TORONTO, April 22, 2024 – Thinking about getting a spring-time booster shot? A new study coming out of York University’s Centre for Disease Modelling in the Faculty of Science shows that immunity after a COVID-19 booster lasts much longer than the primary series alone. These findings are among other, sometimes “unintuitive,” revelations of how factors like age, sex […]
Sci/Tech
Drawing a line back to the origin of life
April 18, 2024 – Scientists at the University of Cambridge suggest molecules, vital to the development of life, could have formed from a process known as graphitisation. Once verified in the laboratory, it could allow us to try and recreate plausible conditions for life’s emergence. How did the chemicals required for life get there? It […]
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team Says Goodbye … for Now
The final downlink shift by the Ingenuity team was a time to reflect on a highly successful mission — and to prepare the first aircraft on another world for its new role. Engineers working on NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter assembled for one last time in a control room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in […]
Fires pose growing worldwide threat to wildland-urban interface areas
Fires that blaze through the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are becoming more common around the globe, a trend that is likely to continue for at least the next two decades, new research finds. The research team, led by scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), used satellite observations and […]
How the moon turned itself inside out
April 8, 2024 – About 4.5 billion years ago, a small planet smashed into the young Earth, flinging molten rock into space. Slowly, the debris coalesced, cooled and solidified, forming our moon. This scenario of how the Earth’s moon came to be is the one largely agreed upon by most scientists. But the details of how […]
Rock Sampled by NASA’s Perseverance Embodies Why Rover Came to Mars
The 24th sample taken by the six-wheeled scientist offers new clues about Jezero Crater and the lake it may have once held. Analysis by instruments aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover indicate that the latest rock core taken by the rover was awash in water for an extended period of time in the distant past, perhaps […]
NASA Selects First Lunar Instruments for Artemis Astronaut Deployment
NASA has chosen the first science instruments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon during Artemis III. Once installed near the lunar South Pole, the three instruments will collect valuable scientific data about the lunar environment, the lunar interior, and how to sustain a long-duration human presence on the Moon, which […]
More exposure to artificial, bright, outdoor nighttime light linked to higher stroke risk
DALLAS, March 25, 2024 – People continuously exposed to bright, artificial light at night may be at increased risk of developing conditions that affect blood flow to the brain and having a stroke, according to research published today in Stroke, the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association Bright, […]
NASA Analysis Sees Spike in 2023 Global Sea Level Due to El Niño
Global average sea level rose by about 0.3 inches (0.76 centimeters) from 2022 to 2023, a relatively large jump due mostly to a warming climate and the development of a strong El Niño. The total rise is equivalent to draining a quarter of Lake Superior into the ocean over the course of a year. This […]
New 326-Million-Year-Old Fossil Shark-like Species Identified
Researchers have described a new species of ancient shark that was collected in Arkansas 45 years ago and fills an important role in understanding an enigmatic and bizarre group of prehistoric fishes. The study is published in the journal Geodiversitas. “These creatures are part of a recovered ecosystem following a major extinction of fish groups […]
Solar eclipses result from a fantastic celestial coincidence of scale and distance
Solar eclipses happen because of a few factors, including the Moon’s size and distance from the Sun. AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley Christopher Palma, Penn State On April 8, 2024, millions across the U.S. will have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to view a total solar eclipse. Cities including Austin, Texas; Buffalo, New York; and Cleveland, Ohio, will […]
What Kinds of Seismic Signals Did Swifties Send at LA Concert?
Seattle may have experienced its own Swift Quake last July, but at an August 2023 concert Taylor Swift’s fans in Los Angeles gave scientists a lot of shaking to ponder. After some debate, a research team led by Gabrielle Tepp of Caltech concluded that it was likely the dancing and jumping motions of the audience […]
Study: Adding folic acid to table salt could prevent life-threatening birth defects
March 11, 2024 – A team of international researchers—including experts from the University of Central Florida and Emory University—has proven, for the first time in a field study, that using folic acid-fortified iodized table salt can prevent multiple severe birth defects. The importance of women having enough folic acid in their bodies before and during […]
Fossils of giant sea lizard with dagger-like teeth show how our oceans have fundamentally changed since the dinosaur era
March 5, 2024 – Paleontologists have discovered a strange new species of marine lizard with dagger-like teeth that lived near the end of the age of dinosaurs. Their findings, published in Cretaceous Research, show a dramatically different ocean ecosystem to what we see today, with numerous giant top predators eating large prey, unlike modern ecosystems where […]
Copernicus: Highest wildfire emissions for February in Brazil, Venezuela, and Bolivia
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has been tracking emissions from wildfires across South America, as the fire season in tropical regions of the continent approaches its peak. High wildfire intensity and emissions have been observed in the northern Amazon rainforest, particularly in the Brazilian state of Roraima, leading to the highest carbon emissions recorded […]
Preventing tragedy: FSU expert examines suicidal motives in mass shootings, terrorism
February 21, 2024 – According to the Gun Violence Archive, the United States reported 656 mass shootings in 2023. When it comes to understanding and preventing tragedies such as murder-suicides, mass shootings and terrorism, some may question why assailants in these cases are motivated to kill. Now, a Florida State University psychologist is shedding light […]
Evidence review: Maternal mental conditions drive climbing death rate in U.S.
WASHINGTON (Feb. 21, 2024) – Painting a sobering picture, a research team led by Children’s National Hospital culled years of data demonstrating that maternal mental illness is an under-recognized contributor to the death of new mothers. They are calling for urgent action to address this public health crisis in the latest edition of JAMA Psychiatry. Backed […]
NASA Joins Group to Advance Wildfire Coordination, Capabilities
February 15, 2024 – NASA is now an associate member of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, giving the agency new opportunities to collaborate with federal agencies and other partners to better understand wildland fires and leverage technology and innovation to prevent and manage them for the benefit of humanity. The interagency group provides national leadership to enable […]
FDA Approves First Medication to Treat Severe Frostbite
February 14, 2024 – Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Aurlumyn (iloprost) injection to treat severe frostbite in adults to reduce the risk of finger or toe amputation. “This approval provides patients with the first-ever treatment option for severe frostbite,” said Norman Stockbridge, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Cardiology and Nephrology […]
How a city is organized can create less-biased citizens
February 7, 2024 – The city you live in could be making you, your family, and your friends more unconsciously racist. Or, your city might make you less racist. It depends on how populous, diverse, and segregated your city is, according to a new study that brings together the math of cities with the psychology […]