Top 10 Golden Rules of Facebook

 Posted on October 24, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  270 words  |  Trudie Dory

Important rules to keepResearchers at Arizona State University used focus groups and undergraduate student surveys to come up with a top 10 list of the most important rules for keeping your Facebook friends — and for ensuring that missteps on the social networking site don't make you enemies in real life. The study was published on line in April of 2012 in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. [Read More]

Weather Experiments | Science Fair Projects

 Posted on October 24, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  318 words  |  Trudie Dory

Weather affects everyone. We all want to know what the weather will be like over the next few days — will we need to wear sandals and shorts or a coat, boots and gloves? How does the weather forecaster on TV predict rain tomorrow when the sky is blue today? In these experiments, you will be making some observations that will help you gain a better understanding of weather. Balloon barometerEarth's atmosphere surrounds the planet; it is the mixture of gases we breathe as air. [Read More]

Why Cancer Rates Are Higher in Flight Attendants

 Posted on October 24, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  806 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Flight attendants may have a higher risk of a number of cancers, a new study finds. Researchers found that women and men on U.S. cabin crews have higher rates of many types of cancer, compared with the general population. This includes cancers of the breast, cervix, skin, thyroid and uterus, as well as gastrointestinal system cancers, which include colon, stomach, esophageal, liver and pancreatic cancers. One possible explanation for these increased rates is that flight attendants are exposed to a lot of known and potential carcinogens, or cancer-causing agents, within their work environment, said lead study author Irina Mordukhovich, a research associate at Harvard University's T. [Read More]

'Big Brain' Gene Found in Humans, Not Chimps

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  853 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A single gene may have paved the way for the rise of human intelligence by dramatically increasing the number of brain cells found in a key brain region. This gene seems to be uniquely human: It is found in modern-day humans, Neanderthals and another branch of extinct humans called Denisovans, but not in chimpanzees. By allowing the brain region called the neocortex to contain many more neurons, the tiny snippet of DNA may have laid the foundation for the human brain's massive expansion. [Read More]

5 Everyday Things That Are Radioactive

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  630 words  |  Trudie Dory

IntroThe average American is exposed about 620 millirem (mrem) of radiation each year, according to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This radiation comes from both natural and man-made sources. Half of our yearly dose comes from natural "background radiation" present in the environment. Most of this comes from radon (an odorless, colorless, gas naturally occurring in the air), and smaller amounts come from cosmic rays and the Earth itself, according to the USNRC. [Read More]

6 Times Holiday Decorations Turned into Disasters

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  9 minutes  |  1726 words  |  Patria Henriques

This story was updated Dec. 29 at 12:58 p.m. EST. Each winter, many people decorate their homes and offices with holiday lights, ornaments and tinsel. They chop down fir trees, and sit near them at home, breathing in the sharp evergreen scent. But while many people use the holiday season to relax and recharge their batteries, sometimes these festive pastimes can be downright dangerous, as people — and cats, dogs and owls — have learned over the years. [Read More]

Ancient Mayans Likely Had Fountains and Toilets

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  578 words  |  Fernande Dalal

The ancient Mayans may have had enough engineering know-how to master running water, creating fountains and even toilets by controlling water pressure, scientists now suggest. Perhaps the earliest known example of the intentional creation of water pressure was found on the island of Crete in a Minoan palace dating back to roughly 1400 BC. In the New World, the ability to generate water pressure was previously thought to have begun only with the arrival of the Spanish. [Read More]

Elephant in India dies after possibly eating fruit stuffed with explosives

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  410 words  |  Trudie Dory

A post-mortem of a pregnant wild elephant in Kerala, India, that died on May 27, suggests the mother-to-be's death may have resulted from an explosion in her mouth after she ate a fruit stuffed with firecrackers, according to news reports. "(The explosion) fractured the bones and caused a lot of damage to the mouth. The animal could not eat and became weak. And then died," said Ashique Ali, a local forest officer, CNN reported. [Read More]

How Acid Oceans Could Kill Krill (Op-Ed)

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  434 words  |  Trudie Dory

Colin Cummings is a science intern at Oceana. This article was adapted from one that first appeared on the Oceana blog The Beacon. Cummings contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Ocean acidification could cause the Southern Ocean Antarctic krill population to crash by the year 2300, new research finds. A collapse in the krill population would not only mean serious economic implications — since the crustacean  is the region's largest fishery resource — but also dire consequences for whales, seals, penguins and an entire ecosystem of animals that depend on krill as a primary food source. [Read More]

Is Porn Bad For You? Santorum Brings Up Tricky Question

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1207 words  |  Patria Henriques

With a statement decrying the Obama administration's "blind eye" toward enforcement of federal obscenity laws, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has brought the subject of pornography into the presidential campaign. But some of Santorum's statements about the ills of explicit material may not hold up. In a statement first posted last week on his campaign website, Santorum cites "a wealth of research" demonstrating that pornography causes "profound brain changes" and widespread negative effects in both adults and children, including violence against women. [Read More]