These Ornate 3-Foot-Long Tubes May Be The Oldest Known Straws

Slender gold and silver tubes crafted during the Bronze Age are the world’s oldest drinking straws, a new study finds.  Archaeologists found the 3-foot-long (1 meter) metal tubes in 1897 while excavating a burial mound known as a kurgan from the ancient Maikop (also spelled Maykop) culture in the northwestern Caucasus, which primarily includes modern-day … Read more

Infrared technology: Goggles hooked up to vibrating armband help people who are blind ‘see’

An array of vibrating pads can convey a low-resolution image of a location to help people who are blind navigate Technology 21 January 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Infrared goggles used in the new navigational system Manuel Zahn Infrared goggles and an array of vibrating pads can give people who are blind an intuitive way to … Read more

This Is How Toddlers Know if People Share a Special Bond, And It’s Gross

The thought of sharing an ice cream cone with a stranger can trigger feelings of disgust – however that’s often not the case with someone close to us, such as a romantic partner or child.   A new study in the journal Science on Thursday shows that children are aware of this dynamic from a … Read more

What really makes people happy – and can you learn to be happier?

Our life satisfaction is shaped by many things including our genes and relative wealth, but there is now good evidence that you can boost your basic happiness with these key psychological strategies Humans 19 January 2022 By David Robson Tara Moore/Getty Images; Matt Dartford WHAT MAKES PEOPLE HAPPY? You probably know the type: those Pollyannas … Read more

Clinical-Grade Pig Kidney Transplanted Into Human Patient in Scientific First

For only the second time ever – and the first involving a clinical-grade organ – a genetically modified pig kidney has successfully been transplanted into a brain-dead human body, in a milestone example of xenotransplantation.   Hundreds of thousands of people around the world are trapped in an agonizing wait for a lifesaving organ donation. But there are … Read more

Spaceflight makes people anemic and it doesn’t get better with time

Being in space causes the human body to destroy about 50% more red blood cells, leading to a potentially dangerous condition known as anemia. The effects persist even after astronauts return to Earth, according to a new study. The study, led by researchers at the Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada, … Read more

We’re Facing a Myopia ‘Epidemic’, Scientists Say. Here’s Why

Scientists are warning of an emerging ‘epidemic‘ of myopia or near-sightedness, having observed sharp increases in the adult onset of myopia among late baby boomers. Based on data collected from 107,442 participants in the extensive Biobank program in the UK, people born in the late 1960s are 10 percent more likely to be near-sighted than … Read more

Antibiotic resistance killed more people than malaria or AIDS in 2019

About 1.3 million deaths were directly caused by drug-resistant bacterial infections in 2019, a global study estimates Health 20 January 2022 By Jason Arunn Murugesu Illustration of drug-resistant Shigella bacteria Stephanie Rossow/CDC More than a million people died from antibiotic-resistant infections across the globe in 2019, hundreds of thousands more than malaria or HIV/AIDS, according … Read more

Many People Seem Disgusted by The Thought of Eating Cultured Meat

Cultured meat grown in a lab has the potential to be much more environmentally friendly than current practices in the agriculture industry, but a new study has revealed a looming problem: a lot of people really don’t like the idea of eating it.   We’re talking here about meat produced in the laboratory from real … Read more

Scientists Identify Specific Gene Variant That Protects Against Severe COVID-19

Researchers have discovered a protective gene variant that seems to shield people from severe cases of COVID-19, and the finding could lead to new breakthroughs in fighting the coronavirus.   Since much earlier in the pandemic, scientists have been busily investigating how patient genetics influence the severity of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, exposing the inherited factors … Read more