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Life has found our blue gem planet as a welcoming host, but it hasn't always been all fun and games. To our knowledge, life has gone through five major mass extinctions over the past couple hundred millions of years. During this time countless species and even families were wiped out in a heart beat, but geological time frame standards. When faced with overwhelming odds, nature favors those who can adapt. According to researchers at the University of Gothenburg plants have always been surprisingly resilient to these challenging times, compared to animals. That's not to say that plants didn't go extinct as well - sure, countless as well, but others soon filled their space at a much great pace than animals could.
Many scholars who still seek to explain why more women leave the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pipeline than men are stuck in old times. If in the 1970s, men were 1.6 to 1.7 times as likely as women to later earn a STEM Ph.D., by the 1990s the gender gap had closed and both sexes are as likely to complete their education. Efforts to bridge the gap and promote gender diversity have thus been fruitful. There's still gender gap in STEM among those who first enroll in college, with roughly three times as many men than women.
Alec Falkenham, a 27-year-old PhD student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, has invented a special cream that will wipe out tattoos for good, without the pain and scaring expected today following laser surgery. Time to erase your ex-lover's name off that shoulder... or keep it! Good or bad memories are what make you the person you are today, you shouldn't be ashamed of that. Either way, soon enough you might have the means to make your own choice - one that doesn't involve burning you skin.
After scientists discovered a huge hole in the ozone layer above the Antarctic, an emergency UN panel banned the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in 1987. These build up in the atmosphere, react with the triple oxygen molecule and break it down. Since then, ozone has thankfully replenished, thought it might take decades before it reverts to pre-1980 levels. Progress is slow because there are still some plants through out the world who illegally use CFCs (the stuff that used to go into refrigerants or deodorants), but also because there are other ozone-depleting chemicals out there - some recognized, others new and extremely dangerous. One class of chemicals that has been allowed in the industry since the Montreal Protocol, despite the danger it posses to ozone, is made up of so-called 'very short-lived substances' (VSLS) which breakup in under six months. A new study, however, found that these have dramatically increased over the past couple of years and despite their short reaction times, these could prove to be extremely dangerous.
British researchers have demonstrated three ways gold nanotubes can be used against cancer: 1) high resolution in-vivo imaging; 2) drug delivery vehicles; 3) agents that destroy cancer itself. Their work shouldn't be viewed as yet "another" hack that seeks to eradicate cancer. We need to be more realistic than this. Instead, the findings have the potential to be a great measure that both diagnoses and treats cancer at the same time, complementing conventional surgery and, hopefully, avoiding the need for chemotherapy.
As global oil prices continue to drastically fluctuate up and down over the years, the Kingdom of Jordan has announced that all of their mosques will soon run on solar energy, in an attempt to save money and promote sustainable development.
Pollution talks are often about the atmopshere, but we tend to foger that the most part of the pollution goes into the oceans. About a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans ends up in the seas, which causes them to become more acidic, significantly altering the oceanic environment on which corals, fish, and ultimately, we depend on.
Too close for comfort – a team of astronomers from the US, Europe, Chile and South Africa concluded that a dim star passed through the Oort cloud, our solar system’s distant cloud of comets. The star missed the Earth by less than one light year, and passed five times closer than the current closest star, Proxima […]
According to a new study, limpet teeth may be the strongest material known to man, stronger than spider silk or kevlar. Scientists from Portsmouth University made the surprising discovery after analyzing limpets with a technique called atomic force microscopy.
The Mercury level in tuna has been a subject of debate for decades now. Paul Drevnick, Assistant Research Scientist at University of Michigan and his team analyzed data from over the past 50 years and found that mercury levels in Pacific yellowfin tuna, often marketed as ahi tuna, is increasing at 3.8% per year. If 3.8% per year doesn't seem like much, that translates into a doubling at every 20 years. So in 50 years, mercury levels have increased 6 times.
Scientists believe that collagen extracted from fish (especially tilapia) can be applied as a "wound dressing", to help clean the wound and accelerate healing.
The US government approved a genetically modified apple that doesn't turn brown when bruised or sliced. While most genetic alterations of plants involve making these more resilient to pests or yield more, the non-browning apples were made out of cosmetic considerations. Of course, the apples will still rot and eventually get brown, but in time and not so easily when stressed (cell rupture). But despite the government approval, voices run rampant against the genetically modified fruit from behalf of anti-GMO groups, as well as rivaling food companies.
The team behind Interstellar's awesome special effects meant business when they set out to emulate space, celestial objects and black holes as scientifically accurate as possible. In a paper published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, the special effects crew describe at length the innovative computer code they used to generate stunning imagery, but also make new scientific discoveries. Whenever a SciFi movie spews new scientific advancement, well, you know it's a good one!
We know that things like eye or skin colour are encoded in our DNA and passed down by our parents, but many other traits are significantly influenced by another hereditary mechanism: bacterial offspring. A paper in Nature suggests microbes are passed down from mother mice to pups, passing down traits similarly to how genes influence illness and health.
