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Explanation: The lovely Pleiades star cluster shines in Earth's night sky, a compact group of stars some 400 light-years distant toward the constellation Taurus and the Orion Arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Recognized since ancient times, the remarkable celestial gathering is visible to the unaided eye. The Pleiades cluster is also well-placed for viewing from both northern and southern hemispheres, and over the centuries has become connected to many cultural traditions and celebrations, including the cross-quarter day celebration Halloween. In Greek myth, the Pleiades were seven daughters of the astronomical titan Atlas and sea-nymph Pleione. Galileo first sketched the...

In an extraordinary—and ominously underreported—announcement, the Department of Defense’s research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has openly revealed a biological research effort that could fundamentally redefine life itself. The program, called Generative Optogenetics (GO), is not science fiction. According to DARPA’s own descriptions, it aims to use light to directly write DNA and RNA sequences inside living cells, effectively turning biology into something programmable at the molecular level. This is concerning, and if it’s not obvious why then pay close attention. DARPA has publicly acknowledged the goal of directing the synthesis of DNA and RNA within living...

Explanation: What’s happening over that tree? Two very different things. On the left is the Andromeda galaxy, an object that is older than humanity and will last billions of years into the future. Andromeda (M31) is similar in size and shape to our own Milky Way Galaxy. On the right is a red sprite, a type of lightning that lasts a fraction of a second and occurs above violent thunderstorms. Red sprites were verified as real atmospheric phenomena only about 35 years ago. The tree in the center is a boab, which may live for as long as a thousand...

A new review of more than 120 studies concluded that there is little evidence supporting the use of medical cannabis for a variety of conditions, including insomnia.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved cannabinoids, a chemical compound extracted from cannabis, for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and seizures, among other conditions. Many patients use cannabinoids or other medical cannabis for other conditions, such as anorexia, insomnia, and chronic pain, either through off-label prescriptions or through state availability. A look at research published from January 2010 through September, though, showed that for many conditions, “evidence is insufficient,” researchers with the University...

Explanation: Halloween is an astronomy holiday and spooky shapes always seem to lurk in planet Earth's night skies. In fact, near the center of this telescopic view toward the constellation Cassiopeia these swept-back interstellar clouds IC 59 (left) and IC 63 look ghostly on a cosmic scale. About 600 light-years distant, the clouds aren't actually ghosts. They are slowly disappearing though, under the influence of energetic radiation from hot, luminous star gamma Cas. The brightest bluish star in the frame, Gamma Cas is physically located only 3 to 4 light-years from the nebulae. Slightly closer to gamma Cas, IC 63...

The Obamas were supposed to meet with director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, the night they were allegedly killed by their son, Nick Reiner, in their home in Los Angeles. “We were supposed to be seeing them that night — last night — and we got the news,” Michelle Obama said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night, when host Jimmy Kimmel asked how she was coping with the news of her friends’ murders. The former first lady said she and her husband were devastated when they learned that the legendary filmmaker and his wife, with whom they had been...

A human heart macrophage assembloid is shown using immunofluorescent microscopy imaging. The red color marks the heart muscle cells, the green color marks the macrophages and the blue color marks all cells. The scale bar in the bottom right corner of the image is 200 micrometers, or 0.2 mm, in length. Graphic courtesy of the Aguirre lab at Michigan State University. ================================================================ These tiny hearts may help develop new AFib treatments without any human (or animal) patients In a Nutshell * Researchers added immune cells called macrophages to lab-grown mini-hearts, creating a more realistic model of human heart tissue that...

Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the Geminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant toward Gemini. Three dimensionally, however, sand-sized debris expelled from the unusual asteroid 3200 Phaethon follows a well-defined orbit about our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is superposed in front of the constellation of Gemini. Therefore, when Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris...

Professor Benjamin Pohl, a historian at the University of Bristol, claims the masterpiece was hung on the walls at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, Kent.It was originally designed to provide mealtime reading for medieval monks at the abbey's new refectory, Professor Pohl claims.'Just as today, in the Middle Ages mealtimes were always an important occasion for social gathering, collective reflection, hospitality and entertainment, and the celebration of communal identities,' he said.'In this context, the Bayeux Tapestry would have found a perfect setting.'While the Bayeux Tapestry is widely regarded as one of the world's most important cultural treasures, very little is...

After decades of climate panic, the left quietly abandoned the weather—proof its causes shift not with science or facts, but with whatever outrage best sustains power, protest, and cultural revolt. “Stand with Ukraine! Free Palestine! No one is illegal!” Did I forget any other empty slogans? For the last eight years, the basement-dwelling interlocutors of the left have screamed and yelled for revolution, bearing their signs, blocking the streets, and bawling in front of politicians’ homes. Conservatives and the general public have endured these mantras blasted all over social media and the airwaves. These empty epithets have dominated college campuses,...

