Skip the Juice for Babies Under 1, Pediatricians Say

 Posted on February 16, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  512 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Babies younger than 1 year old should not drink any fruit juice, according to a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In the past years, the AAP has said that children younger than 6 months old should not consume any fruit juice, and has recommended limits for older infants and children. The pediatricians group is now expanding the recommendation to avoid juice entirely to include all infants who are younger than 1. [Read More]

Swim Like a Butterfly? Sea Snail 'Flies' Through Water

 Posted on February 16, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  569 words  |  Patria Henriques

Some ocean-dwelling creatures ended up with common names that seem to belong to another animal entirely: A sea cow has neither horns nor an udder. A sea lion lacks a tawny mane. And jellyfish aren't true fish at all. But the sea butterfly, a tiny marine snail, has more in common with flying insects than you might expect, according to a new study. Also known as Limacina helicina, the sea butterfly navigates cold ocean waters in the northern Atlantic and Pacific. [Read More]

The Bottom of the Ocean Is Sinking

 Posted on February 16, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  428 words  |  Patria Henriques

The bottom of the ocean is more of a "sunken place" than it used to be. In recent decades, melting ice sheets and glaciers driven by climate change are swelling Earth's oceans. And along with all that water comes an unexpected consequence — the weight of the additional liquid is pressing down on the seafloor, causing it to sink. Consequently, measurements and predictions of sea-level rise may have been incorrect since 1993, underestimating the growing volume of water in the oceans due to the receding bottom, according to a new study. [Read More]

This 'Empty Trash Bag' Is Orbiting Earth in a Very Strange Way

 Posted on February 16, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  453 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A bizarre object orbiting Earth is reminding astronomers of an empty trash bag. The unusual satellite is trekking around the planet in an almost absurd ellipse, dipping as close as 372.8 miles (600 kilometers) from the surface and then swinging out to a distance of 334,460 miles (538,261 km), or 1.4 times the average distance of the Earth to the moon. According to Northolt Branch Observatories in London, the object is a light piece of material left over from a rocket launch. [Read More]

Why health officials are watching new 'lambda' coronavirus variant

 Posted on February 16, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  412 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A coronavirus variant known as "lambda" is gaining the attention of health officials as it spreads around the world. The variant, also known as C.37, was first detected in Peru in August 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)(opens in new tab). On June 14, the agency designated C.37 a global "variant of interest," or VOI, and named it lambda. VOI means the variant is increasingly showing up in communities and has mutations that are predicted to have some effect on viral characteristics, such as increased transmissibility. [Read More]

6 Foods That May Affect Breast Cancer Risk

 Posted on February 15, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  783 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

IntroA woman's risk of breast cancer depends on many things, including her genetics, lifestyle and plain old chance. One out of every eight women today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life. There are many risk factors for breast cancer, including some that are out of a woman's control, such as family history and genetics. But some aspects of a woman's lifestyle also affect her risk. [Read More]

Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' close to tipping point, unmanned sub reveals

 Posted on February 15, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  769 words  |  Trudie Dory

A robotic submarine has returned from the dark underbelly of one of Antarctica's largest glaciers with chilling news — it could be melting faster than we previously thought. Thwaites Glacier, a gigantic ice shelf in West Antarctica, has been on climate scientists' radars for two decades now. But they didn't know just how fast the glacier was melting, and how close it was to complete collapse, until researchers sent an unmanned submarine below the ice shelf. [Read More]

Darwin's Reputed Tortoise Dies At 176

 Posted on February 15, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  361 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- A 176-year-old tortoise believed to be one of the world's oldest living creatures has died in an Australian zoo. The giant tortoise, known as Harriet, died at the Queensland-based Australia Zoo owned by "Crocodile Hunter'' Steve Irwin and his wife Terri. Irwin said he considered Harriet a member of the family. "Harriet has been a huge chunk of the Irwin family's life,'' Irwin said Saturday. "She is possibly one of the oldest living creatures on the planet and her passing today is not only a great loss for the world but a very sad day for my family. [Read More]

Does Getting Your Tonsils Out Make You Fat?

 Posted on February 15, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  508 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

After children undergo a tonsillectomy, parents may want to feed them low-fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. A team of researchers from St. Louis University in Missouri found that getting the tonsils removed could lead kids to pack on the pounds. The research, presented yesterday (Sept. 29) at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in Boston, indicates that tonsillectomy may increase a child's risk of obesity. [Read More]

Flea-Sized Creatures Are Fastest Jumpers Known

 Posted on February 15, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  401 words  |  Trudie Dory

Shrimp-like critters the size of fleas could be the champion jumpers of the animal kingdom, scientists now reveal. After analyzing high-speed video of three species of crustaceans known as copepods, researchers found that within milliseconds, each of these wee creatures could use its leaps to achieve speeds of a thousand times its body length per second. Since copepods are typically 1 to 2 millimeters long, that amounts to roughly 2 to 4 miles per hour (3 to 6. [Read More]