Category: Science

Posted on

Evidence Suggests That Running Could Prolong Your Life

Running certainly isn’t for everyone. Like me, for instance.

I’m one of those people who jokes that if you see me running, you should run, too, because there’s definitely something or someone chasing me.

I might have to reconsider my position, though, given that data supporting the idea that running equals better health just keeps piling up.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tim | Half Marathon Runner (@timbo_runs) on

We can add to it this report, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, which found that people who ran even once a week had a 27% lower risk of dying early due to heart-related issues.

The associated study looked at the habits of 232,149 people over the course of 35 years, and even though there’s no promise that picking up a running habit will prevent you from dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer, they have shown a link between the two.

The good news is, it doesn’t appear you have to be a dedicated runner to reap the benefits of running – even people who ran for less than 50 minutes every week, or only once per week, or slower than 6mph avoided earlier deaths.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Camila Gabriel (@khamurphy) on

“This finding may be motivating for those who cannot invest a lot of time in exercise, but it should definitely not discourage those who already engage in higher amounts of running,” summed up Željko Pedišić, one of the study’s authors told Runner’s World.

So, if you love running and do it often, there’s no reason to back off. And if you’re like me, well, there seem to be compelling health reasons to give it a go, even casually.

Just one 45-minute jog once a week could lower your blood pressure, your high cholesterol, help combat obesity and cardiovascular disease, lower your risk for type 2 diabetes, and even help keep certain types of cancer at bay.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Martin (@ilpirataswe) on

I guess those are pretty good reasons for getting off the couch and out from behind the computer once in a while.

So if you see me running, run too – just in case there are zombies, but also because we’d all like to live a little bit longer, if we could.

Right?

The post Evidence Suggests That Running Could Prolong Your Life appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Venice, Italy Is Underwater After the Highest Tide in 50 Years

If you’ve paid attention to the news the last week or so, you’ve seen the heartbreaking and devastating floods in one of Europe’s most-visited cities. Venice, Italy is a breathtaking destination, famous for its canals and historic buildings.

Recently, the highest tide in 50 years has inundated the city, and the mayor of Venice has blamed the catastrophe on one thing: climate change.

Paquebots(Navires spécialisé dans le transport de personnes.)L' année dernière, des conditions similaires ont frappé…

Posted by Olivier Godfurnon on Thursday, November 14, 2019

More than 85% of Venice flooded during this event, and the famous St. Mark’s Basilica was flooded for only the sixth time in 1,200 years. Four of those six floods have been in the past 20 years. Official records about such events in Venice have only been kept since 1923, and these high tides (called acqua alta in Italian) reached the highest levels in the city since 1966.

Posted by Sonny Tuttle on Monday, November 18, 2019

Luca Zaia, the governor of the Veneto region of which Venice is a part of, said, “We are faced with total, apocalyptic devastation. The art, the basilica, the shops and the homes, a disaster…Venice is bracing itself for the next high tide.” Zaia also described Venice as being “on its knees.”

Posted by Władimir Gromakowski on Sunday, November 17, 2019

The images coming out of Venice are shocking and sad, to say the least. People and animals trudging through the high waters, attempting to find higher ground and to save their personal belongings.

Posted by Sonny Tuttle on Monday, November 18, 2019

Posted by Sonny Tuttle on Monday, November 18, 2019

Venice is built on top of a marshy, shallow lagoon, which doesn’t help the situation. Sea levels have been rising around Venice (and everywhere) for years because of climate change, but the city is also sinking, increasing the impact.

Unless drastic action is taken, the problem looks like it will only get worse as time marches on until the city disappears into the ocean. Or something.

The post Venice, Italy Is Underwater After the Highest Tide in 50 Years appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Venice, Italy Is Underwater After the Highest Tide in 50 Years

If you’ve paid attention to the news the last week or so, you’ve seen the heartbreaking and devastating floods in one of Europe’s most-visited cities. Venice, Italy is a breathtaking destination, famous for its canals and historic buildings.

Recently, the highest tide in 50 years has inundated the city, and the mayor of Venice has blamed the catastrophe on one thing: climate change.

Paquebots(Navires spécialisé dans le transport de personnes.)L' année dernière, des conditions similaires ont frappé…

Posted by Olivier Godfurnon on Thursday, November 14, 2019

More than 85% of Venice flooded during this event, and the famous St. Mark’s Basilica was flooded for only the sixth time in 1,200 years. Four of those six floods have been in the past 20 years. Official records about such events in Venice have only been kept since 1923, and these high tides (called acqua alta in Italian) reached the highest levels in the city since 1966.