Explanation: Sure, Halloween is an astronomy holiday. But astronomers always enjoy scanning the heavens for spook-tacular galaxies, stars, and nebulae. This favorite is item number 43 from the Beverly Lynds 1962 Catalog of Dark Nebulae, fondly known as the Cosmic Bat nebula. While its visage looks alarmingly like a scary flying mammal, Lynds Dark Nebula 43 is over 12 light-years across. Glowing with eerie light, stars are forming within the dusty interstellar molecular cloud that is dense enough to appear in silhouette against a luminous background of Milky Way stars. Watch out. This Cosmic Bat nebula is a mere 400...

Some of the most ordinary words in English have origins that no one can explain. Among them: "dog", "big", "bird", "donkey", "boy", "girl" and "puzzle". In this episode, let's trace their earliest appearances, explore the theories behind them, and unravel why these everyday words became some of our language's greatest mysteries. The English words nobody can explain | 23:24 RobWords | 887K subscribers | 478,352 views | December 6, 2025 YouTube transcript (below) reformatted at textformatter.ai

I have been writing here for about a decade that wind and solar would inevitably prove to be far more expensive for producing useful electricity than other methods like fossil fuels, nuclear, or hydro. The reasons are not difficult to understand. Wind and solar, due to intermittency, are not capable of powering a full-time electrical grid on their own. To make the grid capable of fulfilling customer demand 24/7/365, wind and solar require large amounts of additional capital infrastructure — dispatchable back-up generation, energy storage, additional transmission capacity, and more. If wind and solar prove insufficient to eliminate dispatchable back-up...

In Slovenia, the ancient Pust festival happens each year before Easter to mark the end of winter. Locals wear masks and costumes to chase away winter and celebrate the coming of spring. Images of the festival captured by photographer Ciril Jazbec offer a glimpse into a ritual that has great significance for the community. The Little-Known Ancient Festival to Chase Away Winter | 3:10 BBC Global | 717K subscribers | 95,245 views | March 5, 2025

Explanation: What would it be like to fly over the largest moon in the Solar System? In 2021, the robotic Juno spacecraft flew past Jupiter's huge moon Ganymede and took images that have been digitally constructed into a detailed flyby. As the featured video begins, Juno swoops over the two-toned surface of the 2,000-km wide moon, revealing an icy alien landscape filled with grooves and craters. The grooves are likely caused by shifting surface plates, while the craters are caused by violent impacts. Continuing on in its orbit, Juno then performed its 34th close pass over Jupiter's clouds. The digitally-constructed...

“Neuroscientists who stand up and say ‘we have souls’ are few and far between,” says pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor. “But when you look carefully at the neuroscience—the best neuroscience over the past century—it clearly points to the existence of the soul and to the existence of aspects of our mind that don't come from the brain.” Egnor himself started off as a materialist and atheist. But 40 years and more than 7,000 brain surgeries later, he concluded that reason and free will do not reside in the brain. In this episode, he reveals what he’s found. “Neuroscience is just...

Explanation: Do any shapes seem to jump out at you from this interstellar field of stars and dust? The jeweled expanse, filled with faint, starlight-reflecting clouds, drifts through the night in the royal constellation of Cepheus. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, these ghostly apparitions lurk along the plane of the Milky Way at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away. Over two light-years across and brighter than the other spooky chimeras, VdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as the Ghost Nebula, seen across the middle of the featured image. Within...

There are so many lies and liars, it’s hard to know where to begin, but here are my takes on this week’s unveiling of them. Let’s begin with science. Seems like just yesterday Dr. Fauci and his crew were promoting “follow the science.” Well, I follow what passes for it, and if you follow the direction it’s been heading in recent decades you’ll be trapped in a remote ditch. SCIENCE1) NeuroscienceDo you remember reading articles and books by Oliver Sacks? Perhaps the best known were Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. From 1992 to 2024,...

A decade-long study of older women found that tea drinkers had slightly stronger bones, while moderate coffee drinking caused no harm. Heavy coffee intake—over five cups a day—was linked to lower bone density, especially in women who consumed more alcohol. Tea’s benefits may stem from catechins that support bone formation. The researchers say small daily habits could make a meaningful difference over time. Share: FULL STORY Tea May Strengthen Bones in Older Women Tea showed a gentle positive effect on bone strength, while excessive coffee appeared to weaken it. Moderate coffee is fine, but a daily cup of tea may...

Claudia Lenz uses imaging techniques to visualize injuries that are not visible to the naked eye. Credit: University of Basel, Eleni Kougionis Bruises are one of the most common injuries observed on victims of violent crime, especially victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. However, bruises can be difficult for forensic nurse examiners to detect, particularly on victims with darker skin tones. An inaccurate documentation of injuries can be detrimental to the victim’s legal case against their attacker, as well as to the victim’s medical treatment. In cases of strangulation, visible traces such as strangulation marks on the neck fade...