Astrophysicists Claim They Found a 'Galaxy Without Dark Matter'

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1237 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Here's a problem: The universe acts like it's a lot more massive than it looks. Take galaxies, those giant, spinning masses of stars. The laws of motion and gravity tell us how fast these objects should turn given their bulk. But observations through telescopes show them spinning way faster than we'd expect, as if they were actually much more massive than the stars we can see indicate. Astrophysicists have come up with two main solutions to this problem. [Read More]

Daily Marijuana Use Among College Students Reaches 30-Year High

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  610 words  |  Trudie Dory

The percentage of U.S. college students who say they smoke marijuana daily or nearly every day is at its highest in more than three decades, according to a new survey. In 2014, 5.9 percent of college students said they smoked marijuana 20 or more times in the prior month. That's up from 3.5 percent in 2007, and is the highest rate of near-daily use reported since the survey began, in 1980, the researchers said. [Read More]

Deadly Bacteria Lurk in Deepwater Horizon Tar Balls

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  497 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Nearly two years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster gushed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, tar balls from the spill still turn up on Alabama's shores after storms. Now, one researcher is recommending that people steer clear of these tar balls after studies find them chock-full of potentially deadly bacteria. In research published online November 2011 in the journal EcoHealth, Auburn University microbiologist Cova Arias and colleagues discovered that Deepwater Horizon tar balls found months after the spill contained high levels of bacteria, including 10 times the level of Vibrio vulnificus as found in the surrounding sand, a finding first reported by the Associated Press. [Read More]

Depression Linked with Parkinson's Disease Risk

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  494 words  |  Fernande Dalal

People who have been diagnosed with depression may have an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease later on, a new study suggests. In the study, researchers looked at about 140,000 people who had been diagnosed with depression between 1987 and 2012. They matched each of them with three people of the same age and gender who had not been diagnosed with depression. The people in the study were all at least 50 years old by 2005. [Read More]

Forest Loss and Climate: Empowering Communities Can Help (Op-Ed)

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1116 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Andrew Steer is the president and CEO of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization that works in more than 50 countries. Steer serves on the executive board of the U.N. secretary general's Sustainable Energy For All initiative. He co-chairs the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Natural Capital and is a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. [Read More]

Humans Visit Huge Penguin Colony for First Time

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  372 words  |  Patria Henriques

The existence of a 9,000-strong colony of emperor penguins in East Antarctica has been confirmed by three people who visited it for the first time. Signs of the penguins were spotted by satellite, which took images of large stains on the snow in 2009 that scientists suspected were penguin feces. But it wasn't until early December 2012 that three people from Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctica polar research station visited the colony to glimpse the penguins for themselves, according to a statement from the International Polar Foundation, which runs the station. [Read More]

In Images: Glowing is Widespread in Marine Fishes

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  266 words  |  Trudie Dory

Flashlight fishA flashlight fish from the genus Anomalops, which has pockets under its eyes that are filled with bioluminescent bacteria. Read the full story about bioluminescence in marine fishes Barbeled dragonfishBarbeled dragonfish are bioluminescent deep-sea fish with a long protrusion — known as a barbel — attached to their chins and tipped with a light-producing organ called a photophore. Loosejaw dragonfishA recently collected loosejaw dragonfish (Malacosteinae) with bioluminescent eye organs. [Read More]

Jet-Propelled 3D-Printed Drone Claims Speed Record

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  500 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A new jet-powered drone might be the most complex flying machine ever built using 3D printing. The drone, which made its debut at the Dubai Airshow earlier this month, looks nothing like your average 3D-printed toy plane. It has a 9-foot-long (3 meters) wingspan and an aerodynamic design that gives it a futuristic appearance. But about 80 percent of the sleek, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is designed and manufactured using 3D printing methods, according to Aurora Flight Sciences and Stratasys, the companies that developed the drone. [Read More]

Mouthwatering Math: Culinary Creations Combine Food and Formulas

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  496 words  |  Trudie Dory

NEW YORK — What do mathematics and cooking have in common? They both involve a search for beauty in the world around us, one mathematician says. Mercedes Siles Molina is a mathematician at the University of Malaga, in Spain, who wanted to combine her passions for math and cooking. Moline enlisted the help of Chef José Carlos Garcia and photographer Pedro Reyes Dueñas to develop a series of culinary creations based on mathematical shapes and formulas. [Read More]

Photos: Secret Paintings of Angkor Wat

 Posted on May 22, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  383 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Secret PaintingsDigitally enhanced images revealed hidden paintings on the walls of Cambodia's Angkor Wat, one of the largest religious monuments in the world, built between A.D. 1113 and 1150. The paintings, once invisible to the naked eye, show elephants, deities, boats, orchestral ensembles and people riding horses, according to a new research article detailed online in May 2014 in the journal Antiquity. [Read full story] Barely-There BeastsSubtle traces of paint caught the eye of Noel Hidalgo Tan, a rock-art researcher at Australian National University in Canberra, while he was working on an excavation at Angkor Wat in 2010. [Read More]