Why Mass Killers Aren't Necessarily Psychopaths

 Posted on September 27, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  843 words  |  Trudie Dory

The term "psychopath" is often a misunderstood one; although people frequently refer to alleged mass killers like Colorado shooter James Holmes or the Tucson, Ariz., shooter Jared Loughner as psychopaths, that doesn't mean these men fit the description of this mental health disorder. In the last week, a psychiatric evaluation report was released stating that after months of receiving treatment for schizophrenia, 23-year-old Loughner seemed to understand that he was agreeing to a guilty plea for the 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. [Read More]

7 Things Most Often Mistaken for UFOs

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  946 words  |  Trudie Dory

IntroIt doesn't take much to convince people that they've seen an experimental missile or a UFO. A funny-looking cloud or an exceptionally bright planet will usually do the trick. Here, our top 7 things that drive space-related hoaxes. 7. LightningMysterious UFO sightings may go hand-in-hand with a natural weather phenomenon known as sprites flashes high in the atmosphere triggered by thunderstorms. Sprites suddenly appear when lightning from thunderstorms excites the electric field above the storm, producing dancing flashes of bright light. [Read More]

Bats Shut Traps When Flying in Groups

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  703 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Bats are known, in part, for making an infernal racket that helps them navigate, but it turns out they may actually flap around in relative silence when traveling in groups. It's only for a microsecond, but the bats may actually take turns shutting up so they can listen to the leader and avoid the confusion caused by too many signals at once, new research suggests. Back-seat echolocator Bats navigate through a sonar-like process called echolocation, in which they emit high-frequency calls, then gauge the distance of objects around them by measuring how long it takes the echoes to bounce back. [Read More]

Birth Weight Charts May Misclassify Babies of Immigrants

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  709 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The charts that doctors use when assessing a baby's birth weight should take into account the mother's ethnicity, to better predict health problems after birth, a new study from Canada suggests. For example, charts may misclassify Asian women's babies as too small, or miss noting that some bigger babies are at risk for complications, according to a study published today (Nov. 11) in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. As a result, some babies may face unneeded scrutiny of their health, and even lengthier hospital stays, said study co-author Marcelo Urquia, an epidemiologist at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health of St. [Read More]

Cave Biologists Shine Light on Creatures of the Dark

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  830 words  |  Fernande Dalal

The creatures that dwell in caves have evolved many strange adaptations to live in their dark, sometimes forbidding underworld landscapes, but after decades of hard work, scientists are teasing out their secrets. Macroinvertebrate biologist Steven Taylor at the University of Illinois has spent 20 years delving into the mysteries of cave life. Many of these organisms are pale, furtive and multi-legged. Some lack eyes or any other light-sensing organs. [Read More]

Depressed? Go Play in the Dirt

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  474 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Exposure to friendly soil bacteria could improve mood by boosting the immune system just as effectively as antidepressant drugs, a new study suggests. Researchers exposed mice to a harmless soil microbe called Mycobacterium vaccae and had the rodents perform a behavioral task commonly used to test the efficacy of antidepressant drugs. The mice were placed in a large beaker of water for five minutes and watched to see how long they continued swimming and searching for an exit before giving up. [Read More]

Greetings, Earthlings! 8 Ways Aliens Could Contact Us

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1265 words  |  Patria Henriques

Beyond EarthFrom a few subtle radio signals to alien monsters bombing the White House, science fiction is replete with depictions of aliens making contact with mere mortals. While some of those depictions are far-fetched, it turns out that scientists have spent countless hours thinking about just how extraterrestrial civilizations could contact humans. Some of their ideas are nearly as fantastical as Hollywood's wildest tales. From alien megastructures to miniature robots, here are some of the more radical ways " [Read More]

Kaz USA Recalls Honeywell Portable Electric Heaters

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  220 words  |  Patria Henriques

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Kaz USA Inc., of Southborough, Mass., and  Ningbo Honecho Industry Co., Ltd. of China, announced a voluntary recall of about 19,000 Honeywell Surround Select Portable Electric Heaters. Hazard: The heater’s internal housing, including the fan, heating element and circuitry, can detach, posing a burn hazard to consumers. Incidents/Injuries: None reported Description: This recall includes Honeywell Surround Select Series portable electric heaters with model numbers HZ-420, HZ-430, and HZ-440 and five-digit date codes that have 11 as the last two digits. [Read More]

Rare primordial gas may be leaking out of Earth's core

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  747 words  |  Fernande Dalal

An extremely rare type of helium that was created soon after the Big Bang is leaking out of Earth's metallic core, a new modeling study suggests.  The vast majority of this gas in the universe, called helium-3, is primordial and was created just after the Big Bang occurred about 13.8 billion years ago. Some of this helium-3 would have joined other gas and dust particles in the solar nebula — the vast, spinning and collapsed cloud that is thought to have led to the creation of the solar system. [Read More]

Scientists Grow Mouse Pancreas Inside a Rat

 Posted on September 26, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  942 words  |  Trudie Dory

In a recent experiment to help out mice that were missing their pancreases, scientists grew new pancreases from mouse stem cells in the bodies of rats, and then transplanted those pancreases into the mice. The researchers found that this technique could reverse diabetes in the mice, according to a new study. Moreover, this strategy of growing the organs of one species inside the body of another could one day help to produce transplantable human organs grown in large animals, such as pigs or sheep, the researchers said. [Read More]