Do Nobel Prize Winners Become Wealthy?
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 6 minutes
| 1115 words
| Arica Deslauriers
The inventions and discoveries of Nobel Prize winners are often society changing, but many of the laureates don't actually benefit from their research, at least financially.
"Most recipients don't become wealthier after getting the Nobel Prize," said Bruno Strasser, assistant professor of history of science & medicine at Yale University. "However, it depends on how you define wealthy."
The prize itself has been at $1.5 million (10 million Swedish Krona) for the past nine years.
[Read More]Gene Thieves: Female Salamanders Hijack DNA from Multiple Males
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 767 words
| Fernande Dalal
In the natural world, stealing is a necessary and frequent strategy for survival. Every animal group includes opportunists that snatch others' fresh kills, pilfer nesting materials or swipe prospective mates from distracted rivals.
But only one type of animal uses thievery at the genetic level for reproduction — an all-female lineage of salamanders in the Ambystoma genus, which contains dozens of species and is widespread across North America. These females mate with multiple males from other Ambystoma species and hijack copies of their partners' genomes, researchers discovered about a decade ago.
[Read More]Gladiator Gatorade: Ancient Fighters Drank Tangy 'Sports Drink'
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 680 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Long before modern athletes recharged with post-workout drinks, ancient gladiators may have guzzled an ash-filled beverage laden with electrolytes — a Roman-era equivalent of a sports drink.
The skeletal remains of gladiators unearthed in a cemetery in Ephesus, Turkey, suggest the fighters may have drunk a beverage made from ash, vinegar and water.
The new analysis, which was detailed online Oct. 15 in the journal PLOS ONE, also casts doubt on the notion that the fighters ate a special gladiator diet, as historical documents suggest.
[Read More]Mars Hoaxes! 6 Stubborn Red Planet Conspiracy Theories
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 585 words
| Fernande Dalal
Every year in August, the same Mars message circulates across the Internet: The Red Planet will appear "as big as the full moon" in the sky, as seen with the naked eye. The problem is, it's not true: Skywatchers won't be able to see a "double moon" in the late August sky.
The so-called Mars Hoax (which started in 2003 after a real-life close approach of Mars to the Earth) is just one of a series of false claims concerning the Red Planet.
[Read More]Prehistoric cannibal victim found in death cave ID'ed as a young girl
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 744 words
| Arica Deslauriers
About 800,000 years ago in what is now Spain, cannibals devoured an early human child who became known as "The Boy of Gran Dolina." But new analysis of these ancient remains has revealed a surprising twist: the child was a girl.
The child was a Homo antecessor, an early hominin species that lived in Europe between 1.2 million and 800,000 years ago. Discovered in 1994 in the Gran Dolina cave in northern Spain's Atapuerca Mountains, the species is known primarily from fragments of bones and teeth, which hampered researchers' efforts to determine the sex of H.
[Read More]Save 38% on these Moonsteps STEM construction kits, ideal for kids ages 5-12
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 407 words
| Fernande Dalal
If you’ve got a little one aged five or above, it can often be tricky to funnel their creativity into projects. After all, the natural next step after building something is to knock it straight down again. While that undoubtedly brings its own fun, there’s something to be said with a little more longevity – and that’s exactly what this Moonsteps building kit offers.
Right now, you can pick up the Moonsteps STEM building toy for just $29.
[Read More]Secret to Bad-Tasting Diet Sodas Found
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 592 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
It's the feel of diet soda in the mouth that makes it taste crummy, not the flavor of the artificial sweetener, studies suggest.
Consumers claim they dislike the taste of aspartame and Splenda, but research by two University of Illinois food scientists shows that swillers of diet and regular soda are also influenced by a subtle factor called mouth-feel.
Mouth-feel refers to a food or beverage's body, fullness and thickness, the scientists say, and the presence of high-fructose corn syrup in regular soda and its absence in diet might be a distinguishing factor for discerning drinkers.
[Read More]Something to Sweat: Earth Gets Steamier
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 541 words
| Patria Henriques
It’s not the heat, but the humidity that will get you.
Not only is the planet getting hotter, but it's also becoming more humid, as a result of human-induced global warming, a new study finds. A steamier Earth could mean more extreme precipitation and sweatier days for humans.
Scientists had previously observed increases in humidity over certain regions and in some global data over the past few decades, and while climate models predicted the increase (because warmer air can hold more moisture), it had not yet been attributed to human-induced global warming.
[Read More]Take That Back: The Top Scientific Retractions of 2019
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 8 minutes
| 1683 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
"If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong. That's all there is to it." So said famed physicist Richard Feynman at a lecture about the scientific method(opens in new tab) at Cornell University in 1964.
Feynman appears to be only half correct, though. Yes, one's proposed theory is wrong if it doesn't agree with experiment. But that's not all there is to it. With carelessness or outright fraud, you can make it seem that your theory is correct — and get it published in a top scientific journal.
[Read More]The electric hum of life may have originated with primordial lightning
Posted on September 15, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 841 words
| Patria Henriques
Editor's Note: This story was updated on Thursday, July 9 at 11 a.m. ET.
There's an electrical hum in most animals, including ourselves. No one knows where it came from or why exactly it exists. Now, new research suggests this electric hum came from primordial lightning.
In most vertebrates and invertebrates, there is constant background cellular electrical activity, often coursing through the nervous system, with a small frequency range from 5 to 45 Hertz.
[Read More]