History Repeats: The Great Flood of 1993
Posted on April 3, 2023
| 6 minutes
| 1113 words
| Patria Henriques
This month's flooding in the Midwest is reminiscent of the Great Flood of 1993, weather officials now say. But while a repeat of 1993 can't be ruled out, they say, this year is unlikely to match that colossal disaster.
Several of the 1993 records have already been broken this year and flooding is forecasted to last for weeks more. Preliminary estimates put damage into the billions of dollars with overall storm deaths put at 24 since late May.
[Read More]Men Suffer Domestic Violence, Too
Posted on April 3, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 652 words
| Patria Henriques
Domestic violence is typically thought of as something that happens only to women, but men suffer it too, a new survey suggests.
The telephone survey of more than 400 adult male Group Health patients found 29 percent had been victims of domestic violence during their lives. The researchers defined domestic violence to include slapping, hitting, kicking or forced sex as well as nonphysical abuse — threats, chronic disparaging remarks or controlling behavior.
[Read More]NY Mummy Smugglers Reveal Vast Antiquities Black Market
Posted on April 3, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 907 words
| Patria Henriques
The rescue of an ancient Egyptian mummy's sarcophagus this month from alleged smugglers in New York — the first time authorities say an international artifacts' smuggling ring was dismantled within the United States — sounds more like the plot of a movie than reality.
Amazingly, however, mummy smuggling not only still happens today, it was once so common that enough mummies were available to be ground up and sold as powder, archaeologists reveal.
[Read More]People with Autism More Likely to Hear Colors, See Sounds
Posted on April 3, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 655 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
People with autism may be more likely than others to have synesthesia, a condition in which people experience a mixing of their senses, such as hearing tastes and shapes, and seeing numbers in colors, a new study from Europe suggests.
Researchers tested 164 people with autism and 97 people without autism by giving them online questionnaires designed to evaluate whether they had synesthesia. They found synesthesia occurred in about 7 percent of people who didn't have autism, a figure within the range of previously reported rates.
[Read More]UFOs Are Real — and You Were Never Supposed to See Them, Military Official Says
Posted on April 3, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 410 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
In December 2017 and March 2018, The New York Times released three allegedly declassified videos showing U.S. Navy pilots trailing some unidentified flying objects. The mystery crafts moved at hypersonic speeds, flying tens of thousands of feet above the Earth with no distinct wings, engines or visible signs of propulsion whatsoever. Were they flying saucers? Incredibly high-tech drones? The pilots had no idea — and, according to a recent statement from Navy intelligence officials, neither does the U.
[Read More]Why Baby Calms Down When Carried
Posted on April 3, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 671 words
| Trudie Dory
A new study from Japan confirms what many mothers may know instinctively: Picking up and carrying a fussy baby usually calms down and relaxes the child, making the move a good one for both moms and infants.
When mothers in the study carried their babies while walking around, the infants became noticeably more relaxed and stopped crying and squirming. The babies' rapidly beating hearts also slowed down, evidence that the children were feeling calmer.
[Read More]Why Is Arsenic Bad for You?
Posted on April 3, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 406 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that it will now limit the amount of arsenic allowed in apple juice.
The limit is set at 10 parts per billion (ppb), which is the same amount allowed in drinking water. This means the FDA can have products removed from the market if their levels of arsenic exceed that level.
The FDA stressed that levels of arsenic in apple juice are generally low, and an analysis by the agency released last year did not find any apple-juice products that would be disallowed under the new regulations.
[Read More]'Ear Stones' Reveal Where Young Fish Lived
Posted on April 2, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 333 words
| Patria Henriques
Where do young fish hang out? Consult their ear stones.
Also known as otoliths, ear stones help fish orient themselves. As a fish grows, it takes minerals like calcium from its environment and incorporates them into its otoliths in a series of layers. These layers contain information about where the fish was at different times in its life, because the mineral makeup of each location is unique.
By analyzing the mineral content of fish ear stones and matching it to different locations in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, researchers created a life history of various fish, reconstructing where they migrated to and when.
[Read More]'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks': Q&A with Author Rebecca Skloot
Posted on April 2, 2023
| 7 minutes
| 1396 words
| Trudie Dory
The original HBO movie "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," based on the nonfiction book by journalist Rebecca Skloot and starring Oprah Winfrey as Deborah Lacks, Henrietta's youngest daughter, premieres tomorrow (April 22) at 8 p.m. (local time). While the film will certainly introduce Lacks' story to a wider audience, the medical research community is already well-acquainted with her "immortal" cells, which have contributed to important discoveries for over half a century.
[Read More]Astronomers Have Decoded a Weird Signal Coming from a Strange, 3-Body Star System
Posted on April 2, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 897 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Once or twice a day, a strange object in the Milky Way blinks at us. Now, astronomers think they know why.
The object is called NGTS-7, and to most telescopes it looks like a single star. Researchers at the University of Warwick in England started watching because it seemed to be emitting flares, but on closer examination they noticed that its starlight dims briefly every 16.2 hours. When the astronomers zoomed in, they realized there are actually two similarly sized stars in the system, and that only one of them is dimming briefly in that way — suggesting that there's something dark circling on or just above the star's surface.
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