Pendants from Holocaust victims found near gas chamber in Poland
Posted on November 13, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 586 words
| Patria Henriques
Archaeologists in Poland have discovered three pendants that belonged to people who were murdered at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in eastern Poland.
The researchers discovered two of the pendants in places where Holocaust victims were forced to undress before guards herded them into gas chambers; they discovered the third pendant near a mass grave at the death camp, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
"Little is known about the stories behind the pendants, which are heartbreaking,"
[Read More]Synthetic brain cells that store 'memories' are possible, new model reveals
Posted on November 13, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 924 words
| Arica Deslauriers
(opens in new tab)Scientists have created key parts of synthetic brain cells that can hold cellular "memories" for milliseconds. The achievement could one day lead to computers that work like the human brain.
These parts, which were used to model an artificial brain cell, use charged particles called ions to produce an electrical signal, in the same way that information gets transferred between neurons in your brain.
Current computers can do incredible things, but this processing power comes at a high energy cost.
[Read More]The 10 Best Science Hashtags of 2017
Posted on November 13, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 1036 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
For peeking into the daily life of working scientists, there's nothing like Twitter. Science Twitter is home to passionate debates, clever quips and many — so many — fantastic images and GIFs. In 2017, the science community on Twitter raised its profile with a steady stream of hashtags, many of which broke into the mainstream. Here are 10 of our favorites.
1. #ScienceMarch
The March for Science took place at hundreds of cities on April 22, 2017.
[Read More]Why We're All Moral Hypocrites
Posted on November 13, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 426 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Most of us, whether we admit it or not, are moral hypocrites. We judge others more severely than we judge ourselves.
Mounting evidence suggests moral decisions result from the jousting between our knee-jerk responses (think "survival instinct") and our slower, but more collected evaluations. Which is more responsible for our self-leniency?
To find out, a recent study presented people with two tasks. One was described as tedious and time-consuming; the other, easy and brief.
[Read More]World's Oldest Intact Shipwreck Found at the Bottom of the Black Sea
Posted on November 13, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 524 words
| Patria Henriques
The oldest intact shipwreck ever has been found resting on the bottom of the Black Sea.
Protected by the oxygen-free water at the seafloor, the ship has been sitting undisturbed since 400 B.C., researchers from the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP) announced Tuesday (Oct. 23). It is a Greek vessel that looks like something the mythical hero Odysseus could have sailed — literally. According to the researchers, a very similar vessel is painted on the side of the British Museum's "
[Read More]19th-century whaling shipwreck identified in the Gulf of Mexico
Posted on November 12, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 755 words
| Trudie Dory
The wreck of a 19th-century whaling ship has been identified on the sea bottom in the Gulf of Mexico. Its discovery was announced Wednesday (March 23) in a statement(opens in new tab) released by representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their partners in the expedition.
Researchers on board NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer spotted the wreck on Feb. 25 at a depth of 6,000 feet (1,800 meters). They used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore a seafloor location where the shipwreck had previously been glimpsed, but not investigated, in 2011 and 2017, and their search received additional guidance via satellite communication with a scientific team onshore, according to the statement.
[Read More]A Dark River Nearly 1,000 Miles Long May Be Flowing Beneath Greenland's Ice
Posted on November 12, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 497 words
| Trudie Dory
SAN FRANCISCO — Far below the frozen cover of the Greenland ice sheet sprawls miles of bedrock — and extending through that bedrock for close to 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) is a valley that may contain a subterranean river, transporting water from central Greenland to the northern coast.
In the past, planes flying overhead had partially mapped a rocky, subsurface valley under the ice, but their radar coverage of the region left gaps, said Christopher Chambers, a researcher at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.
[Read More]Are BPA-Free Plastics Really Safe?
Posted on November 12, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 475 words
| Patria Henriques
This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
To design the safest plastics, we need to first understand what truly happens to plastics in the real world as they break down.
Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, and the CertiChem and PlastiPure companies of Austin, Texas, recently published a study online in the March 2, 2011, issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives that addresses this need.
[Read More]Bugs Use Air Bubbles to Survive Underwater
Posted on November 12, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 312 words
| Fernande Dalal
Some insects live much of their lives under water, using air bubbles gathered at the surface to survive. Now scientists have discovered just how deep they can go.
Based on a new model of how the air bubbles work, the deepest-diving bugs could as far down as 98 feet (30 meters), researchers said this week. The scientists figured out how the air bubbles work, and why they wouldn't pop at such depths.
[Read More]Earth Valentine: Australia's Heart Reef
Posted on November 12, 2022
| 1 minutes
| 115 words
| Patria Henriques
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system (and it's largest living structure ), comprising nearly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands off the eastern coast of Australia.
One of these thousands of reefs is Heart Reef, so named for its shape. It is located in the Whitsunday Islands and must be viewed from the air as the area is protected and snorkelers and scuba divers are not allowed to enter.
[Read More]