Science

We’re cooked: The hottest summer on record, confirms NASA

Coming as no surprise to the millions who sweltered through a Northern Hemisphere summer, the season that has just passed was Earth’s hottest since records began in 1880. The steamy baton is expected to now be passed on to the Southern Hemisphere.

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2023 Ig Nobel Prize winners: Celebrating the silly side of science

The Nobel Prize is the premier award in science, reserved for those that "have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." The Ig Nobel Prize, on the other hand, celebrates the most trivial and ridiculous things our best and brightest have studied.

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Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power

We haven't seen a floating offshore wind turbine like this before. Touchwind claims its innovative single-blade turbines will solve several problems to drive down cost and downtime, using a single, huge blade with no fancy active pitch controls.

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Brain imaging reveals OCD sufferers have difficulty processing certainty

Using brain imaging, researchers have found that obsessive-compulsive disorder affects particular areas of the brain involved in processing certainty during the decision-making process, providing greater insight into this enigmatic condition.

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Over-the-counter cold medications don’t work, FDA panel rules

Adding weight to the large body of scientific evidence that has found phenylephrine is as useless as a placebo for nasal congestion, an advisory panel has declared common oral medications ineffective and urged for them to be removed from sale.

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Dangling strings slash the time and space needed for lithium harvesting

Although lithium can be found in hard mineral ores, it's more often extracted from very salty (aka briny) groundwater. The latter task could soon be much quicker and eco-friendlier, thanks to a new string-based extraction technique.

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Global mitigation strategies, led by China, reverse air pollution trends

A new study has found that we’re doing something right when it comes to air pollution. An analysis of global data has found that exposure to fine particulate matter, a leading environmental health risk, has fallen.

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Study reveals how mutated protein invades the brain in Parkinson’s

A new study has revealed how the mutated proteins that are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease spread and aggregate in the brain. The finding opens the door to developing a way of halting the disease’s progression.

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Human embryo models could unlock the “black box” of early development

Researchers created an embryo model that looks and acts like a natural human embryo. They say it’s an ethical way of gaining a better understanding of embryonic development that may provide answers about birth defects and infertility.

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Medicinal cannabis found to improve health-related quality of life

A study into the effects of medicinal cannabis on the health of people living with chronic illnesses has found that the drug significantly improves health-related quality of life, fatigue, pain, anxiety, and depression.

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