Category: Science

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Offices Are Using Greta Thunberg’s Disapproving Face to Get Workers to Use Less Plastic

She sure doesn’t look happy.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has found herself in the world’s spotlight over the past several months as her previously solitary climate strikes caught on across the globe.

The teenager is encouraging others in her generation (and beyond) to treat climate change like the crisis that it is – and some companies in Israel are hoping she can do the same for their employees.

We all need to do our part, after all, and cutting down on our individual plastic use is one good way everyone can contribute.

So, while these companies still offer plastic options, they hope seeing the angry teenager’s face will encourage people to choose the recyclable options, instead.

Her face has popped up in some surprising places.

And it seems like it might be working, since people are trying to hide her judgmental stare as they go about their day.

The truth is, even if we could hide from Greta (or her image, in this case) we can’t hide from the truth that our collective choices are putting the planet on a path we soon won’t be able to correct.

If this is what it takes to make people think twice, I say it’s worth a try!

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Do Toilets Flush in Other Directions in Opposite Hemispheres?

A lot of people believe that toilets swirl in the opposite direction in opposite hemispheres. But is it actually true?

The story holds that, in the Northern Hemisphere, toilets spin counterclockwise. In the Southern Hemisphere, they spin clockwise. This is supposedly due to something called the Coriolis effect, an acceleration caused by the rotation of the Earth of the axis.

But if you’ve ever actually used a toilet on the opposite side of the planet, you’d know that these “facts” aren’t actually true at all. Toilets flush in the same direction regardless of where they are located. The only factor that affects the direction of the water’s flow is the way that the toilet is manufactured (i.e., the shape of the bowl, and whether the flush jets point to the left or the right).

Photo Credit: Pixabay

However, that doesn’t mean that the Coriolis effect isn’t real. It does exist, and it affects the spin direction of every body of water, including the water in the toilet. But it’s only observable on very large scales. The amount of water in the toilet is so small that the impact of the Coriolis effect isn’t major enough to be visible.

Hurricanes, on the other hand? Their diameters are a hundred miles wide, and the Coriolis effect makes a noticeable impact on them. Hurricanes absolutely do spin in opposite directions on opposite sides of the Earth. They spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Toilets, on the other hand? That’s just a myth.

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The Science Doesn’t Lie: You Need to Make Sleep a Priority

We’re all different when it comes to our sleeping patterns, but I’ve never been able to understand how some people can get by on four or five hours of sleep a night. If I don’t get a solid seven or eight hours, I feel like a zombie.

It turns out, maybe I’m the one who’s always been right in this department!

Sleeping beauty

According to sleep scientist Aric Prather, “Sleep is so critical for so many parts of our body and our mind. Sleep is like the dishwasher of the brain.”

I like that, the dishwasher of the brain.

Prather means that sleep strengthens the immune system and can help regulate your metabolism. Sleep also clears out toxins that build up in your brain and can prevent neurodegenerative disorders.

In other words, sleep does a body good. Really good.

Prather also says that all phases of sleep, from light snoozing to deep sleep, are important for helping the brain and body recover from the day. Sleep can also help us learn and remember information more efficiently.

Sleeping

One more thing to keep in mind: abnormal sleep is known to play a role in some diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Disturbed sleep can even be measured to detect the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

There is still a lot that researchers and scientists don’t know about sleep, but one thing is clear: sleep is very important and is good for your mental and physical health.

sleeping

You know what you should do right now? Go get some ZZZZZZZZs!

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This Is How Your Cat’s Purr Can Literally Help Heal You

This won’t surprise cat owners in the slightest. Your cat’s purr has a real therapeutic effect, and it can even help heal you.

Cats purr for a variety of reasons. Most often, they purr out of contentment and happiness — this is the most obvious reason, easy to observe in any cat who’s happily curled up on the lap of their favorite person. But cats also purr when they are injured, frightened or hungry.

Nobody knows exactly why cats purr when they do. But given that they do so in stressful situations, it’s likely that the purring has a calming and healing effect. According to Wired, some veterinarians have even observed cats lying alongside other injured cats and purring.

It’s called “purr therapy.” (Awesome)

Photo Credit: Pixabay

It seems that the healing power of purring could also extend to humans. Purring is relaxing for humans — it calms our nerves and lowers blood pressure.

Purring may even have literal, physical healing benefits. Domestic cats purr at a frequency of 26 Hz, which is within a range that promotes tissue regeneration. In humans, vibrations at this frequency can help soft tissues like muscles and tendons, and they can also heal bones and keep them strong.

All this isn’t quite as woo-woo as it sounds. Some scientists believe that cats purr to stimulate their bones so they don’t become weak while they lay around all day waiting to hunt. Similarly, vibrating plates have even been proposed to help maintain astronauts’ bone density in space.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

So the next time your cat purrs on your lap, snuggle a little closer. It may be doing your body good!

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Australians Have Been Eating a Fish Previously Unknown to Science

Australians already confront crazy-looking (and deadly) animals on a daily basis, so it probably never occurred to them to question a fish that tasted pretty okay and didn’t kill anyone once ingested.

