Friday, February 20, 2015

Science of the Week: 2/20/15

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

NASA says "Megadrought" likely for western U.S. by end of century

Review article provides evidence on the biological nature of gender identity 
(There does seem to be a biological basis for which gender one identifies with, but scientist are still unsure of the exact mechanism)

More infectious diseases emerging because of climate change
 (Parasites can jump from one host to another more quickly than expected. We probably will experience localized outbreaks of diseases instead of a global pandemic.)

Mothers can pass traits to offspring through bacteria's DNA
(The bacteria in your system can affect your weight and behavior.)

Can a virus from Jerusalem sewage prevent root canal infections?
 (using viruses to target bacterial infections)

Climate change driving brutal weather?

Quantum equations suggest Big Bang never happened

Map of second genetic code, the "epigenome," is unveiled

Schrodinger's cat gets a reality check
(quantum mechanics is still weird)

Fearless birds and shrinking salmon: Is urbanization pushing Earth's evolution to a tipping point?


Have a good weekend, and see you Monday!






3 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Big Bang never happened? There's a shocker.

Alex Hurst said...

I found a follow-up article in the comments section of the Big Bang one on iflscience: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/popular-press-announces-big-bang-didnt-happen/

It seems the website just took its headline and ran with it, without realizing that the paper was just disputing the singularity at the beginning, and not the entire Big Bang Theory itself...

Cool links. :)

Alex Hurst, A Fantasy Author in Kyoto
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Jennifer Ruth Jackson said...

Thanks for the links. I sent the "Big Bang" article on to an acquaintance of mine for his thoughts.

I had more to add involving the "Gender Identity" article but don't want to open a huge can of controversy on your blog. It was a very interesting, though vague, piece.

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