Monday 30 April 2018

The five habits that can add more than a decade to your life

The five habits that can add more than a decade to your life

People who stick to five healthy habits in adulthood can add more than a decade to their lives, according to a major study into the impact behaviour has on lifespan. Researchers at Harvard University used lifestyle questionnaires and medical records from 123,000 volunteers to understand how much longer people lived if they followed a healthy diet, controlled their weight, took regular exercise, drank in moderation and did not smoke.

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As Hawaii Aims for 100% Renewable Energy, Other States Watching Closely

As Hawaii Aims for 100% Renewable Energy, Other States Watching Closely

How to incorporate solar and wind while keeping the electricity grid stable is a key question

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Study Shows How Fasting For 3 Days Can Regenerate Your Entire Immune System

Study Shows How Fasting For 3 Days Can Regenerate Your Entire Immune System

By now, you may have heard about the amazing potential health benefits of fasting. While many believe it’s an unhealthy and even dangerous practice, the science says otherwise. Even intermittent fasting, which involves restricting your eating time to an 8-10 hour window rather than going without food entirely, has proven to have many health benefits. Think […]

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Stanford University Physicists Uncover Correlation between Bitcoin Transactions and Laws of Nature

Stanford University Physicists Uncover Correlation between Bitcoin Transactions and Laws of Nature

Bitcoin ushered in a new class of asset in 2009, but nowadays, the novel financial instrument has reached somewhat of a peak with its popularity skyrocketing as never before. This growing interest increasing acceptance has also paved the way for several research studies on the subject. On April 23, 2018, a study uncovered a strange similarity between bitcoin transactions and the structure of swirling liquid.

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New depression genetic risk factors identified

New depression genetic risk factors identified

New genetic risk factors associated with major depression have been identified in the biggest study of its kind, providing new insights for prevention and treatment. Professor Naomi Wray, from UQ’s Institute of Molecular Bioscience and QBI, helped lead the international study, which identified 44 genetic variants associated with major depression – 30 of which were previously unknown.

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New development in contact lenses for red-green colour blindness using simple dye

New development in contact lenses for red-green colour blindness using simple dye

Researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a contact lens that may help people with colour blindness simply by using a low cost dye, according to research published today (26 April 2018) in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. Colour blindness – or colour vision deficiency (CVD) – is an inherited genetic ocular disorder where some people have difficulty distinguishing certain colours. While no cure for this disorder exists...

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Can’t sleep? Tell yourself it’s not a big deal

Can’t sleep? Tell yourself it’s not a big deal

There’s growing evidence that thinking of yourself as an insomniac is a major part of the problem

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What we can learn from the new detailed map of 1.3 billion stars

What we can learn from the new detailed map of 1.3 billion stars

Most of us have looked up at the night sky and wondered how far away the stars are or in what direction they are moving. The truth is, scientists don’t know the exact positions or velocities of the vast majority of the stars in the Milky Way. But now a new tranche of data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite, aiming to map stars in our galaxy in unprecedented detail, has come in to shed light on the issue.

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Sunday 29 April 2018

What's An 'Incel'? The Online Community Behind The Toronto Van Attack

What's An 'Incel'? The Online Community Behind The Toronto Van Attack

Reporter Arshy Mann breaks down the ideology of violent misogyny linked to the Toronto suspect: "It's quite a disturbing part of the Internet."

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1 in 59 children has autism, CDC says

1 in 59 children has autism, CDC says

One in 59 US children has autism, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new estimate is a prevalence rate of 1.7%, up from one in every 68 children (1.5%) in the 2016 report, which was based on data from 2012. The new figure was derived from 2014 estimates for 8-year-olds diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in 11 communities across the nation.

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Stop Talking About Race and IQ. Take It From Someone Who Did.

Stop Talking About Race and IQ. Take It From Someone Who Did.

Framing genetic arguments in racial terms isn’t scientific.

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Scientists 'keep pigs' brains alive without a body for up to 36 hours'

Scientists 'keep pigs' brains alive without a body for up to 36 hours'

The brains, which are not conscious, are kept alive through the circulation of an oxygen-rich fluid through the organs

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Study: Health benefits will offset cost of China’s climate policy

Study: Health benefits will offset cost of China’s climate policy

A new MIT study reports that if China follows through with its international pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, every one of its provinces will experience benefits to air quality and human health, with associated monetary savings that could offset the total cost of implementing the climate policy. The study, published today in Nature Climate Change, estimates that by meeting its greenhouse gas-reduction goals, China would simultaneously improve its air quality, which would avoid a significant number of deaths due to air pollution...

