Category: Science

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Here Are the First 4 Things People Notice About Your Face

When it comes to impressing strangers, some things aren’t within your control. For example: Your face.

Every time you meet someone new, they judge your face on four basic characteristics, psychologist Leslie Zebrowitz says. She listed the four facial cues in a paper published in Current Direction in Psychological Science in June 2017.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The first characteristic is called “babyfaceness.”

Yep.

People are unconsciously assessing whether you have a baby face or not—features like large eyes, a round face, a short chin and a large forehead. Humans naturally have a soft spot for babies for obvious evolutionary reasons, so seeing these features in others may make us predisposed to be kinder towards them.

The second cue is familiarity. Familiar faces are preferable to completely strange and new ones. Even babies show this preferential treatment.

The third cue, fitness, is not surprising–people judge you by whether your face is healthy-looking and attractive or not.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Lastly, the fourth cue is emotional resemblance. When people meet you, they assess your emotional expressions based on certain features, like your eyebrows and mouth. If you’re frowning, people assume you’re angry. If you’re smiling, people assume you’re happy.

All of these cues produce quick, almost immediate assessments about the people we meet. Whether those assessments are true is another story. They’re definitely not precise ways to gather info about someone. Leslie’s paper refers to the “overgeneralizations” that these cues create.

Regardless, it seems that humans can’t help but judge a book by its cover.

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The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle Has Been Solved

The mystery of why things – ships, people, maybe even entire civilizations – seem to disappear over one particular barren section of ocean has captured the minds of the public and conspiracy theorists alike. We’re talking about the Bermuda Triangle, obviously.

The truth is that while ships and planes go missing fairly regularly in the BT, they do not do so more often in the triangle of sea between Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Florida than they do anywhere else.

Like, we don’t really know why the myth got so out of control, but there is not and never has been any statistical significance to the area at all.

Despite scientists knowing the truth of this fact, when things do happen to go missing in the area, reports often don’t neglect to take facts into consideration. Maybe to make a buck on the sensational aspect?

After a recent event, however, many are hopeful that it’s finally time to dismiss the harebrained theory once and for all.

During an on-air interview with news.com.au, well known Australian scientist Karl Kruszelnicki said in no uncertain terms that the number of boats and other vessels that disappear in the triangle “is the same as anywhere else in the world on a percentage basis.”

“It is close to the equator, near a wealthy part of the world, America, therefore you have a lot of traffic.”

According to Kruszelnicki, the myth can be traced back to a number of disappearances in the area between WWI and WWII. People started to get weirded out about the incidents even though the weather was often terrible and the craft weren’t reliable. In addition, pilots at the time weren’t as efficient or well-trained, and therefore were more likely to make catastrophic mistakes (like being drunk while they flew).

The fact that wreckage and remains were rarely found makes sense, too, given that it’s a large area and the water is quite deep in most places.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also maintains there’s nothing to see there – not even the Triangle itself, if you want to get technical. They agree that environmental conditions could explain many, if not all of, the disappearances, but they also reiterate that the “US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name and does not maintain an official file on the area.”

Lol.

So, it’s time we put the whole theory to rest once and for all and stop blaming perfectly normal, but tragic events on the supernatural or whatever.

“There is no evidence…that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other larges, well-traveled area of the ocean,” NOAA states.

Make no bones about it, there’s nothing to see here.

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The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle Has Been Solved

The mystery of why things – ships, people, maybe even entire civilizations – seem to disappear over one particular barren section of ocean has captured the minds of the public and conspiracy theorists alike. We’re talking about the Bermuda Triangle, obviously.

The truth is that while ships and planes go missing fairly regularly in the BT, they do not do so more often in the triangle of sea between Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Florida than they do anywhere else.

Like, we don’t really know why the myth got so out of control, but there is not and never has been any statistical significance to the area at all.

Despite scientists knowing the truth of this fact, when things do happen to go missing in the area, reports often don’t neglect to take facts into consideration. Maybe to make a buck on the sensational aspect?

After a recent event, however, many are hopeful that it’s finally time to dismiss the harebrained theory once and for all.

During an on-air interview with news.com.au, well known Australian scientist Karl Kruszelnicki said in no uncertain terms that the number of boats and other vessels that disappear in the triangle “is the same as anywhere else in the world on a percentage basis.”

“It is close to the equator, near a wealthy part of the world, America, therefore you have a lot of traffic.”

