How a Sneaky Sundew Hurls Insects Into Its Trap

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  561 words  |  Fernande Dalal

The twitchy tentacles of a sundew can catapult prey into the carnivorous plant's sticky traps in a fraction of a second, researchers say. These fast-moving snares are among the quickest seen yet in the plant kingdom, the scientists added. Researchers investigated a sundew plant from southern Australia, Drosera glanduligera, whose "flower" trap grows up to 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) wide. Sundews get their name from the sticky drops resembling the morning dew at the end of each of their tentacles. [Read More]

Incredibly detailed video shows DNA twisting into weird shapes to squeeze into cells

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  586 words  |  Patria Henriques

Scientists recently captured a high-resolution video of DNA shimmying into weird shapes in order to squeeze inside cells. In 1952, Rosalind Franklin produced the first indirect picture of DNA by studying how X-rays bounce off these fundamental molecules. But it wasn't until 2012 that scientists captured a direct photo of DNA using an electron microscope, Live Science previously reported.  Now, a group of researchers in the United Kingdom has captured high-definition videos of DNA in motion using a combination of advanced microscopy and simulations. [Read More]

Long Island Serial Killer: What Makes Murderers Tick?

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  891 words  |  Patria Henriques

Speculation about who might be the alleged serial killer dumping human remains along beaches on Long Island may be unwarranted so early in the investigation, criminologists say. But despite having diverse motives, serial killers do tend to share certain personality traits, and experts are learning more about what makes these killers tick, including a desire to convince others that they're "good people." News outlets have reported that police are considering the possibility that some of the killings were committed by a police officer or ex-police officer. [Read More]

Lung Worm Infections on the Rise, CDC Says

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  347 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The number of U.S. infections from fluke worms in the lungs increased dramatically in 2009 and 2010, according to a new report, which traced the increase to the raw crawfish that people ate during recreational river trips. Nine cases of paragonimiasis — the medical term for infections with the parasitic worms — were reported in or around Missouri in 2009 and 2010, after all of North America saw only seven cases in the previous 40 years, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. [Read More]

Ozone-destroying CFCs could make late-21st-century comeback

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  925 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The global oceans are gearing up to spray all that 1980s hair spray back in our faces. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the aerosol chemicals that tore a hole in Earth's protective ozone layer within years of their mass production, are set to make a comeback in the late 21st century, in a process accelerated by climate change, researchers say. The Montreal Protocol banned the use of CFCs worldwide in 1987, after researchers discovered that CFCs had damaged the ozone layer that protects life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. [Read More]

Ram-Headed Sphinx Abandoned by King Tut's Grandfather Found in Egypt

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  713 words  |  Trudie Dory

A ram-headed sphinx carved from sandstone more than 3,000 years ago has been found in Egypt. Digging at the ancient quarry site of Gebel el-Silsila near Aswan, Egypt, archaeologists and workers unearthed the 11.5-foot-tall (3.5 meters) sphinx from a deep pit of quarry debris dumped there during the Roman era. The sphinx was sitting in an ancient carving workshop, where the team also found hundreds of stone fragments holding hieroglyphs and a carving of a coiled-up cobra that once crowned the sphinx. [Read More]

Thousands of Tarantulas Are About to Set Off on Their Annual Migration in Colorado

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  384 words  |  Trudie Dory

Southeastern Colorado will soon be experiencing the pitter-patter of little feet — tens of thousands of them — as thousands of male tarantulas begin their annual migration to the prairies to find a mate. Beginning in late August, Oklahoma brown tarantulas (Aphonopelma hentzi, also known as Texas brown tarantulas) will begin their trek through the La Junta, Colorado, area, a journey to undisturbed grasslands that typically lasts through early October, according to a report by The Gazette, a newspaper that serves Colorado Springs. [Read More]

Trump Says He Wants to Buy Greenland. Here's Why.

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  594 words  |  Patria Henriques

President Donald Trump has expressed an interest in buying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, according to a report published yesterday (Aug. 15) by The Wall Street Journal.  Why does Trump want the United States to buy the world's biggest island? The reason, in large part, is likely that Greenland is rich in natural resources, including iron ore, lead, zinc, diamonds, gold, rare-earth elements, uranium and oil, according to the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public-policy organization in Washington, D. [Read More]

Why a Great White Shark Jumped into Man's Boat

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  659 words  |  Trudie Dory

An Australian man got the surprise of a lifetime when a 9-foot (2.7 meters) great white shark weighing 440 lbs. (200 kilograms) jumped into his boat. Terry Selwood, 73, was fishing off the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday (May 27) when he suddenly found himself face to face with the ocean predator. "There I was on all fours, and he's looking at me and I'm looking at him, and then he started to do the dance around and shake, and I couldn't get out quick enough onto the gunnel [or gunwale]," [Read More]

Why Breathing Deeply Helps You Calm Down

 Posted on December 24, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  630 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Deep breaths can settle your nerves, and now scientists have discovered the neural pathway in the brain that controls this process. In an experiment on mice, scientists identified a circuit of neurons — a tiny cluster of a mere 350 nerve cells, among millions in the mouse brain — that regulate the connection between breathing and the higher-order brain activity that affects how calmly or worked up the mice behaved. [Read More]