Can a Supplement Really Help Control Your Pesky Eye Floaters?
Eye floaters, also known as muscae volitantes, are small cloud-like structures or spots that drift across people’s vision, caused by clumps or strands of collagen in the vitreous humor (gel-like substance) inside the eye. Floaters are common and often increase with age as the vitreous thins and shrinks, sometimes pulling away from the retina in […]
Zap, zap, zap! Our bodies are electric
Our bodies rely on electricity to function. Tiny electrical signals called action potentials race through the brain, heart, muscles and bones on a constant basis. In the heart, the sinoatrial node acts as the natural pacemaker, generating electrical signals that cause the heart to contract in a regular rhythm. The rate is controlled by the […]
34-year-old Hubble Telescope does it again – NASA uncovers unusual galaxy using Hubble photography
The 34-year-old Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of an unusual galaxy called NGC 4694. Most galaxies are either spiral or elliptical in shape, but this one is difficult to classify. NGC 4694 has a smooth, armless disk like an elliptical galaxy, but it still has ongoing star formation in its core, unlike typical ellipticals. […]
Surprising Discovery: NASA’s Retrofitted U2 Spy Plane Reveals Tropical Lightning Storms Are Radioactive
NASA retrofitted a former U-2 spy plane to study tropical thunderstorms and lightning from above. This plane is called the ER-2. On flights into thunderstorms over the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, instruments onboard detected bursts of radioactive isotopes coming from the clouds. The radioisotopes detected were carbon-14 and beryllium-7, which are not normally […]
James Webb Uncovers the Whirling Origins of Planetary Systems
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a unique view of the birth of a new planetary system. It observed a protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star called AB Aurigae. Protoplanetary disks are swirling disks of dust and gas where new planets form around young stars. The JWST image provides a glimpse into this […]
Top ‘safety risk’ for the ISS is a leak that has been ongoing for 5 years, NASA audit finds
A long-running air leak in the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) has been identified as the top safety risk according to a recent NASA audit. The leak is located in a transfer tunnel that connects the Russian Zvezda module to one of the ISS docking ports. It has been ongoing for 5 […]
This Map of Every Neuron in an Adult Fly Brain Could Be Nobel Prize Worthy
Researchers have created a detailed map of every neuron in the brain of an adult fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), numbering around 139,000 neurons and 50 million connections. This is a major achievement that neuroscientists have aimed for over 50 years. Previous brain mapping work focused on simpler organisms like nematode worms with only hundreds of […]
Nearly 40% of Young People Could Be Shortsighted by 2050
A global review examined data on the prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) in people aged 5-19 from 50 countries up to 2023. The review found that the prevalence of myopia increased from 24% globally in 1990 to 36% in 2023. If rates continue to increase at the same pace, over 40% of young people worldwide could […]
Study Identifies Gut Microbe Imbalances That Predict Autism And ADHD
Researchers studied gut microbiome samples from over 1,200 Swedish children collected at birth and around 1 year of age as part of a long-term health study. They found significant differences in the bacterial composition and metabolite levels of these early life samples for children who were later diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD. […]
Stunning New Color Map of Mars Reveals Surface in Unprecedented Detail
– Chinese researchers from the CAS have used images from the Tianwen-1 orbiter to create the highest resolution color map of Mars to date, at 76 meters per pixel. – Previous maps had lower resolutions of hundreds of meters per pixel or more. This new map provides unprecedented detail. – Images from Tianwen-1’s optical camera […]