A tiny particle that smashed into Earth with a record-shattering energy of 220 petaelectronvolts could be the last scream of an evaporating black hole. According to a new theoretical paper, the 2023 neutrino event named KM3-230213A can be explained by a burst of Hawking radiation emitted as a primordial black hole puffed into nothing. Moreover, physicists Alexandra Klipfel and David …
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Nearly half of all Americans have high blood pressure – a condition called hypertension. Hypertension is the No. 1 risk factor for heart disease and stroke. In addition, hypertension increases risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Heart disease, stroke, and dementia are the first-, fourth- and sixth-leading causes of death in the US. Unfortunately, only 1 in 4 people with …
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What gives rise to human consciousness? Are some parts of the brain more important than others? Scientists began tackling these questions in more depth about 35 years ago. Researchers have made progress, but the mystery of consciousness remains very much alive. In a recently published article, I reviewed over 100 years of neuroscience research to see if some brain regions …
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The transformation of neutrinos in a neutron star merger could be crucial to shaping the way events of the collision unfold. For the first time, a team of physicists has simulated how neutrinos change their flavors during a merger event. Their results show that tweaking the parameters and outcomes of these transformations also alters the outcomes of the merger, including …
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In 2019, LIGO and Virgo recorded something truly bizarre – a gravitational wave event less than a tenth of a second in duration. Compared to the drawn-out chirps of black hole binaries on decaying orbital spirals, it was a sharp crack. The best explanation of the event, named GW190521, was a chance encounter of two black holes snaring each other …
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Paleontologists have discovered a new species of megaraptor dinosaur in Argentina, along with a startling clue about what it ate. Named Joaquinraptor casali, the apex predator apparently ate crocodiles, judging by the leg bone found in its mouth. As the name suggests, megaraptors were a clade of carnivorous dinosaurs that looked like giant versions of the raptors made famous in …
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Life truly is radiant, according to an experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council of Canada. An extraordinary experiment on mice and leaves from two different plant species has uncovered direct physical evidence of an eerie ‘biophoton’ phenomenon ceasing on death, suggesting all living things – including humans – could literally glow with …
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When we sleep, the body releases its ‘growth hormone‘, building up and repairing muscles and bones – but the details of how and why have been something of a mystery, until now. Through a close analysis of brain circuitry in mice, researchers led by a team from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) have found special mechanisms and feedback …
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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is on track to become one of the defining public health challenges of our time. Every three seconds, somewhere in the world, someone is diagnosed with dementia, and it’s usually Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, approximately 50 million people worldwide have AD. By 2050, this number will exceed 130 million. The human health and socioeconomic consequences of this are …
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A low dose of aspirin each day may significantly reduce the chances of colon and rectal cancer returning in certain cases, a new clinical trial has found. Led by researchers from the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, the study involved 626 people with stages 1 to 3 colon or rectal cancer, and specific genetic mutations in the …
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