South Londoners who smoke skunk weed - a much more potent strain of cannabis - were found to be three times more likely to register at hospitals with first-episode psychoses, according to a study made by British researchers. The research has many shortcomings though, as is to be expected from a case-control design where it's always difficult to account for external variables. As the old saying goes, correlation does not equal causation, so take these findings with a grain of salt. The study is valuable however considering it's among the few which actually considered the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis, often ignored by mainstream cannabis research. Cannabis is used by millions of people worldwide, yet its long-term effects are seriously under reported.
Bald Eagles are bouncing back from the brink of extinction, research shows. The official US mascot is now thriving and populations are continuously growing, but challenges are not yet over.
Selected from more than 200,000 applicants, 50 men and 50 women have become the final contenders for the one-way trip to Mars. A Dutch not-for-profit company is planning to send groups of four people on a one-way trip to the red planet in about a decade to start a permanent human settlement - now, we can take a better look at those people.
Speaking at the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting, US researchers showed a coloured map of the quietest regions in the United States, based on 1.5 million hours of acoustical monitoring from places as remote as Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and as urban as New York City. Apparently, the eastern half of the country is much more loud […]
A new study has found that as the climate continues to warm, we will be dealing with more infectious and parasitic diseases. Ultimately, we'll have to face epidemics caused by climate change, researchers say.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake (initially 6.9) has struck Northern Japan earlier today, with a small tsunami striking the coast without any significant damage. The tsunami was on the order of tens of centimeters. There was some worry, despite Japan being one of the most well prepared countries in the world to deal with earthquakes. “Overall, the […]
A randomized clinical trial has found that mindfulness meditation is significantly more effective than sleep hygiene education (e.g. how to identify & change bad sleeping habits) in reducing insomnia symptoms, fatigue, and depression symptoms in older adults with sleep disturbances.
A new liquid-infused polymer can make sure that medical equipment is bacteria free by being extremely slippery. This technology, which involves silicone infused with a silicone oil also has a myriad of potential applications outside of medical equipment - in the oil industry, in air planes and cosmetics.
The Dutch Windwheel is a concept for a sustainable landmark that will not only generate wind energy silently, but also capture rainwater, recycle tap water, produce biogas - and most importantly, house 72 apartments. It will also have some rotating cabins providing a brilliant view of the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
Penguins have lost most of their sense of taste - they can't detect the savory taste of the fish they eat, and they also can't enjoy fruits or sugar. For penguins, food come in two tastes: salty and sour.
The best storage medium might actually be DNA, considering the vast amount of information it store relative to its weight - one gram can theoretically hold some 455 exabytes or more than the data collectively stored by all of Google, Facebook and every other tech company. It's also very durable. Remember how some scientists thought about cloning mammoths? Well, the DNA they would use is at least 4,000 years old, but DNA has been extracted and sequenced from much older samples, like a 700,000 years-old horse. With this in mind, some scientists got the idea of storing the most critical pieces of modern human knowledge into specially treated DNA - maybe the most effective time capsule ever.
Mysterious cloud-like formations hovering over Mars challenge our understanding of the Red Planet's climate. Interestingly, amateur astronomers spotted the bizarre feature rising off the edge of the red planet in March and April of 2012 and since then, no satisfying answer regarding to their formation has been put forth. Now, scientists have concocted a new theory, but there's only one problem - it poses more questions than it answers.
Fox Glacier is one of the most spectacular sights in New Zealand, receiving on average over 1,000 visits every day. Sadly, like many other glaciers, Fox Glacier is retreating rapidly due to climate change. A pair of before-and-after images 10 year apart highlightthis perfectly, just like the time-lapse video below does.
At this years' Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium, NASA's Glenn COMPASS Team discussed at large the possibility of exploring Titan, Saturn's largest moon, with a robotic submarine that would dive deep inside the oceans of liquefied natural gas. Such a mission, if ever funded, could help answer some important questions like what are the defining chemical building blocks required to birth and sustain life. Titan is very similar to Earth in terms of cycling systems, elemental composition and terrestrial geography, so there's much insight to be gained.
Dr. Robert W. Levenson is a psychologist at UC Berkeley who has been studying 156 married middle-aged and older couples that were together for more than 20 years. Every five years, the couples were asked to come in and report on their current marital satisfaction. They were observed interacting with each other in a lab setting, where researches judged their interactions though their facial expressions, body language, tone of voice and topic of discussion. Of those involved, 125 also agreed to provide DNA samples.
Using ultra-fast laser techniques employed by the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists have peered through the transitional state that reactants go through before joining in a molecule. The implications for chemistry are massive and the findings might spur a new field of science. Already, we’re hearing about some very interesting conclusions, although much […]
A rare Neolithic-era burial site was discovered by the northern entrance of the Alepotrypa (“Foxhole”) Cave in southern Greece. The skeleton remains show how a couple was laid to rest in embrace, close to a burial of another male and female who were found in fetal position - the most common burial position during the Neolithic. The embracing couple’s skeletons were dated with the C14 method to 3800 BC while their DNA analysis confirmed the remains were those of a male and female.
