evolution

Scientific Discoveries this week! (3/7/14)

Posted on by jellybeanhq

It’s that time of the week again…and it’s almost the weekend! And to all my American followers, I wish you a magical 4th July (Independence Day) tomorrow! But as usual, I am going to round up the week’s best and most interesting science news and discoveries, cutting them into bite-size pieces so you can digest them easier!

1.) An insect based diet may have been the reason for the formation of large Human brains.

monkeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

When times were hard, our ancestors were forced to forage for insects as well as plants, thus prompting more critical thinking skills and then larger brains. This evolutionary advance is also thought to have paved the way for tool use and hominid cognitive evolution. Having a broader diet means morphology, digestive systems and teeth were influenced by what they were foraging for.

Reference: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/insect-diet-may-have-led-bigger-human-brains

2.) Darwin’s Primordial Soup may have been uncovered after billions of years.

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There are rocks deep underground that contain this water, having been locked away for billions of years. So far, it hasn’t been shown to harbour any life or new forms of organisms, further cementing the primordial status. This water could give more information to how life first started on Earth, and how it could work on other planets.

Reference: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329762.600-ancient-water-cache-may-be-pristine-primordial-soup.html#.U7UxMPldXco

3.) Autism could be a barrier against Alzheimer’s developing.

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This basically suggests that Autism acts a buffer for Alzheimer’s, so they can’t develop it. It’s hyper-plasticity, which is essential to brain circuity and maintenance, means it doesn’t decrease enough over the years for cognition and behaviour to be totally compromised. Plasticity will decrease more over time in people with normal plasticity, and thus makes them more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s.

Original journal: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987714002369

Reference: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/autism-may-carry-benefit-buffer-against-alzheimer%E2%80%99s

Well that’s everything for this week! I hope you all learned something – I definitely did! – and I’ll see you tomorrow! Have a great Thursday!

Scientific discoveries this past, crazy week!

Posted on by jellybeanhq

It’s been another busy week for scientists! Science is always advancing rapidly everyday, and it’s surprising we can even catch our breath to understand everything that gets thrown our way! So, I’ve tried to round up the three stories that have caught my eye this week!

1.) The mystery of why we yawn may soon be solved.

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According to a new study, yawning may play a big role in thermoregulation, and thus, the cooling down of the body. Everyday we go through various sleep cycles, cortical processes and stresses, which all increase the brain temperature, so this needs to be regulated. Brain cooling helps mental efficiency, and it’s thought that higher temperatures induce more yawning, but this is dependent on the type of climate in that environment. 

Reference: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/why-do-we-yawn 

2.) Dinosaur discovered that is related to the Tyrannosaurus rex.

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This dinosaur has a longer snout than it’s cousin, and thus it has been named Pinnocchio rex! It was discovered in China, in Ganzhou. It’s been suggested that it survived more on it’s speed than it’s strength, and fed on smaller organisms.

Reference: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25527-new-tyrannosaur-was-the-dobermann-of-the-dinosaur-era.html#.U2uAf_ldXco 

3.) A computer simulation has created the very first realistic virtual universe.

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The Illustris simulation has created a virtual representation of a huge galaxy cluster that exists today. It shows it on both large and small scales simultaneously. It shows all the stars and bodies that existed since the big bang in just one space, it can also go forward in time, so scientists can examine what’s happening in that area.

Reference: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140507142849.htm 

So, that’s your scientific info-byte for this week! I hope you enjoyed it!

Heather

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