People always wonder how the moon was made. The birth of the planets 4.5 billion years ago was extremely violent. They grew to full size by absorbing rival planet embryos in a series of titanic collisions—one of which probably gave Earth its moon (below). The moon’s large size, low density, and other features suggest that it emerged from an explosion […]
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A Mediterranean diet could be the answer to keeping depression at bay as well as heart disease, suggests new research. The study, which monitored over 15k people, showed that a diet filled with fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and olive oil, along with low levels of processed meats, could prevent the onset of depression. Researchers, whose findings were published in the […]
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A Spanish woman has filed papers staking an official legal claim to the sun. Angeles Duran, 49, states in notarized documents she is now the official “owner of the sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the center of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometers” Duran now wants to impose […]
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Research into penguins has plunged to new depths with the release of images which provide a glimpse of life beneath the Antarctic ice. Penguin cams have been able to capture footage which reveals a look into the life of a penguin that we rarely get to see. Miniature penguin cams were attached to the backs of Adelie penguins by scientists […]
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Eating fruits and vegetables contaminated with pesticide residue may lower men’s sperm counts, a new study has found. Researchers at Harvard University surveyed 155 men who had sought fertility treatment about their eating habits. They found that subjects who ate more soft, thin-skinned fruits and vegetables such as apples, grapes, and potatoes—foods that tend to contain high levels of pesticide […]
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Feeling itchy from a sunburn, a bug bite or some other skin irritation is miserable, but the pleasure you get from scratching it isn’t just the absence of pain. It feels legitimately good to scratch, and the reason is fascinating. A 2008 study at Wake Forest University hooked people up to a MRI scanner and monitored brain activity when they […]
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For centuries, explorers and treasure hunters have searched in vain for the ancient lost White City the legendary home of a long lost Central American civilization. Now American and Honduran researchers think they’ve finally found the pre-Columbian settlement deep in the Honduran rain forest. The ruins of La Ciudad Blanca were first identified in 2012 by an aerial survey that […]
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Scaphism was a method of torture that caused its victims to be eaten to death by bugs. It’s even more horriffic than it sounds. Scaphism, also called “the boats,” was an ancient Persian method of torture and, inevitably, execution. The victim would be placed in a boat, and then another boat would be placed on top. The victim’s feet, head […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C. During a press conference last month, NASA released a slew of odd sound recordings and video from the Messenger probe just moments before it’s impact on Mercury. Scientists are working to decipher the meaning of the data, but some agree that the recordings sound like human voices crying out in agony. The Messenger probe had been orbiting Mercury […]
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In comments likely to enhance his progressive reputation, Pope Francis has written a long, open letter to the founder of La Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari, stating that non-believers (Atheists) would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences. Responding to a list of questions published in the paper by Mr Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: […]
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