Science
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Why giving up on goals is good for you, and how to know which to ditch
Aron Leah of Fried Cactus This was meant to be a big year for me. I planned to run a marathon, gain a diploma in Spanish and begin work on my next book – all while growing my social media following to promote my journalism. Even when I have felt frustrated or stressed, I have tried to keep slogging on.…
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Walking 3000 steps a day seems to slow Alzheimer’s-related decline
Even gentle exercise like walking boosts brain health Gordon Scammell/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Older people who are particularly at risk of Alzheimer’s disease could slow their cognitive decline by taking just 3000 steps a day. Why this step count might have this effect is unclear, but it could be linked to the impact of regular exercise on…
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Men may have to exercise more than women to get same heart benefits
Exercise has significant benefits for heart health Ian Canham/Alamy Men over 50 may have to exercise more than twice as much as women to get the same heart health benefits. An analysis of activity tracker data found that men in this age group need nearly 9 hours per week of moderate to vigorous activity – like brisk walking or cycling…
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A distant comet is forming new rings while we watch in real time
Illustration of Chiron’s rings Dan Durda For the first time, astronomers are watching a ring system form in real time. The rings in question encircle Chiron, a comet-like object that takes a path around the sun between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. Every time we look at Chiron, its rings seem to be a little different. Chiron isn’t the…
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Your diet is probably dangerously acidic but there’s a simple solution
I am standing in the bathroom with a strip of litmus paper in my hand. I am going to pee on it and hope that it doesn’t turn red, which would indicate acid. This isn’t for a bet – it is a (ahem) litmus test of whether my diet is slowly killing me. Acidic urine is a crude sign that…
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Galaxies fling out matter much more violently than we thought
Black holes are extremely powerful matter distributors NASA Image Collection/Alamy Unexpectedly violent black holes may have caused the mystery of the missing cosmic matter. Most of the universe is filled with mysterious dark matter, but even ordinary matter has stumped cosmologists. Some of this normal matter – made up of particles called baryons – seemed to have been missing for…
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We may finally know what causes will-o’-the-wisps
An 1849 engraving depicting a will-o’-the-wisp SSPL/Getty Images Bubbles merging in water can spontaneously generate electric sparks powerful enough to ignite methane, which could explain mysterious flashes of light known as will-o’-the-wisps. In bogs, swamps and marshes, people occasionally see mysterious blue-tinged flashes of light above water, which have commonly been associated with ghosts or spirits. A more likely explanation…
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Venus has lava tubes, and they’re weird
We are learning more about Venus, the hot, high-pressure planet JSC/NASA We now know for sure that massive underground tunnels, carved by lava, exist on Venus – and they are surprisingly wide and different from those on any other planet. It is uncontroversial that lava tubes – underground tunnels carved out by molten rock – exist on Earth, the moon…
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The oldest human mummies were slowly smoked 14,000 years ago
Left: The remains of a middle-aged woman at the Liyupo site in southern China, who was smoke-dried prior to burial about 8000 years ago. Right: A modern smoke-dried mummy of the Dani people in West Papua, Indonesia Zhen Li, Hirofumi Matsumura, Hsiao-chun Hung Human bodies carefully preserved by smoking up to 14,000 years ago have been found at archaeological sites…
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Can a strange new treatment finally relieve chronic sinus infections?
“It has a huge, huge impact on almost every facet of life,” says Duncan Boak. “Not being able to breathe properly. Being bunged up all the time. Blowing your nose constantly, snot running out of your nose constantly, not being able to sleep, facial pain. And it is one of the biggest causes of smell loss, which, for the majority…
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