When Immigrants Come to the U.S., Their Gut Bacteria Americanizes

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

The gut microbiome may be an important window to our health and understanding the obesity epidemic. (Credit: Anatomy Insider/Shutterstock) Immigrating to another country changes everything — including your gut bacteria. When immigrants and refugees move to the United States, their gut microbiome rapidly Westernizes and becomes less diverse, according to a new study that analyzed the effects of migration on Hmong and Karen immigrant communities in Minnesota. Their findings ...read more

Decades-Long Time-lapse Reveals Donut Shape of Supernova 1987A

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

A time-lapse created by astronomer Yvette Cendes shows the shockwave of Supernova 1987A expanding outward and crashing into debris. (Credit: Yvette Cendes, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto) Astronomers have been captivated by Supernova 1987A — the death of a supergiant star about 168,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud — since it was first spotted in the night sky in 1987. Supernova 1987A remains the brightest supernova hu ...read more

Scientists Trace Evolution of HPV To Sex With Neanderthals

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Human cells infected with human papillomavirus. (Credit: Komsan Loonprom/Shutterstock) One version of the human papillomavirus, which leads to most cases of cervical cancer, evolved in humans as a result of sex with Neanderthal, a new study shows. The American Cancer Society estimates more than 13,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer this year and 30 percent will die from the disease. HPV is responsible for nearly every case of cervical cance ...read more

Bad News for the Already Endangered Chinese Sturgeon

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Onlookers view the critically endangered Chinese sturgeon at the Beijing Aquarium. (Credit: Wikimedia) Critically endangered Chinese sturgeon may be even worse off than we thought, reports a team of researchers from the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research in Beijing. These ancient fish are anadromous, which means they live in the ocean and migrate up rivers to spawn in fresh water. For the Chinese sturgeon, this annual spawning quest brings them up China’s Yangtze ...read more

Scientists Confirm There's a Monster Black Hole in the Heart of our Galaxy

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Using the ESO’s sensitive GRAVITY instrument, researchers have confirmed that the enormous object at the heart of our galaxy is — as scientists have assumed for many years — a supermassive black hole. (Credit: ESO/Gravity Consortium/L. Calçada) Scientists have finally confirmed that the massive object at the heart of our galaxy is, in fact, a supermassive black hole. Researchers used the European Southern Observatory’s sensitive GRAVITY instrument on the Very Lar ...read more