Image: Wikimedia Commons
According to this study, the answer is False (despite that fact that “Sex has been deemed taboo for athletic performance going back to ancient Rome and Greece, as the act of sex was thought to promote ease and a sense of relaxation.”) Read more below!
Effect of Sexual Intercourse on Lower Extremity Muscle Force in Strength-Trained Men.
BACKGROUND: Sex has been deemed taboo for athletic performance going back to ancient Rome and Greece, as the act of se ...read more
The summer monsoon season in Colorado is still probably weeks away, but we got a spectacular preview today
As I was leaving Boulder, Colorado this afternoon, heading for home out on the plains at the foot of the Rockies, I looked up and was stopped short by a giant, glowing thunderstorm cell that was building fast, in all dimensions.
I've long been enamored of Western skies. That's true in all seasons, each of which brings its own wonders. But there's something particularly special ...read more
A 'cloud camera' 40 miles away and high on a mountain captured the eerie glow emanating from continuing volcanic activity
Last week I featured time-lapse video capturing the ash plume from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano exploding skyward higher than Mt. Everest. Now, the same camera, located on the Gemini North telescope atop 13,803-foot Mauna Kea, has captured yet another remarkable video.
The new time-lapse shows the intense glow from an extensive region of volcanic fissures on Hawaii' ...read more
Have paleontologists just been winging it? Up to 95 percent of the hip joint reconstructions of pterosaurs and their distant relatives, the most birdlike of dinosaurs, are anatomically impossible, according to new research that used a surprising source. But the study's conclusions, counters a pterosaur expert, should be grounded.
Fleshing out an extinct animal from bones alone has always been paleontology's greatest challenge, and mistakes have been made. But a paper published today mak ...read more
The infamous lean.
In Michael Jackson’s 1987 music video “Smooth Criminal,” the legendary performer leans forward 45 degrees from a straight-up position — and comes back. It’s a feat that seemingly defies both physics and physiology, and the move has become another element of MJ’s aura of mystery.
Some type of cinematic or mechanical trick must be responsible, since most people can manage only a 20-degree forward tilt before toppling headlong. Yet ...read more
Worms have a way of appearing in strange, unwanted places: inside feet, eyeballs and stomachs. Turns out some are even invading countries.
Giant predatory flatworms have inched their way into France and its overseas territories on four continents, according to a study released Tuesday in PeerJ. The invasive flatworms were documented by citizen scientists and managed to stay under the radar for more than two decades. This is the first study to cover the invasion.
Wormy Worm
T ...read more
Citizen scientists used raw images from the Juno spacecraft to produce this southerly view of Jupiter
This marvelous view of Jupiter shows the planet from a different perspective than we're used to: from the south.
It was acquired by NASA's Juno spacecraft during a close flyby of the giant gaseous planet on April 1. During the encounter, Juno swooped as close as 10,768 miles above the cloud tops of the southern hemisphere.
As NASA notes in a release, this color-enhanced view is unique ...read more
Whether you’re a fan of imperial or metric, this past Sunday was the day to celebrate the way we measure our surroundings. What better way to celebrate a day dedicated to measurement than to participate in a citizen science project where you weigh (or measure) something for science? We’ve pulled together some special projects that ask you to do just that: weigh or measure something in your kitchen, yard or the galaxy!
Cheers!
The SciStarter Team
Sourdough for Science
What’s ...read more
Sorting out the roots of the sweet potato and other members of the morning glory family, researchers compared a fossil leaf of Ipomoea meghalayensis (B) with a leaf of the modern Ipomoea eriocarpa, a close relative of the tasty tuber. (Credit Indiana University)
What’s the story, morning glory?
Well, let me tell you: the sweet potato and other morning glory family members may have been around millions of years earlier than believed — after first sprouting thousands of miles fro ...read more
New research suggests the asteroid 2015 BZ509 may have originally traveled to the solar system from another star. (Credit: NASA/JPL)
Less than a year ago, astronomers discovered ‘Oumuamua, the first known object from another star system to pass through our own. Now, in a new study published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, astronomers announced the discovery of the first interstellar object known to have taken up permanent residence around the Sun.
...read more
