Why BMI is flawed — and how to redefine obesity ( www.nature.com )
The main diagnostic test for obesity — the body mass index — accounts for only height and weight, leaving out a slew of factors that influence body fat and health.
Singapore's smoke-free law may have warded off 20,000 heart attacks in people over 65 ( medicalxpress.com )
Ancient Life as Old as the Universe - Kurzgesagt ( yt.artemislena.eu )
Spider inspires scientists to create water repellant marvel ( interestingengineering.com )
Researchers have demonstrated a general strategy to achieve the long-term stability of plastrons (known to be unstable underwater) on aerophilic surfaces for previously unattainable underwater applications by taking inspiration from diving bell spider, Argyroneta Aquatica, which spends most of its life underwater. This can open...
Polar bears may struggle to produce milk for their cubs as climate change melts sea ice ( theconversation.com )
Climate change has affected food availability for polar bears, which can impact polar bear mothers’ ability to lactate.
Your brain finds it easy to size up four objects but not five — here’s why ( www.nature.com )
An experiment found that the brain uses one set of neural circuits to identify the numbers 1–4; these circuits are very specific to their own numbers. A separate set of circuits respond to the numbers 5–9; these are less precise, and are activated by adjacent numbers....
Debate settled? Oldest human footprints in North America really are 23,000 years old, study finds ( www.livescience.com )
Scientists unlock the secrets of a sixth basic flavor ( phys.org )
Laser mapping reveals hidden structures in Amazon—with hints at thousands more ( www.science.org )
We now know how cats purr—why they purr is still up for debate ( arstechnica.com )
'We could eradicate malaria by 2040’ says expert after revolutionary vaccine is approved by WHO ( theconversation.com )
People have been trying to make malaria vaccines for over 100 years. Well over 100 vaccines have gone into clinical trials in people. Very, very few have worked to any degree....
"The Mystery of My Burning Esophagus" ( www.nytimes.com )
A very interesting article about an individual’s personal struggle with a not very well known condition - eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)....
An Epic Fight Over What Really Killed the Dinosaurs ( www.wired.com )
Think back to any dinosaur illustration you saw as a kid. The background was almost certainly one of two things: an asteroid streaking across the sky or a volcano blowing its top. (If the illustrator was feeling extra dramatic, maybe both.)...
Pythagorean Theorem Found On Clay Tablet 1,000 Years Older Than Pythagoras ( www.iflscience.com )
A Babylonian tablet from around 1770 BC uses principles of the Pythagorean theorem, suggesting ancient Babylonians discovered it centuries before the famous Greek mathematician Pythagoras for whom it’s named.
Physicists who built ultrafast ‘attosecond’ lasers win Nobel Prize ( www.nature.com )
Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier receive award for ultra-short pulses of light, which have enabled the close study of electrons.
Why the ‘Mother of the Atomic Bomb’ Never Won a Nobel Prize ( www.nytimes.com )
Lise Meitner developed the theory of nuclear fission, the process that enabled the atomic bomb. But her identity - Jewish and a woman— barred her from sharing credit for the discovery, newly translated letters show.
The Orion Nebula Is Full of Impossible Enigmas That Come in Pairs ( www.nytimes.com )
We have discovered a lot in this universe. Planets that orbit stars at right angles. Forbidden worlds that have cheated death. Space explosions that defy explanation....
A leading theory of consciousness has been branded ‘pseudoscience’ ( theconversation.com )
Civil war has broken out in the field of consciousness research. More than 100 consciousness researchers have signed a letter accusing one of the most popular scientific theories of consciousness – the integrated information theory – of being pseudoscience....
Scientists make eco friendly building material inspired by worms ( interestingengineering.com )
The team developed natural-based, low-carbon building materials by using oppositely charged bio-polymer adhesives so that they can construct these innovative materials from various grains, including desert sand, sea sand, and concrete slag. Summary :...
NASA Tests Space Lasers for Next-Gen Communications ( spectrum.ieee.org )
Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines ( www.bbc.com )
Got Garlic Breath? Scientists Find a Possible New Remedy ( www.sciencealert.com )
Memory Block: How Saturated Fats May Hinder Memory Formation in the Aging Brain ( scitechdaily.com )
A new study suggests that a high-fat diet may impair memory by causing inflammatory effects and issues in cell-signaling management in the brain cells, especially as people age, but the omega-3 fatty acid DHA may help mitigate these effects. The research, focusing on microglia and hippocampal neurons, found that palmitic acid...
Recovery of walking after paralysis by regenerating characterized neurons to their natural target region ( www.sciencealert.com )
Researchers have reversed ‘irreversible paralysis’ in mice with complete spinal cord injuries using gene therapy....