Category: Science

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A New Cavity Vaccine Could Save Kids from Discomfort and Their Parents from Spending Money

Many of us know what it feels like to get a cavity and go through the unpleasant process of getting it filled. And for many, the first cavities occur during childhood.

So while the discomfort was ours, the bill belonged to our parents.

Now, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are working on perfecting a “cavity vaccine” that could put an end to both.

It hasn’t been approved for human trials, but the developers hope that it could defend kids’ teeth from developing cavities in the first place.

Cavities are caused by acid erosion, which can be battled by mixing the bacteria that emits the acid with proteins that protect enamel from being eaten away. No one is immune to cavities, though some people are more prone to getting them (no matter how meticulously they care for their teeth) because of the shape of their teeth or their diet. Often whether you’re prone to cavities or not is a product of socioeconomic status.

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Cavities are the most common ailment in children and can cost around $2000 to maintain over a person’s life – a hefty price tag for parents already struggling to make ends meet.

If you’re searching for ways to mitigate cavities in your house pre-vaccine, then look no further than the sugar content in the foods you and your kids eat. As high-sugar foods break down, they release that cavity-causing acid and can start to cause decay within 20 minutes of touching your teeth.

But since avoiding sugar or brushing your teeth every half-hour doesn’t seem particularly realistic, here’s hoping that cavity vaccine passes into human trials and onto shelves sooner rather than later!

We could all use the break.

The post A New Cavity Vaccine Could Save Kids from Discomfort and Their Parents from Spending Money appeared first on UberFacts.

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Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies

With all the states and counties relaxing restrictions on consuming cannabis, people who might not have partaken regularly (or at all) could find themselves enjoying a puff here and there.

If you’re not a regular, then you might not be prepared for the phenomenon known as the “munchies” (just grab some Doritos, you’ll be fine) – but either way, thanks to a recent collaboration of scientists, we might finally have an explanation.

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What do you prefer for munchies?👇🍔🍟🍕🍗🍣🍤🍡🥧🍦🍭🍫🍰

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The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and it goes a long way toward revealing the reasons smoking weed makes you want to attack an order of fries or a bag of cookies.

750 participants signed up for the study, which used a tool called the Cannabinoid Eating Experience Questionnaire, which asked them to rate how pleasurable the experience of eating becomes when stoned.

It also asked them to rate their level of hunger and the ability to feel full while stoned.

The numbers don’t lie; smoking weed increases both appetite responses. Participants were hungrier, ate more, and felt more pleasure at eating food when they were partaking.

The scientists didn’t get into the neurological or biological reasons we might respond this way, though other studies have shown that stimulating cannabinoid receptors boosts the ability to smell food (in mice).

Interestingly, this study did find that the more one uses cannabis, the less likely one is to get “the munchies,” so the receptors could dull in time, or get used to the repeated effects.

Just something to think about if you’re thinking of toking up – but with food delivery available pretty much everywhere now, I’d say you don’t have to worry.

The post Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies appeared first on UberFacts.

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Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies

With all the states and counties relaxing restrictions on consuming cannabis, people who might not have partaken regularly (or at all) could find themselves enjoying a puff here and there.

If you’re not a regular, then you might not be prepared for the phenomenon known as the “munchies” (just grab some Doritos, you’ll be fine) – but either way, thanks to a recent collaboration of scientists, we might finally have an explanation.

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What do you prefer for munchies?👇🍔🍟🍕🍗🍣🍤🍡🥧🍦🍭🍫🍰

A post shared by 420Cartoons (@420_cartoons) on

The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and it goes a long way toward revealing the reasons smoking weed makes you want to attack an order of fries or a bag of cookies.

750 participants signed up for the study, which used a tool called the Cannabinoid Eating Experience Questionnaire, which asked them to rate how pleasurable the experience of eating becomes when stoned.

It also asked them to rate their level of hunger and the ability to feel full while stoned.

The numbers don’t lie; smoking weed increases both appetite responses. Participants were hungrier, ate more, and felt more pleasure at eating food when they were partaking.

The scientists didn’t get into the neurological or biological reasons we might respond this way, though other studies have shown that stimulating cannabinoid receptors boosts the ability to smell food (in mice).

