Tag: Science News

The Safety of Meatless Burgers, Nuggets, and Sausages Questioned: Study

While plant-based products have been entering consumer markets on an unprecedented scale, an analysis of the level of additives, salt, genetically modified ingredients, and allergens in meatless alternatives has made researchers question the ultimate safety of the product. According to The Good Food Institute’s 2020 State of the Industry Report, the U.S. retail plant-based food…


Earliest Evidence of Maya Calendar Found Inside Guatemalan Pyramid

WASHINGTON—A glyph representing a day called “7 Deer” on mural fragments dating from the third century BC found inside the ruins of a pyramid in Guatemala marks the earliest-known use of the Maya calendar, one of this ancient culture’s renowned achievements. The fragments were found at the San Bartolo archeological site in the jungles of…


Lockdowns Found to Double Risk of Mental Health Symptoms

A group of researchers have conducted an overview of 33 mental health studies of 132,000 people during the first year of the pandemic and found that lockdowns doubled people’s odds of experiencing mental health symptoms. Many studies on mental health have been undertaken but the speed with which they were conducted meant that the research…


Capacity Crunch May Abort US Satellite Boom as Sanctions Threaten Russia Launches

Houston, we have a problem! U.S. rocket companies are facing the daunting task of ferrying hundreds of satellites to space in the coming years as sanctions sideline the Russian space launch industry. SpaceX, Astra Space, and Rocket Lab USA are among a handful of U.S. companies expected to fill the vacuum, but industry officials have…


Rural Medical Schooling Increases Rural Practice

A study on Australian medical graduates has found graduates who did clinical placements in rural areas were far more likely to work in rural areas as doctors than graduates who did not. “Eight years after graduation, rural origin graduates with extended rural clinical school experience were more likely than metropolitan origin graduates without this experience…


CRISPR Gene Editing Finds Possible Therapy to Sickle Cell Anaemia

Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have found the mechanism behind sickle cell anaemia and beta thalassemia—common genetic anaemia—through CRISPR (DNA editing) techniques, with the discovery promising for future therapies. “We can use this understanding of the mechanism to help us look for new therapeutic approaches–it’s a key piece of the puzzle,”…


Space Station’s First All-Private Astronaut Team Docked to Orbiting Platform

The first all-private team of astronauts ever launched to the International Space Station (ISS) arrived safely at the orbiting research platform on Saturday to begin a week-long science mission hailed as a milestone in commercial spaceflight. The rendezvous came about 21 hours after the four-man team representing Houston-based startup company Axiom Space Inc lifted off…


SpaceX Launches 3 Visitors to Space Station for $55 Million Each

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—SpaceX launched three rich businessmen and their astronaut escort to the International Space Station on Friday for more than a week’s stay, as NASA joins Russia in hosting guests at the world’s most expensive tourist destination. It’s SpaceX’s first private charter flight to the orbiting lab after two years of carrying astronauts there…


Microplastics Found in Lung Tissue of Living Humans for First Time: Study

Researchers have discovered microplastics deep in the lungs of living humans for the first time. Scientists at Hull York Medical School in England published their findings in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the first such study to show microplastics in the lung tissue of live people. Microplastics are extremely small plastic particles composed of mixtures of polymers and…


COVID-19 Beware: Cheap and Widely Accessible Drug Could Fight Virus

Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) have discovered that the cheap and widely used drug, heparin, when inhaled can be a uniquely effective prevention and treatment method for COVID-19. Heparin is currently used to prevent blood from clotting and it is typically administered through an injection. However, early results of an ANU clinical study…