New compounds with potentially harmful effects on the lungs can form from the mixture of flavours and solvents – even at room temperature Studies on the chemical composition of e-cigarette liquids are raising concern that regulation is lagging behind the data. The Yale Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science is aContinue Reading
It is not often that a comedian gives an astrophysicist goose bumps when discussing the laws of physics. But comic Chuck Nice managed to do just that in a recent episode of the podcast StarTalk. The show’s host Neil deGrasse Tyson had just explained the simulation argument—the idea that weContinue Reading
Nature documentaries showcase the most exciting moments of daily life in the natural world, and a new series reveals that survival for some of the tiniest creatures can be as harrowing, suspenseful and dramatic as it is for big animals. Apple TV+’s “Tiny World” introduces a fresh look at howContinue Reading
US researchers develop a two-step test for the novel coronavirus that doesn’t requires the use of scarce reagents A shortage of key chemicals needed for tests to diagnose Covid-19 has hampered screening efforts, but now researchers in the US have developed a new test that doesn’t rely on these scarceContinue Reading
Sometime in the late 1600s, in the lush forests of Mauritius, the very last dodo took its last breath. After centuries of untroubled ferreting in the tropical undergrowth, this species met its untimely end at the hands of humans, who had arrived on the island less than 100 years before.Continue Reading
Picturing how our species might appear in the far future often invites wild speculation over stand-out features such as height, brain size, and skin complexion. Yet subtle shifts in our anatomy today demonstrate how unpredictable evolution can be. Take something as mundane as an extra blood vessel in our arms,Continue Reading
At least two dozen planets outside the solar system might be better for life than Earth. These planets are just a little older, a little wetter, a little warmer and a little larger than Earth is, researchers wrote Sept. 18 in the journal Astrobiology. All of these factors could meanContinue Reading
Since the end of September, hundreds of soldiers and civilians are thought to have been killed in a rapidly developing conflict between the rival Caucasus nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan. But why are they in conflict? It turns out that they’re fighting over the landlocked, mountainous and kidney shaped Nagorno-KarabakhContinue Reading
When NASA’s OSIRIS-REx arrived at near-Earth asteroid Bennu, scientists were dismayed to find a surface covered with hazardous-looking boulders. But new research suggests that those boulders are surprisingly brittle. That’s potentially good news for the spacecraft, which is charged with grabbing a piece of Bennu on October 20 and returningContinue Reading
A new CDC report finds that 25% of people don’t remember to wash their hands at important times, such as after blowing their nose. More Americans are washing their hands amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but 1 in 4 don’t lather up when they need to, such as after blowing theirContinue Reading