Fertile Gals Have All the Right Dance Moves
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 521 words
| Patria Henriques
In a new meaning of "fertility dance," a woman's moves on the dance floor may reveal captivating clues about her current likelihood of getting pregnant.
Women in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle are judged as more attractive dancers by men than are women in a less-fertile phase, a new study finds. The research suggests that ovulation is not as hidden in humans as scientists had once suspected, said study researcher Bernhard Fink of the University of Göttingen in Germany.
[Read More]Girl's Heart Beats Outside Her Chest: Rare Disorder Explained
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 450 words
| Trudie Dory
A girl's heart appears to beat literally outside of her chest in a recent video, but what causes this to happen?
The video, which was uploaded to YouTube in September, shows a young girl laughing as her heart beats outside of her chest, with just a thin layer of skin protecting the vital organ. The girl appears to be Virsaviya Borun, an 8-year-old who was born with a rare condition called pentalogy of Cantrell.
[Read More]Glassified brain cells found in victim of Vesuvius eruption
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 803 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Preserved brain cells have been found in the remains of a young man who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.
The brain cells' structure is still visible in a black, glassy material found in the man's skull. The new discovery of this structure, described today (Oct. 2) in the journal PLOS ONE(opens in new tab), adds to the accumulating evidence that this glassy material is indeed part of the man's brain.
[Read More]Grinning or Nervous Face? People Interpret Emojis Differently
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 524 words
| Patria Henriques
Sure, a picture's worth a thousand words, but when you use emojis, you may be saying something that you didn't intend.
A new study finds that people often interpret emojis in different ways.
For example, the researchers found that people who looked at the exact same emoji disagreed on whether the picture expressed a positive, neutral or negative feeling about a quarter of the time. And for 95 percent of emojis, people did not strongly agree on what sentiment the image expressed.
[Read More]How Buttercups Get Their Yellow Gloss
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 790 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
If you've ever played the childhood game of holding a buttercup under your chin to see if you like butter, you might have wondered why the cheery little flowers are the only type that provide the requisite reflection on your skin.
A new study reveals the answer: Buttercups are unique among flowers. Their bright-yellow gloss results from a one-of-a-kind combination of pigments and anatomical structures that create an optical thin film.
[Read More]Medieval Justice Not So Medieval
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 645 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Labeling idleness a crime may have been a bit strict, but the justice system in medieval England should never be considered backwards.
Punishments for offenses in those days were perhaps even more sensible and humane than they are now, say some historians. [Medieval Torture's 10 Biggest Myths]
"The common view of the medieval justice system as cruel and based around torture and execution is often unfair and inaccurate," said University of Cambridge historian Helen Mary Carrel.
[Read More]Mysterious Signals at the Center of Our Galaxy May Be an Optical Illusion
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 478 words
| Patria Henriques
The universe might be tricking us with its optical illusions.
Last spring, researchers discovered high abundances of three elements in a group of red giants (dying stars in the last stage of their evolution) less than 3 light-years away from the black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The high levels of these elements — scandium, vanadium and yttrium — puzzled astronomers, who tried to explain the phenomenon with various theories.
[Read More]Save the Planet: Have Fewer Kids
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 546 words
| Patria Henriques
For people who are looking for ways to reduce their "carbon footprint," here's one radical idea that could have a big long-term impact, some scientists say: Have fewer kids. A study by statisticians at Oregon State University concluded that in the United States, the carbon legacy and greenhouse gas impact of an extra child is almost 20 times more important than some of the other environment-friendly practices people might employ during their entire lives — things like driving a high mileage car, recycling, or using energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.
[Read More]Weird Underwater Volcano Discovered Near Baja
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 948 words
| Fernande Dalal
SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists have discovered one of the world's weirdest volcanoes on the seafloor near the tip of Baja, Mexico.
The petite dome — about 165 feet tall (50 meters) and 4,000 feet long by 1,640 feet wide (1,200 m by 500 m) — lies along the Alarcón Rise, a seafloor-spreading center. Tectonic forces are tearing the Earth's crust apart at the spreading center, creating a long rift where magma oozes toward the surface, cools and forms new ocean crust.
[Read More]Why a microwave-beam experiment will launch aboard the Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane
Posted on December 14, 2022
| 7 minutes
| 1456 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Editor's note: The U.S. Space Force's next secret mission of a robotic X-37B space plane was delayed by bad weather. Another launch attempt will be made Sunday morning (May 17).
A secretive military space plane will soon test the idea of using microwave beams to send solar power to Earth from space. The U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane is expected to launch into orbit Saturday (May 16) with an experiment onboard that tests the possibility.
[Read More]