Tag Archives: ScienceAlert

We’ve got fresh evidence for how weight can quickly be regained after weight-loss programs stop – but rather than looking at traditional dieting, here the researchers wanted to focus on anti-obesity medications (AOMs), as they continue to be used ever more widely. A team from Peking University in China reviewed 11 previous studies involving a total of 2,466 people. The …

Despite what the movies tell us, dinosaurs probably didn’t roar at their prey. It’s more likely that they chirped like birds, based on a well-preserved new fossil with an intact voice box. A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered an almost-complete skeleton of a new dinosaur species in northeastern China. This two-legged, 72 centimeter (2.4 foot) …

We’re constantly being reminded by news articles and social media posts that we should be getting more sleep. You probably don’t need to hear it again – not sleeping enough is bad for your brain, heart and overall health, not to mention your skin and sex drive. But what about sleeping “too much”? Recent reports that sleeping more than nine …

For years, NASA has monitored a strange anomaly in Earth’s magnetic field: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa. This vast, developing phenomenon, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, has intrigued and concerned scientists for years, and perhaps none more so than NASA researchers. The space agency’s …

A new simulation study shows that higher influenza vaccination rates protect both vaccinated and unvaccinated people from infection – though those who get the jab get the most protection. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh ran computer simulations modeling 1.2 million people in a US county. The simulations were set up to measure the day-to-day spread of flu through households, …

The day before my thesis examination, my friend and radio astronomer Joe Callingham showed me an image we’d been awaiting for five long years – an infrared photo of two dying stars we’d requested from the Very Large Telescope in Chile. I gasped – the stars were wreathed in a huge spiral of dust, like a snake eating its own …

Supermassive black holes represent one of the biggest head-scratchers in the Universe. These behemoths weighing millions to tens of billions of Suns lurk at the center of just about every galaxy – the gravitational heart around which stars and planets and clouds of shimmering gas whirl in an intricate dance. What we don’t know is how these giants are born. …

In efforts to beat Alzheimer’s disease, researchers are looking at existing drugs that could tackle the condition, and a new study identifies two promising candidates that are currently used to treat cancer. Already approved by regulators in the US – meaning potential clinical trials for Alzheimer’s could start sooner – the drugs are letrozole (usually used to treat breast cancer) …

In an unexpected twist in the fight against cancer, humble kitchen bacteria and a plant best known for sweetening tea could one day help in treating one of humanity’s deadliest diseases, new research suggests. A group of scientists in Japan has discovered that fermented stevia, a plant commonly used as a calorie-free sweetener, may hold intriguing anti-cancer properties. While these …

Psilocybin‘s health benefits could extend beyond the mental realm. A new study in human cells and mice has found the first experimental evidence that the compound can increase longevity and fight signs of aging. Being a psychedelic, psilocybin is usually investigated for its potential as a treatment for depression, anxiety, and other neurological disorders. But there hasn’t been a whole …