Category: 5. Sci-Tech

Centuries-old DNA has confirmed that Greenland’s sledge dog Qimmit is the oldest yet known domesticated dog breed, a discovery that sheds more light on their close relationship with the region’s indigenous Inuit people.

The findings, published in the journal Science, also reveal fresh insights into the history of Inuit migration and their…

For years, scientists were puzzled by a strange part of the ocean just south of Greenland that didn’t behave like the rest of the planet. While ocean temperatures across the globe have climbed steadily, this region, nicknamed the Atlantic Warming Hole, has cooled by nearly half a degree Fahrenheit over the last century. Now, researchers say they may have solved the mystery.

Despite its name, this location isn’t warm at all. It’s actually a cold zone in the North Atlantic…

Summer often brings with it trips to the beach, ice cream, and fun in the sun. But it can also bring some very unpleasant–and downright dangerous–weather. Namely, extreme heat and stubborn pockets of high pressure and hot air colloquially called heat domes. 

What is a heat dome?

During a heat dome, hot air is trapped…

Beards have long attracted suspicion, sometimes seen as stylish, sometimes as unsanitary. But how dirty are they, really?

Human skin is home to billions of microorganisms – mainly bacteria, but also fungi and viruses – and facial hair provides a unique environment for them to thrive.

Research shows that beards, in particular, support a dense and diverse microbial population, which has fuelled a persistent belief that they are inherently unhygienic. The Washington Post recently

Narcissism appears to have reached pandemic proportions. Just the other day, my nine-year-old announced that kids are branding each other narcissists in the playground. And why wouldn’t children adopt the label? It’s become fashionable for adults to use it for exes, bosses, even family members.

We all think we’ve met a narcissist, perhaps most famously Carly Simon, whose hit ‘You’re so Vain’ is about a cad so egocentric that in the chorus she sings “You probably think this song…

Dogs have been man’s best friend for centuries. In recent decades, those furry friends have transitioned into “fur babies,” with many people opting for dog ownership over traditional parenthood. But what does choosing dogs over children say about our society and the way we think about family?

In a study published in European Psychologist, a research team from Eötvös Loránd University suggests that declining global birth rates and increasing dog ownership are related. Although dogs…

In the Peruvian Andes, thousands of years ago, humans were making liberal use of psychoactive drugs.

We know this for a fact: For the first time, direct chemical evidence of these drugs has been found, in residual traces left on the paraphernalia used for their consumption. It’s the earliest known human use of psychoactive drugs in the Andes.

That use was by a culture known as the Chavín who inhabited the region during the Middle-Late Formative Period between around 1200 and 400 BCE,…

Abhi Ghadge, associate professor of supply chain management at Cranfield University in the UK, says there has been “a general kind of negligence” in terms of climate resilience, though that is beginning to change.

Building a detailed understanding of a supply chain can, however, be incredibly difficult, especially for smaller companies. Who supplies their suppliers? Which key raw material is about to become subject to a shortage? Tracking such details requires long-term commitment and…

It’s one of humanity’s oldest questions. Are we alone? Is there life elsewhere in our galaxy or the universe?

Scientists last week made a stunning announcement that they had found the “strongest evidence yet” of life beyond our solar system. A team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope said they had detected…

A promising new material created from plants could help replace the single-use plastics that dominate our everyday lives. Developed by researchers in Japan, this cellulose-based paperboard is durable, waterproof, and fully biodegradable, making it one of the most compelling contenders for a plant-based plastic replacement.

The design here builds on cellulose, the structural molecule found in plant cell walls and already used to make cellophane. Traditionally, cellophane has remained…