Oldest evidence of humans using tobacco discovered in Utah

 Posted on October 3, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  711 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

(opens in new tab)Charred seeds found in the Utah desert represent the earliest-known human use of tobacco, evidence that some of the first people to arrive in the Americas used the plant, according to new research. The discovery reveals that humans used tobacco nearly 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, the researchers said. Of all the intoxicant plants that humans use and abuse, tobacco has arguably had the most critical social and economic impact, the scientists of the new study said. [Read More]

Political Psychology: The Presidents' Mental Health

 Posted on October 3, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1207 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Perhaps it isn't surprising, given the intense rhetoric of this year's presidential election, that politicians have started throwing around accusations of insanity.    In early August, California Rep. Karen Bass, a Democrat, launched the hashtag #DiagnoseTrump and started a change.org petition claiming the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, meets the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Not long after, Trump called Hillary Clinton "unstable," and at a rally in New Hampshire said, " [Read More]

Sculptor Unknowingly Poisons Herself with Her Own Art

 Posted on October 3, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  379 words  |  Patria Henriques

When a sculptor in Toronto started feeling ill in 2013, she had no idea that her art was the reason why. The sculptor, Gillian Genser, had been using blue mussel shells in her sculptures for the past 15 years, and, as a result, unknowingly poisoning herself. The culprit? Heavy metals, including arsenic and lead, found in the mussel shells. In a moving personal essay published Nov. 28 in Toronto Life, Genser described the onset of her symptoms — which began with agitation, headaches and vomiting, and later progressed to symptoms such as hearing loss in one ear and short-term memory problems. [Read More]

Short Bouts of Exercise Benefit Health, Too

 Posted on October 3, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  887 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

No time to exercise? Can’t afford a gym membership? Not to worry. Shoveling snow, raking the leaves, lugging laundry up the stairs, or pacing while chatting on the phone may be as effective as a formal workout — provided those short bursts of activity add up to 30 minutes a day, according to a new study. Researchers at Oregon State University analyzed data on physical activity and markers of health such as cholesterol and blood pressure for more than 6,000 people ages 18 to 85, who had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 2003 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2006. [Read More]

Stealthy, Sub-Launched Torpedo Will Be Deadlier Than Ever

 Posted on October 3, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  526 words  |  Fernande Dalal

The U.S. Navy's most commonly used torpedo — the Mark 48 — is getting a makeover that will make it stealthier, deadlier and more far-reaching than ever before, according to news sources. The upgrade will help the submarine-launched heavyweight torpedo — which is a self-propelled underwater missile — demolish enemy ships, submarines and small boats in both shallow and deep waters, according to Warrior Maven, an armed-forces-focused news site.  [Read More]

The Secret Lives of Outdoor Cats Revealed

 Posted on October 3, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  447 words  |  Trudie Dory

Where does your kitty go when you let her out? What do stray cats do all day? Do alley cats hang out with each other? These are just some of the questions answered by a newly completed research project in which 42 free-roaming cats — some with no owner, some outdoor pets — were radio-collared and tracked for two years by researchers at the University of Illinois. Together, the cats roamed 6,286 acres in and around the cities of Urbana and Champaign. [Read More]

This Muppet-faced frogmouth is the 'most Instagrammable bird' on Earth

 Posted on October 3, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  495 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The sky is full of exceptional birds. Cardinals bedecked with half-male, half-female plumage; godwits that can soar 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometers) across oceans nonstop; parrots that can best Harvard undergrads in a classic con game (no student loans required). Then, there are birds whose only claim to fame is their ugliness — and, according to a new study, those may be the most exceptional birds of all. Meet the frogmouth — that is, if you haven't already brushed feathers with this big-eyed owl lookalike on Instagram. [Read More]

'Iron Man' Suit Under Development by US Army

 Posted on October 2, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  517 words  |  Trudie Dory

If you've always wanted a high-tech suit of armor that will make you nearly invincible — à la Tony Stark of "Iron Man" — your long wait may soon be over. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) and other groups from business and academia are joining forces to create a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, that "promises to provide superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection," [Read More]

2011 Virginia Earthquake Felt by Third of US

 Posted on October 2, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  564 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Nearly a third of the U.S. population reported feeling the earthquake that struck Virginia last year, probably more than any other earthquake in U.S. history, researchers say. The magnitude 5.8 quake that struck near Mineral, Va., nearly a year ago on Aug. 23, 2011, was felt from Maine to Florida, from Cape Cod to Chicago, and was among the largest ever recorded on the Eastern Seaboard. Damage from the earthquake was relatively light, but effects were nevertheless seen at two landmarks in Washington: the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. [Read More]

Bees See Color 3 Times Faster Than Humans

 Posted on October 2, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  470 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Bees see color at about triple the speed that humans do, a new study finds. The findings are the first to measure bumblebee color vision speed and show how it compares with that of monochromatic vision, or the "black-and-white" vision used to track motion. Since speedy vision takes up quite a bit of energy, the results suggest seeing quickly in color must be rather valuable for bees. "Color vision doesn't have to be so fast — if you want to track something moving accurately you need fast processing to track its changing position, but objects don't change color rapidly, that tends to be a permanent feature," [Read More]