Over a dozen Australian suncreams pulled over safety concerns
Sydney, Australia - The makers of over a dozen suncreams have halted sales in Australia after a consumer advocacy group...Science
AI tool helps Australian researchers treat child epilepsy
Tokyo, Japan -- An artificial intelligence tool that can detect tiny, hard-to-spot brain malformations in children with epilepsy could help...Science
Astronomers discover blazing Betelgeuse has companion star
Paris, France - Since at least the time of the ancient Egyptians, people across the world have gazed up in...Now astronomers have discovered that this red supergiant, known to many as the hunter's shoulder in the Orion constellation, is being orbited by a much smaller companion star
Seemingly out of nowhere, the giant star dramatically dimmed for five months between 2019 and 2020, leading some scientists to suggest it could soon die in an supernova explosion
Birth of a solar system observed for first time
The new planetary system is forming around the baby star HOPS-315 -- which resembles our own Sun in its youth...Young stars are surrounded by massive rings of gas and dust called protoplanetary discs, which is where planets form.
Inside these swirling discs, crystalline minerals that contain the chemical silicon monoxide can clump together.
Possible interstellar object zooming through Solar System: ESA
Excited astronomers are still refining their calculations, but the object appears to be zooming at a speed up to 60...The object, which is currently being referred to as A11pl3Z, poses no threat to Earth, the ESA's planetary defence head Richard Moissl told AFP
"It will fly deep through the Solar System, passing just inside the orbit of Mars," but not threatening to hit our neighbouring planet, he said
‘Writing is thinking’: do students who use ChatGPT learn less?
Paris, France -- When Jocelyn Leitzinger had her university students write about times in their lives they had witnessed discrimination,...The ChatGPT users scored significantly worse than the brain-only group on all levels. The EEG showed that different areas of their brains connected to each other less often.
And more than 80 percent of the ChatGPT group could not quote anything from the essay they had just written, compared to around 10 percent of the other two groups.
James Webb Telescope captures first direct image of exoplanet TWA 7b
The telescope, which can see farther into the universe than anything before it, has turbocharged the search for planets beyond...The discovery of exoplanet TWA 7b, revealed in a study in the journal Nature, "represents a first for the telescope", France's CNRS research center said in a statement.
Most of the nearly 6,000 exoplanets found so far have been identified from the light they blot out when they pass in front of their star, rather than from direct images of planet.
The new generation of blockbuster weight-loss drugs
After France on Friday became the latest country to allow all doctors, rather than just specialists, to prescribe these drugs,...The most well-known of this new wave of drugs are Danish pharma firm Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as US company Eli Lilly's Mounjaro.
These drugs enhance the action of a hormone in the pancreas called "glucagon-like peptide 1", or GLP-1, the name given to this family of medications.
More microplastics in glass bottles than plastic
For water, both flat and sparkling, the amount of microplastic was relatively low in all cases, ranging from 4.5 particles...Researchers detected the tiny, mostly invisible pieces of plastic throughout the world, from in the air we breathe to the food we eat, as well as riddled throughout human bodies.
There is still no direct evidence that this preponderance of plastic is harmful to human health, but a burgeoning field of research is aiming to measure its spread.
IBM claims ‘real world’ edge in quantum computing race
San Francisco, United States -- Technology veteran IBM on Tuesday laid out a plan to have a "practical" quantum computer...Current quantum computers are still experimental and face significant challenges, including high error rates.
Companies like IBM, Google, and others are working to build more stable and scalable quantum systems.
How social media can ‘trigger’ eating disorders in young people
Paris, France -- Social media can push vulnerable young people towards developing eating disorders by glorifying thinness and promoting fake,...Young women and girls are much more likely to suffer from illnesses such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, though rates among men have been increasing.
Research has shown the percentage of people worldwide who have had some kind of eating disorder during their lives rose from 3.5 percent in 2000 to 7.8 percent in 2018.
US no longer recommends Covid shots for children, pregnant women
Washington, United States - The US will no longer recommend Covid-19 vaccines for children and healthy pregnant women, Health Secretary...The change follows last week's announcement by Food and Drug Administration officials that they would limit approval of Covid shots to adults aged 65 and older
It comes as Kennedy who has long promoted misinformation about vaccines in general and the Covid shots in particular pushes to overhaul federal public health policy
