Weekly Roundup | Science and Space: Top 20 science stories of the week of Dec 23 - 30th, 2016
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. - Carl Sagan
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1 +17y+ ago
Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks there's a 'very high' chance the universe is just a simulation
We trust the scientists around us to have the best grasp on what's really happening in the world. So is it disturbing if some think the world might not be...
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Submitted on December 23rd 2016 by drunkenninja with 10 comments
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2 +17y+ ago
Scientists say your “mind” isn’t confined to your brain, or even your body
You might wonder, at some point today, what’s going on in another person’s mind. You may compliment someone’s great mind, or say they are out of their mind. You may even try to expand or free your own mind. But what is a mind? Defining the concept is a surprisingly slippery task. The mind is the seat of consciousness, the essence of your being. Without a mind, you cannot be considered meaningfully alive. So what exactly, and where precisely, is it?
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Submitted on December 27th 2016 by gladsdotter
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3 +17y+ ago
Tesla Autopilot’s new radar technology predicts an accident caught on dashcam a second later
Just a few weeks ago, we published a report about how Tesla’s new radar technology for the Autopilot is already proving useful in some potentially dangerous situations. We now have a new piece of evidence that is so spectacularly clear that it’s worth updating that report. The video of an accident on the highway in the Netherlands caught on the dashcam of a Tesla Model X shows the Autopilot’s forward collision warning predicting an accident before it could be detected by the driver.
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Submitted on December 28th 2016 by drunkenninja
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4 +17y+ ago
Tibetan Plateau Discovery Shows Humans May Be Tougher than We Thought
Converging genetic and archaeological evidence hints that early migrants clung to the frigid, oxygen-starved “roof of the world” through the worst the climate could throw at them. By Jane Qiu.
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Submitted on December 29th 2016 by AdelleChattre
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5 +17y+ ago
Early Alzheimer's Gene Is A Curse For Families, A Gift For Science
Rosemary Navarro was living in Mexico when her brother called from California. Something wasn't right with their mom, then in her early 40s. She was having trouble paying bills and keeping jobs as a food preparer in convalescent homes. Navarro, then 22, sold her furniture to pay for a trip back to the U.S. for herself and her two young children. Almost as soon as she arrived, she knew her mother wasn't the same person. "She was there but sometimes she wasn't there," she said. "I thought, 'Oh, man, this isn't going to be good.' "
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Submitted on December 28th 2016 by geoleo
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6 +17y+ ago
Why are we so attached to our things?
After witnessing the “violent rage” shown by babies whenever deprived of an item they considered their own, Jean Piaget – a founding father of child psychology – observed something profound about human nature: Our sense of ownership emerges incredibly early. But why do we become so attached to things? Christian Jarrett details the psychology of ownership.
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Submitted on December 28th 2016 by gladsdotter
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7 +17y+ ago
Work. Walk 5 Minutes. Work.
Standing up and walking around for five minutes every hour during the workday could lift your mood, combat lethargy and even dull hunger pangs.
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Submitted on December 28th 2016 by gladsdotter
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8 +17y+ ago
What to Do When Grandma Has Dementia
"Why take on the burden of caregiving? Grandma lived her life already; why give up yours? Why put everything on hold just to take care of her? There were several slices to the pie of why...." By Larry Handy.
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Submitted on December 29th 2016 by AdelleChattre with 6 comments
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9 +17y+ ago
Gift of the fungi: Mushrooms — yes, mushrooms — could help save the world
Earlier this month, mushrooms momentarily sprouted into the news when two studies from Johns Hopkins and New York University found that a single magic mushroom trip (a mushroom with the naturally occurring psychedelic ingredient psilocybin) produced immediate, substantial and prolonged improvements in the levels of anxiety, depression and hopelessness for cancer-stricken patients. The studies also noted significant increases in quality of life, life meaning and optimism for participants. Though studies measuring the effects of a positive mental outlook on fighting cancer are largely inconclusive, it was nonetheless a positive development...
