Notices by Knowable Magazine (knowablemag@mstdn.science)

A parasitic fungus takes over the brains of flies and controls them for its own sinister ends. Here’s the science behind the horror. Learn more about this in our recent article republished by Popular Science.

https://www.popsci.com/environment/zombie-insect-fungus/

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

You’ve probably heard of the microbiome — the hordes of bacteria and other tiny life forms that live in our guts. Well, it turns out those bacteria have viruses that exist in and around them — with important consequences for both them and us.

Meet the phageome.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/the-phageome-viruses-that-infect-bacteria

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Population and animal studies suggested it could treat cancer, but the clinical trials were a bust. Here’s what happened and what potential may remain.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2024/diabetes-drug-metformin-doesnt-help-treat-cancer

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies are expected to play a role in cutting CO2 emissions and limiting global warming, but some critics say they are costly and divert attention from more effective strategies.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2024/carbon-capture-use-storage-role-slowing-climate-change

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

#PODCAST 🎧 Sloppy by today’s standards, and maybe even back when it was published in 1955, Henry Beecher’s paper paved the way for sounder drug trials and pushed scientists to better understand how we process pain (Season 3, Episode 3).

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/mind/2023/how-placebo-effect-went-mainstream

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

In promising experiments, phage therapy forces bacteria into a no-win dilemma that lowers their defenses against drugs they’d evolved to withstand.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2024/phage-therapy-helps-to-fight-antibiotic-resistance

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Contaminants can alter plant odors and warp insects’ senses, disrupting the process of pollination.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2024/air-pollution-is-bad-for-pollination

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Along with physiological factors, such as where they carry excess fat, youths from lower socioeconomic levels may be vulnerable due to aspects of daily life beyond their control, such as more limited access to healthy food and opportunities to safely exercise in less-polluted neighborhoods.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2024/type-2-diabetes-children

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Scientists on both sides of the border are working to understand how the barrier is affecting the area’s biodiversity. Meanwhile, communities try to save animals left without access to water.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2024/the-impact-of-the-us-mexico-border-wall-on-biodiversity

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

When managed in the right way, the farms that provide our morning brew can be a refuge for plant and animal biodiversity.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2024/how-shade-coffee-lends-conservation-a-hand

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

#OPINION ✍️ They might be able to help, but only if well-designed and in combination with other policies.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2024/soda-taxes-dont-work-behavioral-economists-say

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Scientists are probing the head games that influence athletic performance, from coaching to coping with pressure.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/mind/2024/sports-psychology-research-athletic-performance

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

From poison frogs to worm-like caecilians, some amphibians are hardworking and surprisingly creative caregivers.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/the-amphibians-that-evolved-parental-care

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

In patterns that may sound familiar, long-term studies reveal what elderly deer, sheep and macaques are up to in their twilight years

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/mind/2024/animals-change-social-habits-old-age-macaques-deer-sheep

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

The detection of two celestial interlopers careening through our solar system has scientists eagerly anticipating more.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/physical-world/2024/detect-interstellar-objects-oumuamua-borisov-clues-to-exoplanets

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Linguists and archaeologists have argued for decades about where, and when, the first Indo-European languages were spoken, and what kind of lives those first speakers led. A controversial new analytic technique offers a fresh answer.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2024/origin-spread-indo-european-languages

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Long confined to regions with volcanic activity, geothermal promises to become a much more versatile energy source thanks to new technologies.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/technology/2024/geothermal-power-heats-up-new-technologies

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

By performing tricks for birds, monkeys and other creatures, researchers hope to learn how they perceive and think about their world.

Learn more about this in our recent article republished by Scientific American.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-magic-tricks-help-us-understand-animal-minds/

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

Though studies are still mixed, and products often inconsistent, many scientists have hope that cannabidiol can help canines and other furry patients suffering from arthritis, allergies and anxiety.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2024/cbd-for-dogs-and-cats-the-science

#KnowableMagazine
#ScienceMastodon

The bloc aims to become the first carbon-neutral continent. A new policy called CBAM will assist its ambitions — and may persuade other countries to follow in its footsteps.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2024/big-boost-europe-carbon-neutral-goals-cbam

#KnowableMagazine #ScienceMastodon