Egyptian Mummy's Curse: Oldest Heart Disease Case
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 567 words
| Fernande Dalal
An ancient Egyptian princess would have needed bypass surgery if she'd lived today, according to researchers who examined the mummy and found blocked arteries in her heart in what's now the oldest case of human heart disease.
And she wasn't the only one: An investigation of 44 mummies revealed that nearly half had evidence of calcification in their arteries, or atherosclerosis. This calcification happens when fatty material accumulates inside arteries, eventually hardening into plaques.
[Read More]Europe's 'New' Periodic Table Predicts Which Elements Will Disappear in the Next 100 Years
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 526 words
| Fernande Dalal
Oxygen can breathe easy, but the party might soon be over for helium balloons.
Those are two takeaways from a brand-new model of the periodic table of elements, debuted this week by the European Chemical Society (or EuChemS, a group representing more than 160,000 chemists in the European Union). Unlike the ubiquitous classroom version of the table, which categorizes the universe's 118 known natural and synthetic elements with equal space for each element, EuChemS' chart has been warped and wobbled to show the relative abundance or scarcity of 90 naturally occurring elements here on Earth.
[Read More]Global Warming Could Doom Male Crocodiles
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 277 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Rising temperatures could force the birth of more female crocodiles and fewer males, an expert said today. The scenario could cause some croc populations to disappear.
Crocodile gender is determined by temperature during incubation. Nest temperatures of 89.6 to 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit (32-33 Celsius) result in males. Anything warmer or cooler produces females. Temperatures typically vary from the top of a nest to the bottom, producing both genders.
"A difference of 0.
[Read More]How Compressed Air Could Power the Future
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 834 words
| Trudie Dory
Editor's Note: Each Wednesday LiveScience will examine the viability of emerging energy technologies — the power of the future. This is the first installment. Wind power is unreliable. No one can turn up the wind every time electricity demand peaks. So some utilities are looking at ways to bottle up the wind's energy and store it underground for later use.
"The wind blows a lot at 2 in the morning, so it makes sense to save it and use it at 5 in the afternoon when everyone comes home from work,"
[Read More]It's 'now or never' to stop climate disaster, UN scientists say
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 7 minutes
| 1319 words
| Fernande Dalal
The time is "now or never" to limit catastrophic temperature rises and climate breakdown, UN scientists have said in a final warning to governments.
"Rapid, deep and immediate" cuts to global carbon dioxide emissions, which need to begin declining by 2025 and halve by 2030, must be made immediately across every section of society if temperature changes are to remain at or below the dangerous threshold of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.
[Read More]New drugs could stymie superbugs by freezing evolution
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 1018 words
| Fernande Dalal
Scientists may have uncovered a new weapon in the fight against antibiotic-resistant superbugs: drugs that freeze bacterial evolution in its tracks.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are those microbes that somehow survive even under the onslaught from megadrugs meant to kill them. Every year, at least 2.8 million people in the U.S. catch one of these superstrong bacteria or resistant fungi, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
One of the ways that bacteria evolve to become "
[Read More]Physicists link quantum memories across the longest distance ever
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 895 words
| Fernande Dalal
A team of scientists in China has linked quantum memories over more than 30 miles (50 kilometers) of fiber optic cable, beating the previous record by more than 40 times over. This feat is an important step toward a hack-proof internet, scientists said.
The internet we use today was truly a revolutionary invention. It connected the world with information and allowed us to share millions of photos of cute and cuddly cats.
[Read More]Shining a Light on the Pros and Cons of Laser Hair Removal
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 853 words
| Patria Henriques
In a culture where hair on the head is the only kind that's prized, laser hair removal has joined a bevy of other cosmetic procedures in popularity. Despite its growing use, however, the treatment is not a one-size-fits-all solution for getting rid of unwanted hair.
Available since the 1970s and generally considered safe, laser hair removal aims intense, pulsating light beams at hair follicles, damaging them and deterring future hair growth.
[Read More]Stay Up Late? How It Could Hurt Your Fertility
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 540 words
| Trudie Dory
Women who want to become pregnant or are expecting a baby should avoid light during the night, a new report suggests.
Darkness is important for optimum reproductive health in women, and for protecting the developing fetus, said study researcher Russel J. Reiter, a professor of cellular biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
In a review of studies published online July 1 in the journal Fertility and Sterility, Reiter and his colleagues evaluated previously published research, and summarized the role of melatonin levels and circadian rhythms on successful reproduction in females.
[Read More]Thousands of Writhing Maggots Create the World's Creepiest Fountain
Posted on May 4, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 538 words
| Fernande Dalal
Now, picture that fountain made of thousands of wriggling fly larvae.
That's what scientists found while studying the dinnertime of black soldier fly larvae, or maggots. When vast quantities of these larvae feed together, their surging movement around their food creates a living fountain of writhing bodies. That may sound revolting, but the strategy makes maggots uniquely efficient at devouring meals en masse, scientists reported in a new study. [Ear Maggots and Brain Amoeba: 5 Creepy Flesh-Eating Critters]
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