How Typhoon Haiyan Became Year's Most Intense Storm

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  576 words  |  Trudie Dory

A monstrous storm has arisen in the Western Pacific, the likes of which haven't been seen for several years, meteorologists say. The storm, Super Typhoon Haiyan, has become the year's most intense and is bearing down on the central Philippines, threatening to inflict massive damage and loss of life in the area. The tropical cyclone (the blanket term for hurricanes and typhoons) packs winds up to 200 mph (320 km/h), according to estimates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with gusts up to 225 mph (360 km/h), said Brian McNoldy, a tropical weather expert at the University of Miami. [Read More]

If We Live in a Multiverse, Where Are These Worlds Hiding?

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  538 words  |  Fernande Dalal

WASHINGTON — By some estimates, the known universe may contain as many as 2 trillion galaxies, with the average galaxy holding approximately 100 million stars and untold numbers of planets. But could there be multiple copies of the entire universe as we understand it? The concept of a multiverse — worlds that invisibly coexist alongside us, perhaps representing versions of reality that are near-identical to our own — is a pervasive idea in sci-fi, and one that has intrigued generations of physicists as well as science-fiction creators and fans. [Read More]

Kids with Puzzling Stomachaches Might Benefit from Probiotics

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  488 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Children whose tummies hurt for no clear reason could benefit from taking probiotics, a new review study found. The researchers looked at ways to treat so-called functional abdominal pain, or stomach pain that doesn't have a clear cause. The condition is a "big problem," in children, said study co-author Dr. Morris Gordon, a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire's School of Medicine in the United Kingdom. It affects about 14 percent of kids worldwide, according to a 2015 study About a quarter of all children who see a gastroenterologist for stomach problems are diagnosed with functional abdominal pain, according to the American College of Gastroenterology. [Read More]

Magnets Make People Think of Love, Study Finds

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  717 words  |  Trudie Dory

Animal magnetism may be a more literal concept than it's given credit for, according to a new study that finds that people are more attracted to their romantic partners after playing with magnets. The research is an example of a social priming effect, an old idea in psychology that has recently become more controversial. The idea holds that when people are "primed" or prompted to think about a particular concept — such as physical magnetic attraction — it affects their cognition in surprising ways. [Read More]

Migrating Birds Take Hundreds of Daily Powernaps

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  516 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

To help make up for sleep lost during marathon night flights, migratory birds take hundreds of powernaps during the day, each lasting only a few seconds, a new study suggests. Every autumn, Swainson's thrushes fly up to 3,000 miles from their breeding grounds in northern Canada and Alaska to winter in Central and South America. Come spring, the birds make the long trek back. The birds fly mostly at night and often for long hours at a time, leaving little time for sleep. [Read More]

Pollution Travels the Globe, Study Confirms

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  487 words  |  Trudie Dory

Smog and air pollution from factories can have a negative impact on the air in faraway regions of the world, a new report finds. In the coming decades, man-made emissions are expected to rise in East Asia and a growing number of countries may feel the effects even as industrialized countries work to tighten environmental protection standards, according to the National Research Council report. Researchers analyzed meteorological and chemical data and discovered that some pollutant plumes in the United States can be traced back to Asia. [Read More]

Preserved Pompeii: Photos Reveal City in Ash

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  243 words  |  Trudie Dory

Ruins of PompeiiThe ruins of Pompeii. In A.D. 79, a massive eruption by Mount Vesuvius buried the town in ash, freezing it in time. Pompeii TombA tomb in Pompeii covered in red graffiti. Wall scribblings were common all over the city, both on public buildings and inside and outside private homes. Research presented in 2012 at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America suggests tombs were no different. [Read More]

Scientists capture image of bizarre 'electron ice' for the first time

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  542 words  |  Patria Henriques

Physicists have taken the first ever image of a Wigner crystal — a strange honeycomb-pattern material inside another material, made entirely out of electrons. Hungarian physicist Eugene Wigner first theorized this crystal in 1934, but it's taken more than eight decades for scientists to finally get a direct look at the "electron ice." The fascinating first image shows electrons squished together into a tight, repeating pattern — like tiny blue butterfly wings, or pressings of an alien clover. [Read More]

Sudden Aggression in Dogs Often a Sign of Pain

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  412 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Sudden changes in a dog's temperament, for example episodes of aggression, could be related to some internal pain they are feeling, which sets them on edge if they are touched, new research indicates. "If the pet is handled when in pain, it will quickly act aggressively to avoid more discomfort without the owner being able to prevent it," study researcher Tomàs Camps, of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in Spain, said in a statement. [Read More]

Why Do We Desire Things?

 Posted on November 12, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  614 words  |  Trudie Dory

Chocolate, vanilla or strawberry? The question of why we want the things we want elicits impassioned answers from scientists in a number of different disciplines, but some argue we're still a long way away from understanding our desires and preferences in any meaningful way. We may be able to predict how we will behave in particular conditions, or know that clear preferences emerge in certain situations, but we know very little about where these inclinations come from in the first place, according to one social scientist. [Read More]