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Submitted on December 27th 2016 by drunkenninja
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10 +17y+ ago
85-Year-Old Marathoner Is So Fast That Even Scientists Marvel
Ed Whitlock remains at the forefront among older athletes who have led scientists to reassess the possibilities of aging and performance.
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Submitted on December 29th 2016 by gladsdotter
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11 +17y+ ago
6 More Mysterious Radio Signals Have Been Detected Coming From Outside Our Galaxy
Back in March, scientists detected 10 powerful bursts of radio signals coming from the same location in space. And now researchers have just picked up six more of the signals seemingly emanating from the same region, far beyond our Milky Way. These fast radio bursts (FRB) are some of the most elusive and explosive signals ever detected from space - they only last milliseconds, but in that short period of time, they generate as much energy as the Sun in an entire day. But despite how powerful they are, scientists still aren't sure what causes them.
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Submitted on December 25th 2016 by doodlegirl
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12 +17y+ ago
Giant robot takes first steps
A giant robot designed by scientists based in South Korea has taken its first steps.
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Submitted on December 27th 2016 by larylin
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13 +17y+ ago
Why people get happier as they get older
As people age, they gain what they spend their lives pursuing: happiness
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Submitted on December 25th 2016 by gladsdotter
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14 +17y+ ago
A New Approach to Alzheimer’s: Restore Defective Brain Waves
In a completely new approach, scientists reduced a hallmark of the disease in mice by stimulating their neurons with flickering lights.
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Submitted on December 27th 2016 by LisMan
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15 +17y+ ago
Bach’s Holy Dread
The composer has long been seen as a symbol of divine order. But his music has an unruly obsession with God.
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Submitted on December 26th 2016 by collude
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16 +17y+ ago
Why Are You So Smart? Thank Mom and Your Difficult Birth
The fact that so many women die in childbirth outside the context of modern medicine is a sign of how important intelligence is for our species. By Jim Davies.
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Submitted on December 26th 2016 by AdelleChattre
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17 +17y+ ago
Concept Laser makes metal the future of 3D printing
From early in my career, I have been fascinated by metal as a construction material, not least due to my training as a precision mechanic with Siemens; while studying mechanical engineering, the topic of metal processing particularly intrigued me. So, in 1996, I decided that what was possible with plastic sintering technology should be applicable to metal powder as well – the layer-wise construction of an end product using a laser. This idea ultimately led to the development of a manually operated test setup – the world’s first attempt at a 3D metal printer, so to speak.
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Submitted on December 26th 2016 by ppp
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18 +17y+ ago
There will be much less work in the future. Societies need to get ready, now
A war on wheels has been raging in London since Uber started operating there four years ago. Traditional black cab drivers have been up in arms about the new high tech disruptor. Uber has accused London’s Mayor of siding with the black cabs and has taken legal action against Transport for London, which is planning new regulations to limit the number of private hire vehicles. In November, more than 100 Uber drivers mounted a “go slow” protest in London to put pressure on the company to pay the minimum wage.
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Submitted on December 29th 2016 by TNY with 1 comments
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19 +17y+ ago
Birds migrating earlier as temperatures rise
Migrating birds are arriving at their breeding grounds earlier as global temperatures rise, an Edinburgh University study finds.
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Submitted on December 29th 2016 by jcscher
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20 +17y+ ago
Gift of the fungi: Mushrooms — yes, mushrooms — could help save the world
What can't mushrooms do? From cleaning chemical spills to mitigating topsoil loss, they're nature's unsung heroes. By Samuel Blackstone.
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Submitted on December 29th 2016 by AdelleChattre
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Here are this week's top five Science & Space tribes:
/t/research 138 posts, 39 comments, 652 votes.
/t/science 90 posts, 31 comments, 461 votes.
/t/futurism 68 posts, 51 comments, 361 votes.
/t/neuroscience 27 posts, 14 comments, 292 votes.
/t/discoveries 27 posts, 4 comments, 140 votes.
Note: Tribes can only be featured once every four weeks. Validate your tribe to be included on this list!
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