Chewing food played an important role in human evolution, according to a new study. Scientists recently tested how much energy humans spend masticating on food compared with our closest primate species, the New York Times reported. Humans spend more than half an hour chewing every day, but...
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Hygiene in medieval times was pretty dismal but that wasn’t the case for many Augustinian monks living in Britain’s monasteries. Despite a modest lifestyle, the friars enjoyed proper latrines and hand-washing facilities to wipe off the filth and pathogens that would afflict commoners of the era. But...
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With mosquitoes running rampant this season, scientists discovered that the little pests are more complex than originally believed, New Scientist reported. In a new study, a research team found that mosquitoes can still smell people – and bite them – even if their human-scent receptors have...
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The slogan of the original “Alien” movie read, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” While sound cannot conventionally travel in space – unlike on Earth – there is a scary cacophony coming from a supermassive black hole located about 250 million light-years away from...
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Human empathy can extend to inanimate things, according to a new study. Researcher Roland Schroll found that people are less willing to eat food that has human-like features, Cosmos Magazine reported. Anthropomorphism – attributing human characteristics to objects or other living things – is a common marketing...
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A new study on young lizards showed some of the devastating impacts of climate change, the Washington Post reported. Scientists in France discovered that rising temperatures are causing a species of lizards to give birth to offspring with damaged and aged DNA. For more than a decade,...
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Israeli scientists recently developed the world’s first synthetic embryos using mice stem cells, a milestone that has also raised ethical questions, Euronews reported. Researchers at the Israel-based Weizmann Institute of Science wrote in their study that the novel embryos were made without using any eggs, sperm...
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Dreaming is not exclusive to humans. Dogs and birds dream and now, scientists have discovered that spiders can, too, CBS News reported. A research team found that jumping spiders can enter a dream-like state during sleep, complete with rapid eye movement – known as REM sleep –...
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If humans hadn’t lost a small tissue in their voice box millions of years ago, humanity would have lacked the ability to produce an Elvis Presley, a Whitney Houston or a Rob Halford, according to a new study on non-human primates and the evolution of...
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Past research discovered that giving the blood of young mice to their elders rejuvenated rodents and reversed signs of aging. Recently, scientists discovered that the opposite is also true, New Scientist reported. Researcher Irina Conboy and her team transfused three-month-old mice with the blood from two-year-old mice...
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Israeli archaeologists discovered a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman coin depicting a zodiac symbol off the coast of northern Israel, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The novel artifact featured an image of Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon, and an image of the zodiac sign Cancer. The other side...
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Earth experienced its shortest ever-recorded days in June and July of this year, sparking debates among scientists about whether the planet is literally spinning faster, the Charlotte Observer reported. Generally, Earth completes a full turn on its axis every 24 hours. But on June 29, the...
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The spread of the herpes virus began thousands of years ago when kissing became popular among ancient humans, Live Science reported. The Herpes simplex virus 1 – or HSV-1 – is a very common type of pathogen that mainly causes cold sores around the lips but...
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Marine scientists recently discovered a series of mysterious, evenly-spaced holes deep in the ocean that have befuddled many about their origins, Newsweek reported. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the holes were located more than 8,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic...
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For centuries, green crabs have been the bane of North America’s marine ecosystem. The invasive crustaceans came to the New World as stowaways on European ships around the 19th century. Since then, they have been devouring shellfish, as well as ruining estuaries and fish habitats in...
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Ancient Egypt mummified its pharaohs to preserve their bodies for use in the afterlife. The Maya civilization, meanwhile, turned the ashes of their rulers into rubber balls and used them to play sports, the Telegraph reported. That was the conclusion of an archaeological team after discovering 400...
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Scientists recently turned dead spiders into useful – and very macabre – mechanical grippers to grab objects, Science Alert reported. This feat came about after a research team decided to test whether dead wolf spiders could be used as a robotics component – something they described...
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Scientists recently discovered that Earth’s satellite is not entirely inhospitable, saying there are spots on the moon that are “very cozy,” the Atlantic reported. A research team recently analyzed data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter of two lunar caverns located in the Sea of Tranquility in...
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Pollination is not exclusively the province of bees and other pollinators, according to a new study. Marine scientists found that a small woodlouse-like crustacean helps fertilize a type of red seaweed similar to the way land creatures do to terrestrial plants, New Scientist reported. In their study,...
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Scientists have discovered that teas and herbs from the grocery store are teeming with insect DNA, Smithsonian Magazine reported. In their paper, lead author Henrik Krehenwinkel and his team purchased herbs and teas from different brands to make sure that each product originated from different parts...
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