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Bubbles In Ice Could Be A Future Medium For Secret Codes

Scholars have developed a method to encode binary and Morse code messages in ice. A 'message in...

Nearly Complete Harbin Skull From 146,000 Years Ago Belongs To The Denisovan Lineage

The discovery of the Denisovans 15 years ago set off a chain of evolutionary research into how...

Humans Have Always Adapted To Changing Climates - It's Why We Conquered The World

In the Cradles of Civilization, there are entire cities covered in sand that were once thriving...

Social Media Addiction Behavior, Not Time, Is A Harbinger Of Young Mental Health

Screen time is a concern for parents and mental health advocates but looking at screen time may...

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Male Masturbation Linked To Greater Ability For Offspring In Primates

Male Masturbation Linked To Greater Ability For Offspring In Primates

Jun 07 2023 | comment(s)

If you have been to a zoo and been around our primate evolutionary cousins with kids, you may have had an awkward moment or two. They are going to masturbate, and don't care who's watching.

A new study says more is better. The Postcopulatory Selection Hypothesis believes it helps shed low-quality semen while the The Pathogen Avoidance Hypothesis believes it may reduce the risk of contracting sexually-transmitted infections. Primates have been doing it for at least 40 million years so something keeps it going.
Endoscopy Gets The Fantastic Voyage Treatment

Endoscopy Gets The Fantastic Voyage Treatment

Jun 01 2023 | comment(s)

A traditional endoscopy, while valuable for detecting high-risk lesions, is an expensive, invasive procedure. There are ingestible cameras but are not controlled by physicians, they are just swallowed and the body does the rest.
Britain's Bubonic Plague Of 2000 BC

Britain's Bubonic Plague Of 2000 BC

May 30 2023 | comment(s)

Two cases of Yersinia pestis in human remains found in a mass burial in Charterhouse Warren in Somerset and one in a ring cairn monument in Levens in Cumbria show that the Plague may have erupted a few times in severe form across Europe, and it was even in England as far back as 2000 B.C.

In the 1960s, coronavirus was discovered as distinct from the common cold so future analyses may also find pandemics that occurred long before 2003, 2012, and 2019. 'The plague', as it became known in the Middle Ages, has previously been identified in Eurasia between during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, so we now know it was easily transmitted. 

Even to an island. 
Volunteering Linked To Well-Being Of Adolescents

Volunteering Linked To Well-Being Of Adolescents

May 30 2023 | comment(s)

Volunteering often makes us feel good but does it mean better health? Epidemiologists in a new paper argue it does, but the confounders are obvious; parents who take their kids to volunteer are often wealthier and in better health and on surveys about their kids claim better outcomes.

The work originated from parent-reported survey data of 22,126 children (6 to 11 years) and 29,769 adolescents (12 to 17 years) in the 2019 to 2020 National Survey of Children’s Health. The authors adjusted and weighted the data to reflect their beliefs about the demographic composition of youths in each state. 
The Spring In Our Step Isn't Just Happiness, It's How We Run So Well On Two Feet

The Spring In Our Step Isn't Just Happiness, It's How We Run So Well On Two Feet

May 30 2023 | comment(s)

A phrase like 'spring in your step' is usually meant to evoke enthusiasm or happiness but a new study finds that its mechanism, the spring-like arch in our feet, did help us walk on two feet. Just in a different way than previously believed.

Most believe that the raised arch of the foot helps us walk by acting as a lever which helps to lift the body into the next step by propelling the body forward but the new work argues that the recoil of the flexible arch repositions the ankle upright for more effective walking - and the effects in running are even greater.
School Shooters Have This In Common Besides Mental Health Issues

School Shooters Have This In Common Besides Mental Health Issues

May 23 2023 | comment(s)

There were 93 school shootings in the US in a recent two-year period but they were rarely committed by students. Sometimes they were former students of the school but new a survey analysis say their mental health issues may have been aggravated by memories of bullying.