How Much Sleep Should You Get? New Recommendations Released
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 587 words
| Fernande Dalal
There are new recommendations for how much time people should spend snoozing.
The new guidelines, released by the National Sleep Foundation, include small changes to the recommended ranges for the amount of sleep that children and teens should get. Most of the new advice recommends wider sleep ranges than before. Now, there are also specific sleep ranges for young and older adults, as well as for middle-age adults. (Previously, the National Sleep Foundation had a single sleep recommendation for all adults.
[Read More]How the Hairy-Chested 'Hoff' Crab Evolved
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 711 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Yeti crabs don't comb their hair to look good — they do it because they're hungry.
These bizarre deep-sea animals grow their food in their own hair, trapping bacteria and letting it flourish there before "combing" it out and slurping it up. The crabs are found near cold seeps and hydrothermal vents, places where mineral-rich water spews out of the seafloor.
Like many animals that live in these extreme environments, yeti crabs have been thought of as "
[Read More]How to Prepare for Hurricane Sandy
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 887 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Hurricane Sandy is currently walloping the Bahamas, and the latest forecasts have the storm moving up along the East Coast and potentially making landfall somewhere between North Carolina and Maine early next week, meaning a large portion of the country's population is starting to get nervous.
Adding to the possible danger from the storm is its tremendous size — tropical storm force winds extend out more than 275 miles (445 kilometers) from the storm's center — and its potential to merge with a cold front currently crossing the country to create a situation similar to the "
[Read More]How Your Brain Tracks Moving Objects
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 519 words
| Trudie Dory
When a baseball player hits a home run off a 100-mph fastball, how can the slugger's brain track such a fast-moving object? Scientists may now have the answer.
In a new study, they discovered how the brain can predict the path of a moving object, even one traveling so fast humans can barely see it.
Vision scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, studied how the brain processes visual information, and located the specific region of the brain responsible for calculating where a moving object will most likely end up.
[Read More]New Cave-Dwelling Scorpion Species Discovered
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 431 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Two new species of short-tailed whip scorpions have been found living deep inside the cool, humid caves of northeastern Brazil, a study reports.
Whip scorpions are not true scorpions, but rather part of a group of arachnids that don't have stings and are not poisonous. They possess a whip-like tail, but look more like ants.
Previously, scientists thought whip scorpions came predominantly from the Caribbean. The new species, Rowlandius ubajara and Rowlandius potiguara, are some of the first from South America.
[Read More]Only two northern white rhinos remain. And they're both female.
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 787 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
There were fewer than 100 southern white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum simum) a century ago. Today, there are over 20,000. Sadly, this success story only stretches as far as the southern subspecies of the white rhino. With the death of the last male in 2018, the northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) has passed the point where it can be saved naturally. With only two females remaining, the subspecies is now classed as functionally extinct.
[Read More]Rarely Seen 'Asian Unicorn' Caught on Camera
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 406 words
| Patria Henriques
One of the most secretive creatures on Earth — the saola — has been photographed in Vietnam for the first time in 15 years.
Scientists first discovered the saola in 1992 in Vietnam near the country's border with Laos. It was the first large mammal new to science in more than 50 years. But since its discovery, the elusive creature has rarely been seen in the wild, earning it the nickname the "
[Read More]The best Star Wars Prime Day deals and gifts for 2021
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 7 minutes
| 1314 words
| Fernande Dalal
The Force is strong with the Star Wars deals for Amazon.com's annual Amazon Prime Day megasale(opens in new tab) on Monday and Tuesday (June 21-22). We've been scouring the web for all the best Star Wars Prime Day gifts to give loved ones — including yourself, of course.
Here we list the best deals for the Padawan or Jedi Master in your life — from clothing to toys to lifestyle products. It will take some Jedi mind tricks to figure out what your superfan will enjoy, but we promise you these deals are easier to navigate than the Kessel run or the forests of Endor.
[Read More]The Social Mind: Brain Region Bigger in Popular People
Posted on December 31, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 774 words
| Arica Deslauriers
An area of the brain associated with understanding the minds of others is larger in people who have bigger social networks, a new study finds.
The study is one of several that have linked specific brain regions to an active social life. In research published last year, scientists found that some brain regions that process social signals, facial expressions and names and faces are larger in people with more Facebook friends.
[Read More]5 Ways Your Emotions Influence Your World (and Vice Versa)
Posted on December 30, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 568 words
| Patria Henriques
Physical emotionEmotions matter. Happiness, sadness, anxiety and anger all color our days and have a huge impact on how we feel about our lives.
But emotion reaches beyond the realm of feeling and influences people in ways far less obvious than might be expected. In this realm of "embodied cognition," social scientists are finding that the body influences the mind and the mind influences the body. Even the words people use to describe an experience have physical consequences.
[Read More]