The Pew Research Center just released results from a survey measuring knowledge of basic science knowledge in the US. Not surprisingly, Americans scored a C on average. But one of the 12 questions really baffled us: It asked participants to identify the definition of astrology, which isn’t a science. Astrology is a well-known pseudoscience linking…
The word “homophobia,” when broken down, roughly means being scared of homosexuals. Its loaded suffix suggests that it’s a clinical term, just as arachnophobia refers to people with a fear of spiders. Gregory M. Herek, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis who has studied LGBT prejudice for decades, argues that the words…
Mutant lice sound like the star of a low-budget horror film, but they’re a real problem being found around the nation. These insects’ mutations seem to make them resistant to someover-the-counter treatmentstypically used to get rid of lice, sold under brand names including Elimite and Nix. While some treatments are no longer effective in some…
When Venus Williams takes on her sister Serena in the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Sep. 8, few will be able to tell that she’s also battling a chronic disease. In 2011, the elder Williams sister was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that dries out the mouth and eyes, and can also sap strength and cause joint and muscle…
If you thought your internet data and international phone calls were transmitted via satellite, you would be wrong. (It’s okay, I was, too.) Nearly all of that data actually travels on submarine cables stretching hundreds of thousands of miles along the ocean floor. This animation shows just how many stretch from coast to coast to…
A little blue pill called Truvada could effectively prevent people from ever getting HIV — but only if they use it perfectly. A study published this week in Clinical Infectious Diseases followed 657 patients who took Truvada, a prophylactic that protects against HIV, for almost three years. The participants were HIV-negative, but at high risk of contracting the virus.…
When you see that bright-red McDonald’s roof, do you get hungry? The going popular theory is that brands like McDonald’s and Burger King use the color red in their logos and around their stores because it revs up people’s appetites, making them hungry, which therefore makes them more likely to enter the store and then…
The elusive squirrel that can take down a dear has finally been captured on video in the jungles of Borneo. With the fluffiest tail of any mammal compared to its teeny body size, the vampire squirrel is a terrifying, but adorable creature. … READ MORE: http://www.techinsider.io/the-first-video-of-a-vampire-squirrel-caught-in-the-wild-2015-9#ixzz3l4MYka51
There’s more than crumpled receipts and change lurking at the bottom of your purse, according to a study published in the journal Advanced Biomedical Research. When researchers at the University of Mauritius swabbed the outside of 145 mens’ and womens’ purses and wallets, they found several kinds of bacteria. We are all guilty of tossing…
Rebecca Harrington 