California's Extreme Droughts Blamed on 'Ridiculously Resilient Ridge'
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 653 words
| Arica Deslauriers
The weird weather pattern that hatched California's ongoing drought is becoming more common, and could bring more extreme dry spells in the future, a new study finds.
California is suffering its worst drought in 1,200 years because of a persistent atmospheric "high" parked just offshore. This high-pressure ridge — aptly named the "ridiculously resilient ridge" — deflects winter storms northward, away from California, according to the researchers.
Winter storms are critical for California's water supply; the state receives 75 percent of its precipitation in the coldest months.
[Read More]Clickable Internet Map Shows 350,000 Websites
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 387 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
In the map of a place, addresses that are physically close to each other in life get placed physically near each other in the map. But in a map of the internet, how would you define closeness? Russian programmer Ruslan Enikeev decided to use the same measure that Google uses for relevancy, and which bloggers have called the currency of the internet — or even the soul of the internet. In Enikeev's Internet Map, the more often visitors go from one site to another, the closer they appear.
[Read More]Cloudy with a Chance of Seafood? Fish Fall from Sky in Mexico
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 1 minutes
| 161 words
| Patria Henriques
The weather forecast for the coastal city of Tampico, Mexico, on Sept. 28 may have called for light rain; instead, it got light rain with a side of fish.
Yes, fish fell from the sky in the northeastern Mexican city, in the southeastern part of the Tamaulipas state, during a light rain, The Associated Press reported last week. Tamaulipas state officials posted photos of four small fish that dropped to the ground during the rain shower.
[Read More]Food Additives Linked to Weight Gain, Inflammation
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 679 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Food additives that are commonly used to thicken and stabilize processed foods may disrupt the bacterial makeup of the gut, causing health problems, a new study in animals suggests.
In the study, mice that were fed two chemicals that are commonly added to foods gained weight, had altered blood sugar and developed intestinal problems. The chemicals were "emulsifying agents," chemicals that hold together mixtures that include both fat and water, which would otherwise separate.
[Read More]Here's How a Nap Could Change Your Afternoon
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 510 words
| Patria Henriques
WASHINGTON — Taking an afternoon nap can improve short-term memory in younger adults, but perhaps not in older adults, according to a new study. However, a little daytime shut-eye has other health benefits for the elderly.
In the study, participants took afternoon naps in a lab. Researchers gave the subjects a word-based memory test and measured their blood pressure before and after the nap. Upon waking, the younger adults were able to remember more words, while the older adults saw no memory improvement.
[Read More]How Protein in Your Diet Affects Weight Gain
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 486 words
| Trudie Dory
The Atkins Diet has taken our nutritional principles on quite a roller coaster ride in recent years. First, it regained popularity and became the new "it" diet. Then, people seemed to become increasingly concerned with the dangers of too much saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet, and the Atkins' principles fell out of favor. It didn't help that Dr. Atkins himself fell victim to heart failure at least once during his lifetime.
[Read More]Lucid dreamers can hear and answer questions while still asleep, scientists find
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 819 words
| Patria Henriques
Scientists have successfully "talked" to a sleeping person in real-time by invading their dreams, a new study shows. The researchers say it's like trying to communicate with an astronaut on another world.
Dreamers can follow instructions, solve simple math problems and answer yes-no questions without ever waking up, according to the results of four experiments described Thursday (Feb. 18) in the journal Current Biology.
The researchers communicated directly with sleeping participants by asking them questions and having them respond with eye or facial movements during lucid dreams — when people are at minimum aware that they are dreaming.
[Read More]Neanderthals and Denisovans Lived (and Mated) in This Siberian Cave
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 890 words
| Patria Henriques
The Neanderthals and Denisovans — both relatives of modern humans — were roommates, literally, for thousands of years in a remote Siberian cave, two new studies find.
Back in ancient times, this cave would have been a real estate agent's paradise; it's the only place in the world that Neanderthals, Denisovans and possibly even modern humans lived in together throughout history, the researchers found.
The cave was so popular that hominins (a group that includes humans, our ancestors and our close evolutionary cousins like chimps) lived there almost continuously over both warm and cold periods during the past 300,000 years, the researchers found.
[Read More]Opposites Don't Attract: People Choose Partners Like Them
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 288 words
| Fernande Dalal
Spouses don't become more alike in their personalities as their marriage progresses, contrary to perceptions.
Rather, spouses often seem similar in character because they start out that way, a new study suggests. People tend to pick their partners based on shared personality traits, researchers say.
The findings are published in the November issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Surveying spouses
Researchers know spouses are more similar to each other than to random people, but there's debate about how this happens.
[Read More]Past Preserved: Photos of the Petrified Forest
Posted on January 25, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 679 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Petrified WoodPetrified wood is a fossil that is the remains of ancient vegetation, most commonly ancient trees. It occurs by a natural action known as permineralization, a process in which mineral deposits take on the shape within the cells of organic tissue. These minerals replace all the organic materials of the ancient trees, most commonly with a silicate such as quartz.
3-D FossilsPetrified wood is a 3-D fossil representation of the original living organism.
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