Lost! Deep-Diving ROV Implodes 6 Miles Beneath the Sea

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  537 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A hybrid remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dubbed Nereus was lost while diving 6.2 miles (10 km) beneath the sea surface in a deep trench northeast of New Zealand on Saturday (May 10), representatives for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have confirmed. Part of the ROV, diving in the Kermadec Trench, may have imploded under pressures reaching a seam-bursting 16,000 lbs. per square inch (psi). (On Earth, humans are exposed to pressures of nearly 15 psi. [Read More]

Martian Meteor Collision May Have Triggered a 1,000-Foot Tsunami

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  681 words  |  Trudie Dory

Three and a half billion years ago, a blood-red wall of water as tall as a skyscraper may have hurtled across the surface of Mars, inundating an area of land larger than the United States. Two separate groups of astronomers first put forth the controversial theory in 2016. Their idea was based on "fingerprints" of massive wave action left behind on the Martian landscape — the huge fields of boulders carved with rivulets, potentially left behind as the waves retreated back over the landscape. [Read More]

New Jelly-Bean-Size 'Masked' Frog Discovered in the Andes

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  518 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

A tiny new frog species discovered in the Peruvian Andes has a white-mottled belly and a dark face mask that makes it look like a bandit. Noblella madreselva lives in the humid cloud forest near Cusco, Peru, probably only in the valleys right around where it was discovered, researchers report today (Aug. 6) in the journal ZooKeys. The frogs, which are not much bigger than jelly beans, can fit on the tip of a human finger. [Read More]

Sperm whales outwitted 19th-century whalers by sharing evasive tactics

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  827 words  |  Patria Henriques

Catching a sperm whale during the 19th century was much harder than even Moby Dick showed it to be. That's because sperm whales weren't just capable of learning the best ways to evade the whalers' ships, they could quickly share this information with other whales, too, according to a study of whale-hunting records.  By analyzing newly-digitized logbooks kept by whalers during their hunting voyages in the North Pacific, the researchers found that the strike rates of the hunters upon their targets declined by 58% in just a few years. [Read More]

Switching to Night Shift May Cause Weight Gain

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  402 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Switching from the day shift to working evenings or nights may affect your waistline, according to a new study from Australia, part of a growing body of research indicating working at night can lead to weight gain. Nurses and midwives in the study who switched from working mostly during daylight hours to working odd hours in the evening and night saw an increase in their body mass indexes over a two-year period. [Read More]

The Truth Is Out There: Do Area 51 Files Hold Secrets of UFOs?

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  821 words  |  Trudie Dory

In her race to secure the Democratic nomination for president, Hillary Clinton has recently drawn support from an unusual voter base — alien enthusiasts. First in a radio interview, then again on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Clinton expressed interest in making public files about UFOs and the mysterious Nevada site called Area 51. "I would like us to go into those files and hopefully make as much of that public as possible. [Read More]

Watch Spinal Fluid 'Wash' the Sleeping Brain in Rhythmic, Pulsing Waves

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  509 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

What happens to your brain as you sleep? A new video holds the answer: A juicy mix of blood and cerebrospinal fluid slosh through your smushy noggin in a rhythmic pulsating dance.  The movement appears almost tidal in a video released Oct. 31 along with an article in the journal Science(opens in new tab). Though researchers knew that brain activity takes on a rhythmic pattern during sleep, this video and study mark the first time anyone has observed a similarly rhythmic flow of cerebrospinal fluid. [Read More]

Why Skin Cancer Is on the Rise

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1176 words  |  Trudie Dory

For years and years now, millions of sun worshippers across the country would hit the beaches during summer to work on the perfect, golden tan. However, the advent of indoor tanning salons now allows Americans to sport a sun-kissed look year-round. And as more and more people pursue a perpetual summer-style tan, dermatologists have begun noticing a significant rise in skin cancer incidents, especially among young women. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, still makes up just 3 percent of all skin cancers, and results in about 8,000 deaths a year, according to the National Cancer Institute. [Read More]

Your Dog Might Be Licking Its Mouth Because It Thinks You’re a Jerk

 Posted on October 23, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  533 words  |  Patria Henriques

When your best friend catches you in a bad mood, does she try to console you, give you space to cool off or lick her own face in an uncontrollable slobber? If your best friend is a dog, this third reaction may be familiar to you. Dogs lick their own mouths, noses and jowls all the time. Certain cuteness-obsessed Internet communities call it a "mlem"; some animal behavior researchers prefer to call it mouth-licking, and offer many possible explanations for the quirky canine behavior. [Read More]

'Lost' NASA Tapes Show Humans Sort of Caused Global Warming on the Moon Too

 Posted on October 22, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  714 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

There is a decades-old mystery at NASA: Why did the moon's temperature suddenly rise nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) right after the first astronauts planted their flags there? When scientists first encountered this puzzle in the early 1970s, they knew that lunar dust — or regolith — could give astronauts a fever; was it possible that astronauts were giving the moon a fever right back? Seiichi Nagihara, a planetary scientist at Texas Tech University, suspected that the key to explaining this mysterious lunar heat wave lurked in temperature readings recorded by Apollo astronauts between 1971 and 1977. [Read More]