19. Yes, Some Spiders Eat Snakes.

Are you familiar with Harry Potter? Then you no doubt know that an Acromantula is the most fearsome and terrifying spider of all. Okay, it isn’t actually real.  In one installment of the series, an Acromantula named Aragog attempted to feed Ron and Harry to her young. Yes, it gives good reason for Ron’s harrowing fear of spiders! Sure, no spiders in real life are that large. None of them could eat a person. Well, at least not on their own; some are willing to consume another creature that many people are afraid of snakes.

Most spiders are content to eat small frogs, worms, bugs, and lizards, but the Australian redback is one species that can take down a snake. It spins a web that a small snake can get stuck in and then, once the prey is harnessed, delivers a toxic bite that kills the serpent. Then the spider sets to work consuming prey that is many, many times larger than it is. There are about 11 kinds of snake-eating spiders identified so far, and surprisingly, many of the snakes they eat are quite toxic. Next time, think before you kill a spider!

18. Science Proves That Spiders Have Been Caring For Their Young For 99 Million Years.

Back to Harry Potter — because really, is there a better series with giant spiders? — Aragog was actually a really great mom. Not a particularly reliable person, but well, she was a spider. Nevertheless, think about how she lured Ron and Harry into her abode in the Dark Forest, not for the purpose of helping Hagrid so much as providing a fresh meal for her many, many children. It turns out, Aragog was showing some pretty typical spider behavior by caring for her young because spiders actually have a pretty strong maternal drive.

Some spiders nurse their young, and a few even offer themselves as the spiderlings’ first meal. Scientists have discovered several fossils of spiders trapped in amber, alongside their egg sacs, showing that they have long had a propensity to care for their young and may have even raised them. The oldest one discovered so far is 99 million years old, older than the earliest known T-rex! This mother cared for her egg sac. There is also evidence that the spiderlings did not disperse immediately after birth but instead stayed with their mom for a while.

17. A Certain Protein May Help People With TBIs.

A TBI, or a traumatic brain injury, is a life-changing condition that occurs when somebody experiences severe trauma to the head that causes extensive damage to the brain. While research into brain plasticity shows that recovery from brain damage can happen in the right conditions, scientists have made some new discoveries. One is that there is a specific protein that, if present in elevated levels in the person’s blood, can dramatically increase the possibility of recovery. This protein is known as neurofilament light, or NFL, an appropriate title given that football players tend to suffer very high rates of brain injuries.

Glial cells supports the parts of brain cells, or neurons, that connect with other neurons. These connections are vital because they are how messages get passed between neurons, allowing you to perform every single function from thinking to chewing to breathing to blinking. When someone experiences a TBI, levels of NFL are at their highest between 10 and 20 days afterward. Brain scans are now able to pick up on if the NFL levels are sufficient to support a total or near-total recovery. The protein can also be picked up in a blood test, which can provide an even more accurate prediction of whether the person will make a recovery from the TBI.

16. A New Science Test May Determine If You Were A Twin In The Womb.

Are you an identical twin, or have you ever wished that you were? You may be aware that identical twins have exactly the same DNA, causing them to look exactly alike. Often, only close family members can tell them apart. Many pregnancies begin as twins but experience what is known as vanishing twin syndrome. Usually, the other twin dies very early in the pregnancy before the mother even knows that there are two babies. The surviving twin will never have any idea that they actually had an identical twin before birth. However, studies in the field of epigenetics have led to the creation of a test that could determine if someone was conceived as a twin.

Epigenetics refers to the chemical markers that occur along a person’s DNA and determine which genes are expressed. Identical twins share specific epigenetics that persist throughout their entire lives, so a researcher can identify if someone is an identical twin without the subject saying so. Scientists hope that these new findings of epigenetic markers can help them better understand what causes some people to be twins, a process that still appears to be completely random. What remains unclear is if the epigenetic marks are what cause people to be twins or if they are merely a by-product of another process that causes people to be twins.

