Man hallucinates and 'hears God' while on antibiotics. What happened?
Posted on March 19, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 757 words
| Arica Deslauriers
A man's perception of the world turned upside down after he began taking antibiotics to treat bacterial pneumonia, according to a report of his case. Within two days, the 50-year-old man — who had no psychiatric history and had never taken antibiotics in his entire life before that point — experienced mood swings, became irritable and began speaking incoherently. Such behaviors are symptoms of mania, a condition characterized by an abnormally high level of energy and erratic thoughts and behaviors.
[Read More]Mass Extinction Threat: Earth on Verge of Huge Reset Button?
Posted on March 19, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 963 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Mass extinctions have served as huge reset buttons that dramatically changed the diversity of species found in oceans all over the world, according to a comprehensive study of fossil records. The findings suggest humans will live in a very different future if they drive animals to extinction, because the loss of each species can alter entire ecosystems.
Some scientists have speculated that effects of humans — from hunting to climate change — are fueling another great mass extinction.
[Read More]Medieval Germans Riddled with Tapeworms
Posted on March 19, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 470 words
| Patria Henriques
Sifting through preserved poop from a medieval port city in Germany, scientists discovered that the town's inhabitants were riddled with tapeworms.
The discovery also revealed a fascinating hidden record of dietary changes during that period, according to a new study. [The 10 Most Diabolical and Disgusting Parasites]
Previously, archaeological evidence has shown that that parasitic worms such as flatworms, roundworms and tapeworms — part of a group known as helminths — have been infecting people for centuries, the scientists reported.
[Read More]Now Hear This: Sonar Doesn't Hurt Fish
Posted on March 19, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 321 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
The military's use of sonar poses no threat to fish, a new study suggests.
The research was funded by the military, however, and was very narrow in scope: It involved only trout.
The finding, detailed in the July issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, showed that rainbow trout exposed to high-intensity, low-frequency sonar experienced only a small and presumably temporary decline in hearing sensitivity.
There has been considerable concern in recent years over the potentially damaging effects of man-made sounds on marine life.
[Read More]Proof of 'Planet Nine' May Be Sewn into Medieval Tapestries
Posted on March 19, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 634 words
| Patria Henriques
The far reaches of the outer solar system may be home to an icy giant — a hypothetical planet scientists have dubbed "Planet Nine."
Meanwhile, archives back on Earth are home to dozens of medieval records documenting the passage of comets through the heavens. Now, two researchers from Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland are hoping to use these old scrolls and tapestries to solve the modern astronomical mystery of Planet Nine.
[Read More]The President's New Helicopter
Posted on March 19, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 285 words
| Patria Henriques
After decades of upgrades to a fleet of notoriously cramped Sikorsky VH-3 Sea Kings, the White House has tasked Lockheed Martin with a dramatic, $6.1-billion makeover of Marine One, the presidential helicopter, starting this summer. The goal: to fit a mobile Oval Office into the tight quarters of a chopper. The new fleet will consist of 23 VH-71 aircraft, each of which will have 200 square feet of cabin space, nearly double the Sea King’s 116.
[Read More]'Chupacabra' Kills Sheep in Mexico. Why False Reports Persist
Posted on March 18, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 706 words
| Trudie Dory
It was only a matter of time: Another chupacabra sighting has been reported in Latin America.
The blood-sucking chupacabras, much like the cats they are sometimes said to feed upon, seem to have nine lives. Despite being more or less definitively disproven in recent years, people continue to report seeing the beast — most recently in the early morning hours of March 1 in the Mexican state of Michoacán, when a rancher reported that 35 sheep were killed in their enclosure.
[Read More]Alien-Looking Skeleton Poses Medical Mystery
Posted on March 18, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 633 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
A teensy skeleton with a squashed alienlike head may have earthly origins, but the remains, found in the Atacama Desert a decade ago, do make for quite a medical mystery.
Apparently when the mummified specimen was discovered, some had suggested the possibility it was an alien that had somehow landed on Earth, though the researchers involved never suggested this otherworldly origin.
Now, DNA and other tests suggest the individual was a human and was 6 to 8 years of age when he or she died.
[Read More]Creation Museum Creates Discomfort For Some Visitors
Posted on March 18, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 1041 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Kentucky's Creation Museum, a facility devoted to the belief that Earth and the universe are only 6,000 years old, is usually viewed in one of two ways: As a fun place where fundamentalist Christians can go to reaffirm their beliefs, or as the epicenter of a worldview ripe for mockery by scientists.
Now, a new analysis argues that for people already alienated by religious fundamentalism, the museum can be a painful reminder of discrimination and isolation.
[Read More]Extinct 'Pig-Footed Bandicoot' Galloped Around Australia Like a Wonky Little Horse
Posted on March 18, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 361 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Scientists have discovered a new species of pig-footed bandicoot — an extinct Australian marsupial that looks like a kangaroo, an opossum and a deer got a bit too friendly at the local watering hole — and it's about as strange as you'd hope.
Pig-footed bandicoots are long-eared, long-tailed herbivores that once scurried about the sandy, arid stretches of central and western Australia for tens of thousands of years before going extinct in the 1950s.
[Read More]