Could This 'Thinking Cap' Help You Learn?
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 10 minutes
| 2090 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Charlie Heck, multimedia news editor at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
We've heard it more than once in elementary school: "Time to put your thinking caps on." One day, students might just do that. According to Vanderbilt University psychologist Geoffrey Woodman, scientists are now equipped with ever more tools to better understand the brain, and now they can even eavesdrop on individual neurons.
[Read More]Einstein’s ‘Spooky Physics’ Gets More Entangled
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 528 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Quantum entanglement is just spooky — even Einstein thought so. As if particles (as in particle physics) have telepathic empathy.
The theory of quantum mechanics predicts that two or more particles can become "entangled" so that even after they are separated in space, when an action is performed on one particle, the other particle responds immediately. Scientists still don't know how the particles send these instantaneous messages to each other, but somehow, once they are entwined, they retain a fundamental connection.
[Read More]Extremists struggle with certain kinds of brain processing, research shows
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 791 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Scientists have found the psychological signature of people who are likely to hold dogmatic or extremist views.
It makes sense, the researchers said, as people who are dogmatic tend to be impulsive but also slow to process perceptual information. Extremists — regardless of whether they are right-wing or left-wing — also tend to struggle with complex cognitive tasks, but they have a high tolerance for risk, according to the new study, published Sunday (Feb.
[Read More]How Did 'Miracle' Man Come Back from Dangerous Brain Swelling?
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 755 words
| Fernande Dalal
A man in Nebraska who doctors believed had experienced a devastating stroke actually had a different condition — fortunately, one that allowed him to come back from the brink of death.
After his children accepted that their father was likely to die and decided to have him removed from his breathing tube, T. Scott Marr kept breathing and began to move his fingers and toes, Nebraska's WKRN reported. Doctors soon realized that Marr had not experienced a stroke, as initially believed.
[Read More]Huge eruption of Italian volcano sends ash hundreds of feet into the air
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 409 words
| Arica Deslauriers
An explosion on the slopes of Stromboli sent an avalanche of pyroclastic flow rushing down the side of the Italian volcano on Monday (Nov. 16).
The stronger-than-usual explosion was captured on cameras operated by the Istituto Nazionale Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). Imagery shared by Il Mondo dei Terremoti on Twitter shows the eruption in real-time; video captured by infrared cameras that shows the ultra-hot initial eruption and the slightly cooler cloud of ash and gases careening downslope.
[Read More]Movie Clips Reconstructed From Brain Waves
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 6 minutes
| 1077 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Welcome to the future: Scientists can now peer inside the brain and reconstruct videos of what a person has seen, based only on their brain activity.
The reconstructed videos could be seen as a primitive — and somewhat blurry — form of mind reading, though researchers are decades from being able to decode anything as personal as memories or thoughts, if such a thing is even possible. Currently, the mind-reading technique requires powerful magnets, hours of time and millions of seconds of YouTube videos.
[Read More]New Ultrathin Solar Cells Are Light Enough to Sit on a Soap Bubble
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 5 minutes
| 880 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Scientists have created the thinnest, lightest solar power cells yet — so lightweight that they can be draped on top of a soap bubble without popping it.
The researchers suggested that these ultrathin solar cells could be placed on almost any solid surface, including fabric, paper and glass.
Solar cells, technically known as photovoltaic cells, directly convert energy from light into electricity. The new solar cells are as small as 1.
[Read More]Pot Death: Teen Leaps 4 Stories After Eating Marijuana Cookie
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 511 words
| Patria Henriques
A teenager in Colorado died after consuming an entire marijuana cookie that contained 6 servings of marijuana's active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), according to a new report.
The 19-year-old man had received a marijuana cookie from his friend, a 23-year-old who bought the product from a store. The sales clerk instructed the friend to divide the cookie into six pieces, with each piece containing about 10 mg of THC, the recommended serving size established by Colorado authorities.
[Read More]Rare Mineral Discovered in Ancient Meteorite Impact Crater
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 529 words
| Trudie Dory
A rare mineral known from just three massive meteorite impacts has now turned up in a Wisconsin crater.
Researchers discovered the mineral, called reidite, at the Rock Elm impact structure in western Wisconsin. Reidite is a dense form of zircon, one of the hardiest minerals on Earth.
This is the oldest reidite ever found,, said Aaron Cavosie, a geochemist at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. The Rock Elm meteorite crater is 450 million to 470 million years old, he said.
[Read More]Romance Novels Bad For Women's Health and Psyche, Psychologist Says
Posted on October 9, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 558 words
| Fernande Dalal
Romance novels can be a bad influence on women and lead them to make poor health and relationship decisions, says a British psychologist.
The novels give women unrealistic views about what to expect out of a relationship because they, well, romanticize love, said Susan Quilliam, a relationship psychologist based in Cambridge.
"They offer an idealized version of romance, which can make some women feel bad about themselves because their relationships aren't perfect,"
[Read More]