Posted by Sonny Tuttle on Monday, November 18, 2019

Luca Zaia, the governor of the Veneto region of which Venice is a part of, said, “We are faced with total, apocalyptic devastation. The art, the basilica, the shops and the homes, a disaster…Venice is bracing itself for the next high tide.” Zaia also described Venice as being “on its knees.”

Posted by Władimir Gromakowski on Sunday, November 17, 2019

The images coming out of Venice are shocking and sad, to say the least. People and animals trudging through the high waters, attempting to find higher ground and to save their personal belongings.

Posted by Sonny Tuttle on Monday, November 18, 2019

Posted by Sonny Tuttle on Monday, November 18, 2019

Venice is built on top of a marshy, shallow lagoon, which doesn’t help the situation. Sea levels have been rising around Venice (and everywhere) for years because of climate change, but the city is also sinking, increasing the impact.

Unless drastic action is taken, the problem looks like it will only get worse as time marches on until the city disappears into the ocean. Or something.

The post Venice, Italy Is Underwater After the Highest Tide in 50 Years appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A Company Is Making “Meat” out of Air

The idea behind making food from air comes from NASA, who wondered during the early days of space slight whether they could take exhaled carbon dioxide and turn it into food that could sustain astronauts during a long voyage.

It never quite became a reality in space, but now a California-based company is revamping the principle to produce animal-free meat products.

If it worked, the sustainable form of meat could help address issues like feeding a constantly growing population and the strain on farming resources, not to mention the treatment of animals raised for slaughter and the negative effects on the environment. Plus, pulling CO2 out of the air could potentially be beneficial in fighting climate change.

Enter Air Protein, a probiotic production process that converts carbon dioxide into a protein substance using microbes. The “protein substance” has the same amino acid profile as an animal protein.

The microbes, called hydrogenotrophs, grow inside fermentation tanks. They eat carbon dioxide, water and other nutrients and produce a brown-colored “flour” that is 80% protein and has a “neutral” taste. It can then be blended with other ingredients to create meat substitutes.

CEO Lisa Dyson is excited about the potential.

“The statistics are clear. Our current resources are under extreme strain as evidenced by the burning Amazon due to deforestation and steadily increasing droughts. We need to produce more food with a reduced dependency on land and water resources. Air-based meat addresses these resource issues and more.”

Right now, animal agriculture emits more greenhouse gases than the entire global transport sector, which is one reason so many plant-based alternatives have started to be offered and consumed. There’s potential for trouble with those options, too, as deforestation to make room for crops comes with its own negative environmental impact.

This air protein doesn’t require plants or animals, it’s not sprayed with pesticides, and it can be produced in a matter of hours – all of which kind of makes it sound like the perfect food.

Of course, I still haven’t tasted it. But I’ll go out on a limb and say I bet we’ll all have our chance to do that in the not-too-distant future.

The post A Company Is Making “Meat” out of Air appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Only Two Groups Pay for Fully Half the Anti-Vaccine Ads on Facebook

Anti-vax ads are a big source of controversy, since the entire movement is based on “research” that has been debunked and maligned by educated medical professionals across the globe. Some think that platforms like Facebook should ban any “ads” by labeling them as misinformation, while others think they fall under the umbrella of “free speech,” and are therefore untouchable.

With diseases like measles making a comeback, though – 1,261 cases (and counting) in the U.S. in 2019 up from just 86 in 2016 – the people driving vaccine hesitancy are causing trouble for us all.

And it turns out that only a few organizations are paying for these advertisements – ads that have the potential to sicken and even kill people.

According to Vaccine, more than half of anti-vax ads on Facebook come from the World Mercury Project (WMP), which is chaired by Robert F Kennedy Jr., and Stop Mandatory Vaccination (SMV).

The World Health Organization lists vaccine hesitancy as a threat to global health, and the spread of misinformation, exacerbated by social media, is how its being largely driven.

The new study examined over 500 advertisements placed between December 2018 and February 2019. Researchers noted how many of them were fairly uniform and stuck to the same non-facts about the supposed harms of vaccines.

Facebook has rules governing political advertisements, but often anti-vax ads get around the restrictions by using words like “freedom” and “choice” instead of talking about vaccines themselves, says David Broniatowski, a principal investigator for the study.

