Piece of lost continent discovered beneath Canada

 Posted on October 5, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  734 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A piece of a lost continent has been discovered lurking beneath Canada — and the evidence was hiding in rocks that originated in Earth's interior, where diamonds form. The secret was concealed in a type of diamond-bearing volcanic rock, known as kimberlite. Kimberlite originates deep underground in magma in Earth's mantle, and picks up hitchhiking diamonds as it hurtles toward the surface during volcanic eruptions.  The kimberlite, from Baffin Island in northern Canada, was collected by a diamond mining and manufacturing company. [Read More]

The Higher You Are, the Faster You Age

 Posted on October 5, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  534 words  |  Patria Henriques

The stretching out of time predicted by Einstein's theories of relativity is known to occur on cosmic scales, such as near a black hole or with a speeding galaxy. But now researchers have measured the effects of relativity on a smaller scale. Physicists used extremely accurate atomic clocks to calculate how time flows more slowly the closer someone is to Earth. The researchers found that even a height difference of around 1 foot (33 centimeters) causes a measurable change in the passing of time, or time dilation. [Read More]

The true story behind Princess Diana's fairytale wedding in 'The Crown'

 Posted on October 5, 2022  |  9 minutes  |  1847 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

On July 29, 1981, Lady Diana Spencer walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey, London, leading her wedding dress' enormous train past 3,500 guests, including nobility, world dignitaries and royalty. Waiting for her at the altar was Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II.  Related: Read a FREE issue of All About History magazine(opens in new tab) Diana recalled feeling like "the luckiest girl in the world" [Read More]

The world's biggest dust bunny is crossing the Atlantic Ocean right now

 Posted on October 5, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  760 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

A "Godzilla dust cloud" from the Sahara Desert that's heading toward the United States this week is the largest and most concentrated dust cloud of its kind in the past 50 years, according to news sources. As of June 22, the dust cloud — which some experts have dubbed the "Godzilla dust cloud" — had reached the Caribbean, spiking air quality to "hazardous" levels, according to the AP. People along the Gulf Coast may be next to experience the dusty visitor. [Read More]

Why You (Probably) Shouldn't Worry About Earth's Magnetic Poles Flipping

 Posted on October 5, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  698 words  |  Patria Henriques

Earth's magnetic poles, whatever they're doing, are not going to spark chaos and kill us all — a scenario making the rounds online right now. According to the Australian news site news.com.au, a magnetic flip would not only cause massive blackouts, "even flushing the toilet could become impossible." As reported by Undark, Daniel Baker, the director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is suggesting a reversal would render parts of the planet uninhabitable (though Baker is not directly quoted saying this). [Read More]

3,000-year-old Canaanite temple discovered in buried city in Israel

 Posted on October 4, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1142 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A 3,000-year-old temple, built by the Canaanites around the time of the ancient Israelite invasion, has been unearthed in southern Israel. The discoveries include an idol of the Canaanite god Baal that was the object of prayer and sacrifice in the temple's inner sanctuary. This is the first ancient Canaanite temple that archaeologists have found in more than half a century, and the discoveries shed new light on the ancient religion of the region, said Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. [Read More]

Ancient people in India may have buried their dead in giant stone jars

 Posted on October 4, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  1051 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Archaeologists have discovered hundreds of ancient and immense stone jars on hillsides in the far northeast of India that may have been used in funeral ceremonies. And the human-size vessels may be linked to mysterious containers found in northern Laos about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) away, according to one of the researchers. Both the jars in India and the jars in Laos are about 2,400 years old and are thought to have been used in human burials, although no human remains have yet been found in the newly discovered vessels. [Read More]

Ants vomit into each other's mouths to form social bonds

 Posted on October 4, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  915 words  |  Patria Henriques

Ants have social networks just like humans do, but instead of exchanging information through posts and comments, they vomit into each other's mouths.  Most insects have a foregut, a midgut and a hindgut. "However, for social insects, the foregut has become sort of a 'social stomach,'" said Adria LeBoeuf, an assistant professor and leader of the Laboratory of Social Fluids at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Contents of the midgut and hindgut are digested, while contents of the foregut are meant to be shared, said LeBoeuf, lead author of a new study describing the findings. [Read More]

Babies Are Born with Some Self-Awareness

 Posted on October 4, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  578 words  |  Fernande Dalal

With their uncoordinated movements and unfocused eyes, newborns may seem pretty clueless about the world. But new research finds that from the minute they are born, babies are well aware of their own bodies. Body awareness is an important skill for distinguishing the self from others, and failure to develop body awareness may be a component of some disorders such as autism. But little research has been done to find out when humans start to understand that their body is their own. [Read More]

Bill Gates 'Discovers' 14-Year-Old Formula on Climate Change

 Posted on October 4, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  669 words  |  Trudie Dory

Bill Gates just released a climate science equation that explains how the world can lower carbon dioxide emissions "down to zero," according to the 2016 edition the annual letter he and his wife, Melinda, published. This letter went online on Monday (Feb. 22). Problem is, the equation isn't exactly new. It's widely known in the climate science community as the Kaya identity, and was reviewed in the scientific literature in 2002 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Read More]