Jul 26th, 2024 - If something similar could be done in humans, it would be massive. Recent research has uncovered a groundbreaking approach to extending the lifespan of mammals by inhibiting a pro-inflammatory protein called IL-11. This study, conducted by a team of scientists from the UK and Singapore, showed the approach can not only improve overall longevity but also mitigate age-related diseases. Cytokines and age During the COVID-19 pandemic, the term " cytokine storm " entered the public lexicon. It described a severe immune reaction observed in some patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. ... [Read More]

Jul 26th, 2024 - When we think of Jupiter-type planets, we usually picture massive cloud-covered worlds orbiting far from their stars. That distance keeps their volatile gases from vaporizing from stellar heat, similar to what we're familiar with in our solar system. So, why are so many exoplanets known as "hot Jupiters" orbiting very close to their stars? That's the question astronomers ask as they study more of these extreme worlds. It turns out that hot Jupiters don't actually start life snuggled up so close. Instead, they form much farther away from their stars in the protoplanetary nebula. That leads to ... [Read More]

Jul 26th, 2024 - A 19th-century shipwreck packed with crates of unopened champagne has been found in the depths of the Baltic Sea . The long-forgotten vessel was brimming with bubbly, according to the team of Polish divers who made the discovery off the coast of Sweden. "The whole wreck is loaded to the brim with crates of champagne, mineral water, and porcelain," Tomasz Stachura, the leader of the Baltictech diving team that found the wreck, said in a press release sent to CNN. According to the firm's website , Stachura is "one of the most active wreck divers in the Baltic Sea," who has "taken thousands of ... [Read More]

Jul 26th, 2024 - The official definition of a "planet" could be set to change again soon. Last time that happened, Pluto was kicked out of the club, but the new proposed definition is designed to be more inclusive. Exactly what a planet is has been remarkably murky for centuries – what we now call planets, moons and even asteroids have all been lumped under that one umbrella at different times. But the real push for an official definition began in the 1990s, and gained steam in the early 2000s as a series of roughly Pluto-sized objects were discovered in the Kuiper belt, on the fringes of the solar ... [Read More]

Jul 26th, 2024 - A 3ft by 2ft rock marked with off-white spots may offer fossilised record of microbes dating back billions of years A spotty, vein-filled rock found by a Nasa rover on Mars contains features that suggest it may have hosted microbial life billions of years ago. The arrowhead-shaped rock, named Cheyava Falls, was discovered by Nasa's Perseverance rover on 21 July as it trundled along the northern edge of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley carved by water flowing into the red planet's Jezero crater. Analysis of the 3ft by 2ft rock revealed signs of organic material, intriguing surface ... [Read More]

Jul 26th, 2024 - GENEVA, July 26 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday. "While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper. He wrote that children under five were most at ... [Read More]

Jul 26th, 2024 - Through a basement door in southeastern Turkey lies a sprawling underground city — perhaps the country's largest — which one historian believes dates back to the ninth century before Jesus Christ. Archaeologists stumbled upon the city-under-a-city "almost by chance" after an excavation of house cellars in Midyat, near the Syrian border, led to the discovery of a vast labyrinth of caves in 2020. Workers have already cleared more than 50 subterranean rooms, all connected by 120 metres (131 yards) of tunnel carved out of the rock. But that is only a fraction of the site's estimated ... [Read More]

Jul 25th, 2024 - Five players on Australia's women's water polo team for the Paris Olympics tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Paris is the first Olympics since the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021 and Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 were staged in COVID bubbles with rigorous testing protocols. Video above: A look at what it's like getting around Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympics So, what are the protocols for positive tests at the Games this year? A Paris 2024 spokesperson told CNN that the protocols recommend mask-wearing for people who test positive. "We regularly remind athletes and all other Games ... [Read More]