Sex of Egyptian Child Mummy Remains a Mystery

 Posted on February 4, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  785 words  |  Patria Henriques

A 2,000-year-old child mummy visited an Illinois hospital earlier this year so researchers could use imaging technology to look for clues to the child's life and death. A computed tomography, or CT, scan, conducted in March, revealed a few tantalizing tidbits: a delicate facial structure; the wads of cloth that had been packed around the body; clearly visible internal organs, including the brain; and the severity of the fracture to the back of the child's head, which appears to have occurred after death. [Read More]

Surfers Invent Floating Trash Bin to Clean Up World's Oceans

 Posted on February 4, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  635 words  |  Trudie Dory

Two Australian surfers are trying to tackle the planet's water pollution problem head-on, by developing a device that functions as an automated floating trash bin for the world's oceans. The device, called the Seabin, can be placed in the water, attached to a floating dock in a marina, and is connected to an onshore water pump. The pump generates a flow of water into the container that collects trash and other debris, according to the inventors. [Read More]

The Destructive Culture of Pretty Pink Princesses

 Posted on February 4, 2023  |  11 minutes  |  2203 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Girls the world over often go through a "princess phase," enthralled with anything pink and pretty — most especially the Disney princesses. When it happened to Peggy Orenstein's daughter Daisy, the contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine stepped back to examine the phenomenon. She found that the girlie-girl culture being marketed to little girls was less innocent than it might seem, and can have negative consequences for girls' psychological, social and physical development. [Read More]

Was Girl Murdered for Her Organs?

 Posted on February 4, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  704 words  |  Patria Henriques

The family of a young British girl traveling in their home country of India is accusing a medical clinic of killing their daughter for her organs. Gurkiren Kaur Loyal's family said she was being treated for dehydration in Punjab when she died. According to a news story in The Telegraph, her mother said, "Gurkiren was fine, she was chatting to us and planned to buy some gifts for her cousins. While we were talking an assistant came up carrying a prefilled syringe and reached for the tube in her hand. [Read More]

Women See 'Good Mate' Traits in Effeminate Men

 Posted on February 4, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  387 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Women see the traits that make a good husband in male faces that tend toward female, a new study finds. Researchers asked 400 British men and women to judge digitally altered pictures of male faces shown without any hair, ears, neck, shoulder or clothing visible and made to look more masculine or feminine. Two male faces, one more masculine and one more feminine, were presented side by side and the participants were asked to select the face they thought showed more of particular traits including dominance, ambition, wealth, faithfulness, commitment, parenting ability and warmth. [Read More]

'Baby Jupiter' discovered in the process of forming around a star 500 light-years away

 Posted on February 3, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1110 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

How do planets form? For many years scientists thought they understood this process by studying the one example we had access to: our own solar system. However, the discovery of planets around distant stars in the 1990s made it clear that the picture was much more complicated than we knew. In new research(opens in new tab), we have spotted a hot, Jupiter-like gas giant in the process of forming around a star about 500 light-years from Earth. [Read More]

Are You Impulsive? Maybe Your Brain Is to Blame

 Posted on February 3, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  645 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Some people's brain structures may lower their inhibitions and make it easier for them to engage in risky or impulsive behavior, according to a new study. Researchers examined more than 1,200 healthy young adults with no history of psychiatric disorders or substance dependence. They found that the participants who were more inclined to act impulsively or to seek thrills had a thinner cortex — the wrinkly outer layer of gray matter — around the brain regions involved in decision making and self-control. [Read More]

COVID-19 vaccines may not work as well against South African variant, experts worry

 Posted on February 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  518 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

A coronavirus variant identified in South Africa may not be as vulnerable to COVID-19 vaccines as other strains, some scientists say. Studies are now underway to find out if that's actually the case. If the variant, known as 501.V2, is resistant to available vaccines, the shots could be tweaked to boost their effectiveness — adjustments tht would take about six weeks to make, vaccine developers told Reuters. These developers included BioNTech CEO Dr. [Read More]

Enormous Antarctic iceberg that became an internet star finally melts away

 Posted on February 3, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  490 words  |  Trudie Dory

An enormous Antarctic iceberg whose journeys were probably the most well-documented in history has now melted away to nothing in the Atlantic ocean.  A68 cracked off the Larsen C ice sheet on the Antarctic Peninsula in 2017 as one of the biggest icebergs ever. At the time, it measured 2,240 square miles (5,800 square kilometers), about the size of the state of Delaware.  In the time since, the berg has been buffeted about the South Atlantic, curving up toward South Georgia Island. [Read More]

New Zealand Shook by 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake, Tsunamis

 Posted on February 3, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  335 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand early Monday (Nov. 14) local time, triggering a tsunami that hit the coast a couple of hours later, according to New Zealand's WeatherWatch. Aftershocks are still being felt across the country, and officials say at least two people were killed by the natural disaster. New Zealand's South Island was hit by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake at 12:02 a.m. local time Monday (6:02 a.m. Sunday EST), the U. [Read More]