It’s no secret that women and men experience pain differently, and there are a variety of reasons to cause this variance in pain perception. Hormones are known to influence pain sensitivity, body structure affects the density of pain receptors, and psychological and social factors play a role in how pain is perceived and expressed.With all these factors in mind, it’s surprising to learn that most pain research has historically ignored sex differences. As a result, many studies missed the opp ...read more

When it comes to infant nutrition, parents are flooded with information on what's safe and what's not. However, one piece of advice that often catches new caregivers off guard is the strict guideline against giving babies water, especially during the first six months of life. After all, water is essential for survival — so why exactly is it off-limits for infants?Pediatricians warn against giving water to babies younger than six months. That’s because doing so can be dangerous. Unlike older ...read more

Humans are adept combiners. As it turns out, so, too, are bonobos. According to a new study in Science, bonobos can combine their calls a lot like humans can, indicating that a hallmark of human communication — an ability called compositionality — is just as much a hallmark of the communication of our closest relatives.“Since humans and bonobos had a common ancestor approximately 7 to 13 million years ago, they share many traits by descent,” said Martin Surbeck, a study author and an evo ...read more

Asteroid 2024 YR4 had everyone collectively holding their breath just months ago, but now, it appears that the “city-killer” asteroid has a stronger chance of striking the Moon, not Earth. The asteroid currently has a 3.8 percent chance to hit the Moon on December 22, 2032, according to the latest announcement from NASA.Ongoing infrared observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have continued to unveil more precise information about 2024 YR4 and its potential trajectory throughou ...read more

Traveling West embodied the United State’s 19th century expansionist tendencies. Traveling East might have been an appropriate tendency for early humans living in what is now Europe near the end of the Ice Age.A team of researchers describe how populations shifted in size, density, and region during the Final Paleolithic Period between 14,000 and 11,600, according to a study in PLOS ONE.The U.S. population transfer was driven by a search for wealth, particularly gold. The Ice Age movement may ...read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in the U.S. An easy way to help lower your risk is to get the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week. Although these recommendations are well known, more than a quarter of all adults don’t meet this goal. So, how can you get more heart-healthy exercise? According to research from a study published in Environmental Research and presented at the scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology, living in a wal ...read more

It’s a given that we associate higher exposure to wildfire smoke with decreased lung health. But a new study, for the first time, links breathing in fine particulate air pollution (labelled by public health scientists as PM2.5) to mental health issues as well.The study published in JAMA Network Open connected increased exposure to wildfire smoke with a spike in visits to emergency departments for mental health conditions.“Wildfire smoke isn’t just a respiratory issue — it affects mental ...read more

Our relationship with alcohol is quite complex. While it can serve as a social lubricant or help some individuals relax, excessive intake can lead to addiction and cause various health problems. Alcohol occurs naturally as a byproduct of fermenting sugary fruits and nectars, which is why several animals — including insects, monkeys, bats, and even elephants — are known to intentionally seek out fermented fruits for their alcohol content. Researchers are fascinated by why some animals can't r ...read more

Romeo and Juliet were a pair of doomed, star-crossed lovers. Now, astronomers have detected a pair of doomed star-crossed stars. Like Shakespeare’s famously unlucky couple, two white dwarfs spiraling around each other are on a course toward destruction.Astronomers discovered that the stellar partners are separated by a distance of 1/60th — the difference between the Earth and the sun, they report in Nature Astronomy. This proximity will eventually destroy them.Stellar Collision Course to Sup ...read more

The U.S. now hosts over 157,000 wind turbines. If each tower holds three blades, and each blade’s weight is about 65 glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP), that’s a lot of plastic. Even if each turbine lasts an estimated 30 or so years, those blades will still need to be reckoned with.Critics challenging wind power often claim that the turbine blades can’t be recycled but are often buried, potentially leeching harmful pollutants into the groundwater.Perhaps in an attempt to blunt that clai ...read more