Die, Humans! Is Mother Nature Sick of Us?
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 287 words
| Arica Deslauriers
In his new book(opens in new tab) "The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning," (Basic Books, April 2009) James Lovelock says humanity is "Earth's infection."
Nice. We are the viruses.
While in theory it would be extremely difficult to truly destroy this planet, it's not such a stretch for some scientists to imagine us making it a place that doesn't support humans. The planet would go on, the thinking goes, but it'd get rid of us much like we shake the flu.
[Read More]Frozen Hair Yields First Ancient Human Genome
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 789 words
| Patria Henriques
A few tufts of hair frozen in the permafrost of Greenland for more than 4,000 years have allowed scientists to sequence the genome of an ancient human for the first time.
The hairs belonged to a member of the ancient Saqqaq culture of Greenland, the first humans known to inhabit the icy island. Scientists have long wondered where the Saqqaq came from and whether or not they were the ancestors of today's modern Inuit and Greenlanders.
[Read More]How to Explain Mayan Doomsday to Your Kids
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 648 words
| Arica Deslauriers
With doomsday rumors making the rounds online and likely at the water cooler, those who aren't in the know — that a Mayan apocalypse on Dec. 21 has no scientific basis — may be understandably freaked out.
That group would include kids, who often can't distinguish TV advertisements from their favorite animated shows. That's where the U.S. government comes in. Kids.gov, a government website, is taking a stand on the side of reason — for kids' sake.
[Read More]Humans Are to Blame for Earth's Rapidly Melting Glaciers
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 673 words
| Arica Deslauriers
The steady melt of glacial ice around the world is largely due to man-made factors, such as greenhouse-gas emissions and aerosols, a new study finds.
Humans have caused roughly a quarter of the globe's glacial loss between 1851 and 2010, and about 69 percent of glacial melting between 1991 and 2010, the study suggests.
"In a sense, we got a confirmation that by now, it is really mostly humans that are responsible for the melting glaciers,"
[Read More]Is Your Olive Oil As Healthy As You Think? (Op-Ed)
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 7 minutes
| 1402 words
| Patria Henriques
Katherine Tallmadge, M.A., R.D., is a registered dietitian; author of "Diet Simple: 195 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations(opens in new tab)" (LifeLine Press, 2011); and a frequent national commentator on nutrition topics. This article was adapted from one that first appeared in the Washington Post. Tallmadge contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
The expensive olive oil in your kitchen cabinet is likely not as fresh, nutritious or high in quality as you assume it might be.
[Read More]Psychologists Confront Rash of Invalid Studies
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 790 words
| Arica Deslauriers
In the wake of several scandals in psychology research, scientists are asking themselves just how much of their research is valid.
In the past 10 years, dozens of studies in the psychology field have been retracted, and several high-profile studies have not stood up to scrutiny when outside researchers tried to replicate the research.
By selectively excluding study subjects or amending the experimental procedure after designing the study, researchers in the field may be subtly biasing studies to get more positive findings.
[Read More]Radioactive Traces from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Found in California Wine
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 327 words
| Fernande Dalal
Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, radioactive waste leaked into surrounding areas and contaminated waters and food. Seven years later, traces of the disaster were found half a world away — in California's wine.
A group of French nuclear physicists tested 18 bottles of California's rosé and cabernet sauvignon produced in 2009 and onward and found that the wines produced after the disaster had increased levels of a man-made radioactive particle.
[Read More]Viral video captures fish tumbling from planes in Utah
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 392 words
| Fernande Dalal
FISH DROP: Thousands of fish were dropped from a plane into lakes near Bicknell, Utah July 6. The goal is to restock the lakes, which are only accessible by plane. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources says, "survival of aerial-stocked fish is incredibly high." pic.twitter.com/7Q3RFPHLsEJuly 13, 2021
See moreLast week, wildlife officials in Utah yeeted thousands of fish out of a plane and into 200 high-elevation lakes across the state.
[Read More]What's Behind the Crazy Shapes of Fruits and Vegetables
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 623 words
| Trudie Dory
This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
Here's a bit of veggie trivia for you: How do you fit a pepper-shaped tomato into a round hole? You turn it into a cherry tomato.
OK. That wasn't a very good joke at all. But it’s completely possible to do. Crop scientists at Ohio State University have cloned a gene that controls the shape of tomatoes — a discovery that could help unravel the mystery behind the huge morphological differences among edible fruits and vegetables as well as provide new insight into mechanisms of plant development.
[Read More]Why We Walk and Run vs. Hopping and Skipping
Posted on April 26, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 279 words
| Arica Deslauriers
New computer simulations show three modes of locomotion are most efficient for humans: walking, running, and a third one that for some reason we don't employ.
Hopping and skipping are no good. And there's a reason why we don't speed-walk or consistently use other odd ways of getting around, the research found.
Walking and running at typical paces -- the uniquely human gaits you are used to -- use the least amount of energy compared to the performance results, the study found.
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