15. A 7300-Year-Old Skeleton May Have Changed What Scientists Know About South Pacific Ancestry.

You may have heard of Neanderthals, a hominid species that lived alongside homo sapiens before becoming extinct, but have you heard of Denisovans? Denisovans were another species of hominids that were known to exist in Siberia as early as 300,000 years ago. They migrated all through Asia and survived in the South Pacific, on the island of Papua New Guinea, as late as 15,000 years ago. Scientists have long believed that the islands of Southeast Asia were an essential place for the Denisovans and related species, and now a 7300-year-old skeleton is shedding new light on the genetic history of the indigenous people of this area.

This skeleton of a woman, found on the island of Sulawesi, has DNA that is 2.2 percent Denisovan. This find shows that Denisovans interbred with modern homo sapiens in the area around Papua New Guinea. Her genetic line comes from a line of humans that came into existence about 37,000 years ago, about the same time that the genetic line of Australian Aborigines diverged from those of Papuans. Further, she is genetically more related to the present inhabitants of Papua New Guinea and Australian Aborigines than inhabitants of East Asia. What does all of this mean? Scientists are unsure, but there is undoubtedly much more to be learned about the Denisovans and how they shaped the ancestry of modern humans.

14. Humans May Have Been In North America Much Longer Than Previously Thought, According to Recent Science News.

How long humans have been in North America has long been debated. However, the prevailing theory is that about 13,000 years ago, humans crossed the Bering Strait between modern-day Russia and Alaska, which was then a thick layer of ice. At the time, a giant ice sheet that had been covering the continent was retreating back towards the Arctic, making the land much more hospitable for human occupation. But scientists have discovered a set of “ghost footprints” in New Mexico — so-named because they appear out of nowhere and then disappear out of nowhere — that may date back as far as 23,000 years.

Surrounding the footprints were fossils of giant plants, mega sloths, and mammoths, some of which may have lived at about the same time as the people who made the footprints. Scientists studying the site used radiocarbon dating to determine how old the prints are. This discovery could change our entire understanding of how humans came to North America while also showing that small communities were able to thrive in the midst of the harsh conditions of the Ice Age. Because the find is potentially so ground-breaking, other researchers think that the scientists working on the site should use more dating methods to be more certain that the footprints really are 25,000 years old.

13. An Unknown Civilization in Ancient Mexico Documented Earthquakes.

Have you ever been in an earthquake? The experience can be terrifying, in no small part because earthquakes seem to come from nowhere. Suddenly, the ground starts moving, and you can only hope that your property is not experiencing any damage. Many ancient civilizations documented the earthquakes that they experienced, and one of the oldest documentations from Ancient Mexico has recently been found. The Telleriano-Remensisis a 50-page book containing pictographs or stories told through pictures, created by an unknown civilization that spoke the language of the Aztecs, Nahuatl. Because scientists have discovered other pictographs of earthquakes from around the same region, they were able to interpret better the images that had been drawn by the ancient yet unknown artists.

The Telleriano-Remensis calculated time using a 52-year cycle, so scientists can identify when and where the earthquakes occurred. Because the people who crafted this book did not have modern scientific insight about earthquakes, they depicted them using some mythological features that describe how they view the earth. One of the images in the book shows that an earthquake caused flooding that drowned some of the soldiers. Scientists take the information provided in this ancient text and compare it to geographical data to determine when, where, and how severe the quakes were identified. The researchers involved hope to learn more about how earthquakes shaped the civilizations of Ancient Mexico.

12. COVID-19 Vaccines Are Helping Prevent Severe Cases of Covid.

Despite the numerous conspiracy theories out there — have you heard about how covid vaccines are actually government microchips? The overwhelming evidence is that covid vaccines are doing their job by preventing severe cases of the illness. Many people have raised concerns about getting vaccinated due to reports that the vaccines do not guarantee that the person will not get covid. Yet hospitals and states have been consistently reporting that people who are vaccinated. At the same time, they may test positive for covid, are significantly less likely to develop a case severe enough to require hospitalization. They will probably not need a ventilator nor the cocktail of drugs necessary to treat covid when it becomes life-threatening.

