Newsweek Science

All the latest science and health news—past, present and future; micro to macro; always fascinating.

[newsweekscience]

Darknet sales of opioids jump after prescription restrictions increase

Using concurrency and an underground network of nearly-untraceable websites, people get what they need.

“It’s kind of common knowledge, but if you cut off a legal supply you open up opportunities for black markets.”

[newsweekscience]

1915 was the last time anyone saw Endurance, the ship that famed explorer Ernest Shackleton took to Antarctica, where he and his crew almost died.

However, next January and February, scientists on a research trip to study the ice in the area where the ship sank are hoping to find it. Finding the ancient, broken wreck will require new technology, century-old notes and a lot of luck.

We talked to the scientists hoping to find the ship as well as Shackleton’s own granddaughter to explain the expedition—and why they want to find Endurance.

[newsweekscience]

When there’s no real estate in the safe part of town, you might just have to try to make it in the dangerous part. This philosophy is not lost on octopuses, who move to dangerous areas at the risk of losing their babies.

Watch octopuses struggle with the problem of too many tenants, not enough flats to safely take care of their eggs.

[newsweekscience]

Could a deadly "zombie" disease infecting deer kill people?

Deadly prion diseases like mad cow disease have jumped from one species to another before.

Researchers at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency studied macaques, monkeys that are known to be susceptible to the same prion diseases as humans. They fed the macaques venison, or deer meat, infected with chronic wasting disease. After three years of eating a total of 5 kilograms of infected venison each, three out of the five macaques were found to be infected with CWD. The human equivalent would be eating one 7-ounce steak per month.

[newsweekscience]

The pet industry created a new species of crayfish that can clone itself

If you start with one marbled crayfish, you can soon have millions.

Most species of crayfish reproduce the same way that humans do: by having sex. But one species of crayfish that evolved out of the pet trade can do something unique—clone itself—and this ability has led populations of the crustacean to spawn out of control.

[newsweekscience]

What will happen to these famous cloned monkeys?

Some animal activists are concerned about the ethics of cloning monkeys, but this scientist says researchers follow strict ethical rules.

In late 2017, Chinese scientists saw the birth of the world’s first primates cloned by the same method used to clone Dolly the sheep. Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, two adorable crab-eating macaques, took the world by storm, and scientists believe that they are just the first in a long line of monkeys that will be cloned for medical research.

Mu-ming Poo, one of the scientists who helped clone the monkeys, calls them “national treasures.” But what will happen to them now that the photo-ops and media coverage have subsided?  

[newsweekscience]

How do you deal with a beached whale carcass? Here are four ways to get rid of it

The novelty of a cool beach carcass wears off when the stinkiness starts.

1. Explode it. Fun, but messy. 

2. Drag it out to sea. Sensible, but sometimes it returns. 

3. Compost it. Useful, but it takes a while. 

4. Landfill. Sensible, but seems like a bit of a waste. 

[newsweekscience]

A man considers crossing a bridge (yes, there is a wooden bridge in there) after driving three and a half hours to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite and getting caught only part of the way through the trail. Bizarre weather, including a winter with a record amount of snow and a summer with record heat brought snowmelt cascading over the trail--something he had never seen in his 20 years of hiking there. 

This man decided not to cross, but a few days later, someone else did. That man slipped and died. 

Climate change can ruin your outdoor plans this summer. Can the outdoor industry save them?

[newsweekscience]

How Facebook decides when to censor videos of murder and suicide

How clear is the difference between shock videos and news?

Imagine that two Facebook users post videos of people “self-immolating,” or setting themselves on fire. Both videos contain graphic footage that’s hard to look at, information about the context, and a caption interpreting it. Maybe one user thinks it’s an important display, and one thinks it’s funny.

How does Facebook know which one to censor? What’s the difference between shock videos and news—and how much does it matter?

[newsweekscience]

What is an embolization? Learn more about Melania Trump’s procedure to treat a kidney condition

This procedure is fairly simple and blocks blood flow to an area, such as a tumor or abnormal growth.

Understanding the First Lady’s kidney surgery.

[newsweekscience]

‘Head of Edward Mordrake, preserved for posterity by Dr. P. Manvers’

Can this truly be the mummified head of the two-faced legend, Edward Mordrake himself? Whose second head didn’t speak except to whisper sinister things to him at night? And who asked that, upon his suicide, the second face should be destroyed, lest it torment him in the grave.

No, and here’s why. 

[newsweekscience]

With optogenetics, scientists created male fruit flies that ejaculate on command under red light. Turns out, they love it, and flies that nut more are less interested in alcohol.

Read and watch a video on the ground-breaking science of ejaculating and alcohol-drinking flies here.

[newsweekscience]

Read the best science poems for National Poetry Month

Science is a fickle muse. In celebration of National Poetry Month, here are some science poems for your reading pleasure.

These are some of the most inspiring poems on the themes of evolution, space, and dinosaurs that you may ever read. 

[newsweekscience]

Atacama "alien" secrets are revealed through DNA analysis

Was Ata a victim of the nitrate mining in the town where her mother lived, and could others be affected as well?

Nolan explained that Ata was dear to someone, as you can tell by the way that someone laid the body out and kept it close. “The arms are at the side, it's laid out perfectly flat, prostrate, it's laid out with a sort of reverence or respect,” Nolan explained. “They thought it was special, they saved it and it ended up on a shelf somewhere.”

[newsweekscience]

This goat is going viral. But would you believe that some consider him to be one of the world’s most beautiful goats? 

This is a Damascus goat, and yes, he was bred to look like that. 

Read more and see how different baby Damascus goats look here.

[newsweekscience]

This is a reticulated python, but not just any reticulated python. 

This “cyclops” snake has two eyes in the same socket. Read what happened and see more photos here.

[newsweekscience]

Fifty Shades of A

A new study offers the most advanced genetic insight yet about synesthesia, a condition where people's senses begin to mix together.

Prior studies have attempted to pinpoint the genetic underpinning for synesthesia. But the technique used in this one provides a far more precise pictures of genetic changes in families that can hear colors.