Science Archives

A massive asteroid’s impact billions of years ago diversified life on Earth: Study

October 22, 2024
Geologists have uncovered remnants from a giant space rock that could provide answers to what ignited an abundance of life on Earth. New research published on Monday, Oct. 21, reveals a giant space rock slammed into what’s now South Africa more than 3 billion years ago with one student researcher calling it a “fertilizer bomb” for life.

The study shows that a massive asteroid the size of Mt. Everest, smashed into Earth, boiling the ocean and creating a global tsunami. However, scientists said it didn’t lead to mass die-offs because life was very minimal still on Earth.

Researchers believe that after the destructive impact it eventually stirred up the ingredients for more life with a combination of iron and phosphorus from the meteorite falling into the ocean.

Organisms quickly recovered and thrived greater than ever due to a massive increase in nutrients from the meteorite that eventually seeped into the ocean.

The study has spurred new interest in the environmental changes space rocks have brought to Earth. Billions of years ago, impacts from meteorites were much more common, and geologists hope the further study of crater impacts provides some answers to some of the mysteries of how life began on Earth.
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Researchers achieve first-ever communication in lucid dreams

October 14, 2024

In a new scientific achievement, researchers at REMspace successfully facilitated communication between two people in their dreams. The milestone, reminiscent of concepts from the film “Inception,” brought dream-based communication closer to reality.

The company behind the breakthrough said it was possible by tapping into REM sleep, a phase where lucid dreaming can occur. Lucid dreaming happens when a person becomes aware they are dreaming while still in the dream state.

On Sept. 24, participants slept in their own homes while researchers monitored their brain waves and other data remotely through a specially designed apparatus. Once the first participant entered a lucid dream, researchers sent a random word to them via earbuds. The participant repeated the word in their dream, which the server recorded.

Eight minutes later, the second participant entered their lucid dream and received the stored message. Upon waking, she confirmed the word, marking the first successful communication exchanged in dreams.

This phenomenon could unblock new dimensions of human communication, with potential applications ranging from solving complex problems to learning new skills. REMspace has spent nearly five years developing the technology, and this experiment represents a significant leap forward.

“This is just the beginning,” said Micheal Raduga, founder and CEO of REMspace.

Raduga expressed confidence that dream-based communication could soon become as common as using smartphones. He also predicted that real-time communication in dreams could be achieved within months.

Raduga emphasized that REM sleep, where individuals can fully experience a dream reality – seeing, hearing, touching, and even altering their bodies – could become the next frontier after artificial intelligence.

By 2025, REMspace plans to launch a device that combines lucid dreaming functions with advanced sleep monitoring, allowing users to track their dreams in real time.
Head of giant 300 million year old insect detailed in scientific breakthrough

October 10, 2024
New details are emerging about one of the largest bugs ever to live on planet Earth. This 9-foot-long giant insect with dozens of legs lived over 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period, and now we know what its head looked like.

Up until now, scientists had no idea what the creature’s noggin resembled, and the new information is helping clear up its impact on its descendants. During the week of Oct. 6, research by scientists in North America and Europe led to a breakthrough. Most of the fossils of the insect were found headless shells, left behind after the creatures molted every time they grew larger.

Discoveries of these fossils date back to the 1800s, but it took modern technology to figure out the shape of the creature’s head.

Round, with two short antennae and two eyes that stuck outwards like a crab, the hundred-pound insect had a small mouth suited for grinding leaves and tree bark.

These traits led to a confusing mixture of a centipede and a millipede, leading to difficulty deciding what the insect’s head looked like. Now, by using CT scans, researchers were able to clear up the longstanding controversy.

There’s a lot left to learn about this ancient millipede, including what exactly it ate. Questions still stand on whether it walked on land, underwater or were amphibious as well.
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Scientists untangle the scientific web of black widow spider venom

October 10, 2024
Scientists have decoded the deadly secret behind the black widow spider’s venom. It’s not just ordinary poison, the venom is a complex “cocktail of toxins.”

One key piece of the deadly venom is a neurotoxin called a-latrotoxin, which targets the nervous systems of vertebrates, including humans. Many people already know that this spider is not to be messed with, as a bite can bring muscle spasms and in severe cases, death.

But the mystery behind the full mechanism of its venom has long remained a mystery — until now. Scientists at the University of Münster created a 3D model that shows exactly what happens when the toxin enters the body.

Once the a-latrotoxin binds to the body’s synapses — the junctions between nerve cells — it sends calcium flooding into the system, which throws nerve signals into chaos.

