A new breakthrough in egg cell creation has enabled a female mouse to give birth to babies carrying only the genes of two fathers.Scientists genetically engineered this by turning male XY chromosomes into female XX chromosomes and creating eggs from strictly male skin cells.“The mice look fine — they grew up to be adults, and the adult mice are also fertile,” says Katsuhiko Hayashi, a genome biologist at Osaka University in Japan.The achievement has huge implications for same-sex parenting ...read more

According to the United States Parachuting Association (USPA), around half a million people jump from airplanes for the first time each year. The average skydiver jumps from 13,000 feet, free falling for around a minute at 110 mph. Once the parachute opens, there’s typically around five minutes to take in the views as you descend towards Earth.It’s a wild ride — one of the biggest adrenaline rushes that you can legally find. But your body wasn’t designed to barrel out of airplanes; so it ...read more

If you’ve ever woken up the day after having had too much to drink, you may be familiar with the feeling. And no, we don’t mean a hangover; we mean a hangover laced with anxiety. One that causes you to ruminate over everything you said and did the night before. You relive conversations and chew the cud of every interaction that might have gone south. HangxietyYou might get anxious or feel guilty about other things, like the fact that you drank too much and the next day feels wasted. It’s ...read more

Would you like to live a very long life? Probably only if you can stay mentally sharp the whole way. And that might be possible. Scientists are studying people known as super agers to try to unlock the secrets to a younger brain.Super AgersThough the term ‘super agers’ sounds like a marketing gimmick (sometimes it’s even styled as SuperAgers), it’s simply how researchers refer to people in their 80s or older who have cognitive health similar to that of people 20 to 30 years younger. The ...read more

This article was originally published on May 5, 2021.Early on May 5, 1961, the United States came to a standstill. A Philadelphia judge halted all court proceedings, crowds in Times Square sang and danced, and California traffic slowed to a crawl. Taverns even offered free champagne to revelers. In the White House, President John F. Kennedy stood dumbstruck, with his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his eyes fixed on an unlikely television picture. For, on this late spring morning 60 years ...read more

Many patients with advanced dementia can no longer speak or comprehend language. Researchers are finding that nonverbal dementia patients often receive substandard care because their caregivers don’t know how to communicate with them.A nonverbal patient, for example, might refuse meals because they don’t recognize a food’s texture. Or a patient might become combative during bath time because they don’t understand what is happening. Over time, skipping meals leads to malnutrition, and c ...read more

Most American launch sites are on the coast. (Think Cape Canaveral.) But have you ever wondered why, for more than a decade, spacecraft returned to water, too?Splashdown, the term for landing capsules or other spacecraft in a body of water with the help of parachutes, was NASA’s preferred method prior to the invention of the Space Shuttle. Now, in the era following it, we may be revisiting splashdowns as the best way to get astronauts home safely.Here’s everything that entails.Splashdown Mec ...read more

Bacteria have lived on our planet earth for about 3 billion years, most of the 4.5 billion years that the planet has been around. And while the industrious microbes are central to medicine, disease and most areas of the natural world, we understand little about the form they took in the ancient world.Now, a new study from an interdisciplinary team has taken important steps to understanding stone age bacteria by sequencing genomes recovered from ancient dental calculus. The hardened tartar preser ...read more

You already know the look: Your dog is staring up at you, its eyes shining with curiosity and ears perked up. And, of course, the pup’s head is cocked slightly to one side in response to the sound of your voice. It’s just one of the many charming quirks that dogs possess. And a quick Google search will offer up plenty of theories for their adorable head-tilting behavior. For example, some veterinarians suggest that dogs tilt their heads toward their owners to show that they are engaged and p ...read more

Star Wars exists in the world as science fiction, perhaps as “soft” science fiction that deviates from established science when desired for story or choking Imperial officers. Nevertheless, it’s affected whole generations’ understanding of outer space with its blend of fantasy and starships. On May the Fourth, Discover takes a look at the science behind this pop culture phenomenon to celebrate Star Wars Day.Where has the mega-franchise gotten science right, and where has it done a Kessel ...read more