US Navy Dive Will Explore World War II-Era Shipwreck

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  468 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The U.S. Navy, in partnership with the Indonesian Navy, is planning to dive later this month to the sunken USS Houston, a World War II-era shipwreck, according to Navy officials. The mission's purpose is to assess the vessel's condition and allow salvage and rescue divers to train at a real shipwreck site. U.S. and Indonesian Navy divers will share best practices and techniques during the training exercises onboard the rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard (T-ARS-50). [Read More]

'Illusion Coatings' Are Like Futuristic Camouflage

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  536 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Instead of using invisibility cloaks to conceal objects from detection, "illusion coatings" could hide things by making them look like something else, researchers say. These illusion coatings could help soldiers or spies hide antennas and sensors from remote inspection while still allowing the devices to scan the outside world, the scientists added. Invisibility cloaks, once thought of only as "Star Trek" science fiction or "Harry Potter" fantasy, work by smoothly guiding light waves around objects so the waves ripple along their original paths as if nothing were there to block them. [Read More]

A Strange, Sleeping Magnetar Just Woke Up After a Decade of Silence

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  480 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A particularly odd, spinning star has woken up, and it's spitting bright flashes of radio waves at us again. The stellar spinner is a magnetar, which is a type of neutron star — a Manhattan-size remnant of a larger star, and the densest type of object besides black holes that we've detected anywhere in the universe. This particular magnetar is called XTE J1810–197. It's one of only 23 magnetars and one of just four radio magnetars ever discovered, and it first turned up in 2004. [Read More]

Ancient gold stash found in jug in Jerusalem

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  644 words  |  Patria Henriques

A thousand-year-old piggy bank has been discovered in Jerusalem.  A small jug discovered in the Israeli capital's Jewish Quarter last month turns out to contain four gold coins — the equivalent of four month's salary for a common laborer at the time the coins were tucked away more than 1,000 years ago.  Archaeologists discovered the hidden loot while surveying a site prior to the construction of an elevator to the Western Wall Plaza, a historic public square in Jerusalem's Old City. [Read More]

Bigger Earthquakes May Be Coming to Nepal

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  800 words  |  Fernande Dalal

SAN FRANCISCO — The terrifying magnitude-7.8 Gorkha earthquake that rattled Nepal in April is nothing compared to the temblors scientists predict could happen in the future. The shaking observed was "unusually gentle" given the magnitude of the earthquake, leading to far fewer landslides and glacial lake overflows than could have been seen, researchers said here today (Dec. 16) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. "The situation could have been far, far worse," [Read More]

Bill Nye to flat Earthers and science deniers: 'It affects all of us'

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  515 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Bill Nye has had it with flat-earthers and other science deniers.  While humanity is landing robots on Mars and breaking open the mysteries of the universe, there continues a social trend of "science denialism." From opposition to handwashing in the 1800s to modern climate deniers, anti-maskers and "flat-Earthers," or people who believe that planet Earth is actually flat ( it is not), "anti-science" movements aren't new, but they are a problem facing us all today, according to Nye. [Read More]

Deep-Sea Squid Ditches Wriggling Arms to Escape Predators

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  394 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Much like lizards that ditch their tails in a tussle, some deep-sea squid can sacrifice their glowing arms to distract enemies and swim to safety. Scientists observed this defense mechanism first-hand in the foot-long octopus squid (Octopoteuthis deletron) off the coast of California. "If a predator is trying to attack them, they may dig the hooks on their arms into the predator's skin," said University of Rhode Island researcher Stephanie Bush. [Read More]

Girls Who Play Video Games With Dad Are Happier

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  501 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Men may have to give up many of their hobbies when they become parents, but a new study is saying they shouldn't toss out their video games, at least, if they play with their children. Adolescent girls who play age-appropriate video games with their fathers are happier, healthier and have better family connections than those who don't. "I think we can encourage more parents to play video games with their kids, especially age-appropriate games," [Read More]

How Depression Shrinks the Brain

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  489 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Certain brain regions in people with major depression are smaller and less dense than those of their healthy counterparts. Now, researchers have traced the genetic reasons for this shrinkage. A series of genes linked to the function of synapses, or the gaps between brain cells crucial for cell-to-cell communication, can be controlled by a single genetic "switch" that appears to be overproduced in the brains of people with depression, a new study finds. [Read More]

Kids Who Play 'Choking Game' At Bigger Risk for Sex, Drinking

 Posted on July 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  470 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Kids who play the so-called "choking game" are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors, including sex, substance use and gambling, a new study of middle schoolers finds. The results suggest doctors should consider asking children who exhibit risky behaviors whether they are aware of and have participated in the choking game, a dangerous activity, the researchers said. In the choking game, pressure is applied to the neck — with a belt, rope or other object — to limit oxygen and blood flow to the brain. [Read More]