Prehistoric Human Populations Shifted East at the End of the Ice Age

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

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

Living in a Walkable Neighborhood Could Cut Your Risk of Heart Disease

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

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

Wildfire Smoke Harms Not Just Lungs, But Impacts Mental Health, Too

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

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

Tipsy Fruit Flies Are More Successful in Mating Than Their Sober Counterparts

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

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

First-Ever Binary White Dwarf System Destined to Explode as Type 1a Supernova

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

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

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