Save 33% on Celestron's NexStar 130SLT telescope for Prime Day
Posted on December 28, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 401 words
| Fernande Dalal
Celestron, maker of high-quality telescopes and other skywatching gear, has some great deals for Amazon Prime Day(opens in new tab) this year, including its NexStar 130SLT computerized telescope(opens in new tab), which is on sale for 33% off.
The NexStar 130SLT Newtonian reflector telescope is available for $333.16, down from its usual $499.95. The last time we've seen a price cut this deep was in 2018, and the telescope has typically been over $340 ever since.
[Read More]Study: Bisexuality Not Just an Experimental Phase
Posted on December 28, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 716 words
| Fernande Dalal
Bisexuality in women could be a lifelong sexual orientation, not a phase, a new study suggests. The finding runs counter to the idea that bisexuality is an experimental or transitional period for women who, for instance, are uncertain or have fear of commitment.
In addition to debunking stereotypes about bisexuality, the research sheds light on the complex nature of sexual orientation in women.
"These findings demonstrate that the distinction between lesbianism and bisexuality is a matter of degree rather than kind,"
[Read More]This Big-Eyed, Deep-Sea Shark Looks Like an Anime Character
Posted on December 28, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 316 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Florida scientists have just discovered an adorable, big-eyed species of dogfish shark, and the little creature looks like a mash-up of an alien and an anime character.
The newly identified species, Squalus clarkae, or Genie's dogfish, is named after the marine biology pioneer Eugenie Clark. It slinks around in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean. The sharks' monster peepers may look alarming, but these animals are relatively small, typically spanning no more than about an arm's length, from 20 to 28 inches long (50 to 70 centimeters).
[Read More]Turns Out, Faking a Smile Might Not Make You Happier After All
Posted on December 28, 2022
| 7 minutes
| 1314 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Perhaps you've heard that you can brighten your mood just by faking a smile. But that idea, which came out of a psychological experiment from the 1980s, may not be true after all, as scientists were not able to repeat the results in a lab setting in a large, rigorous new study.
The hypothesis, called the facial-feedback hypothesis, dates back to a 1988 study in which participants rated the humor of cartoons while inadvertently mimicking either a smile or a pout.
[Read More]Underwater Cave Full of Ancient Bones to Be Mapped in 3D
Posted on December 28, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 602 words
| Patria Henriques
The bones of ground sloths, saber-toothed cats and other creatures of the Ice Age have been discovered in a deep underwater cavern on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, but the exploration of the site is actually happening on the surface, hundreds of miles away, in a lab in San Diego.
Spelunkers first discovered the cave, called Hoyo Negro, seven years ago, but it was accessible only to specially trained cave divers. Now, a technique that combines photos to create 3D maps is providing a way for archaeologists to get a good look inside, without making the dangerous descent into the depths of the cave.
[Read More]Watch two black holes bend the daylights out of space-time in this trippy NASA visualization
Posted on December 28, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 587 words
| Fernande Dalal
When two orbiting supermassive black holes get close to each other, the results can be pretty twisted. A new NASA visualization shows how the irresistible pull of extreme gravity bends and distorts light in the glowing rings of hot gas circling the black holes in a simulated binary system.
The animation shows two black holes: The bigger of the pair, which is about 200 million times the mass of our sun, is surrounded by red rings of hot gas called an accretion disk.
[Read More]World's Loneliest Tree Records Fallout from Humanity
Posted on December 28, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 706 words
| Arica Deslauriers
The loneliest tree in the world records the signature of humans' impact on planet Earth.
A single Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) that stands on remote Campbell Island, in New Zealand, holds within its heartwood the record of radiocarbon fallout from the aboveground nuclear testing that began in 1945. Shrubby plants on the island also retain this record, making it a truly global signal of human activity, researchers reported Feb. 19 in the journal Scientific Reports(opens in new tab).
[Read More]Amazon's Biggest Fish Faces Threat of Extinction
Posted on December 27, 2022
| 6 minutes
| 1085 words
| Patria Henriques
This story was updated at 11:00 am ET on Aug. 15.
Measuring 10 feet (3 meters) long and weighing in at more than 400 pounds (180 kilograms), it's hard to imagine that the arapaima, the largest fish in the Amazon River basin, could ever go missing. But these huge fish are quickly disappearing from Brazilian waterways, according to a new study.
A recent survey of fishing communities in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, found that the arapaima is already extinct in some parts of the Amazon basin.
[Read More]Best Black Friday science kit deals
Posted on December 27, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 974 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
If your kids are naturally creative and inquisitive, these black friday science kit deals are too good to pass up. Including cooking kits, these deals also mean your child can spend days of fun completing experiments.
Playing with science kits not only gives your child a break from staring at a screen for hours at a time but also gives them the opportunity to participate in a hands-on educational experience.
[Read More]Blue Moon: The Strange Evolution of a Phrase
Posted on December 27, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 867 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
The next blue moon will occur on the last night of August. Although it will appear no bluer than on any other night, it will nonetheless fit the modern definition of the term by being the second full moon in a calendar month. But this technical meaning of "blue moon" arose fairly recently. The phrase has undergone a strange evolution over the past 500 years.
The notion of a blue moon first appeared in writing in the 16th century, according to folklorist Phillip Hiscock, a professor at Memorial University in Newfoundland who has traced the meaning of the phrase through the centuries.
[Read More]