Dive with a Blue Whale in New Virtual-Reality Experience

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  596 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Visitors to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles (NHMLA) can now immerse themselves in spectacular ocean environments alongside a bevy of sea creatures with a new virtual-reality exhibit. "TheBlu: An Underwater VR Experience" invites users to enter a special viewing gallery, where they don HTC Vive virtual-reality (VR) headsets to explore a series of marine ecosystems. Using handheld controllers, visitors can interact with migrating fish and turtles, vibrant anemones, glowing deep-sea anglerfish, and even an 80-foot-long (24 meters) blue whale. [Read More]

Doctors Thought a Woman Was Having a Panic Attack. She Actually Had Rabies.

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  724 words  |  Trudie Dory

When a Virginia woman went to the emergency room with shortness of breath, anxiety, sleeping troubles and difficulty swallowing water, doctors thought she was having a panic attack. But her symptoms were actually due to something much rarer: she had a rabies infection — one that would prove fatal — which she contracted from a dog bite while on a yoga retreat in India, according to a new report. The case marks only the ninth time in the past decade that a person has died from rabies in the U. [Read More]

Mightiest Floods of the Mississippi River

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  553 words  |  Fernande Dalal

IntroWith the Mississippi River nearing record levels on May 2, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blew up a levee to save the small town of Cario, Ill., from devastating flooding. In the past, cities on the river haven't been s fortunate. The Mississippi River is known for its epic floods and these destructive events led to the creation of levees along North America's longest river . Here, we count down the mightiest floods of the Mississippi River. [Read More]

Mysterious Minoans Were European, DNA Finds

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  595 words  |  Patria Henriques

The Minoans, the builders of Europe's first advanced civilization, really were European, new research suggests. The conclusion, published today (May 14) in the journal Nature Communications, was drawn by comparing DNA from 4,000-year-old Minoan skeletons with genetic material from people living throughout Europe and Africa in the past and today. "We now know that the founders of the first advanced European civilization were European," said study co-author George Stamatoyannopoulos, a human geneticist at the University of Washington. [Read More]

Physicists Think They've Spotted the Ghosts of Black Holes from Another Universe

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  932 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

This story was updated on Aug. 23 at 9:20 a.m. E.T. We are not living in the first universe. There were other universes, in other eons, before ours, a group of physicists has said. Like ours, these universes were full of black holes. And we can detect traces of those long-dead black holes in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) — the radiation that is a remnant of our universe's violent birth. [Read More]

Roman-era skeleton found near Mount Vesuvius may be from famous rescue mission

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  983 words  |  Patria Henriques

The skeleton of a soldier found on a beach at Herculaneum, an ancient town that was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, may be that of a rescue-party member sent by Roman naturalist and military officer Pliny the Elder to help evacuate people, a researcher has suggested based on a recent analysis.  However, scholars who were not affiliated with the research had mixed reactions, with some supportive of the idea and others very skeptical. [Read More]

Scientists find 'missing link' behind first human languages

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  1013 words  |  Trudie Dory

A new study has shown, for the first time, that humans recognize the intended meanings of iconic vocalizations — basic sounds made by people to represent specific objects, entities and actions — regardless of the language they speak.  These vocalizations, such as the imitation of snoring to denote sleep, or roaring to denote a tiger, could have played a crucial role in the development of the first human languages, according to the researchers. [Read More]

Secret Messages Seen Only By Camera Phones

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  350 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Kameraflage is a display technology that uses a special property of digital cameras to hide messages or other content in plain sight. The hidden content is only revealed when you look at it through your cellphone camera or other digital camera. Kameraflage is possible because digital cameras see a broader spectrum of light (colors) than human eyes. By rendering content in these invisible colors we are able to create displays that are invisible to the naked eye, yet can be seen when imaged with a digital camera. [Read More]

Untested Stimulant Drug Found in 12 Supplements

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  1056 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

A new stimulant drug that has never been tested in people can be found in 12 weight loss and sports supplements, some of which are sold in mainstream vitamin shops, according to a new study. The synthetic compound, called 1,3-dimethylbutylamine (or DMBA), often listed on labels as AMP Citrate, is extremely similar to another stimulant called DMAA, the researchers say. In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration banned DMAA because of reports of its side effects, including heart problems, nervous system disorders and even death. [Read More]

Why Do Couples Start to Look Like Each Other?

 Posted on January 17, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  359 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

While you may be familiar with the old saying, “opposites attract,” in reality, what the heart wants is someone who resembles its owner – and that resemblance increases the longer two lovebirds stay together. University of Michigan psychologist Robert Zajonc conducted an experiment to test this phenomenon. He analyzed photographs of couples taken when they were newlyweds and photographs of the same couples taken 25 years later. The results showed that the couples had grown to look more like each other over time. [Read More]