WEIRD SCIENCE
The microscopic organism grows easily in salt water without any trouble. By Rachel Nuwer – Eneko Ganuza grew up in Spain’s Basque country, not far from the sea. As a student studying oceanography, he fell in love with a seemingly unlikely specimen: microalgae. …
This debilitating condition afflicts over 300 million people and carries the largest burden of disease worldwide. By Natalie Parletta – People don’t generally connect diet with mental health, and it’s certainly not on the radar of most health professionals when treating depression. But …
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN – Need an excellent reason to add a dog to your life? How about living longer? “Our analysis found having a dog is actually protective against dying of any cause,” said Mount Sinai endocrinologist Dr. Caroline Kramer, lead …
The brain chemical associated with reward also seems to distort our perceptions. By Jack Barton – Did you know you’ve probably hallucinated in the past week? Multiple times, most likely. You don’t need to be concerned; these episodes are a relatively common experience …
You can think of the brain like it’s like Amazon’s anticipatory shipping process. By Emma Betuel – Each night, the brain expects you to finally go to sleep, although not everyone actually caves to the brain’s request. Fighting that signal to slumber has all …
New study raises as many questions as it answers, but researchers say that’s the point. By Nina Pullano – As climate change increases flooding worldwide, the idea of relocating structures in vulnerable areas may become less of a last resort and more of …
The country has been laying the groundwork for a big shift. By Mike Brown – Australia is about to meet its renewable energy goals at lightning speed. The Clean Energy Regulator, the government body responsible for overseeing the targets, announced recently that it …
By Michael Irving – An artist’s illustration of a gas giant planet like GJ 3512b orbiting a red dwarf star. CARMENES/RenderArea/J. Bollain/C. Gallego. An unexpected discovery is challenging our accepted understanding of how planets form. Astronomers have spotted a gigantic gas planet orbiting …
The web extends over millions of light-years. By Passant Rabie – Galaxies that are spread out in the vastness of the universe are actually connected. A mysterious, dark web feeds their star formation and helps them grow, and until recently, scientists have only …
They could have been the “Adam and Eve of chemical evolution.” By Yasmin Tayag – Hydrogen cyanide is best known as a poison, historically deployed as a murder weapon in gas chambers and by federal executioners. But much further back in Earth’s past, …
