Men, Take Note: Love Her, Love Her Dog

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  540 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Guys, if you're dating a woman who loves her dog, you'd better be prepared to like that dog, too — or fake it. According to new research, a woman is more satisfied in her relationship when her partner feels the same about her pet as she does. If she's close to her dog, he'd better be, too. If she's more aloof, it's better if he doesn't get too snuggly with Fido. [Read More]

National Geographic chemistry and Earth science kits on sale for Prime Day

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  283 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Prime Day is in full swing, and Amazon is offering deals on a variety of kits and equipment for young scientists. Make a volcano, build a robot car, or peer into tiny worlds with a junior microscope — there's something for every branch of science. Check out these science kit Prime deals before they're gone.  (opens in new tab)Best deal on Chemi...NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Stunning Chemistry Set(opens in new tab) | $34. [Read More]

Righty Male Cuttlefish Are Better at Sex and Fighting

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  379 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Righty cuttlefish males have more sex and win more fights. And this could help explain why lefty humans exist at all. In a paper published March 13 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists watched cuttlefish as they hooked up and threw down. Most male cuttlefish, it turns out, are "righties" in sexual situations — meaning that they examine females with their right eyes before mating, and approach females from their right side. [Read More]

Sharks No Match for Invasive Lionfish

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  447 words  |  Trudie Dory

The eye-catching red lionfish is eating its way through Caribbean reefs, and nothing, not even a toothy shark, seems able to stop the voracious fish, a new study finds.  "Lionfish are here to stay, and it appears that the only way to control them is by fishing them," said researcher John Bruno, professor of biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The research, detailed online July 11 in the journal PLOS ONE, focused on the effect of natural predators, such as sharks and groupers, on the population of two species of red lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) on 71 reefs of the Caribbean over three years. [Read More]

The Greatest Eruption in Human History: Mount Tambora

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  343 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

On April 10, 1815, the Indonesian volcano of Mount Tambora exploded in the largest eruption in recorded history. On the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), a classification system akin to the scale used to rate earthquakes, the Tambora eruption rate a VEI-7. The scale runs from 1 to 8, with each number being approximately 10 times more powerful than the previous one. There haven't been any VEI-8s in the last 10,000 years. [Read More]

The World's Tallest Tropical Tree Is Longer Than a Football Field

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  633 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The world's tallest tropical tree on record is a giant, measuring an astonishing 330 feet (100.8 meters) from ground to sky — a height that's more than five bowling lanes stacked end to end. This tree, likely also the world's tallest flowering plant, lives in a rainforest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, according to scientists from the United Kingdom and Malaysia. It's so high-reaching, it's no wonder the scientists named it " [Read More]

Turning Tadpole Against Tadpole to Fight Toxic Toad

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  785 words  |  Trudie Dory

It's a tadpole-eat-tadpole world out there — and that's exactly what Australian scientists are hoping will control the spread of a giant invasive toad with toxic flesh. The cane toad (Bufo marinus), which can weigh up to 3 pounds (1.4 kg), is a scourge in Australia. Introduced in the 1930s to control beetles that fed on sugar cane, the toads soon became their own ecological nightmare, competing with local wildlife for food. [Read More]

Why One Woman Had Oil in Her Lung for Decades

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  741 words  |  Fernande Dalal

An elderly woman in Florida had oil in her lungs — for decades — from a now-outdated procedure she received in her 20s to treat tuberculosis (TB), according to a new report of the woman's case. The 86-year-old woman went to the doctor because of a burning pain in her chest and upper stomach. She was diagnosed with acid reflux, and her symptoms got better after she started treatment for the condition. [Read More]

Yellowstone study finds plague (yes, that plague) in nearly half of tested cougars

 Posted on November 14, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  849 words  |  Fernande Dalal

The plague is notorious for killing tens of millions of people throughout history, but a new study has revealed that the deadly bacteria is now infecting an entirely different victim: Cougars living in the greater Yellowstone area.  Researchers tested 28 cougars (also known as pumas or mountain lions) for the disease, and found that nearly half had been exposed to the plague (Yersinia pestis).  However, because cougars usually don't go near humans, these big cats are unlikely to get anyone sick. [Read More]

18 Times Quantum Particles Blew Our Minds in 2018

 Posted on November 13, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  868 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Mind-blowing scienceThe small world got up to some pretty big things this year. From strange Schrödinger’s-cat situations to mysteries of water to impossible-seeming particles flying up from the Antarctic ice, particle physics proved that there are many unknowns in the universe for us to explore. Here are the 18 most stunning quantum mechanics and high-energy particle physics stories of 2018. Quantum data got denser than everTo build quantum computers, scientists will have to first figure out how to manipulate and effectively store information with quantum objects. [Read More]