This information is more critical than ever, as the present covid surge is worse than its peak when the outbreak was first declared a pandemic. Hospitals are now so full that they are not only running out of beds but running out of space in the hallways for sick patients to sit while waiting for a bed. Many are now rationing care — an extreme crisis technique that is more common in a war zone than in a civilian hospital — by only allotting treatment to those with the best chance of survival. Hospitalizations among people who are not vaccinated are more than 30 times higher. Those who are vaccinated and end up in the hospital are significantly more likely to go home.

11. Pfizer Declared Its Vaccine Safe For Children Over Five.

Many schools across the country have had to temporarily suspend classes because of covid outbreaks, sparked by the highly contagious Delta variant, have sickened many children and staff members. Children over the age of 12 have been eligible for a vaccine. And it has not yet been approved for elementary-school-aged children. Yet hope is on the horizon for life to return to normalcy for children, their families, and their schools, as Pfizer has declared its vaccine is safe for children over the age of five. The company ran trials by injecting a lower dose of the vaccine into children between the ages of five and eleven.

Children in the trial received two doses of the vaccine, 21 days apart, just like adults and children over 12. Nevertheless, their dose was just one-third the amount given to those 16 and older, and the preliminary reports were promising. The outcome was that the lower dose of the vaccine prompted as many antibodies in children as the regular dose of the vaccine does for adults and children over the age of 12. Pfizer hopes to receive emergency authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration soon to provide its vaccine to children over the age of five. There are still several steps and hurdles that the company must clear, but hopes are that children will begin receiving vaccinations by the end of 2021.

10. Brain Organoids May Help Scientists Understand Rett Syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a complex neurological issue that causes people to have autism, seizures, and overall developmental delays. Scientists are making progress in better understanding it, and in a way that is personal to the individual with Rett syndrome, by studying something known as organoids. Organoids are masses of brain cells that are grown from the person’s stem cells and are able to mimic some of the functions of a regular brain. Stem cells are cells that have not yet developed into their divergent forms; a brain stem cell is one that will become a brain cell but has not done so yet. Stem cells are beneficial for scientists who are researching illnesses.

Researchers grew organoids from the stem cells of two people with Rett syndrome and found some astonishing things. One is that the organoids functioned pretty much the same as those created from normal brain cells; they fired the electrical impulses and generated the waves that keep brain cells connected to each other and allow them to pass messages. Yet, in the ones made from the brain cells of people with Rett syndrome, the organoids created brain waves that are similar to someone experiencing a seizure. Scientists working on this project hope that they can use what they learn to develop better medications and therapies to help people with Rett syndrome live the fullest and most meaningful life possible.

9. Food Scientists Have Found An Easier Way To Make Chocolate.

Chocolate. Is there any other food that more people can agree on loving? Moreover, what would chocolate be if it did not melt in your mouth? Many people do not realize how complex the process of making chocolate is. That is, especially the process of tempering or getting it to exactly the right texture. Chocolatiers spend a lot of time melting and cooling chocolate, over and over again, as part of the process of tempering it. Yet, scientists have discovered that adding a minimal amount of a fatty molecule known as a phospholipid can dramatically simplify the process. They don’t add much, just enough to equal about 0.1% of the weight of the chocolate.

Phospholipids are an essential component of the ingredient that provides the texture to chocolate, cocoa butter. The main feature of cocoa butter is a kind of fat known as triglycerides, but other components include phospholipids. By adding just a tiny amount of phospholipids to the cocoa butter, the scientists working on this project were able to temper the chocolate into exactly the right texture without going through the extensive process of heating and cooling multiple times. In fact, they only had to cool the chocolate one time to a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius to get the perfect texture that will melt in your mouth.

