– credit, Lazaro Viñola López via SWNS Burrowing bees generally prefer to make their nests in the open, but some 20,000 years ago their ancestors lived in a cave where they used the bones of prey animals rather than soft soil. The groundbreaking discovery was made in a Caribbean cave that narrowly escaped being turned … Read more
Cluster of young stars known as the Christmas Tree Cluster and Collagen fibers and fat cells appearing under a laser microscope Credit: Chandra X-ray Observatory and Nikon Small World contest -SWNS A microscopic ‘Christmas tree’ is a seasonal highlight of a remarkable science project that found eerie comparisons between the vast and the tiny. Curated … Read more
Coyau, CC license Researchers in Sweden found a link between eating more high-fat cream and high-fat cheeses and a lower risk of developing dementia. People who consumed 20 grams or more of high-fat cream daily had a 16% lower risk of dementia than those who consumed none. People who ate 50 grams or more of … Read more
– credit, Mingzheng Wu / SWNS Around the size of a postage stamp and thinner than a credit card, a wireless implant that “speaks” to the brain could help restore lost senses. The device uses light to send information directly to the brain, bypassing the body’s natural sensory pathways in what scientists are hailing as … Read more
First red ring ELVES phenomenon over Italy captured by Valter Binotto via SWNS Incredible images captured by an amateur astrophotographer show a bizarre red ring, 143-miles wide, floating in the sky. Valter Binotto not only managed to capture the otherworldly sight over his hometown of Possagno, amazingly, it’s the second time he has recorded the … Read more
Flaviu Costin on Unsplash Singing has been linked to numerous benefits for health, wellbeing, disease resistance, and recovery from injury, but when singing in a group, these benefits are seen to be superior to those seen in solo singers. The research, though not new, still makes for a pretty darn good reason to join a … Read more
Cphotos – via Unsplash+ Danish researchers have found a molecular switch that lets plants partner with nitrogen-fixing bacteria instead of fighting them, opening the way to self-fertilizing cereal crops like wheat and barley. Their new research highlights an important biological clue that could help reduce agriculture’s heavy reliance on artificial nitrogen fertilizer. Plants require nitrogen … Read more
A lumbar puncture – credit, BruceBlaus CC 3.0. via Wikimedia Commons A single-dose gene replacement therapy is found to transform the capabilities for movement in children over 2 years of age and teenagers with spinal muscular atrophy, according to research published in Nature Medicine. The effects allowed these minors who could sit but not stand … Read more
The Carreras Pampas trackways – credit, Raúl Esperante In Bolivia, the largest number of dinosaur footprints ever recorded in a single spot is yielding fascinating insight on how these prehistoric animals moved in a way that bones just can’t. 16,600 footprints, forming dozens of “trackways,” have been so far documented on what would have been … Read more
The submersible Fendouzhe being deployed off a Chinese icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean. Credit: Courtesy of the Fendouzhe Research Team One of the most remote and unexplored parts of the planet has been visited by a submersible crewed by Chinese geophysicists and marine scientists for the first time ever. Having been researched from the surface … Read more