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Science (General/Chat)

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  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Jupiter with the Great Red Spot

    01/10/2026 12:17:36 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 12 replies
    NASA ^ | 10 Jan, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Christopher Go
    Explanation: Jupiter reaches its 2026 opposition today, January 10. That puts our Solar System's most massive planet opposite the Sun and near its closest and brightest for viewing from planet Earth. In fact, captured only 3 days ago this sharp telescopic snapshot reveals excellent details of the ruling gas giant's swirling cloudtops, in light zones and dark belts girdling the rapidly rotating outer planet. Jupiter's famous, persistent anticyclonic vortex, known as the Great Red Spot, is south of the equator at the lower right. But two smaller red spots are also visible, one near the top in the northernmost zone,...
  • The Real Horrors of the ‘Scromiting’ Weed Disorder Plaguing ERs — From Dwindling to 87 Pounds to ‘Nonstop Puking’ for a Week

    01/10/2026 11:40:35 AM PST · by nickcarraway · 34 replies
    New York Post ^ | Dec. 29, 2025 | Rachel Sacks
    Not even a month in the hospital on a feeding tube was enough to make Sydni Collins quit pot. Collins had reached for her weed pen most days since she turned 16, even as waves of extreme nausea and vomiting overtook her. One particularly brutal episode left her vomiting nonstop during a flight in the spring break of her senior year. “There were some days when it lasted until noon and I would not go to school because of how bad it was,” Collins, 23, told The Post. “I would be puking all morning. I would let out yells or...
  • House Democrats launch probe into Trump officials and oil companies

    01/10/2026 6:44:50 AM PST · by Libloather · 34 replies
    MS.now ^ | 1/09/26 | Jacqueline Alemany, Mychael Schnell
    House Democrats on Friday launched a probe into possible conflicts of interest following the U.S. military incursion into Venezuela last weekend, seeking to learn whether Trump administration officials or oil companies have or will benefit from the situation. Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee, led by ranking member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., on Friday sent letters to the chief executives of four major oil companies — Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Continental Resources — ahead of a meeting with oil executives at the White House that afternoon. Democrats requested the businesspeople provide information to help lawmakers determine “who stands to privately...
  • ‘Doomsday Plane’ spotted at LAX sparking panic online

    01/10/2026 3:14:40 AM PST · by Libloather · 58 replies
    NY Post ^ | 1/09/26 | Zain Khan
    The mysterious “flying Pentagon” was spotted in Los Angeles, igniting a flurry of social media speculation and conspiracy theories about serious trouble ahead. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was aboard the aircraft, commonly known as the “Doomsday Plane” when it touched down at Los Angeles International Airport Thursday night. Hegseth is currently traveling on his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour, which aims to spotlight the U.S. defense industrial base and boost military recruiting, the Department of Defense confirmed to the Post. Also aboard the plane was right-wing internet personality Laura Loomer. Posting on social media, Loomer said Hegseth called enlistees at...
  • Wx Info: What is the dendritic growth zone?

    01/09/2026 6:07:10 PM PST · by kawhill · 4 replies
    NickelBlock Forecasting We've got you covered ^ | Published: 2/15/2014 at 10:00am | Nick Lilja
    The types of snowflakes you see in the air while you’re out trying to catch them on your tongue are based on a few different factors, but the main one is the “dendritic growth zone.”
  • A Humble Vegetable Sprout Shows Outsized Effects on Blood Sugar, New Research Finds

    01/09/2026 2:37:31 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 35 replies
    Food & Wine ^ | January 2, 2026 | Roxana Ehsani, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN
    Researchers tracked what happens when the vegetable’s natural compounds are activated during digestion, offering new insight into glucose metabolism.Key points: -Broccoli sprouts may be small, but they’re loaded with glucoraphanin — a nutrient that converts to sulforaphane, known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. -Research shows they may help support healthy blood sugar levels, particularly in people with certain beneficial gut bacteria, such as Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium. -Since broccoli sprouts are usually eaten raw, they retain their active enzymes, allowing your body to fully activate their beneficial compounds. Wandering through the produce department, you might stumble upon broccoli sprouts —...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Ice Halos by Moonlight and Sunlight