8. Quantum Physics Is a Type of Science That Just Got Weirder.

Albert Einstein said God doesn’t play dice. He meant that quantum physics breaks so many of the agreed-upon laws of physics that it is oftentimes not understandable. For this reason, scientists had to create an entirely new field. Quantum physics describes the laws that govern the quantum realm of the very small. A significant factor in quantum physics is the fine-structure constant. It is equal to about 1/137. And it is necessary for many of the chemical reactions that form the very basis of life itself. Scientists are pretty confused by this number. And then quantum physics got even weirder with the introduction of something called quantum spin ice. Quantum spin ice is not one thing in particular but rather a group of substances in which subatomic particles cannot agree on where the magnetic poles are.

The particles end up spinning in crazy directions. Even at a temperature of absolute zero, which is when supposedly all subatomic movement comes to a stop. The fine-structure constant actually has a different value in quantum spin ice. It is about 1/10 instead of 1/137. If this held this value throughout the entire universe, there would only be ten elements. We wouldn’t exist. What’s even weirder is that scientists don’t actually have any kind of substance that would actually qualify as quantum spin ice. There are candidates and the hope is that they will peg down a true quantum spin ice. If they do, they could play around with the fine-structure constant. Furthermore, they could see how matter behaves when this number changes slightly. Maybe there are other universes out there that have a different fine-structure constant and function entirely differently from our own.

7. Scientists Are Swirling Up Beams Of Atoms And Molecules.

Scientists, especially quantum physicists, really like to push the envelope and see how far they can go with new and crazy ideas. One of those ideas was spinning electrons and light particles, known as photons, into a vortex so that they could take better pictures on high-intensity microscopes. Electrons and photons are tiny, so small that they can only be seen under incredibly powerful microscopes. Doing crazy stuff with really small stuff is often easier than with much larger stuff, kind of like trying to throw a baseball as opposed to a giant bowling ball up in the air. The smaller one is easier.

But why not push the envelope and try to create a vortex beam out of atoms and even larger molecules, which are combinations of multiple atoms? A team of scientists successfully created a vortex beam out of atoms and molecules, and they did so before they had any idea of what kind of practical use their findings might have. Often, science advances by simply scratching a curiosity itch without thinking about whether the end result will prove useful. Yet something significant is that by turning atoms and molecules into a vortex beam, they can cause them to behave differently. These findings could have profound implications for future studies of the quantum world and how the universe itself behaves.

6. This In Science News: Micro Fliers Take Their Inspiration From Maple Seeds.

Have you ever been around maple trees? You may know that they disperse their seeds in a pretty disingenuous way. Instead of letting the seeds drop to the ground or may travel a small distance in a pine cone, maple trees strap their seeds into little propeller-like wings so that they can fly far and wide before settling down and growing into a new tree. Nature is very efficient, and some of our best inspirations come directly from how nature performs its jobs. John Rogers is a scientist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, near the city of Chicago. He looked to the maple seed when designing a kind of micro flier.

These micro fliers are tiny, about the size of a grain of sand, yet can collect large amounts of data about the environment because they have sensors inside of them. They can track everything from radiation to pH levels to the presence of heavy metals to the detection of chemical spills. This information is critical to track things as important as air and water quality. Because they have propellers similar to maple seeds, they can travel far and wide with little effort from scientists. In the future, the hope is that these micro fliers can be made biodegradable so that they will have no negative impact on the environment.