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The CDC Says Autism Rates Are Rising in U.S. Children. No, It's Not Because of Vaccines.

The CDC Says Autism Rates Are Rising in U.S. Children. No, It's Not Because of Vaccines.

A new CDC autism report finds that rates of autism are rising among U.S. children. Given the fraught history of the (consistently debunked) allegations that vaccines are tied to autism spectrum disorders, there may be an impulse in certain corners to bring up vaccinations as a potential root for this rise in diagnoses. The scientific consensus still resoundingly rejects that argument.

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Eleven year old college student wants to prove “scientifically” that God exists

Eleven year old college student wants to prove “scientifically” that God exists

Reader Vera called my attention to this video of a great mind gone bad. Here is an eleven-year old student at a community college who was hosted for this video at Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC), an Orthodox Christian liberal arts college and seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts.

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Saturday 28 April 2018

Bill Gates thinks a coming disease could kill 30 million people within 6 months — and says we should prepare for it as we do for war

Bill Gates thinks a coming disease could kill 30 million people within 6 months — and says we should prepare for it as we do for war

If there's one thing that we know from history, it's that a deadly new disease will arise and spread around the globe. That could happen easily within the next decade. And as Bill Gates told listeners on Friday at a discussion about epidemics hosted by the Massachusetts Medical Society and the New England Journal of Medicine, we're not ready. Gates acknowledged that he's usually the optimist in the room, reminding people that we're lifting children out of poverty around the globe and getting better at eliminating diseases like polio and malaria.

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Farewell, No. 16: scientists left 'miserable' after world's oldest spider dies aged 43

Farewell, No. 16: scientists left 'miserable' after world's oldest spider dies aged 43

The world’s oldest known spider has died at the age of 43, outliving its nearest rival by 15 years, Australian scientists have reported.

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Third of early deaths could be prevented by everyone giving up meat, Harvard says

Third of early deaths could be prevented by everyone giving up meat, Harvard says

At least one-third of early deaths could be prevented if everyone moved to a vegetarian diet, Harvard scientists have calculated.

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It’s time to rethink how much booze may be too much

It’s time to rethink how much booze may be too much

Researchers are changing how they study the risks of alcohol — and it’s making drinking look worse.

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Exclusive: Ancient Mass Child Sacrifice May Be World's Largest

Exclusive: Ancient Mass Child Sacrifice May Be World's Largest

More than 140 children were ritually killed in a single event in Peru more than 500 years ago. What could possibly have been the reason?

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Employing Zika as a Cancer Killing Tool

Employing Zika as a Cancer Killing Tool

Never afraid to try and turn a pathogen into a potential tool for treating other diseases, scientists have uncovered a therapeutic use for the Zika virus (ZIKV). Investigators at the University of São Paulo's Bioscience Institute (IB-USP) in Brazil have just published new data showing that ZIKV can be used in vivo to treat aggressive human central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Findings from the new study were published recently in Cancer Research, in an article entitled “Zika Virus Selectively Kills Aggressive Human Embryonal CNS Tumor Cells In Vitro and In Vivo.”

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Researchers 3-D print electronics and cells directly on skin

Researchers 3-D print electronics and cells directly on skin

In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota used a customized, low-cost 3D printer to print electronics on a real hand for the first time. The technology could be used by soldiers on the battlefield to print temporary sensors on their bodies to detect chemical or biological agents or solar cells to charge essential electronics.

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Friday 27 April 2018

Harvard Scientists Are Cloning Woolly Mammoths to Save Humanity

Harvard Scientists Are Cloning Woolly Mammoths to Save Humanity

Cloning dinosaurs for entertainment didn't turn out so well in Jurassic Park, but some scientists believe that resurrecting another extinct species from a more recent era (and for a more worthy cause) could have better results. Using DNA from a woolly mammoth specimen found perfectly preserved in ice in Siberia, Harvard scientist George Church is working to create a herd of mammoth-elephant hybrids that will help to save the world.

