An analysis of isotopes in marine fossils from around the world yielded the most complete record of Earth’s temperatures yet—and showed that the planet is heating up at a rate unprecedented in the past 11,300 years. Scientists say that if it weren’t for greenhouse gas emissions, a cooling trend that began 5,000 years ago after a shift in the planet’s […]
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Mapping the infant universe is no easy task. New data from the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite is giving astronomers their most complete look yet at the very earliest moments of the universe. Planck, which measures microwave radiation, has created a heat map of the temperatures present in the universe a mere 370,000 years after the Big Bang. The data […]
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Every week, more than 50 million Americans take acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and many other popular painkillers, to ease their aches and pains. But a new study has revealed that the drug also dulls emotions—including happiness. Prior research showed that acetaminophen can help take the sting out of negative feelings like dread, but the new findings from Ohio […]
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Stare out upon the ocean at sunset and you can almost convince yourself that all is well beneath the surface. Sadly, the exact opposite is very true. Three new studies reveal just how sick the oceans are, as well as just how big a role humans are playing. Let’s begin with climate change: according to a report from NASA and […]
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Researchers have discovered a new map of the octopus genome that is so strange that it could actually be an “alien”. The first whole cephalopod gene sequence shows a striking level of complexity with 33,000 protein-coding genes identified – more than in a human. Not only that, the octopus DNA is highly rearranged – like cards shuffled and reshuffled in […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C. During a press conference last month, NASA released a slew of odd sound recordings and video from the Messenger probe just moments before it’s impact on Mercury. Scientists are working to decipher the meaning of the data, but some agree that the recordings sound like human voices crying out in agony. The Messenger probe had been orbiting Mercury […]
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Prague, Okla Tremors from fracking: Scientists have linked Oklahoma’s largest earthquake—a 5.6 magnitude quake near the town of Prague, in 2011—to hydraulic fracturing, supporting claims that the process increases seismic activity. Fracking, as it is known, injects water and chemicals into petroleum deposits in order to extract trapped gas. This week, researchers at the University of Oklahoma, Columbia University, and […]
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NASA has initiated the DART mission, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. It was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California to study the effects of asteroid deflection as a method to save the Earth from future devastating collisions by asteroids. The big question…. If an asteroid is pummeling towards Earth, can humanity be saved with a simple nudge? NASA […]
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In 2015, scientists predicted that a massive solar eruption would hit Earth just before New Year’s Eve. It was expected to cause power fluctuations, radio blackouts and even affect GPS reception. There was a small chance it could make the Northern Lights visible in the San Francisco Bay Area. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that the Aurora Borealis […]
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