The Many Mysteries of Anesthesia

 Posted on May 2, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  636 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Anesthesia helps many of us during our lives, whether we need a local painkiller at the dentist, numbing eye drops for laser vision correction or general anesthesia for major surgery. But even though anesthetics have been used in many procedures for more than 150 years, doctors and scientists still don't know exactly how these medicines work in the body. Finding a safe way to go under Before anesthesia, doctors and dentists operated on patients only in extreme circumstances and largely without the use of painkillers or sedatives. [Read More]

Weedy Sea Dragon Babies Debut at Georgia Aquarium

 Posted on May 2, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  584 words  |  Trudie Dory

The weedy sea dragons that hatched this summer at the Georgia Aquarium are ready for their time in the spotlight. The baby sea dragons, born June 26 and 27, rejoined the grownups on the aquarium floor Nov. 2. The Georgia Aquarium is only the third facility in the United States to successfully hatch weedy sea dragons, which are technically fish. "They're doing great," said Kerry Gladish, a senior aquarist at the aquarium, located in Atlanta. [Read More]

What Happens During a Cardiac Ablation?

 Posted on May 2, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  421 words  |  Trudie Dory

"The Healthy Geezer" answers questions about health and aging in his weekly column. Question: When doctors perform a cardiac ablation, what exactly do they do? Answer: Ablation is a surgical excision of tissue. Cardiac ablation corrects heart arrhythmias by destroying tissue that blocks the electrical signal traveling through your heart to make it beat. By clearing the signal pathway of the abnormal tissue, your heart can beat properly again. Normally, an electrical signal spreads from the top of your heart to the bottom. [Read More]

Woman Sprouts Thousands of Tiny Moles, and Doctors Aren't Sure Why

 Posted on May 2, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  444 words  |  Fernande Dalal

It's not uncommon for people to notice a new mole on their skin every now and then. But when a 48-year-old woman developed thousands of moles on her torso and extremities in just a few months, doctors were puzzled, according to a recent report of her case. The multitude of moles, which were dark brown and black, appeared over the course of six months on the woman's back, abdomen, legs and arms in a symmetrical pattern, the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital who treated the woman wrote in their report, which was published May 18 in the journal JAMA Dermatology. [Read More]

'Extinct' Volcano Near Rome Rumbles to Life

 Posted on May 1, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  415 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A volcano outside Rome, long thought extinct, is rumbling to life. But don't panic: The volcano isn't likely to blow its top for at least another 1,000 years. Colli Albani is a volcanic complex of hills located 19 miles (30 kilometers) from the center of Rome. There are no historical records of eruptions from Colli Albani, so it was long thought to be extinct, according to the American Geophysical Union (AGU). [Read More]

A TV satellite is about to explode following 'irreversible' battery damage

 Posted on May 1, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  462 words  |  Patria Henriques

Following an unexplained accident, a satellite built by Boeing and operated by DirecTV is at risk of exploding in the coming weeks. To mitigate potential damage to other satellites, the U.S. government will allow the satellite TV provider to move the doomed craft to a higher orbit ahead of schedule. The satellite, called Spaceway-1, has been orbiting some 22,000 miles (35,400 kilometers) above Earth since 2005, providing high-definition television coverage for many years before being demoted to a backup satellite. [Read More]

Archaeologists Identify 'Lost' Jerusalem Street Built by Pontius Pilate — the Man Who Condemned Jesus to Death

 Posted on May 1, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  787 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Archaeologists have identified a grand street in Jerusalem that was built by Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea who is famous for overseeing the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.  The nearly 2,000-foot-long (600 meters) street would have connected the Siloam Pool — a place where pilgrims could stop to bathe and get fresh water — to the Temple Mount, the most holy place in Judaism. The street was likely used by ancient pilgrims on their way to worship at the Mount, the researchers said. [Read More]

Depressed Patients May Process Hate Feelings Differently

 Posted on May 1, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  585 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Feelings of hate may be different for those with depression, a new study suggests. The results show depressed people have abnormalities in the brain's so-called "hate circuit." Normally, brain activity is synchronous across this circuit's three regions. But in depressed patients, activity in these regions is out of sync, said study researcher Jianfeng Feng, a professor in computer studies at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. These differing activity levels, which the researchers referred to as an " [Read More]

Earth Wobbles May Have Driven Ancient Humans Out of Africa

 Posted on May 1, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  654 words  |  Trudie Dory

Ancient human migrations out of Africa may have been driven by wobbles in Earth's orbit and tilt that led to dramatic swings in climate, a new study finds. Modern humans first appeared in Africa about 150,000 to 200,000 years ago. It remains a mystery as to why it then took many millennia for people to disperse across the globe. Recent archaeological and genetic findings suggest that migrations of modern humans out of Africa began at least 100,000 years ago, but most humans outside of Africa most likely descended from groups who left the continent more recently — between 40,000 and 70,000 years ago. [Read More]

Endangered Tree Frog Bred In Captivity for the First Time

 Posted on May 1, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  467 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Frog populations around the world have been falling victim to a deadly infection, but there may be a ray of hope for their future: For the first time Panama's La Loma tree frog has been bred in captivity. The critically endangered La Loma tree frog (Hyloscirtus colymba) is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, but scientists with the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project have successfully bred the species in their facility. [Read More]