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Human Brain Gain: Computer Models Hint at Why We Bested Neandertals

Human Brain Gain: Computer Models Hint at Why We Bested Neandertals

Differences in the structure of the brain’s cerebellum may help explain our superior cognitive abilities

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Ancient human-sloth hunt hinted at in 15,000-year-old footprints

Ancient human-sloth hunt hinted at in 15,000-year-old footprints

Find adds credence to the idea that people helped drive giant mammals to extinction

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Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected

Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected

Researchers are sounding the alarm after an analysis showed that buying a new smartphone consumes as much energy as using an existing phone for an entire decade.

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This Famous Aging Researcher Doesn’t Want Us to Live Forever

This Famous Aging Researcher Doesn’t Want Us to Live Forever

In the Netflix anime series Knights of Sidonia, humankind is marooned in a spaceship 500,000-strong, refugees constantly on the run from shapeshifting aliens who destroyed Earth over 1,000 years ago. Both the patriarchy and poverty have been smashed. Advances in genetic engineering have allowed androgynous individuals to proliferate and asexual reproduction to become commonplace. Everybody (except the protagonist, a clone of his grandfather) can photosynthesize, drastically reducing the need to eat.

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Google joins Apple in condemning the repeal of the Clean Power Plan

Google joins Apple in condemning the repeal of the Clean Power Plan

Google filed a public comment today criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to roll back the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era policy that aims to cut power plant pollution. With its comment, Google joins Apple in arguing that keeping the policy is a good deal for the US. Google’s comment, which it shared with The Verge, lays out what it called “a strong economic case for the Clean Power Plan.”

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20 Tips How To Protect Environment From Pollution [In Daily Life]

20 Tips How To Protect Environment From Pollution [In Daily Life]

In today's world, business is both driven and disrupted by software. From startups to government organizations to publicly traded companies, software is developed at a record-setting pace to run almost everything. This continuous evolution of technology has drastically changed how enterprises operate today. As the race heats up among companies looking to be first-to-market with the next best product or service, considerations about the implications these systems and gadgets may have on society often are overlooked.

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Thursday 26 April 2018

In a medical first, drugs have reversed an inherited disorder in the womb

In a medical first, drugs have reversed an inherited disorder in the womb

Doctors in Germany successfully treated twins in utero using a biotech drug, pointing to a new way to eliminate disease.

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CIA plans to replace spies with AI

CIA plans to replace spies with AI

The reign of human spies will come to an end soon, according to the writing on the wall and a few statements made by the CIA's deputy director of technology.

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Disney made a jacket to simulate physical experiences, like a snake slithering across your body

Disney made a jacket to simulate physical experiences, like a snake slithering across your body

Disney Research, MIT Media Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University have unveiled a new conceptual haptic “force jacket” that simulates physical experiences to people wearing the device. The force jacket is lined with airbags controlled by a computer that inflates and deflates the bags. Disney envisions the jacket will be used with VR headsets for more immersive experiences, given it’s able to simulates hugs, being hit or punched, and peculiarly, the sensation of a snake slithering across your body. The jacket is made up of airbags with sensors attached that direct force and vibrations to specific locations on your body.

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Scientists can now keep brains alive without a body

Scientists can now keep brains alive without a body

A team of scientists recently revealed they’d successfully conducted experiments on hundreds of pigs that involved keeping their brains alive for up to 36 hours after the animals had been decapitated.

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Sea of solar panels turns Mexican desert green

Sea of solar panels turns Mexican desert green

From a distance, it looks like a deep-blue sea has formed in the middle of the Mexican desert. But this is no mirage. It's the largest solar park in Latin America. With 2.3 million solar panels covering the equivalent of 2,200 football fields in the arid northern state of Coahuila, the Villanueva power plant is part of Mexico's push to generate 43 per cent of its electricity from clean sources by 2024.

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Mind-bending drugs and devices: can they make us smarter?

Mind-bending drugs and devices: can they make us smarter?

We know things like exercise can increase our brain function, but taking a pill would require less effort.

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How 'new power' is driving journalism in the digital age

How 'new power' is driving journalism in the digital age

A new book on so-called 'new power' can help us understand transformations in journalism like increased collaboration and use of digital technologies for investigative journalism.

