Notices by Flipboard Science Desk (sciencedesk@flipboard.social), page 12

We always love reading about the "corpse plant." 💀 🌱

From the BBC: "It takes a decade to flower, smells like death and draws huge crowds when it blooms. But scientists are still unravelling the baffling lifecycle of the titan arum."

https://flip.it/HScrsI

#Botany #Flowers #Science

Virus that causes paralyzing illness is spiking in the U.S., wastewater data shows.

NBC News reports: "Enterovirus D68 is linked to rare cases of the polio-like illness acute myelitis, or AFM. So far this year, the CDC has confirmed 13 cases of AFM."

https://flip.it/3vFNSA

#Disease #Virus #PublicHealth #Health #Science

Microplastics can get into brain tissue, study shows.

NBC News reports: "The tiny scraps of plastic were found in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain responsible for processing smell."

https://flip.it/cg8iFp

Here's the original study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2823787?guestAccessKey=c7ff20a1-e12a-48d5-88e9-8a57ae084c10&utm_source=for_the_media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=091624#google_vignette

#Microplastics #Plastic #Brain #Health #Pollution #environment #Science

A U.S. park ranger wrote about a dropped Cheetos bag in Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. It hit a nerve.

From @outside: "The discarded Cheetos bag attracted all sorts of flora and fauna, namely mold and bugs, and within a day of its discovery, the pile of Cheetos had become a thriving neighborhood for creepy crawlies. Poor park rangers had to spend 20 minutes cleaning up the mess."

https://flip.it/7fdAYb

#Litter #Nature #Conservation #Environment

"Get ready for a partial lunar eclipse and supermoon, all rolled into one. The spectacle will be visible in clear skies across North America and South America Tuesday night and in Africa and Europe Wednesday morning."

From AP: https://flip.it/ULU3bU

#Moon #Supermoon #Eclipse #LunarEclipse #Space #Astronomy #Science

Pregnancy overhauls the brain. Here’s what that looks like.

From Science News: "Neuroscientist Liz Chrastil’s brain scans offer the clearest look yet at neural changes in pregnancy."

https://flip.it/ILQL1o

Full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01741-0

#Pregnancy #Neuroscience #Science

A celestial trifecta: What to know about Tuesday’s lunar eclipse.

NPR reports on an event that will be visible in many parts of the world: https://flip.it/VKcjV5

#Eclipse #LunarEclipse #Moon #Astronomy #Space #Science

Tech billionaire returns to Earth after first private spacewalk.

From AP: "[Jared] Isaacman became only the 264th person to perform a spacewalk since the former Soviet Union scored the first in 1965, and SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis the 265th. Until now, all spacewalks were done by professional astronauts."

https://flip.it/q3ZBXT

#Space #SpaceX #Spacewalk #Astronauts #Tech

We have some incredibly powerful telescopes that have given us spectacular views and allowed us to look back to the early days of the universe. But what if we could access an even better telescope that already exists? Using a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, it might be possible to use the sun as a gigantic telescope to peer deep into the cosmos. Space.com has more: https://flip.it/yH22Ur
#Science #Space #SpaceExploration #Sun #JWST #Telescope

Four astronauts on Polaris Dawn flight return home after a five-day mission orbiting the planet, including the first commercial spacewalk. CNN has more: https://flip.it/m2rKgn
#Science #Space #SpaceX #PolarisDawn #SpaceExploration

An experiment here on Earth has just replicated one of the most extreme astrophysical processes in miniature. Physicists at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have succeeded in creating collimated jets that resemble those that erupt from baby stars and feeding black holes. @ScienceAlert shows us what the results say: https://flip.it/jKRcEE
#Science #Space #BlackHoles #SpaceExploration

Most cultures have stories and myths detailing the end of days, from the eventual fate of humans to what will happen to our world and any other realms inhabited by their respective deities. But @ScienceFocus@Flipboard tells us how the demise of our species will (probably) go down. Read for yourself: https://flip.it/YAMsL_
#Science #Humans #Earth #Extinction

What a cool image! "Ryan Imperio has been named the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year for a photograph that captures the progression of Baily’s beads during the 2023 annular eclipse."

From the BBC: "Baily’s beads are formed when sunlight shines through the valleys and craters of the Moon’s surface, and are only briefly visible when an eclipse is beginning or ending."

https://flip.it/2t.WMT

#Space #Photography #Astronomy #Eclipse

Scientists who discovered mammals can breathe through their anuses receive Ig Nobel prize.

CNN reports: "The awards – which have no affiliation to the Nobel Prizes – aim to 'celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative – and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology' by making 'people laugh, then think.'"

https://flip.it/XPIEAz

#IGNobel #Science #Animals #Humor

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission crew completed the first all-civilian spacewalk.

NBC News reports: "Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis ventured out into the vacuum of space early Thursday and made history."

https://flip.it/qWJm5g

#SpaceX #Spacewalk #Space #Astronauts #Science #PolarisDawn

Climate change may have a dire impact on Ivory Coast and Ghana, where more than half of the world’s supply of cocoa beans is grown. Can scientists create a food that looks like chocolate, feels like chocolate and tastes like chocolate? NPR explains: https://flip.it/ZjrPPV
#Science #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Africa #Food #Chocolate #IvoryCoast #Ghana

Few things mesmerize like photos of space. And this year’s batch of winners from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition certainly don’t disappoint. Ryan Imperio was named the overall winner for his stunning image that captured the progression of Baily’s beads. See all 11 winners at CNN: https://flip.it/m_9NXQ
#Science #Space #Astronomy #Photography #OuterSpace #Sky

The earliest evidence of alcohol dates back to 7000 BCE. And we’ve been raising pints, sipping cocktails and chugging shots ever since. This is all to illustrate that human culture and alcohol have a deep, entangled relationship. But the relationship might be about to change. @sciencefocus gives us an understanding of what alcohol really does to our bodies, explores the value of abstinence, and more: https://flip.it/fiAmj-
#Science #Health #Human #Alcohol #Drinking #Cocktails #Booze #Beer

A popular prescription drug that is used to treat type 2 diabetes or to manage weight in adults seems to be both safe and effective for weight loss in children — at least in the short term, according to new results. A phase 3 clinical trial among 82 participants has now provided initial results that liraglutide, combined with other lifestyle interventions, is both safe and effective as a weight loss drug for children as young as six years old. That’s not at all controversial, is it? Read more from @ScienceAlert

https://flip.it/o3JyQG

#Science #Health #Medicine #PrescriptionDrugs #Obesity #WeightLoss #Children

Follow @health-ScienceAlert for more health news.

A team of scientists in Spain and Japan has found live fungi, bacteria and viruses thousands of meters in the Earth’s atmosphere. For their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group chartered a plane and collected air samples over Japan at altitudes of 1,000 to 3,000 meters. The team ended up finding 266 types of fungi and 305 types of bacteria up in the atmosphere. Read more from Phys.org.

https://flip.it/cpBT67

#Planes #Microbes #Bacteria #Flight #Atmosphere #Fungi #Viruses