Enlightened Medicine Found in Dark Ages
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 680 words
| Trudie Dory
The Dark Ages had a few more proverbial light bulbs on than once thought, at least when it came to issues of the body.
People living in Europe during early Medieval times (400—1200 A.D.) actually had a progressive view of illness because disease was so common and out in the open, according to the research presented at a recent historical conference.
Instead of being isolated or shunned, the sick were integrated into society and taken care of by the community, the evidence suggests.
[Read More]Famed Doctor Hans Asperger Helped with Nazi Child Euthanasia, Notes Reveal
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 893 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Hans Asperger, a pioneer in autism research whose name is used to describe high-functioning people with the disorder, had a previously unknown dark past that included sending children with disabilities to a "euthanasia" program run by the Nazi regime, according to new investigations into his long-lost files.
The new findings reveal that Asperger was far from a courageous defender of his patients against "euthanasia" by the Nazis, as many people thought.
[Read More]Fetal Testosterone May Program Boys' Behavior
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 331 words
| Patria Henriques
Testosterone levels during early fetal development might program certain behaviors later in life, according to a new study that found high levels of the sex hormone in the womb might boost boys' impulsivity later on.
Researchers studied a group of boys ages 8 to 11 whose fetal testosterone had been measured from amniotic fluid when their mothers were 13-20 weeks pregnant. Sex hormone levels, which increase during adolescence, are also heightened during critical periods of fetal brain development.
[Read More]First underwater methane leak discovered near Antarctica
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 523 words
| Fernande Dalal
Just below the freezing Antarctic ice shelves, researchers have discovered a gas leak that could change the region's climate destiny.
For the first time, scientists have detected an active leak of methane gas — a greenhouse gas with 25 times more climate-warming potential than carbon dioxide — in Antarctic waters. While underwater methane leaks have been detected previously all over the world, hungry microbes help keep that leakage in check by gobbling up the gas before too much can escape into the atmosphere.
[Read More]Gross! Watch a Tick Bite in Action (Video)
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 443 words
| Patria Henriques
A tick sucking blood from a victim has been caught in action on video, in all its gory glory.
The new tick-sucking video, described today (Oct. 29) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reveals for the first time the gruesome method that ticks use to anchor to the skin and insert their bloodsucking machinery.
It turns out the parasites don't use a drilling, sawing or cutting motion to get the job done.
[Read More]Here's How to Make the Sahara Desert Green Again
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 692 words
| Patria Henriques
The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert, but parts of it could be made green if massive solar and wind farms set up shop there, a new study finds.
These farms could increase rain in the Sahara, especially in the neighboring Sahel region, a semiarid area that lies south of the giant desert, the researchers said in the study, which was published online Sept. 7 in the journal Science.
[Read More]How Cranberries Stop Bacteria in Their Tracks
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 682 words
| Trudie Dory
An old wives' tale might be held up by modern science: New evidence shows how cranberry juice might prevent or cure urinary tract infections, researchers say.
Cranberry juice has been touted for at least a century as a remedy for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Yet doctors remain divided over whether the fruit is truly effective in treating UTIs.
The largest analysis to date — a review of 24 studies including more than 4,400 patients, published in 2012 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews — suggests that any positive effect is minimal at best.
[Read More]Leapin' Lizards! Medieval Arabs Ate the Scaly Creatures
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 543 words
| Fernande Dalal
Medieval desert-dwelling Arabs in Saudi Arabia ate lizards after the advent of Islam, which generally prohibits eating reptiles, new research suggests.
Though historical and anthropological texts had mentioned the taste for these scaly desert snacks, the find is the first archaeological evidence confirming the lizard's presence in the Arabian diet, study co-author Hervé Monchot, a zooarchaeologist at the Université-Paris Sorbonne, wrote in an email to Live Science.
The lizards were probably eaten because they are "
[Read More]Life's Diversity Abounds in Madrean Sky Islands
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 536 words
| Patria Henriques
Madrean Album SkyislandsThe Madrean Sky Island Archipelago is a 70,000-square-mile (180,000-square-kilometer) region of northwestern Mexico, southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. The region is a blend of tropical and temperate climates and home to a biological diversity that exceeds any other region of the United States.
Madrean Album SummitSky Islands are a class of continental terrain made up from a sequence of alternating valleys and mountains ranges. All sky islands have a stack of biotic communities that allow for vertical migration but the vast valleys between them act as a barrier preventing species from crossing from one mountain range to another.
[Read More]The 7 Longest Caves in the World
Posted on December 5, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 834 words
| Trudie Dory
IntroCaves conjure up images of dangling bats dangling, stalagmites and stalagtites rising from floors and ceilings and dark, dank holes that seem to to go on forever.
Here are the seven longest caves of the world, complete with many of those attributes, as well as many hidden gems.
Fisher Ridge CaveLength: 113 miles (181 kilometers)
Location: Kentucky, USA
The Fisher Ridge Cave System was discovered in January 1981 by a group of Michigan cavers associated with the Detroit Urban Grotto of the National Speleological Society.
[Read More]