They probably didn’t expect to find out, though, that literally no one had ever heard of or seen the fish before, anywhere in the world.

Well, at least not before 2000, when a fisherman sent pictures of a mystery grouper to fish expert and Queensland Museum curator Jeff Johnson. But even though he saw images of the strange fish a few more times over the years, it wasn’t until 2017 that he got his hands on a physical specimen.

He nabbed 5 of them, actually, at a Brisbane fish market, and set to work identifying the apparently yummy swimmer.

“As soon as I saw them, I thought they were probably a new species, so I purchased all five and began the hard work of formally proving they were a new species,” he said in a statement. “I’ve been told they are quite tasty.”

He and museum geneticist Dr. Jessica Worthington Wilmer worked together to confirm his suspicions, and the new species was named Epinephelus fuscomarginatus.

The new subspecies of grouper isn’t so distinctive looking that people with untrained eyes would notice it straight away, and given that most groupers are fairly generic-looking fish, it’s understandable – if slightly worrying – that no one consuming it gave it a second thought.

The Epinephelus fuscomarginatus is about 27 inches long and lives about 750 feet down along the center of the Great Barrier Reef.

This grouper, interestingly, is not the only species to recently be discovered on its way to someone’s plate. In 2011, a new species of shark was discovered in a Taiwanese fish market, and in 2018, a different shark, thought to be extinct, showed up in a market in Mumbai.

In 2010, researchers discovered a species of monkey that sneezes when it rains, but lost their specimen when the locals in Myanmar ate it.

Oops. Dinner takes precedence over science, you know. I’m not even mad.

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A Lab Worker Pricked Herself with Genetically Modified Smallpox and the Resulting Infection Was No Joke

It’s estimated that smallpox has killed around 300 million people throughout history, and it remains the only infectious (human-borne) disease to have been completely eradicated worldwide. Because it is easily modified, however, similar viruses can be found in laboratories and other testing facilities around the world.

And that’s how one lab worker got into some very terrifying – and disgusting – trouble.

When the 26-year-old scientist got notice that she would be changing jobs to one that would involve working with the vaccinia virus (VACV) – a large, complex virus related to smallpox – she was informed of the risks and advised to get a vaccination against it.

She declined, citing concerns about adverse effects and worries over managing the infectious lesion at the injection site…a choice I feel comfortable saying she probably regretted.

Because soon after starting her job, she accidentally pricked herself with a needle containing the genetically altered strain while she was attempting to prick a mouse.

Though she immediately washed the wound, notified her supervisor, and visited the local emergency department, the wound got far, far worse before it began to get better.

Image Credit: CDC

The emergency room physicians washed it again, advised her not to let it come into contact with others, and sent her home with a prescription for continuous monitoring.

After 10 days, it had worsened to the point that she was referred to the CDC. Two days after that, she ended up in the emergency room again, this time with a fever, swollen lymph nodes, pain, and a worsening infection in her finger.

She was given vaccinia antibodies to help her immune system fight off the virus, as well as antibiotics for a secondary infection in her open wound, and she felt better after 48 hours.

The infection, however, did not completely clear up until Day 94.

Image Credit: CDC

It’s not clear, still, what strain of the virus infected the lab worker, which is a bit concerning, says the case report.

“Neither the patient nor the occupational health physician could specify the concentration or strain of VACV preparation used by the patient. Upon inquiry, the study sponsor informed investigators that one of two genetically altered Western Reserve strains could have been involved. The patient was injecting multiple groups of mice with different strains and did not recall which strain she used when the needlestick injury occurred.

The infection cleared up on Day 94, though the worker was relieved of lab duties for 4 months due to her necrosis and a continued potential for transmission.

Alls well that ends well, I suppose. It’s what those poor mice would say, anyway.

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Some Anti-Vaxxers Shamelessly Made Fun of Immunocompromised Patients in the ER

Anti-vaxxers aren’t shy about their opinions, but one pair of anti-vax parents really took things too far by publicly making fun of immunocompromised patients in the ER.

A Redditor posted a screenshot of the parents’ facebook post in a subreddit appropriately called r/Trash.

The anonymous couple had to take their son to the ER, where they were quarantined due to their son’s unvaccinated status. Unvaccinated people pose a serious risk to immunocompromised folks, who often can’t get vaccines because of their condition. Immunocompromised people are vulnerable even to infectious diseases that vaccinated people are immune to. Thus, the quarantine.

Photo Credit: Pexels

“We had to come to the ER after an emergency with my son falling at the playground,” the parents wrote. “We were questioned about our vaccine choices, then it was brought up 3 times on how we should give him a tetanus shot and then 6 hours into our visit we were ‘isolated’ in a room with gowns and gloves so we don’t ‘infect’ any of the immunocompromised patients.”

They then posted a photo of their response to that concern. In the photo, both parents are flipping the bird.

I’m Ready to Fucking Fight from trashy

They finished by reassuring readers that their kid is ok. “Had a little surgery and he is on the mend.”

