Last year I wrote and published a fake 'scientific paper' to highlight the problem of predatory scientific journals. My article, following in the tradition of earlier fake journal 'stings', was complete nonsense, full of Star Wars references and quotes, but it was published by a number of dodgy journals.
Now, another sci-fi sting has taken place, based this time on Rick and Morty. The stinger, Farooq Ali Khan, created a hilarious paper called Newer Tools to Fight Inter-Galactic Parasites ...read more
Bats and dolphins are seemingly polar-opposite creatures, but they do share a special skill: echolocation. This ability — mapping out the area via the reflection of high-pitched sonic signals you send out — comes in handy when you’re navigating the night skies or the murky depths of the ocean. Researchers already knew this ability came about through convergent evolution, when two or more unrelated species develop the same trait independently. But a recent paper published in Sci ...read more
In a time where ephemeral diet advice bombards us from every Instagrammer and morning show, it’s tempting to ignore the latest scientific report claiming to have a helpful idea about obesity.
In a new review, researchers suggest that the consumption of ultra-processed foods could cause obesity and related health problems because of the way the foods feed our gut microbes.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about processed foods, nor the first time we’ve heard about g ...read more
After Rosie’s mother died, she accompanied the lifeless body throughout the night, in apparent mourning. When Noel lost her adopted son, she picked his teeth clean with a grass stem. And Jire carried her infant’s corpse for 68 days after the one-year-old succumbed to a respiratory infection.
Rosie, Noel and Jire are chimpanzees, whose responses to death were documented by researchers. Their behavior makes one wonder: Do chimps and other animals understand death, or are humans the on ...read more
(Inside Science) — Nearly 30 years ago, the state of Washington and two federal agencies agreed to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a 586-square-mile chunk of sagebrush desert where the U.S. produced plutonium for nuclear weapons starting 75 years ago. In the process, half a trillion gallons of chemically toxic and radioactive waste was dumped on the ground or injected into groundwater. Some of it has reached the Columbia River. Another 56 million gallons of concentrated ...read more
People really like killer whales — from the popularity of whale watching and movies like “Free Willy,” to the recent viral tale of a killer whale carrying its dead calf for over two weeks off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia.
That makes the possible population collapse of these iconic creatures even more distressing.
A paper in the Sept. 28 issue of Science says killer whales are at great risk, but not from climate change, loss of habitat or loss of their prey. It wi ...read more
For the first time, astronomers have witnessed a fast-moving jet of material shooting outward from a neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field — one that is some 10 trillion times stronger than the Sun's. The surprising discovery not only caught researchers off guard, but is also forcing them to fundamentally rethink their current theories regarding how jets form throughout the cosmos.
Intense Magnetism
Astronomers have long been fascinated with neutron stars, which are t ...read more
A M7.5 earthquake struck on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi today and it appears to have generated a significant tsunami that struck, at the very least, the city of Palu. The city is only about 78 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake. This uncorroborated video on Twitter shows the wave arriving:
Its so close to my city. After earthquakes then we attack by tsunami again. Please pray for us :( #PrayForDonggala#Gempapic.twitter.com/9Q7fWBuOer
— ★ ghy ★ (@ksjnoona) Se ...read more
Some 200 people die from drug overdoses every day in America. That’s left officials around the country desperate for solutions. One of the most common — and controversial — ideas is to open supervised injection sites where drug users can take illegal drugs with medical professionals standing by to prevent overdoses and the spread of disease.
The scientific evidence shows these sites can save lives. But last month, a controversial new study challenged the oft-claimed benefit ...read more
