What Makes a Lefty: Myths and Mysteries Persist

 Posted on March 16, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1127 words  |  Patria Henriques

Can openers, scissors and spiral-bound notebooks discriminate against lefties. Despite such challenges, 10 to 12 percent of the human population has historically preferred the left hand. Why doesn't the number ever waiver? Nobody knows for sure, but new research supports a body of evidence that suggests genetics have a hand in it all. In the meantime, the myth remains that lefties are more artistic. And the idea that left-handed fighters have an advantage persists on scant evidence, supported by Scottish lore and Rocky Balboa's heroics in the ring. [Read More]

When did lap dogs become popular?

 Posted on March 16, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  904 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Anyone watching Netflix's latest hit show, "Bridgerton," knows that the matchmaking Queen Charlotte had a penchant for Pomeranian pups. And in fact, this fondness was true of the real-life Queen Charlotte. She brought them with her when she moved from Pomerania in central Europe to the United Kingdom to marry King George III in 1761. Her love of the lap dog was then passed down through the royal generations. Her son, King George IV also liked the breed and Queen Victoria owned dachshunds, pugs and Pomeranians. [Read More]

Why Pacific Hurricanes Hit the Americas So Rarely

 Posted on March 16, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  718 words  |  Patria Henriques

Stories of hurricane winds and rain lashing the coasts of Florida, Louisiana and other southeastern states pop up in the news constantly during the summer, but warnings of Pacific storms such as Jimena are few and far between. In fact, only one hurricane is thought to have ever struck California, and that was clear back in 1858. Could it happen again? Not impossible, but also extremely unlikely in any given year. [Read More]

World's Oldest Fossils Possibly Uncovered in Canada

 Posted on March 16, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  981 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Ancient traces of microbial life that are between 3.77 billion and 4.29 billion years old might have been unearthed in a rocky outcropping in Canada, a new study suggests. However, some scientists are casting doubt on what the findings truly mean. If the new microfossils truly are evidence of primordial life that once sprang up in ancient hydrothermal vents, it suggests that life began on Earth soon after the planet coalesced, the study authors said. [Read More]

After 75 Years, Anne Frank's Diary Still Holds Lessons for Us All

 Posted on March 15, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  1048 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

On June 12, 1942, a young Jewish girl named Annelies Marie Frank made her first entry in her now-famous diary, which had been given to her as a birthday present. Little did she know that it would be read and discussed for generations to come, and that through her private musings she would become an unforgettable symbol of the tragedy of the Holocaust for millions of readers around the world. [Read More]

Bones Reveal Oldest Case of TB

 Posted on March 15, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  676 words  |  Fernande Dalal

An excavated skeleton of a Neolithic woman and an infant buried with her show signs of tuberculosis, making them the oldest known TB cases confirmed with DNA, researchers announced today. The 9,000-year-old bones were found submerged about six miles off the coast of Haifa, Israel, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where the ancient village of Atlit-Yam once existed. If accurate, the discovery shows that the infectious disease is 3,000 years older than previously thought. [Read More]

Books That Kill: 3 Poisonous Renaissance Manuscripts Discovered in School Library

 Posted on March 15, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  604 words  |  Trudie Dory

If you plan on doing lots of summer reading this year, be sure to keep the safety basics in mind: Always keep your page-turning fingers hydrated; never enter an unfamiliar fictional world without a compass; and — most important — watch out for poisonous books. Odd as it may sound, works on paper can actually be toxic — even deadly — if they're colored with the wrong pigments. A team of researchers at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) recently rediscovered this peculiar bane of bibliophiles when they pulled three Renaissance-era manuscripts from the school library's rare-book collection, put them under an X-ray microscope and found themselves face-to-face with glowing green arsenic. [Read More]

Fish defy death to rub up against great white sharks. Here's why.

 Posted on March 15, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  431 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Fish keep their friends close and their enemies closer ... but only because they need to exfoliate.  Researchers recently discovered that different species of fish use sharks as scrub brushes by pushing up against the sea predator's scaly bodies to get rid of parasites and other irritants. Though this dangerous behavior has been observed before, it wasn't clear just how common it was. "While chafing has been well documented between fish and inanimate objects, such as sand or rocky substrate, this [shark-chafing] phenomenon appears to be the only scenario in nature where prey actively seek out and rub up against a predator," [Read More]

Huge Hidden Landforms Under Antarctica Contribute to Ice Sheet's Melting

 Posted on March 15, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  364 words  |  Trudie Dory

Enormous, mile-long (1.8 kilometers) landforms lie hidden beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, and these supersized subglacial masses may be contributing to the ice's thinning, according to a new study. Ancient ice sheets in Scandinavia and North America that have long since retreated left behind numerous landforms that scientists have studied to learn how they impacted the ice sheets above. However, such formations had not been observed under modern-day ice sheets — until now. [Read More]

Inability to Detect Sarcasm May Herald Dementia

 Posted on March 15, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  302 words  |  Fernande Dalal

People in the early stages of dementia may not be able to tell the truth from lies and sarcasm from sincerity, a new study finds. The findings could help doctors diagnose dementia, such as Alzheimer's, earlier, study researchers said. "If somebody has strange behavior and they stop understanding things like sarcasm and lies, they should see a specialist who can make sure this is not the start of one of these diseases," [Read More]