Muscles contract uncontrollably, causing muscle spasms. This breakthrough research could lead to better antidotes, new treatments for paralysis and even novel biopesticides.

While the black widow’s bite remains deadly, science might soon turn this venomous weapon into a tool or healing.
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How you can be so sure you’re right when you’re actually wrong

October 10, 2024
You know that feeling when you’re in a debate with someone and you make a point, and you just know you’re right – only to find out that self-assuredness was misplaced and you’re actually just very wrong? It turns out, there’s a scientific reason people can be so confidently wrong.

A newly published study shows it boils down to you thinking you have all the information you need to form an opinion when you really don’t.

“Our brains are overconfident that they can arrive at a reasonable conclusion with very little information,” explained one of the study’s co-authors, Angus Fletcher, an English professor at Ohio State University.

The researchers wanted to know how people make judgements about situations or other people based on their confidence in the information they have, even if they don’t have all the information they may need. So, researchers rounded up 1,300 people and had them read a fictitious story.

Of the 1,300 people, 500 were given a version that was biased in favor of a certain point of view, another 500 were given one biased against that view, and 300 were given a balanced article.

The fake story was about a school that was running out of water because its local aquifer was drying up, so a merger with another school was being considered.

Once the participants read the story, researchers asked their opinions on what the school should do and how confident they were that they had all the information they needed to make that judgment.

They found a majority of the people were more likely to agree with the bias of argument they’d read and were often confident they had enough information to make that decision.

But then, the researchers had half the people from each group also read the other group’s version of the story. Researchers found once people had all the facts, they were more likely to change their mind.

They also found those who only read one, biased version of the article were more confident in their opinions than those who read both articles.
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Colorado town celebrates tarantula mating season with spiders and festivals

October 8, 2024
Forget the flowers and chocolates, on the Colorado plains, love has eight legs and lots of hair. It’s tarantula mating season, and male tarantulas are crawling out of their burrows, ready to find a mate. Meanwhile, La Junta, Colorado, is rolling out the welcome mat for both the spiders and the spider-loving crowd that follows them.

Every fall, La Junta becomes a hotspot for scientists, spider enthusiasts and curious families. Armed with flashlights and car headlights, they gather at dusk, hoping to spot male tarantulas on their desperate search for love.

For these spectators, it’s not just about the spiders. This year’s festival featured a hairy leg contest, where this year’s winner was actually a woman. Plus, there was a vintage car parade with giant spider decorations on the hoods. The local theater also screened the classic “Arachnophobia” to keep the spider spirit alive.

La Junta’s famous “Colorado brown” tarantulas may look a little scary, but they’re actually key players in the local ecosystem. It takes these male tarantulas seven years to be ready for romance, but once they’re out looking for a mate, their days are numbered. They’ve got a year left to live afterwards, while females can live for over 20 years.

Males tap outside a female’s burrow to let her know they’re interested. If she’s willing, the mating happens fast, and males need to escape before the female decides he’s more of a snack than a suitor.

While tarantulas might give some people the creeps, they’re a vital part of the Colorado ecosystem.
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Amazon River expected to be dredged in face of severe drought

October 8, 2024
Key trade routes along the Amazon River are in jeopardy as severe drought has dropped some tributaries to the lowest levels ever recorded. As a result, Brazil has announced plans as reported on Tuesday, Oct. 8, to dredge the river in an effort to restart the steady flow of vital supplies like food and medicine to remote areas.

However, scientists warn that dredging could poison the water by stirring up mercury deposits at the bottom of the river. One scientist called the dredging plans environmentally “reckless” and cited previous studies showing dredging is unsustainable.

Brazilian officials introduced the plan as all the major rivers in the Amazon Basin are at extremely low levels. The lack of water has also led to job losses because boats can no longer traverse the river, transforming daily life. Some communities along the river must now travel longer distances to collect drinking water, and it may get even worse.

Forecasters expect water levels to drop more in the coming weeks with little rainfall predicted.

Other countries may soon face similar dilemmas as those in Brazil as well. Climate change has reportedly pushed 50% of the world’s rivers below normal water levels, and 2023 was the driest year for rivers since 1990, according to a World Meteorological Association report this week.
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The rate of growth for human life expectancy may be starting to slow

October 8, 2024
For over a century people have been living longer thanks to major advances in medicine and researchers learning more about healthier lifestyles. However, new data suggests that this growth in life expectancy may finally be slowing down.