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Swedish archaeologists uncover brutal 5th century massacre

Swedish archaeologists uncover brutal 5th century massacre

Archaeologists in Sweden have uncovered startling evidence of a massacre more than 1500 years ago, when the inhabitants of a small village were struck down in their houses or as they fled along the street, and their bodies left to rot where they fell – with their treasures including beautiful jewellery and Roman gold coins. At Sandby Borg on the shore of Öland island, off the south-east coast of Sweden, there was no escape.

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Research gives new ray of hope for solar fuel

Research gives new ray of hope for solar fuel

A team of Renewable Energy experts from the University of Exeter has pioneered a new technique to produce hydrogen from sunlight to create a clean, cheap and widely-available fuel.

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Wednesday 25 April 2018

Dogs cannot get ‘autism’, British Veterinary Association warns after ‘anti-vaxx’ movement spread to pets

Dogs cannot get ‘autism’, British Veterinary Association warns after ‘anti-vaxx’ movement spread to pets

Dogs cannot get ‘autism’, the British Veterinary Association has warned, after the ‘anti-vaccine’ movement spread to pets.

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Hunger is a gatekeeper of pain in the brain

Hunger is a gatekeeper of pain in the brain

A neuronal population has now been found that regulates two competing needs — hunger and pain. Urgent pain overrides hunger, but appetite-inducing neuronal activity dampens long-term pain responses to enable feeding.

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Why It Seems Like Everyone Is Always Angry With You

Why It Seems Like Everyone Is Always Angry With You

It’s possible that they aren’t, it’s just that you have trouble reading neutral facial expressions because of your family experience, a new study suggests.

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Electric Buses Are Hurting the Oil Industry

Electric Buses Are Hurting the Oil Industry

Electric buses were seen as a joke at an industry conference in Belgium seven years ago when the Chinese manufacturer BYD Co. showed an early model.

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Tuesday 24 April 2018

MIT Researchers Have Developed a ‘System for Dream Control’

MIT Researchers Have Developed a ‘System for Dream Control’

When is a sleeper actually asleep?

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Delivering VR in perfect focus with nanostructure meta-lenses

Delivering VR in perfect focus with nanostructure meta-lenses

Using nanostructures on a flat piece of glass can make lenses smaller, lighter and much cheaper – while providing better image quality.

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What the World Would Look Like if All the Ice Melted

What the World Would Look Like if All the Ice Melted

If we keep burning fossil fuels indefinitely, global warming will eventually melt all the ice at the poles and on mountaintops, raising sea level by 216 feet. Explore what the world’s new coastlines would look like.

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Boy unearths lost treasure of 10th century Danish king

Boy unearths lost treasure of 10th century Danish king

A 13-year-old boy and an amateur archaeologist have helped to uncover a unique stash of lost treasure thought to be associated with the legendary Danish King "Harry Bluetooth," who brought Christianity to Denmark in the 10th century.

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Research at NVIDIA: AI Reconstructs Photos with Realistic Results

Research at NVIDIA: AI Reconstructs Photos with Realistic Results

Researchers from NVIDIA, led by Guilin Liu, introduced a state-of-the-art deep learning method that can edit images or reconstruct a corrupted image, one that has holes or is missing pixels. The method can also be used to edit images by removing content and filling in the resulting holes.

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Malaria infection creates a ‘human perfume’ that makes us more attractive to mosquitoes

Malaria infection creates a ‘human perfume’ that makes us more attractive to mosquitoes

The parasite that causes malaria can change the way you smell, making you more attractive to mosquitoes, according to a new study. The work may help explain why the disease is able to spread so effectively. The new study adds important details about how human odor is influenced by malaria, says Audrey Odom John, a parasitologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri who was not involved in the study. “This is very cool, and it’s been needed for some time.”

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Theory of multiple intelligences - Howard Gardner

Theory of multiple intelligences - Howard Gardner

The theory of multiple intelligences differentiates intelligence into specific 'modalities', rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. Howard Gardner proposed this model in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. According to the theory, an intelligence must fulfill eight criteria:[1]

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Monday 23 April 2018

WTF! Swearing Can Enhance Your Pain Tolerance!

WTF! Swearing Can Enhance Your Pain Tolerance!

If you’re like me, you were taught as a child to never swear, or else you’d get soap in your mouth. Which I did, several times in fact throughout childhood (true story). However, despite these very unpleasant events which left a very strong taste in my mouth, the act of getting my tongue scrubbed vigorously with soap by my mother has never stopped me from engaging in healthy amount of swearing as an adult.

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