Don't count on vitamin D or fish oil supplements to reduce your risk of cancer or heart disease
latimes.com – A widely anticipated study has concluded that neither vitamin D nor fish oil supplements prevent cancer or serious heart-related problems in healthy older people.
Source: JoAnn E. Manson, et al. Vitamin D Supplements and Prevention of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 2018.
Coffee or tea? The answer might lie in your genes
zmescience.com – So, which one is your favorite?
Source: Jue-Sheng Ong, et al. Understanding the role of bitter taste perception in coffee, tea and alcohol consumption through Mendelian randomization. Scientific Reports, 2018.
The landscape of the U.S. could be part of its climate solution
latimes.com – Natural climate solutions that are based on conserving, restoring and properly managing lands have the potential to mitigate 21% of U.S. annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Joseph E. Fargione, et al. Natural climate solutions for the United States. Science Advances, 2018.
Neanderthals Were Just As Violent As Early Humans
discovermagazine.com – A large-scale analysis comparing Neanderthal and Homo sapiens skulls found similar trauma rates, suggesting similar lifestyles among the two species.
Source: Judith Beier, Nils Anthes, Joachim Wahl, Katerina Harvati. Similar cranial trauma prevalence among Neanderthals and Upper Palaeolithic modern humans. Nature, 2018.
Complex stone tools in China may re-write our species’ ancient history
newscientist.com – A cache of sophisticated stone tools from a cave in China date back 170,000 years – perhaps a sign that our species arrived in East Asia earlier than we thought
Source: Yue Hu, et al. Late Middle Pleistocene Levallois stone-tool technology in southwest China. Nature, 2018.
This animal on a cave wall in Borneo is the oldest known figurative painting in the world
latimes.com – In limestone caves hidden deep in the jungle of Borneo, archaeologists have discovered the oldest known figurative drawing created by a human artist, dating back at least 40,000 years.
Source: M. Aubert, et al. Palaeolithic cave art in Borneo. Nature, 2018.
To burn the most calories, it helps to heed the clock
latimes.com – The number of calories people burn while at rest changes with the time of day. When at rest, people burn 10% more calories in the late afternoon and early evening than in the early morning hours.
Source: Kirsi-Marja Zitting, et al. Human Resting Energy Expenditure Varies with Circadian Phase. Current Biology, 2018.
Check this out: mind blowing Virtual Reality simulation of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole
zmescience.com – It's simply mesmerizing.
Source: Jordy Davelaar, et al. Observing supermassive black holes in virtual reality. Computational Astrophysics and Cosmology, 2018.
How people use music as a sleeping aid
zmescience.com – Music is free and doesn't have negative side effects, unlike sleeping aid drugs.
Source: Tabitha Trahan, Simon J. Durrant, Daniel Müllensiefen, Victoria J. Williamson, Stephany Fulda. The music that helps people sleep and the reasons they believe it works: A mixed methods analysis of online survey reports. PLOS ONE, 2018.
Predictably, online media go nuts over ‘Oumuamua and Harvard scientists
arstechnica.com – "Scientists are perfectly happy to publish an outlandish idea."
Source: Shmuel Bialy, Abraham Loeb. Could Solar Radiation Pressure Explain 'Oumuamua's Peculiar Acceleration?. arXiv, 2018.
