ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATEWhen British researchers went diving in Bouldnor Cliff, a submarine archaeological site near the Isle of Wight in the UK, it would fit to assume that they hadn’t quite banked on finding evidence of wheat beneath the waters. But when the researcher analyzed a core sample obtained from sealed sediments, microfossils with sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) of wheat species revealed that there might be far more to the story of the cash crop and trade in ancient Britain—perhaps even 2,000 years more than what the current history predicts.
Should the vapors be cause for concern? Well it certainly has been a question that has crossed NASA and the astronauts’ aboard the International Space Station minds. Since the snafu on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when a routine spacewalk led to water leaking into space station flight engineer Terry Virts’ helmet, the team has been buzzing with news of whether or not they will be cleared to walk again this weekend.
To better answer Piazzi’s original questions, and some new ones that have arisen in the more than two centuries since it was first discovered, researchers with NASA developed the Dawn Spacecraft mission which was originally launched in 2007. After a successful 14-month-orbit around Vesta in the asteroid belt, Dawn is now moving onto the next dwarf planet and will arrive to Ceres within the next week. And the first question that the Dawn mission would like to answer is a glaring one, visible on the surface.
Ever wonder what’s best: to feed your baby peanut butter or not, for fear of a deadly allergic reaction? Well while past guidelines suggested that parents steer clear of most allergens until an older age, a new study published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that avoidance may no longer be the best method. In fact, the study researchers suggest that early exposure may even prevent your children from developing the allergy altogether.
Though the studies of space and the seas reveal many unknowns, the most interesting field of science may perhaps be the study of us—humans. Anthropologists and archaeologists excavate remains and remnants deep within the soils of our past, only to reveal what makes humans unique unto themselves. And in this quest for knowledge, researchers have often come to find that while tales of kings and ancient pharaohs may satiate the public, it’s the stories of religion and artifacts that really create the big picture.
If you were in the area of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii last week and thought that you were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of humpback whale, you were probably right. But the sighting wasn’t such as a rare sight, with the more than 25 ton mammal acting as a sitting duck along the Big Island’s Kona Coast.
Forget Ebola, Americans may have an even more viral threat, mutating close to home. Months ago we reported on the death of a Kansas man who had been bitten by ticks and died from complications with what appeared to be a virus—what researchers called the “Bourbon Virus”. Now, health officials say that the virus is not anything like which they have ever seen, and as a member of an entirely novel genus of viruses, it may pose significant health risks throughout the United States.
While these little arachnids are not much to look at, ticks are the carriers of a myriad of diseases, which makes them of great importance to researchers. History has shown that they can cause sepsis, this past summer researchers discovered that the Lone Star tick can create a severe allergy to red meats, and now health officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that a new tick-borne virus can even cause multiple organ failure.
Ever seen a snapshot of the universe and wondered just how and what makes the beautiful swirling shapes that modern telescopes now let us see? Imagery of the Horsehead Nebula, the Pillars of Creation, and even the Rose Galaxies have captivated researchers and the public for decades, but finding exactly what causes space dust, planets and stars to conform in such elegant forms has often eluded astronomers studying the infinite wonders of space. But a new study conducted by researchers with the Harvard University Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) reveals that the connection between collections of stars and the elliptical shapes of galaxies may have something to do with dark matter and the presence of black holes at the center of every galactic mass.
While growing climate changes and ocean acidification pose particular threats to coral reef species around the world, it appears that researchers may have good news on the horizon. While many reefs have been well-documented and researched, a new study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports reveals that new reefs may be right under our noses, and they be far out of the tropics.
While other wearable tech may be ahead of the curve, Apple continues to miss the mark when it comes to the development of its upcoming watch. While other models offered by competitors boast the ability to monitor heart-rate, amongst a myriad of other important vitals, Apple has announced that they are scrapping the health-monitoring tech from its upcoming product on account of problems with sensors and their regulators.
While all may seem fine in endoscopic outpatient procedures, with an easy check-in and virtually no down-time at all, it turns out that an antibiotic-resistant superbug may be waiting in the OR. Health officials with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the California health department are on high alert this week as news of two deaths in a local Los Angeles hospital have researchers wondering whether the superbug will claim more lives in its wake.
If you’ve ever been pulled out to sea by a riptide you know the true power of the oceans. When a tide changes, waves can crash down on the shores with immense power, and if you’re destined to live on these shores you’d obviously have to endure a lot. And in a new study published this week in the journal of the Royal Society Interface, researchers from the University of Portsmouth and the Queen Mary University of London are revealing just how much.
While many factors play into the development of a viral or bacterial outbreak, including herd immunity and preexisting healthcare practices, current outbreaks of the Ebola virus and the measles have many wondering exactly what’s causing the reemergence of such lethal diseases. Well, the obvious answers of vaccinations and poor sanitation conditions are readily available, but many may not consider an even more significant culprit—climate change.
While many factors play into the development of a viral or bacterial outbreak, including herd immunity and preexisting healthcare practices, current outbreaks of the Ebola virus and the measles have many wondering exactly what’s causing the reemergence of such lethal diseases. Well, the obvious answers of vaccinations and poor sanitation conditions are readily available, but many may not consider an even more significant culprit—climate change.
While many argue that the fight against greenhouse gases is long over, climatologists and ecologists continue to urge that the battle continues on. And while the culprits are all the same, the problems with these remnants of burning fossil fuels are taking on new problems. A topic of major research has developed from these changes and now researchers are quantify just how it will impact our world in the years to come.
Covered round-the-clock by rovers and orbiters, researchers know a lot about Mars and its vast desolate plains. Yet, some mysteries remain. Of course, researchers with major space agencies continue to look for evidence of life and of conditions hospitable to support possible manned missions, but even more so researchers are interested in the anomalies above the surface.
Beneath the glaring surface and choppy waves, many secrets are hidden here in the oceans of Earth. The vast depths hide species unknown to men, lost treasures at the seafloor and perhaps even a cryptid or two. And while terrestrial studies of planets may have been interesting in the 20th century, space agencies are looking to aquatic surveys which may one day reveal the origins of life even farther out in space.
In light of news that healthcare workers with the Red Cross planned to disinfect a local school infected with Ebola, crowds of central Guinean residents attacked an Ebola facility and healthcare workers, government officials reported Saturday, Feb. 14. Though the healthcare workers continue to try to fight and contain the disease, local uprisings have interfered greatly with their work in the field. And government officials are saying that the counterproductive actions of locals are forcefully giving the Ebola virus the upper hand.
When better than Valentine’s Day to discuss matters of the heart? As February happens to be American Heart Month, dedicated to heart health and the physical fitness of everyone around the world, it seems that NASA and astronauts aboard the International Space Station are taking the promise of heart health to new heights. A new year, a new crew, and a new attitude has come aboard the International Space Station, and this time they’re vowing to keep their hearts just as healthy as their minds and our thirst for knowledge in space exploration.
If you were to guess the amount of tonnage of trash in the sea, we bet that you’d be off by a couple of millions. That’s right, millions with an “M”. You may think that you can estimate the trash based on what you see at the beach, but researchers say that the calculation is a bit more complex than what the average guesser might think.