    01/09/2026 12:30:48 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 14 replies
    NASA ^ | 9 Jan, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Antonella Cicala
    Explanation: Both Moon and Sun create beautiful ice halos in planet Earth's sky. In fact, the two brightest celestial beacons are each surrounded by a complex of ice halos in these photos of the sky above Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in France. The panels were recorded one night (left) and the following day at the end of December 2025. Similar ice halos appear in moonlight and sunlight because they are all formed through the geometry of flat, hexagonal ice crystals. The ice crystals reflect and refract light as they flutter in the cold atmosphere above the mountain resort. In the pictures both Moon...
  • AOC accuses Fox’s Jesse Watters of sexually harassing her in explosive confrontation with producer (only 5.07 years left)

    01/09/2026 12:30:52 AM PST · by Libloather · 43 replies
    NY Post ^ | 1/08/26 | Ryan King
    WASHINGTON — He’s in hot watters. “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exploded at a “Jesse Watters Primetime” producer who goaded her to go on the show, accusing the host of being a “pervert.” The lefty congresswoman harked back to Fox News host Jesse Watters’ suggestion last year that she wanted to “sleep” with White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller. “He has sexualized and harassed me on his show,” she raged to producer Johnny Belisario. “He has sexually harassed me on his show. He has engaged in horrific, sexually exploitative rhetoric.” Belisario shot back: “That’s not true, Congresswoman.”...
  • The Grim Reaper [16:44]

    01/08/2026 9:05:24 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 20 replies
    YouTube ^ | October 31, 2025 | The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered
    The robed harbinger of human demise was once seen much differently, as was death itself. The history of how we personify death is a record of what we face in life. The Grim Reaper | 16:44 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.61M subscribers | 97,710 views | October 31, 2025
  • The British Museum Plans to Hire a Treasure Hunter. Duties Include Recovering Missing Artifacts Before They're Lost to History

    01/08/2026 4:20:30 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 27 replies
    Smithsonian Magazine ^ | January 7, 2026 | Christian Thorsberg
    More than two years after the British Museum announced that a number of its Greek and Roman artifacts were stolen, missing or damaged, the institution hopes to strengthen its search for the lost items by hiring... a dedicated treasure hunter....will assist in finding the items... whereabouts remain unknown after the museum revealed the theft in 2023...Of the estimated 1,500 artifacts that were originally reported missing, 654 have been recovered so far. Some items were identified after being listed on eBay -- including a piece of Roman jewelry worth $60,000 that was selling for $48 online -- and many others were...
  • Warning Issued Over Weight Loss Jabs

    01/08/2026 1:51:21 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 44 replies
    Newsweek ^ | Jan 08, 2026 | Jordan King
    People who stop taking weight-loss injections such as Wegovy and Mounjaro regain pounds much faster than those who halt exercising and dieting, a new medical study shows. Research published in The British Medical Journal this month suggests that people lose around a fifth of their body weight when taking the jabs. But once they quit them, they regain 0.8 kg per month on average, meaning they return to their pre-treatment weight in around a year-and-a-half, according to the findings. The study was based on the analysis of more than 9,000 adults worldwide taking weight management medications (WMMs). Novo Nordisk, the...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis

    01/08/2026 12:25:45 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 13 replies
    NASA ^ | 8 Jan, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Gaetan Maxant
    Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant toward the long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed and reddened by intervening cosmic clouds, this sharp telescopic image traces the galaxy's own obscuring dust, young star clusters, and glowing star...
  • World’s largest camera detects fastest-spinning asteroid with diameter over 0.3 miles

    01/08/2026 12:07:16 PM PST · by Red Badger · 30 replies
    Interesting Engineering ^ | January 08, 2026 | Chris Young
    The asteroid, 2025 MN45, completes a full rotation once every 1.88 minutes, meaning it must have a very high strength to keep itself together. An artist's impression of the asteroid 2025 MN45. NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/P. Marenfeld ===================================================================== The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has observed a record-breaking ultra-fast-rotating asteroid. The space rock is the fastest-spinning asteroid larger than 500 meters (0.3 miles) to have ever been observed. The asteroid, designated 2025 MN45, completes a full rotation every 1.88 minutes. Announced at the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory First Look event in June 2025, it was one of 1,900 new...
  • US will control Venezuelan oil sales ‘indefinitely,’ energy secretary says

