the original study in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06651-y

#COVID #COVID19 #LongCOVID #COVIDIsNotOver #Pandemic 

 Traditional porcelain and ceramic toilet bowls could be on the way out. A new 3D-printed bowl developed by scientists at Huazhong University in China is so slippery that nothing sticks to it. Science Alert has more: 
https://flip.it/uATfwQ
#Science #Inventions #Toilets #Cleaning 

 El Niño creates the largest natural variability in the planet’s climate and can reshape weather patterns around the world, bringing drought for tens of millions and floods to others. Axios tells us more: https://flip.it/.GR81_
#Science #Climate #Earth #Weather #ElNino 

 An experiment on Mars has shown that it's feasible to extract breathable oxygen from the thin Martian atmosphere. Science Alert has more: https://flip.it/6nNL3a
#Science #Mars #Space #SpaceExploration 

 “Alien” bodies were unveiled before Mexico’s congress earlier this week. Scholars denounced the claim as “complete nonsense.” More from Live Science: https://flip.it/3QHmxS
#Science #Space #Aliens 

 Serious brain trauma starts well before young athletes go pro.

Wired reports: "A new study of amateur athletes who died before turning 30 reveals that many already showed signs of neurodegeneration."

(Subscription may be required) https://flip.it/JH.W7m

#Athletics #Sports #Brain #Science 

 Pig kidney works a record two months in donated body, raising hope for animal-human transplants.

AP reports: "By pushing the boundaries of research with the dead, the scientists learned critical lessons they’re preparing to share with the Food and Drug Administration — in hopes of eventually testing pig kidneys in the living."

https://flip.it/RgrsVx

#Medicine #Research #Transplant #Healthcare 

 New NASA report lays out roadmap for studying UFOs.

NPR's "All Things Considered" covers this week's news: https://flip.it/Kpj2-d

#NASA #UFO #UFOs #Space 

 A NASA astronaut will finally spend a full year in space.

@872ab8e1 reports: "A flight surgeon... [Frank] Rubio said he worked hard to maintain his physical fitness in space."

https://flip.it/JAP-M_

#NASA #Space #Astronaut 

 Eight catastrophic floods in 11 days: What’s behind intense rainfall around the world?

NBC News reports: "Scientists say climate change is most likely having an impact on rainfall and flooding, but understanding precisely what that relationship is can be tricky."

https://flip.it/tUoSn1

#Floods #ClimateChange #Climate #Weather #Libya 

 Should we memorialize environmental disasters?

@c11fa870 reports: "Societies celebrate heroes and commemorate tragedies. But where in public memory is environmental harm?"

https://flip.it/oWugky

#Environment #Disaster #PublicHealth #Government 

 What would it take to build a self-sustaining astronaut ecosystem on Mars?

@872ab8e1 explores the question: https://flip.it/7V1NVO

#Mars #Space #NASA #Astronauts 

 Earth is outside its "safe operating space for humanity" on most key measurements, study says.

AP reports: "Earth’s climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nutrient pollution and 'novel' chemicals (human-made compounds like microplastics and nuclear waste) are all out of whack, a group of international scientists said."

https://flip.it/3mKY8x

#ClimateChange #Climate #Environment #Pollution #Earth #Science 

 Wildfires are coming ... for New Jersey?

Vox explains how "climate change is expanding the list of areas at risk for the worst wildfires."

https://flip.it/MphHrG

#ClimateChange #Climate #Wildfires #Fire #Environment 

 NASA's James Webb Space Telescope observes planet in a distant galaxy that might support life.

CBS News reports: "Webb discovered the presence of methane and carbon dioxide on the exoplanet K2-18 b, which is 8.6 times the size of Earth."

https://flip.it/CmZrt_

#NASA #Space #Webb #Astronomy #Life #Alien 

 Newly discovered green comet Is passing by Earth this week.

Smithsonian Magazine reports: "Comet Nishimura, which appears only once every 435 years, is on track to approach the sun and shoot into deep space."

https://flip.it/CX3A-6

#Comet #Space #Astronomy #Nishimura #Science 

 Special mosquitoes are being bred to fight dengue. How the old enemies are now becoming allies.

AP reports: https://flip.it/PyUQJE

#Mosquito #Dengue #Disease #Health #Entomology 

 A comet no one had seen until last month may be visible to the naked eye this weekend, giving stargazers a once-in-a-437-year opportunity. More from Science Alert: https://flip.it/K8EJxE
#Science #Space #Comet #Stars #SpaceExploration 

 Scientists have detected the magnetic field of a galaxy in the early universe. Axios explains how understanding these fields could be crucial for learning more about our cosmos as a whole: https://flip.it/Lu8Bs4
#Space #Science #SpaceExploration #SpaceScience 

 Why is Microsoft betting millions on spreading “a magic dust on a bunch of giant baking sheets stacked in 50-foot-tall towers? Heatmap explains: https://flip.it/EDeJLw
#Science #ClimateChange #Microsoft #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction 

 New research shows that when a volcano erupted in Tonga Jan. 15, 2022, the huge volume of volcanic ash, dust and glass that rose and fell back into the water reshaped the seafloor in a dramatic fashion. More from Popular Science: https://flip.it/x._057
#Science #Volcano #Tonga #PacificOcean 

 From Live Science: “Past research suggests that some whale species are more likely to get lost and accidentally beach themselves during periods of increased solar activity.” Could a rise in solar storms create problems for whales that use magnetoreception to orient themselves? https://flip.it/BhHq8l
#Science #Whales #MarineLife #SolarStorms #Sun #Earth #Ocean 

 Wind and snow don’t always bring about the coldest winters in the Arctic. An international team of researchers has found that the blustery weather can contribute to regional warming. Science Alert explains: https://flip.it/qacf2_
#Science #Climate #Arctic #ClimateChange 

 Accidents aren’t always a stroke of bad luck. Scientists have measured the exact size of the disk of matter swirling around a supermassive black hole. Live Science has more on the serendipitous discovery, one that the team didn't set out to find: https://flip.it/8ijQ1k
#Science #Space #BlackHole 

 All signs point to a rise in COVID-19.

NBC News reports: "COVID hospitalizations, deaths and wastewater data — among other indicators — are all increasing as the U.S. heads into fall."

https://flip.it/k4DOzN

#COVID #COVID19 #COVIDIsNotOver #Pandemic #Health #News 

 Astrophysicist Avi Loeb discusses UFOs, alien life and his controversial interstellar research.

Salon interviews the "world's leading alien hunter": https://flip.it/xp3GMg

#Space #UFO #Aliens #NASA #Astrophysics 

 How roads have transformed the natural world.

Smithsonian Magazine reports: "A brief history of road ecology, the scientific discipline that is helping us understand our impact on the environment and how to diminish it."

https://flip.it/382VDV

#Nature #Ecology #Cars #Road #Environment #Science 

 Whoa! Scientists have grown an entity that closely resembles an early human embryo, without using sperm, eggs or a womb.

BBC reports on the "embryo model": https://flip.it/7c0bOY

#Embryo #Life #Pregnancy #Research #StemCells 

 This article from Phys.org might change the way we react the next time we face a “long” two- or three-day rainstorm. Saturn has megastorms that aren’t unlike Earth’s hurricanes. Only these weather events are much bigger and can go on for decades and decades. What causes such massive climatological anomalies is a mystery. https://flip.it/HZaNkr
#Science #Space #Weather