Commenters on Reddit were furious — the title of the post is “I’m Ready to F*cking Fight,” which everybody was upon reading this post.

“Why even bother going to the hospital if they don’t believe in medicine?” one commenter asked.

“Imagine knowing the symptoms of tetanus and deciding that it’s ok and worth the risk,” another pointed out.

Sigh. At least the hospital did their job to protect their patients by quarantining these parents who clearly don’t give AF.

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You Can Stop Putting These Foods in the Fridge

Some foods will quickly spoil if you don’t put them in the refrigerator.

And then there are other foods that you should honestly never put into the fridge at all.

Some of these foods simply don’t need to take up precious fridge space when they could easily sit out on the counter. Others can actually become lower-quality in the fridge.

In the first category are pickles and hot sauce. Both contain ingredients that naturally keep the product from going bad, even if they’re not in the fridge. Nuts are another example of foods that easily stay fresh at room temperature.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

In the second category, there are many types of produce that don’t need to be in the fridge, including onions, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, whole melons, and basil. In all of these cases, the cooler temperatures actually change the texture of the produce, making them less fresh.

Instead, store these in a dry place with plenty of ventilation.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The fridge can also interrupt the ripening process for certain types of produce. Avocados can go in the fridge or on the counter, depending on whether they’re ripe (if ripe, put in fridge to keep them good for longer). Stone fruits like peaches can also be left at room temperature to ripen perfectly.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Other items that should never go into the fridge include olive oil and honey, which can actually turn solid when cold (and it’s kind of icky).

The more you know!

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Record Cold Temperatures Don’t Mean Climate Change Isn’t Taking Place

It’s cold outside! Really cold!

We aren’t even into December yet, but much of the country has already seen frigid temperatures and huge snowstorms this fall.

So, predictably, some climate change deniers and skeptics have rushed out (as they are wont to do) and cried from the rooftops that global warming and climate change don’t really exist. Just look at this cold, snowy weather we’re having…right?

WRONG. These short-term bouts of unusually cold weather don’t really have any effect on long-term temperature averages. Let’s look at the reasons why.

 

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If you’ll recall, a polar vortex developed in early 2019 and then split apart, sending a swath of cold air to the Great Lakes region. Amy Butler, an atmospheric scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, explained it this way, “Like a rock in a stream—in this case, the jet stream—[the polar vortex lobe] helped keep the jet stream pushed southward, which encourages cold air to be transported from Canada and the Arctic into mid-latitudes.”

The split polar vortex and other factors combined to create these cold conditions in early 2019, and some experts believed that the cold temperatures wouldn’t last long. And although the frigid conditions were uncomfortable and seemed to last a long time, the average monthly temperatures last December and January were actually above average for that time of year.

 

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In other words, random cold spells will always take place and weather is chaotic, but that does not mean that climate change isn’t occurring right now as we speak. Zachary Labe, a climate scientist at the University of California, Irvine, said, “The weather frequently changes from day-to-day or even hour-to-hour, while changes in our climate occur in the long-term, such as over 30 year periods. Therefore, we cannot say that one cold outbreak or weather event is evidence for or against climate change.”

And people tend to remember exceptional (read: cold) weather events rather than the normal, average days. But the fact is that winters have been warming. Over the past year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded 11,404 daily record lows across the globe. But the organization also recorded 21,907 new record HIGH temperatures.

 

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Bob Henson, meteorologist with Weather Underground, said, “That ratio [of record highs to lows] has been getting bigger over the past few decades. Cold doesn’t go away, it’s just less frequent.”

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Every State Ranked by How Miserable Its Winters Are

It’s predicted to be a loooooong, cold, crazy winter from late 2019 into the early months of 2020.

This article ranks all 50 states in terms of how bad, or, let’s just go ahead and say miserable, their winters are. These rankings come from Thrillist and take into account temperatures, weather patterns, how bad the roads are during the winter, and even the success of each state’s winter sports teams.

Let’s take a look at the rankings, starting with the least miserable. Number 50 probably won’t be a huge surprise….

50. Hawaii

 

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49. Arizona

48. California

47. Colorado

 

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46. Florida

45. New Mexico

44. Louisiana

43. Texas

42. Georgia

 

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41. Alabama

40. South Carolina

39. Mississippi

38. North Carolina

 

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37. Nevada

36. Tennessee

35. Utah

 

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34. Arkansas

33. Oklahoma

32. Virginia

 

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31. Maryland

30. Kentucky

29. West Virginia

28. Missouri

 

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27. Kansas

26. Delaware

25. Nebraska

24. New Jersey

23. Pennsylvania

 

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22. Vermont

21. Rhode Island

20. New York

 

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19. Connecticut

18. Washington

17. Oregon

16. Indiana

 

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15. New Hampshire

14. Ohio

13. Illinois

12. Wyoming

 

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11. Iowa

10. Massachusetts

9. Montana

8. Idaho

 

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7. Wisconsin

6. South Dakota

5. Maine

4. North Dakota

 

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3. Alaska

2. Michigan

1. Minnesota

 

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Those poor folks in Minnesota…

Stay warm out there this winter!

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