A new study has revealed the fun-loving side of crocodiles; the reptiles, generally regarded as ferocious and aggressive, are reported to surf waves, play ball and engage in piggyback rides to have fun.
Although mammals surfaced only 20 million years after the first dinosaurs evolved, there's a general consensus that mammals were shadowed and reclusive in the face of dinosaurs, seeing how they were the dominant animals on the planet back then. As such, early mammals are thought to have been mostly nocturnal with minimal interaction with dinosaur environments, occupying very limited ecological niches. This conventional thinking might be toppled by recent findings made by Chinese paleontologists who discovered two highly sophisticated early mammals each at least 160 million years old: the first tree-clinging mammal and the first burrowing mammal. These creatures munched on the same plants dinosaurs did, proving they seemingly coexisted in the same ecological framework.
Our oceans are clogged with plastic – that’s already a well known fact by now. A major study in 2014 concluded that there are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans, while another one suggests that the ocean’s bottom might also be a cemetery for garbage. To make things even worse, there’s […]
Science confirms what every dog owner has known in his heart: our canine friends can tell when we're happy or upset. The discovery represents the first solid evidence that an animal other than humans can discriminate between emotional expressions on other species.
It’s really awesome when the practice confirms the theory! Experiments at the Large Hadrdon Collider have revealed two never before seen particles – exotic types of baryons which were previously predicted by theoretical research. The new measurements serve to confirm and refine the existing theory of subatomic particles and help pave the way for the discovery […]
In recent years, a number of independent studies have concluded that the American Southwest and central Great Plains will experience extensive droughts in the second half of this century – and global warming will make things even worse, exacerbating the already worrying conditions. Now, a new study says that things are even worse than previously imagined, […]
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, some of you might be tempted to employ some of those spray-on pheromone products. I won't give names, but you must have seen the ads - they're all over TV and the internet. Odorless pheromones are secreted by many animals to attract mates, and while synthesized versions have been shown to work for bees and other insects, the human nose and brain for that matter is a whole different thing.
Chinese researchers ran simulations and found that a pentagon-containing version of graphene is theoretically stable. The 2D allotrope of carbon is made up of atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a repeating pentagon pattern, while graphene is made up of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagon pattern, like a chicken wire. Graphene is the strongest material in the […]
A recent report in the Hong Kong Medical Journal describes the case of a baby girl who was born carrying two masses in her body which are likely to be foetuses. But this doesn’t mean that she was “born pregnant” (as some media wrote), but is rather the case of “parasitic twins”. If they are […]
Alfred “Alfie” Date is Australia’s oldest living person, at 109; he’s also a self-taught expert knitter who is doing his best to help penguins in Australia and New Zealand survive oil spills – by knitting them sweaters. He told 9stories he answered the call of Phillip Island’s Penguin Foundation which asked for knitters from around the world to make […]
A new study found that unemployment is one of the main causes for suicide across the world - between 2001 and 2011, unemployment caused approximately 450,000 cases of suicide.
If you claim you're a doctor online, even without providing any proof, people may trust you more than the CDC. A new study has found that online comments have as much power as statements issues by health institutions - and in some cases, even more.
City smog significantly lowers children's IQ, while also raising the risk for Alzheimers disease. A new study has found that children living in highly polluted cities are at an increased risk for detrimental effects to the brain, including short-term memory loss.
Even after only sleeping for two hours a night, a half an hour nap can restore your protein and hormone levels to normal, a new study has found.
If you're a smoker, I've got some (more) bad news for you - long term smoking thins the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, responsible among others for memory, perception and language. The good news is that if you've quit smoking, then the effect is reversible.
After reviewing existing literature and statistics, researchers from the University of Warwick have found evidence which suggests a significant relationship between cannabis consumption and the onset (or exacerbation) of mania symptoms. We’ve presented quite a few studies on cannabis here on ZME Science. Our general impression is that due to legal constraints (which are somewhat […]
Mitigating climate change is on the agenda of every world government, but somehow little is done to curb global warming. Echoing a quick-fix approach to life so predominantly engraved in modern culture, some are considering sweeping climate change under the proverbial rug. These so called geo-engineering methods aim to fix climate change by altering the environment, but those ideas that are actually practical today only mask the effects and do nothing to treat the symptoms, a new report signed by 16 top scientists reads. The authors used this opportunity to make an appeal for reducing global emissions, else we might be forced to actually engineer the planet with unforeseeable consequences.
"How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop? The world may never know," a timeless commercial might have us believe. What the world of advertising seems to neglect, however, is scientists' astute resilience to rhetoric. As it happens, it takes an estimated 1,000 licks to reach the center of a lollipop, according to a paper published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, by researchers from New York University and Florida State University.
Just like a deep fried scoop of ice cream, comets, such as the much heralded Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko which saw a spaceship land on it last year, are thought to be frozen on the inside, wheres the surface is hard and crystallized. The team of scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) believe the findings further expand our knowledge on comets. Some suggest that life on Earth first emerged thanks to key organic molecules and compounds brought forth by comets colliding with our planet. The more we know, the better we can assess these sort of ideas and, if found viable, how often such events might happen in the Universe.
