Why DARPA Wants to 'Freeze' Soldiers on the Battlefield
Posted on March 6, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 455 words
| Trudie Dory
When troops are injured on the battlefield, time is of the essence: How long it takes service members to receive medical care is often the single most important factor in determining whether they live or die.
Now, scientists are looking at new ways to buy some extra time for battlefield injuries, but not by getting medical care to troops faster. Instead, the scientists want to essentially slow down time.
And they're taking a cue from tiny creatures called tardigrades.
[Read More]4 Infant Botulism Cases Linked to Honey-Dipped Pacifiers
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 445 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Four infants in Texas were hospitalized between mid-August and October of this year with an extremely rare condition, according to a Nov. 16 statement from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The condition? Botulism. And the suspected culprit? Honey-dipped pacifiers.
Botulism is a condition caused by a toxin that attacks the body's nerves, leading to muscle weakness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the toxin attacks the nerves that send signals to muscles involved in breathing, it can lead to breathing problems that can be deadly, the CDC says.
[Read More]A Woman Died After Reportedly Eating Prized Mushrooms at Fancy Restaurant in Spain
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 227 words
| Arica Deslauriers
A woman has died and more than two dozen others are ill after eating at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain, according to news reports.
The reason for the illnesses is still being investigated. However, it is being reported that the woman ate a dish containing Morchella mushrooms, or true morels, which can be poisonous if not properly cooked, The Telegraph reported.
The 46-year-old woman developed symptoms of food poisoning, including vomiting and diarrhea, after eating at the Riff restaurant in Valencia, Spain, and died on Sunday (Feb.
[Read More]Ancient, 50-Foot-Long Whale Crushed Baby Whale Skulls for Dinner
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 683 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
An ancient whale twice the length of today's orcas once chowed down on other whales in the Eocene epoch's seas.
A fossil discovered in Egypt appears to preserve the whale, an extinct species called Basilosaurus isis, with the bones of a smaller whale species in its stomach. Researchers suspect that the toothy B. isis hunted nurslings of the species Dorudon atrox, delivering killing bites to the smaller whales' skulls before consuming the prey.
[Read More]Black Cats Beware: Kitty Lovers Think You're Aloof
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 334 words
| Trudie Dory
Black cats may bring bad luck, but to themselves rather than to people. A new study suggests that sable-colored felines are stereotyped as more aloof than their orange peers, a prejudice that may help explain why black cats take longer to be adopted than other colored kitties.
The findings, published in the Dec. 4 issue of the journal Anthrozoos, suggest that prejudice against black cats goes beyond superstition.
"Previous research supports the existence of 'black cat' syndrome, where black and brown cats are less likely to be adopted than cats of other colors,"
[Read More]Cloud Atlas Now Online: See All the Bizarre Formations Around the World
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 716 words
| Fernande Dalal
A dramatically turbulent cloud formation called asperitas and the bizarrely cylindrical roll cloud are among the newest additions to the international handbook for cloud identification.
The World Meteorological Organization has released a new, digitized version of its "International Cloud Atlas," the global reference book for meteorologists and skywatchers alike. It's the first update for the atlas since 1987 and the first version to be fully web-based. The release also marks a red-letter day for amateur enthusiasts in the Cloud Appreciation Society, who get the satisfaction of seeing the asperitas cloud that they discovered become an official scientific category.
[Read More]Doc Shouldn't Give ADHD Drugs to Healthy Kids
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 479 words
| Fernande Dalal
The practice of prescribing stimulant drugs to healthy kids who are looking for a mental boost is not justifiable, and should come to an end, a group of doctors says.
The American Academy of Neurology released a position statement on the issue out of concern over the rising use of stimulant drugs — used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — in healthy kids.
Over the last two decades, there's been a 20 percent increase in ADHD diagnoses, and a tenfold increase in the production and consumption of ADHD medications.
[Read More]Elemental Shift: Periodic Table Gets Weight Changes
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 868 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Ten elements that help make up the universe, including the carbon our biology is based on and the oxygen in the air we breathe, are now getting changed in an unprecedented way — they are getting their very atomic weights altered.
Scientists have not invented some magical way to transform the masses of all these elements. Instead, they are updating what are often thought of as constants of nature on the periodic table.
[Read More]High Anxiety Linked to Sign of Faster Aging
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 401 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
High levels of anxiety might really make you age faster, a new study suggests.
The study found a link between a common form of anxiety called phobic anxiety — an unreasonable fear of certain situations, such as crowds, heights or the outside world — and shorter telomeres in middle-aged and older women. Telomeres are caps on the ends of chromosomes that protect the genetic material from damage.
"Many people wonder about whether — and how — stress can make us age faster,"
[Read More]Intelligent Robots Will Overtake Humans by 2100, Experts Say
Posted on March 5, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 877 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Are you prepared to meet your robot overlords?
The idea of superintelligent machines may sound like the plot of "The Terminator" or "The Matrix," but many experts say the idea isn't far-fetched. Some even think the singularity — the point at which artificial intelligence can match, and then overtake, human smarts — might happen in just 16 years.
But nearly every computer scientist will have a different prediction for when and how the singularity will happen.
[Read More]