News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Human waste has become so ubiquitous in the ocean, it’s becoming easier for octopuses to shelter in our trash than in seashells or coral. A systematic review of underwater photographs and videos from around the world has tallied 24 cephalopod species making their homes in marine litter. For years, divers and scientists have observed … Read more
Insects have been touted as a food of the future, not least because of the sustainability benefits. An excellent protein source, they take up significantly fewer resources to produce when compared to traditional farming. Give your farm of mealworms around 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of food and you’ll get a kilogram of edible protein; with beef, … Read more
How we plan neighborhoods can shape the health of entire communities. When more than half the world now lives in urban areas, it’s more important than ever to design streets and parks conducive to walking, running, and cycling. A review of large, population-based studies describes numerous ways walkable, activity-friendly cities are linked to improved … Read more
The capacity to engage with and comprehend music spans nearly every human society. While other creatures also display musical behaviors (think bird song, humpback whale calls, or bonobo vocalizations), our musical cognition appears to be evolutionary distinct within the animal kingdom. A new study has given us more insight into the brain’s relationship with music, finding that … Read more
Almost half of Americans morally opposed to abortion would help a friend or family member with arrangements to get one, and a majority would offer emotional support, a new study said Friday. The authors of the paper, which appeared in the journal Science Advances, wrote the finding showed that people are willing to cross … Read more
In the Mediterranean region, the soil is degrading, and land is turning to desert faster than anywhere else in the European Union, according to a new analysis. Experts warn that the combined effects of unsustainable land practices and climate change have depleted a finite resource to a critical point. A recent publication by a … Read more
An extensive new study has found evidence that links physical attractiveness to the functioning of the immune system. While there are still numerous questions left to answer, the researchers suggest their findings show “a relationship between facial attractiveness and immune function is likely to exist.” Just how reliable that relationship is remains to be seen, however. … Read more
Are there civilizations somewhere else in the Universe? Somewhere else in the Milky Way? That’s one of our overarching questions, and an answer in the affirmative would be profound. Humanity’s pursued the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in one form or another since shortly after the advent of radio waves in the early 20th … Read more
Discontinuity is the antithesis of inspiration. The complexity of the present time seems to demand an unveiling of our hopes if we are going to survive. This life is nothing short of a blossoming osmosis of mythic understanding. Sounds like bullshit? That’s because it is. These statements were generated using the New Age Bullshit … Read more
More humans are alive today than ever before, and yet around the world, people are still feeling alone a lot of the time. Even before the global pandemic hit, a sweeping meta analysis has found chronic or severe loneliness was a common and overlooked experience in numerous nations. Past studies in the industrialized world … Read more