Interestingly, this study did find that the more one uses cannabis, the less likely one is to get “the munchies,” so the receptors could dull in time, or get used to the repeated effects.

Just something to think about if you’re thinking of toking up – but with food delivery available pretty much everywhere now, I’d say you don’t have to worry.

The post Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies

With all the states and counties relaxing restrictions on consuming cannabis, people who might not have partaken regularly (or at all) could find themselves enjoying a puff here and there.

If you’re not a regular, then you might not be prepared for the phenomenon known as the “munchies” (just grab some Doritos, you’ll be fine) – but either way, thanks to a recent collaboration of scientists, we might finally have an explanation.

View this post on Instagram

What do you prefer for munchies?👇🍔🍟🍕🍗🍣🍤🍡🥧🍦🍭🍫🍰

A post shared by 420Cartoons (@420_cartoons) on

The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and it goes a long way toward revealing the reasons smoking weed makes you want to attack an order of fries or a bag of cookies.

750 participants signed up for the study, which used a tool called the Cannabinoid Eating Experience Questionnaire, which asked them to rate how pleasurable the experience of eating becomes when stoned.

It also asked them to rate their level of hunger and the ability to feel full while stoned.

The numbers don’t lie; smoking weed increases both appetite responses. Participants were hungrier, ate more, and felt more pleasure at eating food when they were partaking.

The scientists didn’t get into the neurological or biological reasons we might respond this way, though other studies have shown that stimulating cannabinoid receptors boosts the ability to smell food (in mice).

Interestingly, this study did find that the more one uses cannabis, the less likely one is to get “the munchies,” so the receptors could dull in time, or get used to the repeated effects.

Just something to think about if you’re thinking of toking up – but with food delivery available pretty much everywhere now, I’d say you don’t have to worry.

The post Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies appeared first on UberFacts.

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Scientists Are Starting to Understand the Real Dangers of Vaping

It’s hard, even in places that have banned cigarettes, to make it through a meal or a movie without a fruity-smelling cloud emanating from somewhere in the room. Have you noticed that?

And it’s very hard to convince anyone who loves vaping (or is addicted) that they should be more cautious with a technology that’s too new to have been thoroughly studied by health professionals in the field.

Smoking during the teen years is especially harmful to a still-growing brain – studies have previously shown that if a person can hold off smoking until they’re in their 20s, the chances of getting addicted reduce drastically. And while fewer teens than ever are trying traditional cigarettes, a disturbingly high – and growing – number of kids are vaping.

“Nicotine mimics the chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with each other and causes the brain to reconfigure itself. The nicotine molecule is shaped a lot like acetylcholine, which the nervous system uses to communicate, so it fakes out and overstimulates the nervous system. This rewiring of the brain is bad for adults, but it’s especially bad for young people because until around age 26, the brain is still developing. When you start messing up normal communication between nerves as the system is still being built, the adaptations are a lot more permanent.”

21% of high schoolers report using e-cigarettes. In 2011, that number was only 1.5%.

4.9% of middle schoolers are vaping, up from just .6% in 2011.

So, the problem is not only growing at an alarming rate, but levels of kids who are addicted to nicotine are reaching levels that should concern everyone, says Dr. Stanton Glantz.

“Our understanding of e-cigarettes is still accumulating, but at this point, we are pretty confident that e-cigarettes are at least two-thirds to three-fourths as bad as cigarettes. And remember, cigarettes are pretty horrible. Vaping is like, instead of jumping out the 40th story of a building, you’re jumping out of the 30th story.”

We’re starting to see evidence of this showing up in the news from around the country, too.

This summer, 8 Wisconsin teens were hospitalized with serious lung damage – some of whom found themselves on ventilators in the ICU – due to their vaping habits. A few weeks later, 4 Minnesota kids spent weeks in the hospital battling vaping-related lung troubles, after which the state’s public health department issued an official warning against the use of e-cigs.

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Then, an 18-year-old Florida student’s lung collapsed after regular JUUL use, and the FDA reports that they’ve received 127 reports of seizures and other neurological symptoms also related to vaping over the past 10 years. And there has now officially been a death caused by lung illness linked to vaping.