“By accepting the framing of vaccine opponents – that vaccination is a political topic, rather than one on which there is widespread public agreement and scientific consensus – Facebook perpetuates the false idea that there is even a debate to be had. This leads to increased vaccine hesitancy, and ultimately, more epidemics.”

There are other avenues for misinformation, of course, but the social media pioneer is taking a lot of heat – rightfully so, says Broniatowski.

“Worse, these policies actually penalize pro-vaccine content since Facebook requires disclosure of funding sources for ‘political ads,” but vaccine proponents rarely think of themselves as political. Additionally, vaccine opponents are more organized and more able to make sure that their ads meet these requirements.”

Actually scientific studies have conclusively shown that vaccines are not only safe, but save millions of lives all over the world.

Facebook has promised to work on updating their policies in an attempt to curb anti-vax ads on the platform, but, as with all promises from big business (and this one in particular), only time will tell whether or not they actually follow through.

In fact, it’s been 6 months already.

In the meantime, go ahead and block and report them – it can’t hurt.

The post Only Two Groups Pay for Fully Half the Anti-Vaccine Ads on Facebook appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

These Interesting Facts Might Make You Say ‘Wait, What?’

WOW.

These facts are good. Damn good, if I do say so myself.

I think you’ll agree.

Go ahead and see for yourself…

1. There’s something out there…

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

2. That sounds nice right about now.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

3. I’m in big trouble.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

4. They are definitely real.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

5. Gotta pay your dues.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

6. Yes! More of this!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

7. A legend.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

8. Gettin’ it on!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

9. That makes perfect sense.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

10. Does this pertain to you?

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

Are you wowed? Like, majorly wowed?

I think you are…thanks for stopping by!

The post These Interesting Facts Might Make You Say ‘Wait, What?’ appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Centuries of French Wine Harvests Show the Hard Truth of Climate Change

This is very interesting…

Climate scientists often warn that citing events from a single location as evidence of changes (or not) across the entire globe isn’t helpful (or accurate). That said, when data from single locations begin to add small tales to a much larger story, it might be (past) time to take note.

In this case, it’s six and a half centuries worth of grape harvest records that are telling a chilling (but not-so-chilly) tale about how temperatures, weather events, and harvests have rarely varied from a path that all but confirms climate change is happening.

And since those records tell a story about late spring through summer that coincide with what the cherry blossoms in Japan are telling us about spring – and what a Scandinavian river is screaming about winter – the “oh it’s just one place” argument gets pretty darn thin.

Back to France, though, where the good people take their Burgundy seriously.

Dr. Thomas Labbe is the academic who spent years digging through centuries of harvest records that date back to 1354. To understand the significance of the findings, you’ll need to be aware that grape harvests take place earlier after hot, dry summers and later after cool, wet ones (a fact he confirmed after comparing harvest dates with temperature records).

“The record is clearly divided into two parts,” he said in a statement. “For more than 600 years average harvest date was September 28 – early ones were the exception. Since 1988 the average date has shifted to September 15, indicating much hotter conditions.”

So, the summers prior to the harvest have been steadily hotter and drier since 1988.

“We did not anticipate that the accelerated warming trend since the mid-1980s would stand out so clearly in the series,” added Professor Christian Pfister, who co-authored the analysis of Labbe’s data. “The transition to a rapid global warming period after 1988 stands out very clearly. The exceptional character of the last 30 years becomes apparent to everybody.”

View this post on Instagram

Fidwald European Vacation Day 36. Bordeaux, France. Headed into town to visit a wine museum and enjoy a tasting. Afterwards briefly visited Point De Pierre, the well known bridge of Bordeaux as well as the “Water Mirror” (reflecting pool) however it was a little windy as the weather was turning so wasn’t reflecting so well. quick salad lunch (to balance all the baguettes & croissants) then headed back. We stopped briefly at a supermarket for dinner supplies and miscommunication resulted in security thinking we were going to leave without paying 😆 (Still easier than communication in many U.S. establishments!) Back in time for a tour of the De Lassalle winery where we are staying, our guide is so gorgeous and we thoroughly enjoyed the tasting, all so delicious! The rain introduced such an impressive rainbow with a view! Finished up having such a fun evening, Jemma busied herself putting together a dinner of mixed goodies to plate, the girls then enjoyed the jacuzzi whilst Matt & I enjoyed the wine but all 4 of us playing a game. (Was a version of guess that song, brought us all a few giggles!) We are thoroughly loving it here! #fidwalds #europeanvacation #holidayroad #familyroadtrip #roadtripwithteens #griswaldsgotnothingonus #frenchwinery #bordeauxfrance #delassallewine

A post shared by @ fidwalds_travel_pics on

At least, it should become apparent to everybody.