    01/08/2026 3:28:42 AM PST · by Libloather · 28 replies
    NY Post ^ | 1/07/26 | Ariel Zilber
    The Trump administration said Wednesday it will control Venezuela’s oil sales “indefinitely” in the wake of deposed strongman ruler Nicolás Maduro’s capture. Energy Secretary Chris Wright asserted the US will market and sell Venezuelan crude, with proceeds held in US-controlled accounts that he said “can flow back” to Venezuela, a day after President Trump said Venezuela would turn tens of millions of barrels of oil over to the US. “Instead of the oil being blockaded, as it is right now, we’re gonna let the oil flow … to United States refineries and around the world to bring better oil supplies,...
  • Jellyfish Can Sleep Like Humans, Researchers Find

    01/07/2026 11:12:53 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 27 replies
    Greek Reporter ^ | January 8, 2026 | Abdul Moeed
    Jellyfish and sea anemones, despite lacking brains, show sleep behavior similar to that seen in humans, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. Researchers found that these simple marine animals, like jellyfish, experience periods of rest that align closely with human-like sleep, offering new insight into how sleep functions in creatures with nervous systems but no centralized brain. The study revealed that the upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea andromeda) sleeps for about eight hours daily, primarily at night, with a short rest during the day. The starlet sea anemone (Nematostella vectensis), which was studied in a lab setting, also showed...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Simeis 147: The Spaghetti Nebula Supernova Remnant

    01/07/2026 12:29:51 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 14 replies
    NASA ^ | 7 Jan, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Saverio Ferretti
    Explanation: Its popular nickname is the Spaghetti Nebula. Officially cataloged as Simeis 147 and Sharpless 2-240, it is easy to get lost following the looping and twisting filaments of this intricate supernova remnant. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full moons. That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this powerful stellar explosion first reached the Earth...
  • 'Extraordinary' Roman box made of bone found

    01/07/2026 9:00:47 AM PST · by SunkenCiv · 57 replies
    BBC ^ | January 7, 2026 | Elliot Ball
    ...The excavation at Milestone Ground in Broadway uncovered 8,000 years of human activity but it was the discovery of a carved bone box which really excited archaeologists.The bone box was recovered from the grave of a young woman with archaeologists believing the find could offer new insight into the lives, beliefs and craftsmanship of the people who once occupied the north Cotswolds.Jamie Wilkins, who led the excavation, described the find as extraordinary and that he had never seen anything like it before...The artefacts found, which span prehistoric, Roman and Saxon times, took centre stage in an episode of BBC's Two's...
  • How Many Hominin Species Migrated Out of Africa?

    01/06/2026 9:15:30 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 19 replies
    Archaeology Magazine ^ | December 26, 2025 | editors / unattributed
    According to a Phys.org report, Victory Nery of the University of São Paulo and his colleagues suggest that fossils discovered at the site of Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia between 1999 and 2005 represent two distinct species. The hundreds of fossils in the group, including five skulls, have been dated to between 1.85 and 1.77 million years ago. Homo erectus is thought to have migrated out of Africa some 1.8 million years ago. Did other species migrate out of Africa as well at this time? The Dmanisi skulls differ from Homo erectus, do not all resemble each other, and...
  • Hunter-Gatherer DNA Linked to Longevity in Italy

    01/06/2026 6:49:44 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 14 replies
    Archaeology Magazine ^ | December 24, 2025 | editors / unattributed
    A study of the genomes of Italians who have reached the age of 100 has found that they carry a higher proportion of genetic material from the ancestral group known as Western Hunter-Gatherers than the rest of the population, according to a Phys.org report. Researchers led by Stefania Sarno and Vincenzo Iannuzzi of the University of Bologna analyzed the genes of 333 Italian centenarians and 690 healthy adults around the age of 50. These genomes were then compared to more than 100 ancient genomes from four ancestral groups: Western Hunter-Gatherers, Neolithic Anatolian farmers, Bronze Age nomads, and ancient groups from...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Jupiter's Clouds in High Definition from Juno

    01/06/2026 12:47:23 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 16 replies
    NASA ^ | 6 Jan, 2026 | Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Thomas Thomopoulos
    Explanation: How complex is Jupiter? NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter is finding the Jovian giant to be more complicated than expected. Jupiter's magnetic field has been discovered to be much different from our Earth's simple dipole field, showing several poles embedded in a complicated network more convoluted in the north than the south. Further, Juno's radio measurements show that Jupiter's atmosphere shows structure well below the upper cloud deck -- even hundreds of kilometers deep. Jupiter's newfound complexity is evident also in southern clouds, as shown in the texture and color enhanced featured image taken last month. There, planet-circling zones...