None of these types of issues were seen with traditional cigarettes – so what’s different about vaporized nicotine?

Cigarettes contain 69 known carcinogens, but the juice needed to get a nicotine buzz from an e-cig isn’t harmless – it also contains an assortment of chemicals that go straight into your lungs (and then into the air) that scientists are starting to realize can be as harmful (if not more).

The fact that kids are getting “nic sick” – experiencing nausea, headaches, lightheadedness, and vomiting, none of which was a side effect of traditional cigarettes – seems to point to the fact that the nicotine in e-cigs is ultra concentrated.

Stantz explains how and why these findings are possible – and super concerning.

“Free-base nicotine, which you get in a cigarette and an older-generation e-cigarette, is very alkaline and hard to inhale, so it triggers a gag reflex, which limits the amount of nicotine per puff. Juul transitioned to nicotine salt and added some acid to the e-liquid to make it less alkaline, as well as adding flavors. When you put all that together, it is much easier to inhale, so Juul devices deliver a much higher dose per puff.”

Setting aside the increased nicotine content there are more reasons that, even though they contain fewer known carcinogens than regular cigs, the e-cig vapor is just as dangerous.

“It consists of ultrafine particles that are about 100 times smaller than a human hair. These particles include acrolein and formaldehyde, as well as diacetyl, cinnamaldehyde, and other flavorants that are fine to eat but not to inhale as fine particles.”

In fact, Harvard researchers have discovered that diacetyl and its chemical cousin 2,3-pentanedione – found in 90 percent of e-cigarettes tested – do damage to the cilia lining the lungs and airways, which increases the risks of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“E-cigarettes also include heavy metals like lead and silica. Their wicks often have silica, and when they wear out, you can get little particles of silica in the lungs, which is very harmful. Additionally, e-cigarettes disable normal functioning of macrophages, cells within the lungs that gobble up bacteria and other infectious agents we breathe in. When you disable them, you are more prone to infections.”

Like smoking old-school cigarettes, vaping also puts people at risk for cardiovascular issues, like heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

So, even though Glantz estimated that e-cigs are around 75% as harmful as smoking regular cigs, even he doesn’t think that number will stay the same as more research surfaces.

“With the data we should have about 3 or 4 years from now, I think we’ll find that e-cigarettes are equally as bad or worse in terms of overall health risks.”

Just say no, y’all, and if your kids are vaping or think it’s cool, please step in. It’s not harmless, and as with everything this big, bad world throws at your teen, it’s your job to help them mitigate as many risks as possible.

And vaping is a big one.

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This Is How You Can Use Awkward Silences to Get a Salary Increase

No one likes negotiating a salary. Whether you are interviewing for a new job or looking to increase your salary at a current one, they are nerve-wracking! But don’t fret. There are ways that you can prepare for a salary negotiation that can up your odds for getting what you want.

Awkward silences are…awkward.

When asking for a salary raise uncomfortable silences are the best tool in your toolbox. You’ll need to be comfortable leaning into the silence after you speak. Trust me, it can work.

As people adapt to “adulting,” it’s important to learn the art of accepting cringe-worthy moments and embracing discomfort.

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Tim Gouw

So what do you do in this situation?

Katie Donovan, founder of the consultancy firm Equal Pay Negotiations, explains: “The first step is to be silent, hush up, or SHUT UP!” That is, after you’ve asked for more.

Even that statement might make you squeamish, but hear me out. Let’s say you were offered $35,000 as a starting salary. You were expecting $42,000 (the median amount), because based on your research, a role like the one you interviewed for would pay that. So what do you do?

Phrase your answer like, “Thank you for the offer. I truly appreciate it. I am a little surprised about the salary. Based on my research and my skills, I would have expected it to be $45,000.”

Yes, go in a touch higher than the median.

Photo Credit: Raw Pixel

The next step: Sit back and close your mouth. Allow the employer to mull over that.

“Remember,” Donovan says, “rarely is an initial job offer made at the maximum salary budgeted. The hiring manager most likely will have the authority to increase the salary during the meeting.”