5. Sustainable Farms Could Run On Cold Plasma.

Agriculture is incredibly destructive for our planet. Virgin forests are constantly destroyed. This causes animals to lose their habitats. Also, potentially life-saving plants get killed to make room for more farmland. Pesticides and fertilizer devastate local ecosystems before draining off into rivers and lakes, wreaking havoc on marine life. Additionally, the carbon footprint of agriculture is astronomical. One promising avenue towards making agriculture more sustainable is through the use of something called cold plasma. Plasma is a super-energized gas. It is one of the most basic forms in which matter can exist, alongside liquids, solids, and gases. The sun and other stars are mostly plasma, as is lightning on earth. One of plasma’s properties is that it can kill many of the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that farmers often use pesticides for. Experiments have been underway to detect whether cold plasma could help agriculture become more sustainable.

Cold plasma is made by humans. The data is promising and shows everything from larger plants to fewer pathogens and pests. Plasma certainly does seem to be superior to current methods of pesticide use, and it also provides many of the benefits seen by high-quality fertilizers. In fact, one minute of exposure to plasma caused beans to sprout one full centimeter! The challenge is making its production and use by farmers more within reach so that the positive benefits of plasma-based agriculture can be experienced. However, for measure, artificial cold plasma is surprisingly within reach. Many novelty lamps that can be purchased for less than $50 use plasma to generate an effect in which lightning appears to strike the person’s finger.

4. Some Cows Are Now Getting Potty-Trained, Thanks to Science.

Dealing with dog poop can be a hassle if you have a furry friend at home. However, imagine if your dog was the size of a cow and pooped out several pounds every day. Combine that with tens of liters of pee. Yes, you have a big mess. Moreover, the mess is not only for the farmers because cow pee travels to rivers and streams. It can cause significant damage to marine ecosystems. Additionally, when the urine and feces mix in the giant cattle barns, the result is a toxic slurry. It includes the release of ammonia, a powerful greenhouse gas. We urgently need to deal with this problem!

So why not potty train the cows? How do you potty train a cow? Not all that different from how you potty train a dog or even a toddler. You provide a treat every time they potty in the right place. Scientists in Germany have been doing exactly that by creating “bathroom stalls,” which they termed “Moo Loos,” with artificial grass and training the cows to pee in there. They successfully potty-trained over 12 cows in 10 days. Eventually, they hope to collect the pee (I know, gross) and use it to make fertilizer. We will all be interested to see what they decide to do with cow poop.

3. Climate Change Is Harming Rice Production.

There is a good chance that you had rice this week, or if not, something that was made from rice. Half of the world’s population gets at least 20 percent of its calories from rice, and many others eat the grain regularly. Demand for rice is increasing, yet a climate that is changing because of burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests is putting the future of rice farmers in jeopardy. Much of the rice in America is grown in California, which has been experiencing a severe drought. So much so that farmers have had to scale back their rice production. Why? Because they do not have enough water to grow the crops.

The situation is even more dire in other countries, which are much more dependent on rice both as an export and as a food that the people rely on. Much of the world’s rice is grown in paddies, which are farms that have about 10 centimeters of water. Any change in this amount, either from a flash flood or from a drought, can be a disaster for that year’s crop, and climate change is causing both floods and droughts to be more common. Additionally, saltwater from rising sea levels has been creeping into paddies, and the saltwater is toxic to the rice. There is increasing urgency to act to address and reverse climate change.

2. To Start, Only A Few People Will Receive Covid Booster Shots.

Do you remember when the vaccine was first available to the public? People were clamoring to sign up for their ticket back to normalcy. Since then, concerns have been raised that the vaccine’s efficacy wanes over time. With new and increasingly virulent strains of covid — such as Delta — there have been calls for booster shots. Not everyone will be able to get a booster shot at first; the shots will be made available to those in high-risk groups. That is just like when the vaccines first became publicly available at the very beginning of 2021. Those who will be able to get a shot first include seniors over the age of 65. Also, adults with a health problem that puts them at high risk for severe covid. People whose jobs put them at an increased risk of infection will also get it.

