A Never-Before-Seen Event Is Collapsing an Ice Sheet in the Russian Arctic

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  613 words  |  Trudie Dory

For the first time, scientists think they're watching a fast-moving river of ice being born. These so-called ice streams are rapid, long-lasting flows of ice that form in the middle of more static ice formations known as ice sheets. There are only a handful of them on Earth. They form in remote parts of the arctic and antarctic and, once established, can last decades or even centuries. Until now, no one had ever seen one emerge. [Read More]

Brain's 'Clock' Disrupted in Depressed People

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  787 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Disrupted sleep is so commonly a symptom of depression that some of the first things doctors look for in diagnosing depression are insomnia and excessive sleeping. Now, however, scientists have observed for the first time a dysfunctional body clock in the brains of people with depression. People with major depression, also known as clinical depression, show disrupted circadian rhythms across brain regions, according to a new study published today (May 13) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Read More]

Design for Living: The Hidden Nature of Fractals

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  869 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Kim Tingley is a regular contributor to OnEarth magazine, published by the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the New York Times Magazine. This article was originally published by OnEarth magazine. Tingley contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Classical geometry is smooth and regular: straight lines, right angles, perfect circles. Man-made objects, from skyscrapers to iPhones, conform to its rules, but almost nothing in nature does. Nature is messy, craggy and chaotic — or so it seemed until 1975, the year a maverick mathematician, Benoît Mandelbrot, invented the term fractals to describe patterns he had discerned within seemingly irregular shapes found in nature. [Read More]

Extending Life: 7 Ways to Live Past 100

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  7 minutes  |  1327 words  |  Patria Henriques

How to live forever (or at least to 100)The dream of living forever permeates human culture. Mythical tales of immortals are found everywhere from the Greek myths and alchemist's notebooks to modern movies and futuristic science-fiction books. As the science of aging progresses, scientists have made tremendous progress in extending human life. From lowering infant mortality rates to creating effective vaccines and reducing deaths related to disease, science has helped increase the average person's life span by nearly three decades over the past century, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [Read More]

How Tough Turtles Survived Dino-Killing Meteor

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  583 words  |  Trudie Dory

What does it take to survive a catastrophic meteor impact? The tough turtles of the Cretaceous know a bit about that; they seem to have survived the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs because of their slow metabolisms and aquatic lifestyles, researchers now say. "Turtles are very tough animals, if times get tough they can go into a state of animation," said study researcher Tyler Lyson, of Yale University. [Read More]

Hurricane Sandy-Level Floods Likely to Hit NYC More Often

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  929 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Disastrous floods like those seen during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which killed 159 people in the United States, destroyed neighborhoods in New York and caused an estimated $50 billion in damages, may hit New York City 17 times more often in the next century, a new study finds. Hurricane Sandy was the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane caused widespread flooding of streets, buildings and subway tunnels in Manhattan after storm surges pushed the East River to overflow its banks. [Read More]

Satellite images show extreme flooding in New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  607 words  |  Fernande Dalal

The epic storm that swept across the eastern United States this week hit New Jersey so hard that satellites saw the damage from space.  After Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29, it swept up the coast, bringing with it extreme weather, rainfall and destruction. On Sept. 1, the storm hit New Jersey. The historic rainfall has so far killed at least 25 people in the state and at least 61 people(opens in new tab) across eight states. [Read More]

Scientists behind tech in mRNA vaccines snag 2nd prestigious prize — is a Nobel next?

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  776 words  |  Patria Henriques

Two scientists who developed key technology used in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have been awarded the 2021 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, which comes with an honorarium of $250,000. Earlier this month, the pair won the $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.  Given that many past Lasker winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, could the team be up next for the coveted award? (Moderna co-founder and stem cell biologist Derrick Rossi has said that, at some point, they should certainly be considered for the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Stat News reported. [Read More]

Want a Real-Life, Full-Size Transformer? This Company Builds Them

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  249 words  |  Patria Henriques

Ever wonder what the computer-generated Transformer robots in director Michael Bay's movies would look like in real life? A Turkish company has the answer, with a fully functional Transformer prototype. In a series of videos, the company Letvision unveiled a transforming robot built from a BMW 3 Series coupe. Letrons, as the prototype is called, is controlled via a remote and can be seen driving and transforming in the video. It took a team of 12 engineers and four supporting technicians eight months to complete the prototype, Letvision officials said on the company's website. [Read More]

What in the World Is This? Weird, Amazing Image Goes Viral

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  593 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A worm with devil horns? Some sort of elaborate pasta creation? A vaguely nefarious tropical flower?  None of the above. This image, recently circulating on Reddit, is actually a mosquito's foot. In a post on Reddit that garnered more than 32,000 upvotes, the photo doesn't come with much more backstory than that. But the image is actually from a scanning electron microscope made by photographer Steve Gschmeissner. It was shortlisted in the 2016 Royal Photography Society International Images for Science contest. [Read More]