According to Kruszelnicki, the myth can be traced back to a number of disappearances in the area between WWI and WWII. People started to get weirded out about the incidents even though the weather was often terrible and the craft weren’t reliable. In addition, pilots at the time weren’t as efficient or well-trained, and therefore were more likely to make catastrophic mistakes (like being drunk while they flew).

The fact that wreckage and remains were rarely found makes sense, too, given that it’s a large area and the water is quite deep in most places.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also maintains there’s nothing to see there – not even the Triangle itself, if you want to get technical. They agree that environmental conditions could explain many, if not all of, the disappearances, but they also reiterate that the “US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name and does not maintain an official file on the area.”

Lol.

So, it’s time we put the whole theory to rest once and for all and stop blaming perfectly normal, but tragic events on the supernatural or whatever.

“There is no evidence…that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other larges, well-traveled area of the ocean,” NOAA states.

Make no bones about it, there’s nothing to see here.

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This Is Why Your Arm Gets Sore After You Get a Flu Shot

It’s important to get a flu shot, but they can come with some annoying side effects. Namely, they often make your arm sore at the site of the injection, often for a day or two afterward.

But although the soreness isn’t pleasant, it’s actually a good sign that the vaccine is doing its job.

Soreness after a flu shot happens due to your body’s natural immunologic response. The flu shot introduces an “antigen,” or a protein that allows your body to recognize a foreign object so that it can fight it with antibodies. In this case, the antigen is a tiny deactivated version of the flu virus that teaches your body what a real, live flu virus looks like. That way, your body is prepared to quickly fight off illness if you encounter the flu out in the world.

However, this means your body recognizes the inactive flu virus as a foreign object – that’s the whole point. Your body notices the antigen and goes into attack mode, and since the antigens are deposited directly into your arm muscle, that’s where your immune system begins the attack.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Part of that immune response includes inflammation. In the event of a real infection, inflammation is helpful — it helps repair damaged tissue and helps your body fight invaders.

But it can also cause soreness.

In addition to the flu shot, other shots also tend to create soreness, including the live varicella vaccine. The good news? The stronger your immune response (ie, the soreness), the stronger the immunity tends to be.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

However, just because you don’t feel any pain doesn’t mean the shot isn’t working. Everybody who receives a flu shot experiences inflammation. It’s just that not everybody experiences it to the point of pain. Only about one in five people have this local reaction, depending on the specific vaccine.

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A Study Found That Your Smartphone Is Making You Dumber, Even When It’s Turned off

You should turn off your phone once in a while. Better yet, throw it away! According to one 2017 study, you basically get stupider just by sharing the room with a smartphone, even if it’s not turned on.

The idea that smartphones dull your intelligence is not a new one. Many people are cautious about the over-use of screens and what it’s doing to our attention spans, especially for young kids. But one would think that smartphones can only take a cognitive toll when you’re actually using them.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found that that’s not the case.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

In the 2017 study, researchers asked over 400 undergrads to complete several tests of their cognitive capacity. In one test, participants had to complete a pattern. In another, they had to do math problems while keeping a regularly updated sequence of letters straight.

Some of the participants kept their phones on them, in their pocket or face down on the desk, like one naturally would. Others kept their phones in a separate room. The researchers found that the further away the phone was, the better the participants’ brains functioned.

In a second test, some of the participants kept their phones turned off, while others didn’t. Again, some kept their phones on them and some put them in another room. In this case, whether or not the phone was on made absolutely no difference in their test-taking performance – if it was present, it was apparently enough of a distraction to have an effect.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

So, if you’re looking to reduce your smartphone’s impact on your brain, turning it off ain’t enough. You don’t have to really throw it away, but if you’re going into distraction-free mode, leave it in a different room and turn off your notification sounds.

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A Man Finds out His Snakebite “Wasn’t That Bad”…After He Chops off His Finger

There’s a lot of information out there about how to treat a snakebite in order to give yourself the best chance to survive. And if you grow up somewhere with dangerous snakes, you pay attention when you people talk about how to handle a bite.

After being bit on the finger, an unfortunate Chinese man from the Zhejiang province thought he was doing exactly the right thing when he cut off the afflicted appendage – only to find out at the hospital that it was all for naught.

He believed the snake that had bitten him was a “hundred pacer” (Deinagkistrodon acutus), a snake that’s believed to have venom potent enough to kill a man before he can walk 100 steps.

