Male Guppies Harass Potential Mates into 'Girl Fights'
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 508 words
| Fernande Dalal
Best girlfriends might never let a man come between them — unless they're Trinidadian guppies. Among these fish, the presence of a harassing male can disrupt female social networks, causing female-against-female aggression, new research indicates.
During mating season, male guppies either will woo females with their shiny coats or they will harass the smaller females into mating by using nipping and chasing behaviors. Earlier research found that the presence of a harassing male seemed to disrupt female social networks, though it was not known how.
[Read More]No Crap: Missing 'Mega Poop' Starves Earth
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 780 words
| Trudie Dory
Earth has a problem: not enough poop.
The extinction of megafauna both at land and at sea has led to a shortage of mega manure, new research finds. As a result, the planet's composting and nutrient-recycling system is broken.
"This broken global cycle may weaken ecosystem health, fisheries and agriculture," study researcher Joe Roman, a biologist at the University of Vermont, said in a statement. [8 of the World's Most Endangered Places]
[Read More]Octopus vs. Crab Showdown Ends with a Twist in Startling Video
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 358 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Things weren't looking good for a swimmer crab under the glare of two divers' spotlights in Monterey Bay, California. The crab was being doggedly pursued by a red octopus and couldn't seem to make an escape.
And then, a "deux ex machina" of an ending: In swooped a harbor seal to scarf down the octopus in a cloud of blood and sand.
Surprising for sure, but also a typical move for the seal that the two filming divers have dubbed Whiskers.
[Read More]Origin of MERS Virus Found in Bats
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 349 words
| Fernande Dalal
The virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has been found in bats in Saudi Arabia, suggesting a potential origin for the disease, according to a new study.
Researchers tested samples from bats living about 7 miles away from the home of the first person known to be infected with MERS in Saudi Arabia.
A virus found in one of the bats was 100 percent identical to the MERS virus seen in people, the researchers said.
[Read More]Political Ideology Linked to Food Choices
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 497 words
| Fernande Dalal
The way you vote may reflect the way you eat. Liberals prefer thin-crust pizza, hard to pronounce pastas, such as gnocchi and fusilli, and a glass of wine with dinner, while conservatives enjoy deep-dish pizza, McDonald's French fries and a can of coke with their meal.
A new study by Hunch.com — a site that makes recommendations based on preferences, ranging from which car you should drive to which vacation or college choice is best for you — suggests your political views say a lot about the food choices a person makes.
[Read More]Rebuilding Notre Dame will be incredibly hard
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 785 words
| Trudie Dory
Putting out the inferno that tore through the roof of Notre Dame in April 2019 was only the beginning of saving the iconic cathedral.
From the precarious spaghetti of burnt scaffolding hanging over the building to the potential for the walls to collapse on themselves, architects and conservation experts had — and still have — a daunting task in front of them. A new special from NOVA, the science series on PBS, takes viewers through the challenges.
[Read More]Suspenseful Video: Alligator Attacks Scaredy Cat
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 560 words
| Arica Deslauriers
An amazing video from the Florida Keys shows a curious domestic cat nearly become a midnight snack for an American alligator.
The suspenseful, infrared footage of the attack evokes a classic black-and-white horror film. Shot from a camera trap in the National Key Deer Wildlife Refuge, it caught the cat dancing with fate, cautiously tiptoeing toward something mysterious out of the camera's frame. Suddenly, leaves rustle and a 6-foot-long (1.
[Read More]Voice of Reason: Exposing the Da Vinci Hoax
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 672 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
The record bestseller, Dan Brown's 2004 The Da Vinci Code, has renewed interest in the quest for the Holy Grail, restyling the medieval legend for a public that often gorges itself on a diet of pseudoscience, pseudo-history, and fantasy.
Unfortunately, the book is largely based on obscure, forged documents that have now deceived millions.
The adventure tale begins with Paris police summoning Robert Langdon, an Indiana Jones type, to the Louvre to view the corpse of curator Jacques Saunier.
[Read More]Why Does Our Universe Have 3 Dimensions?
Posted on January 19, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 945 words
| Trudie Dory
We take for granted that we live in a world of three dimensions governed by the laws of physics, and don't often wonder why. But a group of physicists just hatched a new theory that they think may explain our three-dimensional universe.
The physicists think that their new model could also explain inflation, the exponential expansion of space the universe experienced just moments after the Big Bang.
Thomas Kephart from Vanderbilt University and four of his colleagues from around the world wanted to figure out why our universe seemingly has just three dimensions, especially since, as they wrote, "
[Read More]1,000-Year-Old Viking Toolbox Found at Mysterious Danish Fortress
Posted on January 18, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 964 words
| Fernande Dalal
This story was updated on Dec. 7 at 4:10 p.m. ET.
A Viking toolbox found in Denmark has been opened for the first time in 1,000 years, revealing an extraordinary set of iron hand tools that may have been used to make Viking ships and houses, according to archaeologists.
The tools were found this summer at a mysterious, ring-shaped fortress at Borgring, on the island of Zealand, as was first reported by ScienceNordic.
[Read More]