6 Ways to Feed 11 Billion People

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  958 words  |  Trudie Dory

Feeding the world's growing population will not be an easy task. By 2100, it's estimated that there will be 11 billion people on the planet, 3 billion more than there are today. And 870 million people worldwide are already chronically hungry. The planet can definitely produce enough food for 11 billion people, experts say, but whether humans can do it sustainably, and whether consumers will ultimately be able to afford that food, are separate matters. [Read More]

A Russian Space Cargo Ship Just Fell to Earth. See Its Fiery Demise.

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  476 words  |  Trudie Dory

So long, Progress 72, and thanks for all the stuff. The Russian-built Progress cargo ship went down in flames (on purpose) on Monday (July 29) and a space station astronaut made sure to capture its fiery doom on camera. "Said goodbye to Progress 72 today to make room for 73P showing up on Wednesday. Caught this shot of it during reentry," NASA astronaut Nick Hague wrote on Twitter Monday. "It looked like a big firework that lasted minutes — flickering, sparking, and pulsing with brightness before it faded into the darkness. [Read More]

Abortion-Mental Illness Link Doesn't Hold Up, Researchers Find

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  943 words  |  Patria Henriques

A study purporting to find a link between abortions and mental illness does not hold up to scrutiny, according to a new report in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The original study, conducted by Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, has been a source of contention since its publication in 2009, when critics pointed out flaws in the statistical analysis. Those errors triggered a correction by Coleman and her colleagues, but outside researchers found other problems with the paper. [Read More]

Drone footage reveals dramatic Iceland volcanic eruption

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  520 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

After a 900-year nap, a volcano in Iceland erupted Friday (March 19), spewing tendrils of molten lava down its flanks and bathing the cloudy night sky in an ominous orange-red.  Gorgeous and fiery photos show the Fagradalsfjall volcano, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Reykjavik near the Reykjanes Peninsula, with streams of orange-red lava flowing out of a fissure at its top. One daring visitor flew a drone just above the glowing lava river and the vent of the erupting volcano. [Read More]

Duped by Photoshop: People Are Bad at Spotting Fake Photos

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  751 words  |  Patria Henriques

Recently, a fake photo of a baby girl with a sparkly piercing in a dimple on her cheek went viral and incited outrage from many who assumed the photo was real. Now, a new study shows why doctored images can fool so many: People really aren't very good at telling real images from fake ones. In the study, people who were shown a number of real and fake images spotted the fake photos about 60 percent of the time, which is only a little bit above the 50 percent accuracy rate that would be expected by chance. [Read More]

Hand Sanitizers Under Fire as Superbug Fighters

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  400 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Sometimes a hand sanitizer will reach too far in its claims. Four companies that say their products, including hand sanitizers, can prevent infection from the superbug MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, have been issued warning letters by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency announced today (April 20). Since the products, which are all nonprescription, claim to prevent disease, they are classified as drugs, which are within the purview of the FDA. [Read More]

Music Can Soothe Cancer Patients' Anxiety

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  576 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Listening to music or playing an instrument may reduce anxiety and pain in cancer patients and improve their quality of life, according to a new review. The findings suggest music therapy could be used in conjunction with other cancer treatments to improve patients' daily lives. "I think it's definitely worth offering to patients [to] see if it works for them," said study researcher Joke Bradt, a music therapist and associate creative arts professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. [Read More]

NASA Created a Rare, Exotic State of Matter in Space

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  332 words  |  Patria Henriques

NASA has cooled a cloud of rubidium atoms to ten-millionth of a degree above absolute zero, producing the fifth, exotic state of matter in space. The experiment also now holds the record for the coldest object we know of in space, though it isn't yet the coldest thing humanity has ever created. (That record still belongs to a laboratory at MIT.) The Cold Atom Lab (CAL) is a compact quantum physics machine, a device built to work in the confines of the International Space Station (ISS) that launched into space in May. [Read More]

Native Americans Had a Precolonial Baby Boom

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  604 words  |  Trudie Dory

For hundreds of years, Native Americans in the southwestern United States had a prolonged baby boom — which would average out to each woman giving birth to more than six children, a new study finds. That baby streak, however, ended a little before the Spanish colonized the Americas. "Birthrates were as high, or even higher, than anything we know in the world today," said study co-author Tim Kohler, an archaeologist and anthropologist at Washington State University. [Read More]

Off the Deep End: Man's Drunken Lake Dive Bursts His Bladder

 Posted on June 10, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  786 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

A day of beer and boating went sour for one young man in Maine, who ended up bursting his bladder when he dove into a lake. The injury tore a hole in the 24-year-old's bladder wall, allowing urine to leak into his abdomen, according to a new report of the man's case. Hitting the water with a full bladder was "the equivalent of throwing a water balloon on the sidewalk," said Dr. [Read More]