The Best in Science News and Amazing Breakthroughs
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(Jonathan Knowles/Stone/Getty Images) Your birthday tells you how many years you have been alive. But it cannot tell you whether your heart, brain, or kidneys have weathered those years equally well. That's because organs within the same body can show different levels of biological aging. A new study published in Nature Medicine suggests that aging leaves different marks on the microscopic…
(Cristian Tarzi/Unsplash) As the recent global pandemic waned – and the urgent need for widespread remote work began to fade into history – a new view started to emerge. It suggested remote work wasn't as effective as being in the office, that it hinders collaboration, and that remote workers experience increased feelings of isolation and worsened mental health. But what if we've got this the…
(Andreas Felske/Unsplash) It's well known that where there's smoke there's fire, but did you know that where there's rain there's ice? Or so the conventional thinking goes, as atmospheric ice crystals allow raindrops to grow large and heavy enough to fall from cold clouds. There are also 'warm clouds', which generate much of Earth's rain, especially in the tropics, and influence our global energy…
IC 1101 is much bigger than previous estimates suggested. (C. Marrero de la Rosa et al.; data: Isaac Newton Telescope (INT/ING)) The Universe can pull some wild monkeyshines, especially when it comes to scale. From giant black holes to massive sheet-like walls of galaxies, our reality is full of mind-boggling chonkers. But a galaxy named IC 1101 is bonkers in a way that dramatically exceeds the…
(Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images) For over a year, starting in late 2021, the Women's Heart Bus chugged around France, offering cardiac and gynecological screenings to thousands of patients living in precarious situations or unable to travel to a doctor. There's good reason the bus was checking both heart and reproductive-organ health. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women…
(CatLane/E+/Getty Images) For decades we've known that the cleaning solvent chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) is associated with a higher risk of Parkinson's disease, but the scope of the danger may be greater than we realized. According to new research, even living close to a dry cleaning business could raise your risk of developing the condition. In a nationwide analysis published in npj…
(Hinterhaus Productions/DigitalVision/Getty Images) This Week in Science: Jellyfish attack, lab-grown mini-brains sense time, and much more! First up: An analysis of 500 occupations revealed the job with the highest risk of radiation-related cancer deaths, and it's probably not one you'd expect. It turns out it's flight attendants, followed by pilots. The prime suspect is a strange one. Also this…
(Andrew Brookes/Connect Images/Getty Images) Schizophrenia can affect how a person perceives reality, thinks, and communicates, sometimes causing hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, reduced motivation, and cognitive difficulties. Bipolar disorder primarily involves episodes of extreme changes in mood and energy, including mania and depression. Some people with bipolar disorder also…
(Yana Iskayeva/Moment/Getty Images) For those living in the shadow of mental health conditions such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression, finding a way forward can sometimes feel impossible – especially when conventional treatments have offered little succor. Psilocybin, a psychoactive chemical found in some mushrooms, spent decades being demonized as an illicit drug. But now, results from the first…
(ComicSans/iStock/Getty Images Plus) Every atom of matter in the Universe is built around a nucleus. It's a tightly packed bundle of protons and neutrons that makes up the atomic core, defines its elemental identity, and contains most of its mass. Textbooks often depict this blob of particles as a sort of spherical raspberry, around which electrons whirl in a series of orbits – but that isn't…
Colorized image of a zircon crystal under scanning electron micrograph – not the crystal studied. (Emmanuel Roquette/Wikimedia CC BY 4.0) Sometime in Earth's distant past, nearly 4 billion years ago, our planet's earliest lifeforms somehow coalesced from primordial chemistry. Not much remains of the earliest organisms that inhabited Earth. Time and geology have changed whatever remains almost…
Candida albicans is mostly harmless in its round, yeasty form. (Science Photo Library/Image Bank Film/Getty Images) Scientists have found that a little-known bacterial antibiotic is capable of disarming fungi responsible for life-threatening infections. It's a welcome discovery in a world where drug-resistant fungi are becoming an increasingly serious global health concern. "Fungal infections kill…
(Daniel A Lloyd/Moment/Getty Images) Gastrointestinal cancers are among the most common cancers worldwide, and a leading cause of death. Diagnosis isn't a particularly pleasant experience, usually involving inserting a camera where the Sun don't shine. But soon, doctors might be able to spot this kind of cancer by looking at the other end. New evidence from a study published in the journal Cell…
(Jasmina007/E+/Getty Images) Psychedelics are becoming more clinically relevant, and a slew of recent research has explored the effects of psilocybin in ever-greater detail, revealing that it has the ability to imprint lasting, meaningful changes in brain activity. Psilocybin, the psychoactive powerhouse in 'magic mushrooms', is thought to induce brain plasticity, reorganizing neural connections…
(Anastasiia Voloshko/Moment/Getty Images) Vitamins are usually sold to us as a pretty straightforward, good thing to add to your diet. Get enough, and you'll look and feel great; get too little, and your body might notice. But the reality is messier – and few vitamins prove that better than B12. For decades, vitamin B12 has been one of the heroes of nutrition. If you're foggy-headed or tired – or…
(Stefania Pelfini la Waziya/Moment/Getty Images) Cats are everywhere on the internet: You'll readily find these felines batting at objects, scampering over ground, interacting with their owners, or doing something else adorable. But is all of this content actually healthy for the cats, and for us? In a study published in Anthrozoös, researchers from Adelaide University in Australia found that…
(Alexander Spatari/Moment/Getty Images) Most breakfast advice focuses on what to put on your plate. But a large study of US adults suggests the clock may deserve attention, too: The time you consume your first and last calories of the day could be linked to how long you live. The findings show an association, not proof that changing the clock changes a person's fate. Still, they add to evidence…
(Maskot/Getty Images) What's the secret to health and happiness? For some, it's an optimistic spirit. Others might say your experiences are what matters, or maybe your personality is paramount. There's no single formula, but in recent decades positive psychology has increasingly focused on the theory of well-being, encompassing our quality of life, sense of purpose and meaning, personal…
