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SciencePhysics
Release the Muons! Physics Breakthrough Will Lead to a New Kind of Particle Collider
The next generation of atom smasher could be a 100-kilometer-round ring, costing over $10 billion, with no promise of finding something as glamorous as last decade’s Higgs boson. But does the future of physics need to be so large? What if researchers could probe the secrets of the smallest particles using technology that was, well, … Continued
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ScienceArchaeology
Skeleton Found in Submerged Mexican Cave Sheds New Light on Earliest People in America
An extraordinary 9,900-year-old skeleton found in the submerged caves of Tulum is both enhancing and complicating our understanding of the first humans to settle in the Americas. Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula is typically associated with the Maya civilization, but emerging archaeological evidence suggests this region was settled thousands of years earlier by some of the first … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Here’s How We’ll Know If the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Become a Pandemic
In recent days, some public health experts and scientists have begun uttering the P-word in reference to a surging outbreak of the new coronavirus that’s already infected at least 24,000 people and killed over 400: pandemic. But when will we know if the Wuhan coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV, has spread far and wide enough to … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceAnimals
Nighttime Camera Catches Coyote and Badger in Absolute Cahoots
Wild animals of different species going on adventures together is a fiction invented by animated films—or is it? A new video, in which a coyote and badger are seen traveling together at night, has us questioning reality as we know it. The video, shared to Twitter by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), shows a … Continued
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ScienceHealth
How Coronavirus Fears Tap Into the Deep History of Xenophobia in Public Health
The novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China continues to ripple around the world. More than 20,000 cases have been confirmed across Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia, and the official death toll of 425 has surpassed that of the 2002-03 SARS outbreak. The disease has led to dramatic responses by governments and private … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
ScienceAnimals
‘Bizarre’ Land Turtle Somehow Survived Mass Extinction That Killed the Dinosaurs
Very few land turtles managed to survive the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, but at least one species of primitive turtle managed to fend off extinction in the northern hemisphere, according to new fossils found in France. New research published in Scientific Reports describes Laurasichersis relicta, the only known primitive land turtle from the … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Patient Did Not Spread Wuhan Virus Before Showing Symptoms, Experts Say
One of the scarier concerns about the Wuhan coronavirus may be overblown. This week, researchers appeared to debunk findings from last week that suggested the virus could spread from people not showing symptoms. Indeed, it seems the patient initially suspected of passing on the infection while asymptomatic did in fact feel ill at the time … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
The Wuhan Coronavirus Has Officially Killed More People Than SARS in Mainland China
China passed a bleak milestone over the weekend, as more people in mainland China have now died of the newly discovered coronavirus than did during the SARS outbreak, which also began in China almost two decades ago. Cases in other countries are also increasing each day. Both SARS and 2019-nCoV, commonly called the Wuhan virus, … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceSpace
Scientists Slam Congress’s New Plan for NASA
A recently proposed House bill that calls for NASA to send humans to Mars in 2033 is coming under fire from scientists who think it would be a mistake to assign secondary importance to a lunar mission and to neglect technological contributions from the private sector. As we reported last week, the proposed authorization bill … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Meat Still Bad, Two Bummer Studies Confirm
A pair of new studies out Monday might nudge you to reevaluate your meat-eating habit. One study found evidence that eating at least two weekly servings of red meat, particularly processed meat, is linked to a slightly higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death. The second links eating a diet rich in plants to being … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceAnimals
Wild Gray Seals Clap Their Flippers Underwater to Communicate, New Research Suggests
Unprecedented video shows a male gray seal using its flippers to produce a loud sound underwater. Scientists say it could be a previously undocumented form of communication, in which the seals are using the sound to attract mates or ward off rivals. Underwater communication among aquatic mammals is typically associated with vocal sounds, such as … Continued
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ScienceHealth
How I Became a Peloton Person
Peloton’s advertising is bad. The pricey stationary bike’s TV commercials feature extremely attractive humans working out in the living rooms of their expensive high-rises or, even more improbably, in the same bedrooms where their partners are still sleeping. (You have the right to exact excruciating revenge on anyone who thinks pedaling or grunting with exertion … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Stop Touching Your Face
The new decade has brought along a SARS-like, pneumonia-causing coronavirus that’s already sickened at least 9,000 people and killed over 200 worldwide. If you’re scared about threats like the Wuhan virus, then there’s one very easy thing you can start doing for the sake of your health and others—stop touching your face! When we rub … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceAnimals
Jaw of 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Found in Kentucky Cave
Sharks typically don’t come to mind when you think about landlocked Kentucky, but as fossil evidence from the state’s Mammoth Cave National Park shows, this place was once chock-full of the carnivorous fishes. Paleontologists working at the national park uncovered fossils from around 150 sharks representing as many as 20 distinct species, reports CNN. These … Continued
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ScienceSpace
A Spectacular Fireball Lights Up the English Sky
Check out this incredible photo of a streaking fireball, which appeared over England last week. The photo, captured by Christopher Small, was taken in Bude, a seaside resort town in northeast Cornwall, England, reports the European Space Association (ESA). The stunning sight appeared 36 minutes before the stroke of midnight on January 21, 2020. The … Continued
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SciencePhysics
Astrophysicists Observe Star Dragging Space-Time
Scientists have observed a spinning star dragging space-time along with it, according to a new paper. Physicists today devote a lot of time to trying to disprove the claims made in Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, but each new attempt has continued to prove the theory correct. This newest discovery, evidence of “frame dragging,” … Continued
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ScienceHealth
This Woman’s Mouth Keeps Growing Hairs
A woman in Italy developed a rare, literally hair-raising medical condition, her doctors say. In a case study, they describe how the woman grew eyelash-like hairs inside of her mouth. What’s worse, the hairs kept returning after their initial removal. According to study author Khrystyna Zhurakivska, a clinical dental researcher at the University of Foggia, … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceAnimals
Scientists Turned a Normal Jellyfish Into a Speedy Cyborg Jellyfish
Jellyfish are the most efficient swimmers in the ocean, albeit fairly slow ones. Researchers at Stanford University made a jellyfish swim three times faster by sticking a motor to it, creating a biohybrid robot with the jellyfish as the “scaffold.” The swimming cyborg was 10 to 1,000 times more energy efficient than other swimming robots, … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Plague Big Opportunity, Rat Says
Commerce Department ghoul Wilbur Ross gloated about his belief the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China is good for JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! in an appearance on Fox Business on Thursday morning, even as the confirmed number of cases and deaths keep rising and experts worry of sustained global spread. While on the show, Ross said he … Continued
By Tom McKay -
ScienceHealth
WHO Declares Global Health Emergency as Wuhan Coronavirus Continues to Spread
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared an international public health emergency over the deadly new coronavirus that has hit China hard. The announcement comes as nearly a hundred cases have been spotted in countries outside of China, including the first case of human-to-human transmission in the U.S., also reported on Thursday. The WHO’s decision … Continued
By Ed Cara