Cows Have Strange Sixth Sense

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  462 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A study of Google Earth satellite images has revealed that herds of cattle tend to face in the north-south direction of Earth's magnetic lines. Staring at cows may not equal the thrill of spotting celebrities in public or rubbernecking at car accidents, but the researchers found nonetheless that our bovine friends display this strange sixth sense for direction. Their field observations of red and roe deer also showed those animals facing toward magnetic north or south. [Read More]

Elusive Ruby Seadragons Show Off on Camera for First Time

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  362 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

An elusive ruby seadragon that was previously known only from museum specimens has been spotted alive in its natural habitat for the first time. The scarlet-colored fish (Phyllopteryx dewysea) was first discovered as a distinct species in 2015, when researchers uncovered a misidentified preserved specimen while studying the two known species of seadragons — the orange-tinted leafy seadragon and the yellow-and-purple common seadragon. Since the discovery, scientists have sought the 9.4-inch-long (24 centimeters) ruby seadragon in the wild. [Read More]

Hit the Beach: Why Humans Love Water

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  528 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

I am lying on hot slab of rock on the coast of Maine. Fifty feet down to my right, the Atlantic Ocean crashes against a cliff face. I watch as the water spews upward and across a pile of boulders, leaving tide pools in its wake. I am completely mesmerized. The waves come and they go and I stare and stare, my mind totally blank. But then I realize it's not so much blank as content, mentally at rest, and that it's been a while since I've felt this good. [Read More]

How Long Will Your Caffeine Buzz Last? Genes May Tell

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  536 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

If one cup of coffee keeps you perked up all day, you may be able to thank your genes for that long-lasting caffeine kick, a new study finds.   Scientists in Scotland have identified a gene that may play a role in how the body breaks down caffeine, according to the study — and variations in this gene may influence how much coffee a person drinks. In people with a certain variation of a gene called PDSS2, caffeine is broken down in the body more slowly, according to the study, which was published today (Aug. [Read More]

Mysterious asteroid the size of a dwarf planet is lurking in our solar system

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  474 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

There's a giant asteroid somewhere out in the solar system, and it hurled a big rock at Earth. The evidence for this mystery space rock comes from a diamond-studded meteor that exploded over Sudan in 2008. NASA had spotted the 9-ton (8,200 kilograms), 13-foot (4 meters) meteor heading toward the planet well before impact, and researchers showed up in the Sudanese desert to collect an unusually rich haul of remains. Now, a new study of one of those meteorites suggests that the meteor may have broken off of a giant asteroid — one more or less the size of the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. [Read More]

Mysteriously Shrinking Proton Continues to Puzzle Physicists

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  836 words  |  Fernande Dalal

DENVER — The size of a proton, long thought to be well-understood, may remain a mystery for a while longer, according to physicists. Speaking today (April 13) at the April meeting of the American Physical Society, researchers said they need more data to understand why new measurements of proton size don't match old ones. "The discrepancy is rather severe," said Randolf Pohl, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. [Read More]

Mystical Experiences Open a 'Door of Perception' in the Brain

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  803 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

For Jordan Grafman, it was just a split-second vision. "About 15 years ago, my mom died," Grafman told Live Science. "I was walking down the street to catch the bus at about 5 a.m., and I looked down the street and saw who I thought was my mom, although my mom had been dead for a week. I looked back, and whatever was there was gone." That momentary flicker in perception intrigued Grafman, who is a cognitive neuroscientist and the director of brain injury research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. [Read More]

Overweight Teens Don't Necessarily Consume More Calories

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  772 words  |  Trudie Dory

Overweight teens actually eat fewer calories daily on average than their trimmer counterparts, a new study finds. Among 12- to 14-year-old girls in the study, girls who were very obese ate about 300 fewer calories on average daily than obese girls, and obese girls consumed 110 fewer calories daily than healthy-weight girls. When the researchers looked at calories consumed by 15- to 17-year old boys, they found that obese boys ate about 220 fewer calories a day than boys who were overweight (but not obese). [Read More]

Robin Williams' Death: The Difference Between Depression & Normal Sadness

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  536 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Robin Williams was found dead this afternoon at his home near Tiburon, California, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. The actor and comedian was 63. Emergency personnel found Williams unconscious and not breathing at 12:00 p.m., local time; he was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m., according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of death. "At this time, the Sheriff's Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made," [Read More]

Science in 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' (Infographic)

 Posted on December 30, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  462 words  |  Trudie Dory

It began as a story told by Lewis Carroll to young Alice Liddell and her sisters during a boat ride on the Thames on July 4, 1862.  Carroll later wrote down the story as a gift for Alice, embellished with many of his own drawings. When John Tenniel was contracted to illustrate a version of the story in 1865, Carroll gave the artist a photo of the rather stern-looking Mary Badcock to use for inspiration. [Read More]