(Aimee Lutkin) A farm is its own ecosystem, but many conventional practices strip away the life cycle of all the creatures living in it by using pesticides. This makes sense, since crops can be decimated by the wrong kind of insect or other invader.
Science
Scientists Narrow Search After Shocking Find About Extraterrestrials
(Exo News) Scientists searching for habitable alien worlds usually focus on the ‘habitable zone’, where the region of space is neither too cold nor too warm for life to exist. Star gazers at the University of California Riverside believe that scientists have failed to take into account a build-up of toxic gasses within a planet’s atmosphere which would not allow complex life to evolve.
Is CBD the Answer to the Rise in Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Like MRSA?
(Lisa Egan) As public health organizations issue dire warnings about the rising threat of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, a surprising hero may rush in just in time to save the day. A new study has found that cannabidiol (commonly known as CBD) is remarkably effective at killing a wide range of Gram-positive bacteria.
Astronomers Just Pinpointed The Origin of a Single Fast Radio Burst For The First Time
(Science Alert) Every now and again, our radio telescopes capture a mystery. A single flash, as powerful in radio wavelengths as half-a-billion Suns, condensed into a burst that lasts just a few milliseconds at most. Now, for the very first time, astrophysicists have traced one of these one-off fast radio bursts (FRBs) to its source.
Scientists Discover That Earth’s Magnetic Field Functions like a Drum; Impulses Ripple Along Its Surface
(Edsel Cook) Every time it gets hit by solar wind and other cosmic impulses, the magnetic field of Earth ripples until the waves arrive at the magnetic poles, which shunts the force back into space. Researchers liken this effect to a percussion drum being played.
Information Addiction: How Information Is like Snacks, Money, and Drugs to Your Brain
(Neuroscience) A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business has found that information acts on the brain’s dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as money or food.
True Multi-Tasking: You Can Learn a New Language While You Sleep, According to Researchers
(Edsel Cook) Sleep turns out to be more than just a period when the body rests and recuperates from the labors of a busy day. Swiss researchers demonstrated the possibility of learning new things during sleeping periods.
Psychiatrist Wins National Award for Research That Shows How Trauma Seeps Across Generations
(Keith Brannon) The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has selected Tulane child psychiatry professor Dr. Stacy Drury to receive the 2018 Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement.
200 Years Of Rapid Global Population Growth Will Come To An End
(Max Roser) One of the big lessons from the demographic history of countries is that population explosions are temporary. For many countries the demographic transition has already ended, and as the global fertility rate has now halved we know that the world as a whole is approaching the end of rapid population growth.
Scientists in the Dark Over ‘Moonquakes’
(Exonews) Since 1967, astronomers have reported seeing flashes of light emanating from the Moon, usually reddish or pink in color, and appear to be about 10 miles in diameter. They can last for seconds, minutes or sometimes hours. There can be several such flashes in a single week. Some are smaller “sparkling” flashes that appear to be only a couple of miles wide. There are also corresponding “dark” flashes; periods where the surface of the Moon dims and disappears from our sight.
There’s a Strange, Universal Beauty in The Structure of Earth’s Mountains
(Science Alert) Mountains are some of the mightiest geographic features on our planet, and no two ranges are the same. Some have soaring peaks, ragged ridges, and deep ravines, while others gently roll away in wavy hills and wide valleys.
Heartwarming Discovery Shows Dolphins Are Even More Like Us Than We Thought
(Michelle Starr) Many comparisons have been made between humans and dolphins, those sleek mammals of the sea. Now scientists have found another point of similarity between us and our cetacean cousins: Like us, dolphins make friends based on mutual interests.
SHOCKING: Smartphones Now Transforming The Human Skeleton, Science Proves
(Zero Hedge) Modern life is transforming the human skeleton. Humans are now developing a bone spike at the back of the head caused by regularly looking down at their smartphones, according to a recent study.
Dogs Can Sniff Out Cancer With 97 Percent Accuracy, Study Shows
(Elias Marat) It’s no secret that dogs love to sniff around. Take your dog for a walk and chances are they’ll spend most of their time sniffing about, using their storied olfactory abilities to take in as much of the world around them as possible.
99% of Canadian Honey Analyzed Contaminated with Herbicide Glyphosate
(Brian Shilhavy) A recent study published in the journal Food Additives & Contaminants analyzed 200 random samples of honey in Canada. The study was conducted by the Agri-Food Laboratories, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.