While life expectancy nearly doubled in the 19th and 20th centuries, experts say that the pace has slowed down in the last 30 years.

The lead author of the study, S. Jay Olshansky from the University of Illinois, Chicago School of Public Health, explains that most of the extended life seen today is a result of modern medicine, what he calls “manufactured time.”

Olshansky argued that simply adding more years to life expectancy may not be the best approach. Instead, the focus should shift to increasing the number of years spent in good health.

The study published in Nature Aging, reveals that in regions with the highest life expectancies, like Japan and Switzerland, gains have been far smaller than expected since 1990. In fact, life expectancy in the U.S. has notably declined.

Scientists warn that without slowing the biological aging process, radical life extension could be unrealistic. The study further says that at best, 15% of females and just 5% of males might live to 100 in most countries.

While medical advances continue, the real focus needs to be on helping people live healthier lives as they age.
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Scientists uncover 3,600-year-old cheese on mummified bodies

September 26, 2024
Moldy cheese in the back of the refrigerator is something almost all have had to deal with, but a new discovery puts a new meaning on old cheese. Scientists have identified nearly 3,600-year-old cheese found on mummified bodies in northwest China.

It’s believed to be the oldest cheese ever found. An important question researchers wanted to answer was what did the cheese taste like? They say it was likely sour and sharp, similar to some strong-smelling cheeses we know today.

The mummy remains were uncovered at a cemetery in China’s Tarim Basin in the 1990s. What stood out was a white substance spread across the necks of some mummies.

Upon closer inspection and conducting a DNA analysis on the substance, scientists realized the white stuff was indeed an ancient cheese, made from a mix of cow and goat milk, fermented bacteria and yeast. Further tests revealed the presence of a key lactic acid bacteria, and ingredient stilled used today in cheese production in places like Russia and Tibet.

Researchers believe ancient people used these kefir grains to extend the shelf life of cheese and help combat lactose intolerance, which was more common thousands of years ago. Beyond digestion, these ancient bacterium may have helped trigger immune responses in the human gut.

Along with the cheese, the mummified bodies skin, clothing and hair were able to remain intact due to the dry climate of the region. While it’ still unclear why the cheese was placed in the graves, researchers speculate it may have been a starter culture to continue cheese production in the afterlife.
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The Metals Company issues scientific rebuttal to ‘dark oxygen’ discovery

September 24, 2024

A “ground-breaking” scientific discovery made 13,000 feet below the ocean’s surface would fundamentally change humanity’s understanding of how oxygen is produced, but its findings are being called into question. A company with vested interests in whether or not this science is considered valid has claimed this research regarding “dark oxygen” is “flawed” and “misleading.”

The study, led by Andrew Sweetman of the Scottish Marine Association, focused on polymetallic nodules found on the ocean seabed. These nodules, rich in minerals crucial to the production of clean energy infrastructure, were identified by the researchers as potential sources of oxygen.

Sweetman has warned that removing these nodules to extract the rare earth elements they hold could disrupt this potential source of oxygen production.

However, The Metals Company, which seeks to mine these polymetallic nodules to support renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs), has criticized Sweetman’s findings. The company disputes the existence of dark oxygen, claiming that the research is flawed.

In a statement to Straight Arrow News, The Metals Company asserted: “Rarely has a dataset been published that so emphatically undermines the leading hypothesis. Yet, Sweetman’s supposed findings of ‘dark oxygen’ were sensationalized in media headlines worldwide.”

The Metals Company has since issued a formal scientific rebuttal, accusing Sweetman’s team of omitting critical data, misrepresenting research, and conducting contaminated experiments. The company said it hopes this rebuttal will “inject some integrity into the conversation, and aid in correcting the scientific record.”

In response, the Scottish Marine Association indicated that it is preparing a counter to The Metals Company’s critique, maintaining that its research was transparent. Sweetman’s team stated, “We don’t have anything to hide.”

A massive asteroid’s impact billions of years ago diversified life on Earth: Study

Researchers achieve first-ever communication in lucid dreams

Head of giant 300 million year old insect detailed in scientific breakthrough

Scientists untangle the scientific web of black widow spider venom

How you can be so sure you’re right when you’re actually wrong

Colorado town celebrates tarantula mating season with spiders and festivals

Amazon River expected to be dredged in face of severe drought

The rate of growth for human life expectancy may be starting to slow

Scientists uncover 3,600-year-old cheese on mummified bodies

The Metals Company issues scientific rebuttal to ‘dark oxygen’ discovery

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