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Venom VS Poison. Venom, in most things… and all snakes (the venomous ones), is made up of proteins, which are large and high molecular weight. It cannot travel through the body freely like many poisons and needs to go into the bloodstream in order to work. In current medical and scientific literature, the word poison is not used to define venom. There is a scientific difference for anyone who cares to read anything published in the last 2-3 decades. Yes there are poisonous snakes, many of them also venomous, but the mechanism of building, altering, and storing the different toxins is very different and so is their purpose and function. Some people might be fine with Websters Dictionary for their definition of venom, and maybe they are ok with their doctor using 1988 Encyclopedia Britannica to learn about heart surgery. Now as far as the sign goes, I think it is out of date, but the general public is not up to speed on the difference and it probably is synonymous and not a confusion for them. In time I hope the general public ever cares enough about snakes to know the difference…but it doesn't matter to most people. People with type 1 diabetes go through a similar frustration with the everyday person's knowledge of the disease and they think two very different illnesses both come from donuts. It takes people caring enough to educate others to change that.. thanks @ronan_m_k for this pic of my very venomous sharp-nosed pit-viper.

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In some parts of China, the same species is known as a five-step snake, which would make it 20x more deadly than this man believed when he took such drastic action.

So, I mean…you kind of get his reasoning (and admire his grit).

He arrived at the hospital 50 miles away, only to be told by one Dr. Yuan Chengda that “the five-step snake is not that toxic.”

It turns out that, while the snake’s venom is dangerous and can cause symptoms like local bleeding, swelling, blistering, necrosis, heart palpitations, and even death, it’s not as rapid as people believe. Also an antivenin is available and, if received in 6 hours or less, usually effective.

If the man had brought his finger, doctors at the hospital said they could even have reattached it.

According to Dr. Yuan, this isn’t even close to the first case he’s seen of someone overreacting and losing a limb.

“Some bite victims used knives to cut their fingers or toes, some used ropes or iron wires to bind the bitten limb tightly, and some even tried to destroy the venom in their body by burning their skin. When they arrive at the hospital, some people’s limbs are already showing signs of gangrene.”

Officially, the advice when dealing with a snakebite is that the “wound should not be tampered with in any way” – i.e. you shouldn’t use tourniquets, you shouldn’t “cut, suck, or scarify the wound or apply chemicals or electric shock,” and most of all, you shouldn’t panic.

Easier said than done, of course, but I’d say allowing a doctor to cut off any limbs that need cutting is probably your best course of action.

And you know, not all of us have an axe at the ready, so it’s hard to say what we might do if we did. No judgement.

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14 Crazy Things That Happened When People Got Blackout Drunk

A lot of us know what it’s like to have a drink or two and start to get slurry, but how many of you have reached that stage where your memory just shuts off?

Because if you have, you remember it. Well, sort of. See, you remember NOT remembering. Because that’s a VERY strange feeling. You could have been walking around, talking, being silly, and your memory just shut off.

That’s what happened to these 14 people and they, thankfully, lived to tell the tales!

1. Jeezus…

Photo Credit: Whisper

2. Almost Whitney Houston’d it…

Photo Credit: Whisper

3. Well, you’re quite the asshole…

Photo Credit: Whisper

4. Hahahaha… oh boy…

Photo Credit: Whisper

5. Yes, sometimes it gets messy AF!

Photo Credit: Whisper

6. That’s bound to happen…

Photo Credit: Whisper

7. Well, that’s a win!

Photo Credit: Whisper

8. How do you know he’s not…?

Photo Credit: Whisper

9. At least you’re a happy drunk!

Photo Credit: Whisper

10. Well, sounds like you spent some more time in South America…

Photo Credit: Whisper

11. Haha, well, you weren’t wrong!

Photo Credit: Whisper

13. Yeah, I’d worry too!

Photo Credit: Whisper

13. Well… that’s one way to do it!

Photo Credit: Whisper

14. And there ya have it! Our winner!

Photo Credit: Whisper

Do you “remember” a particularly bad blackout situation? Care to share? We totally understand if you don’t, but it is nice to get these things off of our chests.

Share what you can in the comments!

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Italy’s Schools Will Require That Children Learn About Climate Change Starting in 2020

It looks like Italy is taking a big step in the fight against global warming and climate change, and for that, we should be thankful…and we should hope that this kind of curriculum spreads across the globe.

