After Vacation, Woman Learns Her Rash Is a Worm Under Her Skin

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  489 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A Caribbean vacation sounds like a pleasant way to pass the time and catch some rays, but a Pennsylvania woman returned with more than a beachy glow: Two weeks after coming home, she developed a raised, itchy rash on her knee, which turned out to be the result of a parasite burrowing beneath her skin, according to a recent case report. The 45-year-old woman's rash was "textbook example" of a type of parasitic infection called cutaneous larva migrans, said Dr. [Read More]

Are These Four Personality Types for Real?

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  1008 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Scientists have discovered four main personality types, but put the brakes on your visions of a Harry Potter-style Sorting Hat. Chances are, you're just average. Psychologists had already discovered that people tend to differ from one another according to five main personality traits, known as the Big Five: extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness and neuroticism. The new study of the traits of more than 1.5 million people suggests that some of these traits tend to cluster together, creating predictable personality types. [Read More]

Elephant-Nosed Fish Has Funky Eyes, Too

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  536 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

An unusual eye structure helps the strange-looking elephantnose fish see in their dim and murky habitat, a new study suggests. These fish live in muddy rivers in central and west Africa, which are full of plant matter, mud and gas bubbles, even when it's light out. Living in such murky waters, the fish uses its trunk-like mouth extension (from which it gets its name) to sense electrical currents created by other fish. [Read More]

In Photos: Amazing Human Ancestor Fossils from Dmanisi

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  341 words  |  Patria Henriques

Homo skullResearchers have analyzed a complete, approximately 1.8-million-year-old skull that was unearthed in Dmanisi, Georgia. The skull (called Skull 5), which was pieced together from the individual's cranium and mandible found separately, suggests the earliest members of our Homo genus (Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo erectus and others) belonged to the same species and simply looked different from one another. The research is detailed in the Oct. 18, 2013, issue of the journal Science. [Read More]

Landslide-Driven Megatsunamis Threaten Hawaii

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  477 words  |  Fernande Dalal

SAN FRANCISCO — It's almost unimaginable: a tsunami more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) high bearing down on the island of Hawaii. But scientists have new evidence of these monster waves, called megatsunamis, doing just that. The findings were presented here yesterday (Dec. 5) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Unlike tsunamis from earthquakes, the Hawaiian tsunamis strike when the island chain's massive volcanoes collapse in humongous landslides. [Read More]

Nearly Two-Thirds of Cancers Are Due to Random DNA 'Mistakes'

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  772 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Cancer is caused by mistakes in DNA, and a new study finds that in most cancer cases, these mistakes are completely random; they're not due to heredity or environmental factors, but rather the result of random errors. The mistakes, or mutations, cause cancer to happen because even a tiny error in DNA can make cells multiply out of control, the study said. Scientists had thought these mutations resulted mainly from two things: Either the mutation was inherited, or it was caused by outside factors that can damage DNA, such as cigarette smoke or ultraviolet radiation, the researchers wrote. [Read More]

Over-the-Counter Drug for Insomnia & Incontinence Can Kill

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  375 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Common over-the counter and prescription medications known as anticholinergics can cause cognitive impairment and can lead to death, a new study says. The group includes over-the-counter products containing diphenhydramine, prescription sleep aids and incontinence treatments, many of which are frequently taken by older adults, the researchers said. "Physicians should review with older patients all the over-the-counter and prescription drugs they are taking to determine exposure," said study researcher Dr. Malaz Boustani, an associate professor and aging researcher at Indiana University School of Medicine. [Read More]

Roe v. Wade FAQ: What if abortion rights law gets overturned?

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1239 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

In a leaked draft opinion made public Monday (May 2), the U.S. Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that has protected abortion rights in the U.S. for nearly 50 years. Although the leaked draft is not necessarily the final opinion of the Court, it has sparked a wave of reactions from both abortion rights and pro-life advocates. If the final opinion mirrors the draft, it would drastically change abortion rights in America. [Read More]

Stunning 3D Sperm Images Reveal New Motion

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  768 words  |  Patria Henriques

Aydogan Ozcan is an expert on optics and imaging and leads the Bio- and Nano-Photonics Laboratory in the Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering Departments at UCLA. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. This past week, our research team announced the discovery of an entirely new pattern of movement for a familiar microscopic swimmer: sperm. In specimens from both humans and horses, we were able to track thousands of cells at once to identify a sperm swimming pattern we had never before seen. [Read More]

Sun Could Unleash a 'Superflare' Hundreds of Thousands of Times More Powerful Than Any Known Flare

 Posted on April 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  528 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The mature sun may still be prone to temper tantrums. A new study suggests that older stars like the sun can produce superflares — huge bursts of energy visible across hundreds of light-years. Superflares used to be thought of as a younger-star phenomenon, researchers said in a statement about the new study, but the new work suggests it can happen on the sun at rare intervals, of perhaps once every few thousand years. [Read More]