I spent many years negotiating salaries as an HR Recruiter in the employment field. My experience taught me that most employers will go in low at the first offer. And guess what? They would expect you as a candidate to ask for more. So why not try? The ball is in your court.

Think of it this way: the company likes you, they want you on their team, and they have chosen you out of hundreds of candidates.

That’s the confidence you need to go into that salary negotiation. My advice is never to leave dollars on the table but be humble about it. Don’t ask for $60,000 for a $35,000 job. Be reasonable.

Now go out there, do your research, and be ready to tackle your next salary negotiation!

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The Amazon Rainforest Is Burning, and It’s an Environmental Disaster

The Amazon rainforest is on fire, and experts say this wildfire will affect climate change for many years to come.

CNN reported that The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has said the fires are burning at the highest rate they’ve seen since tracking started in 2013.

Sao Paulo, 1700 miles away, is seeing smoke from the fire’s blazes.

Video shows heavy smoke and smog overcoming the city and creating black out conditions.

Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay, too, are seeing heavy, black smoke coming from the Brazilian fires.

The INPE also reported there were 72,843 fires in Brazil this year. More than half of those fires burned in the Amazon. This represents an 80 percent increase in the total number of fires over last year.

Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

Natural disasters can spark flames when the area is dry, but these fires are also frequently started illegally by ranchers trying to clear out forest to create grazing land for cattle. Environmentalists are blaming Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, for relaxing laws limiting deforestation and underplaying the disaster in general to the rest of the world.

According to the BBC, the Amazon rainforest contributes 20 percent of the Earth’s oxygen. Plus, the rainforest is home to millions of species of plants and animals, as well as over one million indigenous people.

The rainforest is critical to millions of lives and to the Earth, itself.

If the Amazon is destroyed, the World Wildlife Fund says the area will likely become a savannah, but inhospitable to people, animals or plants.

And instead of pumping out oxygen, the new savannah will be the Earth’s next major source of carbon emissions. Meaning, the Amazon will no longer serve as the lungs of the world, but will begin pump out enough carbon to actually drive the climate crisis.

This is bad news, folks. Bad news indeed.

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Scientists Have Finally Figured out Why Some Squirrels Have Black Fur

If you live in certain regions of the U.S. or the U.K., you may have spotted squirrels that are black instead of gray. These unusual animals have been a bit of a mystery, but now scientists have figured out why they have such an odd color.

Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge University and the Virginia Museum of Natural History worked together on a project to test squirrel DNA. They discovered that black squirrels are the product of interspecies breeding between the common gray squirrel and the fox squirrel.

Photo Credit: iStock

Fox squirrels are usually reddish-brown, but some of them carry a faulty pigment gene that turns their fur a darker shade. Scientists believe that a black fox squirrel joined in on a mating fenzy among gray squirrels and mated with a female, who then gave birth to a black squirrel.

There may be an evolutionary benefit to black fur that caused the gene to be passed down. Black fur could help squirrels absorb and retain more heat — an important benefit in colder regions.

Black squirrels remain rare, however. There is an estimated one black squirrel in every 10,000 squirrels.

Photo Credit: iStock

In certain limited regions, though, the black squirrels have become predominant. At Kent State University in Ohio, for example, 10 black squirrels were released by students after they were captured by wildlife authorities, and they now populate the entire campus.

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Women in Africa Are Recycling Plastic into Bricks for a Schoolhouse

Tthe world produces over 300 million tons of plastic every year, much of which quickly goes into the trash where it takes centuries to decompose. In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, women are putting plastic garbage to good use by turning it into bricks to build schools, New York Times reports.

Many women in Abidjan make a living by gathering plastic waste from city streets and selling it to recycling centers. Those same women are now working with a Colombian company to convert the waste into bricks to build schools.

The project will result in hundreds of classrooms to serve about 26,400 students — plus, it’s an opportunity for the women to make a better living.

Many schools in the area are built out of traditional mud-bricks and wood. These buildings require a lot of upkeep, as they easily erode in the sun and rain.

The buildings made out of recycled plastic, on the other hand, will last practically forever. In this context, plastic’s slow decomposition is a benefit.