There are, of course, longer-term climatic records that range across the globe, offered by tree rings, ice cores, and stalagmites (among other sources), but none of those are as precise as Labbe’s data.

The evidence is stacked up so high it’s practically a mountain, and I think that, for the younger generations at least, more and more people are listening.

If wine can’t get people’s attention, maybe it really is too late.

The post Centuries of French Wine Harvests Show the Hard Truth of Climate Change appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

In 1825, a British geologist went…

In 1825, a British geologist went to Sicily and examined the remains of a female saint. He concluded that they weren’t human and likely belonged to a goat. He told the priests, who kicked him out and then placed the bones into a casket to prevent future study.

Posted on

What Happens When a Plane Flies into a Flock of Birds?

Sometimes, these two worlds collide mid-air, and planes fly straight into a bird, or even a flock of birds.

The results can look really disastrous, especially for the birds. The good news is that bird strikes don’t typically pose any risk to airplanes or passengers. The really good news is that they’re unlikely to bring down a plane.

“Aircraft are designed and built to withstand bird strikes, and pilots undergo rigorous training to enable them to deal with eventualities like a bird strike,” BALPA flight safety specialist, Stephen Landells, told The Telegraph.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Even if a bird gets sucked into the airplane’s engine, the plane can usually land just fine. “Losing one engine is not going to cause an aircraft to crash because they are designed to fly with one engine down,” Stephen explained.

That doesn’t mean fliers are completely in the clear, however. While a single bird rarely poses any danger to a plane, Stephen added that “multiple bird strikes – or hitting large birds such as Canada geese – can and have caused serious accidents.” Captain Sully’s landing of a US Airways plane on the Hudson River in 2009 is perhaps the most famous example of this.

Photo Credit: YouTube

This is quite rare, though.

There were 160,894 bird strikes between 1990 and 2015 in the U.S. Only 40 of those strikes resulted in an accident.

Unfortunately, these incidents are often fatal for the birds (though not always). They can die on impact if they run into a plane, and they usually disintegrate if they get sucked into an engine. The number of wildlife strikes has also increased drastically over the years, as flying gets more popular.

Sadly, there’s not much that planes can do to avoid birds in the sky.

The post What Happens When a Plane Flies into a Flock of Birds? appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Here’s a Great Product to Remove Irritants/Venom so Bites/Stings Don’t Itch

Obviously bug bites AND stings are VERY common problems we all share, and when either of those situations arise, the vast majority of us turn to creams and ointments that treat the symptoms, not the cause.

Well, now there’s a product that literally gets to the heart of why you itch and scratch after getting bit or stung.

The Bug Bite Thing was created by Florida mom, Kelley Higney (pictured right), who wanted to find a better, drug-free way to help her kids with the bug bites that always irritated their skin.

The way it works is deceptively simple: by suction.

See, when you get bit the insect’s saliva or venom gets under your skin. This causes a reaction and a red, itchy welt is the result.

That’s where the Bug Bite Thing springs into action. You just place it over your skin, pull up on the plunger and let the natural suction do its work.

The company posted this tutorial to show how easy it is…

It’s just that easy. And it’s honestly one of those ideas that make you think, “Why haven’t I thought of that?”

People are so impressed by the product, that they’ve taken to social media to share their stories…

Because this thing is a life-saver…

And it even helps people who have more serious issues with bug bites lead a normal life…

View this post on Instagram

💚

A post shared by Bug Bite Thing (@bugbitething) on

The reviews on Amazon speak for themselves…

The results are especially good for kids because it’s pain-free and drug-free!

So where can you get one?

The Bug Bite Thing retails on the company’s website for $9.95, and you can also buy it on Amazon.

By the way, fun fact about the company… they were recently on Shark Tank and got funded by inventor & entrepreneur, Lori Greiner!

Here she is talking about how much she loves the product!

LUV Bug Bite Thing sooooo much!! Here's why! www.bugbitething.com #SharkTank #mosquitobites #bugbites #itreallyworks

Posted by Lori Greiner on Sunday, October 20, 2019

They even moved into new offices!

Definitely keep your eye on this company for more amazing ideas to help you lead a healthier, happier life!

The post Here’s a Great Product to Remove Irritants/Venom so Bites/Stings Don’t Itch appeared first on UberFacts.