Lorenzo Fioramonti is Italy’s education minister, and he is now requiring that, starting in September 2020, all children in his country will receive education about climate change. All students will be required to have 33 hours of lessons each year dedicated to climate change and environmental sustainability.

Fioramonti also wants to eventually make climate change education part of math and geography curriculum so students will take sustainability into consideration when they study these subjects as well. The lessons will teach students the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and will be formed with help from environmental experts.

Fioramonti said, “The entire ministry is being changed to make sustainability and climate the centre of the education model. I want to make the Italian education system the first education system that puts the environment and society at the core of everything we learn in school.”

Italy’s education minister also believes that older people need to educate themselves and play a role in this movement, so all citizens can work together toward sustainability. Fioramonti said he wants to “build a strong bridge between old and new generations around sustainable development as a social glue.”

An NPR poll found that 80% of American parents are in favor of their kids learning about the issue. Wouldn’t that be nice…?

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A 13-Year-Old Developed a Better Hyperloop for Moving Trains

Caroline Crouchley, a 13-year-old student of Garden City Middle School, is proposing a better, safer hyperloop train, building on an idea pushed by Elon Musk in 2012.

Currently, tech companies are working to get a hyperloop functioning in India, hoping to transport people between Mumbai and Pune in only half an hour. A trip like this would normally take many hours by car.

Companies developing hyperloop transportation are using designs that put people into pods that move inside low-pressure tubes. The hope is that with resistance removed, pods will be able to go very, very fast. In fact, they’re being tested running 700 miles per hour.

Crouchley’s design would not move that fast, but her system is still twice as fast as trains in use now.

Her solution involves pneumatic tubes constructed to run alongside train tracks – and according to the young inventor, it should be less expensive to build and operate than the conventional hyperloop technology. It’ll also be safer, which is a major selling point for a mass transit technology.

She told CNN, “My design can rely on 100% renewable energy, so it eliminates the need for a diesel engine or an electric motor, which makes the train lighter, so it can move faster.”

Crouchley’s innovative idea made her a finalist in the 2019 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

The major challenge with hyperloops, which put pods inside a partial vacuum tube, is the potential for collapse – if the tube breaks, the pods aren’t going to survive. But with Crouchley’s design, the train is operating outside of the tube, eliminating that danger and also making use of existing infrastructure and equipment.

It’ll work like this: a magnetic shuttle system will operate inside the pneumatic tubes. More magnets will attach the train to the shuttle, allowing the shuttle to act like the train’s engine.

How does she envision her idea moving forward? She told Fast Company, “My plans are to open-source my project to teams of engineers, scientists, and universities such as MIT and Harvard to solve the complex mathematical equations and physics required to make the idea a reality.”

Hyperloop has many critics who say it will never be practical to use, but Crouchley sees her solution as an intermediary design that has viability in the near future.

At any rate, technology usually starts with the big picture question. It’s the little steps that make the answer reality.

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This “Revolutionary” New Air Filtering Device Might Be a Big Deal in the Fight Against Climate Change

Are you listening? Good.

A carbon dioxide filtering device that can capture carbon dioxide from the air at just 400 parts per million has been hailed as a “revolutionary” instrument for tackling our climate crisis.

Sahag Voskian and T. Alan Hatton, chemical engineers at MIT, developed the method, which captures CO2 by passing air through special charged plates.

Carbon dioxide from the gas intake reacts with the electrodes in the device. Each electrode is coated with a carbon nanotubes and a polyanthraquinone compound. The device acts sort of like a battery, and as it charges, it absorbs carbon dioxide passing over the electrodes. As it discharges, it releases the greenhouse gas it has collected.

The carbon dioxide it releases during the discharge can be recycled to feed greenhouse plants, or even used in carbonated beverages.

Dr. Voskian said, “All of this is at ambient conditions — there’s no need for thermal, pressure, or chemical input. It’s just these very thin sheets, with both surfaces active, that can be stacked in a box and connected to a source of electricity.”

The biggest advantage to this way of filtering is the low energy cost: one gigajoule of energy for every ton of carbon dioxide captured. Compare that to the 1-10 gigajoules (depending on the concentration of CO2 taken in) used by alternative methods. Plus, if to expand the systems capacity, they only need to add more electrodes!

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The study describing the new system was published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science.

The scientists have even created a company called Verdox that plans to build a plant to scale the process up for commercial use.

Cleaner air with lower energy. There’s a real future for that.

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