The booster shots are still controversial enough that there is no need to create a fake ID that will allow you to get one before everyone else. One concern from the World Health Organization is that making booster shots available in wealthy countries, including the United States, makes the first dose of the vaccine less accessible to people in poorer countries. Additionally, the evidence that the effects of the vaccine are waning over time is ambiguous. Nothing definitively says that those who are vaccinated will be at higher risk of hospitalization over time. When you do get your booster shot, which may ultimately turn into a yearly event because of emerging variants, be prepared to take a sick day afterward.

1. Gender-Affirming Medical Care Improves Mental Health.

Nearly two percent of American teenagers are transgender. That means that the gender they identify with is different from the one expressed by their genitalia at birth. Yet, for that small percent of teenagers, there has been a firestorm of controversy for everything from school sports to healthcare. One issue is what is known as gender-affirming care, meaning healthcare that helps a transgender person transition from the gender assigned at birth to the gender with which the person identifies. The process usually involves therapy from a mental health practitioner, hormone treatments, and surgery to change the genitalia. Some people believe that transgender is a mental health issue and not an expression of human diversity and therefore object to gender-affirming care. In some states, laws are being passed to prevent children from receiving gender-affirming care.

Yet, for transgender people, gender-affirming care can be life-saving. Going through the turbulent years of puberty, children are working out their own identities. Plus, they are dealing with raging hormones. During this time, transgender children are at a much higher risk of suicide. Why? Because they feel as if they are in the wrong body. Experts are concerned about the damage being done to children. Also that they are being used as political footballs to pass forward a far-right agenda. Yet politicians who oppose gender-affirming care say that they don’t think children should receive treatment that could change their entire life. They think these teens will later regret the choice. The question is whether healthcare providers or politicians should provide the grounds for which children receive the healthcare they need, care that can save their lives.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“A volcano-induced rainy period made Earth’s climate dinosaur-friendly,” by Megan Sever. Science News. September 30, 2021.

“Snake-eating spiders are surprisingly common,” by Asher Jones. Science News. August 4, 2001.

“This is the oldest fossil evidence of spider moms taking care of their young,” by Freda Kreier. Science News. September 27, 2021.

“A blood test may help predict recovery from traumatic brain injury,” by Jackie Rocheleau. Science News. September 29, 2021.

“All identical twins may share a common set of chemical markers on their DNA,” by Jonathan Lambert. Science News. September 28, 2021.

“Ancient DNA shows the peopling of Southeast Asian islands was surprisingly complex,” by Bruce Bower. Science News. August 25, 2021.

“‘Ghost tracks’ suggest people came to the Americas earlier than once thought,” by Freda Kreier. Science News. September 23, 2021.

“This pictogram is one of the oldest known accounts of earthquakes in the Americas,” by Carolyn Gramling. Science News. September 7, 2021.

“These charts show that COVID-19 vaccines are doing their job,” by Erin Garcia de Jesus. Science News. August 31, 2021.

“Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and works well for kids ages 5-11,” by Tina Hesman Saey. Science News. September 20, 2021.

More Sources:

“How personalized brain organoids could help us demystify disorders,” by Laura Sanders. Science News. September 3, 2021.

“A pinch of saturated fat could make tempering chocolate a breeze,” by Nikk Ogasa. Science News. September 7, 2021.

“New ‘vortex beams’ of atoms and molecules are the first of their kind,” by Emily Conover. Science News. September 2, 2021.

“Whirling maple seeds inspired these tiny flying sensors,” by Emily Conover. Science News. September 22, 2021.

“Cold plasma could transform the sustainable farms of the future,” by Stephen Ornes. Science News. September 8, 2021.

“Rice feeds half the world. Climate change’s droughts and floods put it at risk,” by Nikk Ogasa. Science News. September 24, 2021.

“Why only some people will get COVID-19 booster shots at first,” by Erin Garcia de Jesus. Science News. September 21, 2021.

“Gender-affirming care improves mental health for transgender youth,” by Maria Temming. Science News. August 26, 2021.