The recent discovery of a peculiar supernova remnant has solved an 850-year-old mystery, and a new investigation is already forming in its place. In 1181, Chinese and Japanese astronomers observed a “guest star,” or the origin of a supernova, which they identified as SN 1181. It appeared as a dim expanding nebula that was as […]
The mystery of an undying star Read More »
While the wooly mammoths, smilodons, and giant ground sloths starred in Disney’s “Ice Age,” do prehistoric creatures have a place on Earth today? When species go extinct, evolution fills the ecosystem gap with modern species, renewing balance and moving forward in evolutionary history. The hot-topic term “de-extinction” describes the process of using genetic engineering to
Reincarnation: Dodo or do-don’t Read More »
Extending a human’s lifetime sounds like something that would only exist in a fictional realm. A recently published study, though, shows that this ability may one day be achievable in our own world. A common theory regarding the mechanism that drives aging is that the accumulation of genetic mutations eventually causes cells to lose their
Out with the old: Geneticists reversed aging in mice Read More »
Living is hard. The sensitivity of human health to a variety of factors often makes it easy for the body to deteriorate in the face of threats. Unfortunately, individuals do not just have their diet and exercise to worry about when it comes to maintaining their health. They must also consider the crimes committed in
When your body chooses violence because of your community Read More »
Punching, kicking, throwing — not just daytime activities anymore. For some sleepers, these actions accompany their dream states. When a sleeper reflects what they are doing in their dream in real-time, despite being asleep, it’s referred to as “acting out dreams” or REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). So instead of punching an attacker, they might
When dreams become nightmares: How acting out dreams can predict brain disease Read More »
New York City typically turns into a snow globe by mid-December, gracing its residents with a white Christmas, but not this season. Setting a record for the longest wait for snowfall since 1869, the first flurries came to the Big Apple on February 1, 2023. The overnight dusting covered the city with 0.4 inches of
New York City breaks record for the latest first snowfall Read More »
It’s October 2019, and Exploration Vessel Nautilus is on its last expedition of the season, live-streaming footage from its submersible’s cameras. At 3,240 meters deep, they’re exploring the seafloor of Monterey Bay when a shape comes into view, and the team quickly erupts into enthused echoes of “ohhh, whale fall!” What lies in front of
Deep-sea banquets: The anatomy of a whale fall Read More »
Although mice don’t have Instagram likes or followers to keep track of, social status is still a huge part of their societies. There is a clear hierarchy, with the top mice receiving first pick when it comes to food and mates and subordinate mice scrambling for whatever’s left. As shown by a study at Zhejiang
Of mice and mental health: How loss of social status leads to depression Read More »
Most people, at one point in their life or another, attempt to learn a second language. Whether they do so in high school or college to fulfill a foreign language requirement or well into adulthood as a fun challenge, it would be fair to say that a healthy portion of the population has forayed into
Language attrition: How learning new languages displaces those known Read More »