Also, the country’s classrooms are severely overcrowded, with up to 90 students in each class. Additional classrooms are desperately needed.

Since Abidjan produces about 300 tons of plastic waste a day, there’s plenty of plastic to use. Each classroom takes about five tons of plastic waste.

The company converting the waste, Conceptos Plásticos, initially produced the bricks at a factory in Colombia, but they are now building a factory in Abidjan, which will make the classrooms much cheaper to produce.

Several classrooms are already up and running, and the project plans to deliver 528 total, each of which will fit 50 students.

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Check out These 5 Ancient Legends Based on Real Events

A lot of kids go through a phase when they’re fascinated by the legends and myths that have wound their way through the centuries. Whether Robin Hood, Arthur and Lancelot, the antics of the gods of old, or creatures like a unicorn or a vampire, it’s fun to imagine that the world might have once been more magical than it is today.

And these 5 legends, which are rooted in reality, suggest that just maybe…it was.

5. Atlantis

Greek philosopher Plato was the first to describe a beautiful, advanced civilization that once disappeared beneath the sea, never to be seen or heard from again – but he was far from the last to re-tell one of the most well-known myths in human history.

Now, many archaeologists think he was describing the collapse of the Minoan empire after a volcanic eruption rocked Thera (modern-day Santorini). The core of the island collapsed in the aftermath, creating a tsunami that flooded the island and left it completely under water, sending it to a grave from which it never arose.

4. The Ape-Men Army of Sri Lanka

Indian Sanskrit epic the Ramayana features a classic kidnapping plot, in which Sita, the wife of god Rama, is stolen away to the Demon Kingdom on Lanka. To rescue her, Rama banded with an army of ape-like men to build a floating bridge between India and Lanka that they used to defeat the demon king, Ravana.

The tale, of course, is just good storytelling, but the bridge still exists – aerial surveys show a 30-mile-long stretch of limestone shoals under the sea that reaches between India and Sri Lanka.

Experts believe it was above the water until a 15th-century cyclone brought a huge storm surge into the channel.

3. Thunderbird and the Whale

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The Thunderbird awaits you.

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Native American lore tells of a benevolent, supernatural being called a Thunderbird, which once swooped over the sea to snatch a killer whale that was stealing resources from the Quileute tribe.

The bird prevailed, dropping the whale on dry land to die with a thud that shook the ground, and many natives died during the battle and ensuing chaos.

Back in the 1980s, geologists discovered that a powerful earthquake occurred in the area in 1700, one that would have been powerful enough to cause a tsunami. It would have hit the coast where the tribe lived, generating the tales to explain the giant shaking of the earth.

As far as the Thunderbird, many scientists believe it’s based on the Aiornis, a prehistoric giant bird that co-existed thousands of years ago with early North America settlers. The bird had a wingspan of up to 16 feet and used to feast on whales washed up on the beaches.

2. The Guest Star

In 1006, people looking at the sky all over the world described seeing a “guest star.” Persian scholar Ibn Sina was particularly intrigued, however, explaining how the star hung in the sky for months, changing color and eventually emitting sparks before fading away.

We now know that Sina was describing a supernova that took place 7200 years ago and whose dying remnants can still be detected by powerful NASA technology.

They believe the color changes he described were due to the merger of two white dwarfs, which astronomers say would create a supernova bursting with color. What Sina did, essentially, was provide details for modern scientists that would otherwise have been lost to time.

1. The Great Flood

There are stories from around the world that join the biblical account of a great flood that covered most of the earth, wiping out almost all of mankind in the process – so most think it makes sense to assume this event took place in our human past in some way, shape, or form.

Geological records show that around 11,500 years ago, glacier meltwater melted into the North Sea, causing the Black Sea to dry up while the Mediterranean Basin refilled with seawater from the Atlantic Ocean. Between them was dry land, but eventually the Mediterranean overflowed into the Black Sea, forcing the barrier between them to all but disappear.

The result would have been a waterfall 200x the volume of Niagara Falls and covering an area double the size of Manhattan in a single day.

That said, the worst flood of the last 10 millennia took place along the Yellow River in China at a date that coincides with ancient texts.

This is the next best thing to actually being a kid again!

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