Magic Mushrooms Can Erase Fear in Mice
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 547 words
| Patria Henriques
The active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms may erase frightening memories and encourage new brain cell growth in mice, a new study suggests.
Mice given an electric shock, then a low-dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, lost their fearful response to a sound associated with a painful electric shock much more quickly than mice that didn't receive the drug.
"They stopped freezing; they lost their fear," said study co-author Dr. Juan Sanchez-Ramos, a professor of movement disorders at the University of South Florida.
[Read More]This Year's Flu Shot Doesn't Match What's Circulating. Here's What That Means.
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 518 words
| Fernande Dalal
There's more bad news about the flu: The main strain of flu that's circulating right now doesn't exactly match what's in this year's flu shot(opens in new tab), according to a new report.
However, the strain in the vaccine may still be close enough to offer some protection, officials said.
The news comes amid a particularly severe flu season in the U.S.; the season started early, and it's unclear if flu activity has peaked yet.
[Read More]Tweaked DNA Snippets Could Become Tiny Electrical 'On' Switches
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 575 words
| Trudie Dory
Teensy "living" circuits based on DNA could lead to new ways for scientists to look inside cells and even see chemical reactions such as photosynthesis. However, to create such DNA devices, there has to be a way to run electricity through them. Until now, that has been a limiting factor.
But now, scientists have turned tiny snippets of DNA into molecular "on" switches that get electricity flowing on a miniscule scale.
[Read More]Ultra-fast electron rain is pouring out of Earth's magnetosphere, and scientists think they know why
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 540 words
| Trudie Dory
Tomorrow's weather may be cloudy with a chance of electrons, thanks to a newly detected phenomenon in Earth's magnetic shield.
Described as unexpected, ultra-fast "electron precipitation," the phenomenon occurs when waves of electromagnetic energy pulse through Earth's magnetosphere – the magnetic field generated by the churning of Earth's core, which surrounds our planet and shields it from deadly solar radiation. These electrons then overflow from the magnetosphere and plummet toward Earth.
[Read More]Was Lord Kelvin wrong? 3D-printed shape casts doubt on his 150-year-old theory
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 649 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
A 150-year-old theory about an otherworldly shape proposed by Lord Kelvin, one of history's greatest physicists, has finally been put to the test — and his conjecture is now in doubt.
In 1871, William Thomson, more commonly known as Lord Kelvin — a famed British physicist who made key contributions to electromagnetic theory, thermodynamics, navigation and the absolute temperature system that bears his name — proposed a theory about a strange hypothetical shape, which he called an isotropic helicoid.
[Read More]Water, Water Not Everywhere: Why Puddles Stop Spreading
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 886 words
| Arica Deslauriers
When you spill water on a glass table, the water spreads for a few seconds, and then stops in distinct puddles. These formations make water easier to spot and wipe up with a towel, but the traditional laws of physics say water should spread indefinitely. So why doesn't it?
New research links the distinct way puddles form to the way underground rocks store carbon dioxide. When cooled and compressed, this gas can seep into a rock's pores, or the spaces among rock grains, in a process similar to the way liquid spreads over a smooth surface.
[Read More]What Doomed Franklin's Polar Expedition? Thumbnail Holds Clue
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 684 words
| Arica Deslauriers
For 170 years, scientists, historians and amateur sleuths alike have been trying to figure out what led to the demise of the Franklin Expedition, one of the deadliest disasters in polar exploration, which left all 129 crew members dead in the Canadian Arctic.
Now, a fingernail may hold clues about the fate of these men.
Researchers were able to reconstruct some information about the health and diet of one of Sir John Franklin's men in the weeks before his death, based on chemicals stored in his fingernail.
[Read More]Why Women Stay in Abusive Relationships
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 515 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
A new study provides insights into the behavior of women entrenched in an abusive relationship with their male partner.
Researchers discovered that many who live with chronic psychological abuse still see certain positive traits in their abusers — such as dependability and being affectionate — which may partly explain why they stay.
"We wanted to see whether survey information from women who were not currently seeking treatment or counseling for relationship abuse could be a reliable source for identifying specific types of male abusers,"
[Read More]Zombies in Sci-Fi Novel Have Gruesome Real-World Inspiration
Posted on May 13, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 1006 words
| Fernande Dalal
A new science-fiction novel by author M. R. Carey features a team of biologists racing against time to find a cure for a zombie "plague" caused by a parasitic fungus, which is overwhelming human populations at an alarming pace.
But unlike most of the zombie-creating infectious agents that populate sci-fi stories, this one is grounded in horrific reality.
The hapless human zombies in "The Boy on the Bridge" (Orbit Books, 2017) are mindless automatons with only one objective on their minds — consuming human flesh and transmitting the zombie infection, caused by a parasitic fungus identified in the novel as "
[Read More]10 Tips for Avoiding Cancer
Posted on May 12, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 494 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Many people think cancer is entirely genetic and cannot be avoided, but that's not true.
Healthy behaviors could prevent about half of cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.
Here are 10 lifestyle changes, all based on the latest research, that can improve the odds against cancer. The tips come from Dr. Anne McTiernan of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
- Don’t smoke or use any other tobacco products.
[Read More]