Ancient Tomb of Chinese General and Princess Filled with Figurines

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  528 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The tomb of a general and his princess wife buried on March 18, in the year 564, has been discovered in China. The ancient tomb, which contained the couple's skeletons, was also filled with figurines, said the archaeologists who described the findings recently in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. "The grave goods in this tomb are comprised of a total of 105 items, mostly pottery figurines," the archaeologists wrote. The figurines, whose colors are preserved, include representations of warriors, camels, oxcarts and drummers, with the tallest standing at about 22 inches (56 centimeters). [Read More]

Best free museums in London and the UK

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  9 minutes  |  1740 words  |  Trudie Dory

Explore our list of some of the best free museums you can visit both in London and across the U.K. The cost of living in the U.K. is on the rise, but an entertaining and educational day out doesn’t have to break the bank.  Whether you want to broaden your horizons, entertain the family during the school holidays or are simply looking for something free to do on a rainy day, a trip to a free museum might be just the ticket. [Read More]

Defying Laws of Nature, Scientists Force 'Supercrystals' Into Existence

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  398 words  |  Trudie Dory

A team of physicists used lasers to create "supercrystals," even as the structures fought to not exist at all. Their accomplishment: frustrating a highly ordered material's attempts to form simpler structures and then using the energy of laser pulses to pop the frustrated material into a more complex, supercrystal state. In materials science, matter can exist in any number of different crystalline and noncrystalline states. And sometimes, when that matter passes from one state to the next, it briefly stops over in an intermediate state that doesn't normally exist in nature. [Read More]

Did you already have coronavirus in January or February?

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  8 minutes  |  1597 words  |  Fernande Dalal

With the recent news that two Californians died of COVID-19 in February, three weeks earlier than the United States' first known death from the disease, it has become clear that the coronavirus was spreading in the United States long before it was detected by testing.  This fact might have you wondering if that weird cough or recurrent fever you had in late January or February was actually COVID-19. It's not impossible, experts say, but it's not necessarily likely, either. [Read More]

Exercise Boosts Life Expectancy, Study Finds

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  526 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Regular, moderate physical activity such as brisk walking can increase life expectancy by several years, even for people who are overweight, a new large study shows. While higher levels of activity were linked to even longer life expectancies, moderate activity was beneficial, according to the study of people ages 40 and older. The benefit of exercise was seen regardless of people's weight, age, sex and health conditions such as heart disease and cancer. [Read More]

How to watch tonight's 'great conjunction' of Jupiter and Saturn

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  699 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

This evening, on the first day of astronomical winter, you may be able to see a rare phenomenon witnessed when the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei was alive: Jupiter and Saturn will appear so close to one another in the night sky, the gassy behemoths will look like one star: the Christmas star(opens in new tab). Called the great conjunction, the seemingly snuggled-up planets will appear just a tenth of a degree apart, or about one-fifth the diameter of a full moon. [Read More]

Miners Face Health Risks, Even on Good Days

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  739 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

For the 33 trapped Chilean miners potentially facing months in crammed quarters, their immediate health may be threatened by the air quality in the chamber and the limited ability to move, which can lead to blood clots. But even without such catastrophes, miners contend with many daily health dangers from working around dust, heavy metals, hazardous gases, fumes and loud noises. Listed as the most dangerous industry for workers until 2001, mining is now outranked by industrial fishing, roofing and aircraft-related occupations, among others, according to the U. [Read More]

Odd Form of 'Love' Hormone Found in Some Monkeys

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  476 words  |  Trudie Dory

The so-called "love and trust" hormone called oxytocin, originally discovered in the monogamous prairie vole, has been found in an odd form in a monkey species. "This is the first time oxytocin has been reported to be different in any mammal ever studied," said researcher Karen Parker at Stanford University."The orthodoxy in the field was that all mammals have one form of oxytocin." Oxytocin is a brain hormone that regulates parts of mammalian reproduction, including lactation and labor, but also is involved in social behaviors such as bonding between partners and mother-and-child, hence its unofficial  " [Read More]

People are catching hepatitis from rats in Hong Kong. But scientists don't know how.

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  593 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A new strain of the hepatitis E virus that usually only infects rats is now sickening people in Hong Kong, with nearly a dozen human cases reported so far, according to news reports. But exactly how the virus jumps from rats to people is a mystery. The first case of a human contracting rat hepatitis E virus, or rat HEV, was reported in Hong Kong in 2018. Since then, 10 more people in the area have tested positive for rat HEV, according to CNN. [Read More]

Perfectly Preserved Ancient Shipwreck Found in the Baltic Sea with Guns Ready to Fire

 Posted on February 25, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  270 words  |  Trudie Dory

An incredibly well-preserved ancient shipwreck has been uncovered in the Baltic Sea. Though it likely dates back to 500 to 600 years ago, "it’s almost like it sank yesterday," Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz, a maritime archeologist with the survey specialists MMT, said in a statement. The ship was first discovered using sonar —which uses sound waves to detect objects — by the Swedish Maritime Administration back in 2009. But Pacheco-Ruiz and his team, in collaboration with the Centre for Maritime Archeology at the University of Southampton in England, recently led an archeological survey of the wreck using underwater robots. [Read More]