Much like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, the fern Azolla filiculoides proves that the small can certainly pack a punch. This minuscule water fern, which has leaves the size of a single gnat, was the focus of a 2018 study published in Nature Plants. Scientists say the bright green plant is complete with unique capabilities — and has the potential to help us mitigate the effects of climate change.
Month: August 2020
Sperm don’t swim anything like we thought they did, new study finds
Under a microscope, human sperm seem to swim like wiggling eels, tails gyrating to and fro as they seek an egg to fertilize.
But now, new 3D microscopy and high-speed video reveal that sperm don’t swim in this simple, symmetrical motion at all. Instead, they move with a rollicking spin that compensates for the fact that their tails actually beat only to one side.
Think Again Before Letting Your Kid on a Trampoline
A Florida mom shared a heartbreaking photo on Facebook of her 3-year-old lying in anguish in a waist-to-ankle cast after breaking his leg at a trampoline park. Alongside the picture, which has been shared more than 275,000 times, the mom posted a warning to other parents: “Toddlers should be no where near trampolines.”
Interstellar space travel will have language complications for astronauts
The first people to colonize a world beyond our solar system may have trouble describing their new home to the folks back on Earth.
The nearest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri, lies 4.2 light-years from us — so far away that it would take tens of thousands of years to get there using current technology. And most stars, of course, are much more distant than that; our Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light-years wide.
Why Women (Sometimes) Don’t Help Other Women
There are two dominant cultural ideas about the role women play in helping other women advance at work, and they are seemingly at odds: the Righteous Woman and the Queen Bee.
Feeling light and being a couch potato work towards keeping us fat
In an interesting new study of overweight adults, those who donned a weighted garment for three weeks dropped pounds, without consciously changing their diets, moving more or otherwise altering their lives.
New Evidence Suggests Young Children Spread Covid-19 More Efficiently Than Adults
Two new studies, though from different parts of the world, have arrived at the same conclusion: that young children not only transmit SARS-CoV-2 efficiently, but may be major drivers of the pandemic as well.
The Truth About Hydration: Should You Drink Eight Glasses of Water a Day?
Before you read this article, can I just check you’ve drunk enough water today? You might want to refill your bottle because, remember, if you wait until you feel thirsty, you may already be dehydrated. No one is sure where this advice came from, but it’s all over the internet.
Why You Can Smell Rain
When those first fat drops of summer rain fall to the hot, dry ground, have you ever noticed a distinctive odor? I have childhood memories of family members who were farmers describing how they could always “smell rain” right before a storm.
What is the most frightening thing that’s ever been discovered for new planets or other galaxies?
Lord, where do I even start…
So much out there is terrifying.
I will not go through it all. However, there is one thing I have read about which scared me and I hope that it scares you too.
So, here goes…