Could binge-watching TV be hastening cognitive decline? What's the point of periods? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of May 31 - June 6 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out how much artefacts from the history of physics are going for at auction, and discover how to weigh water with a paper clip. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• TV binging habits could lead to brain deterioration, hastened cognitive decline by Rojoef Manuel for The Science Times.

Scientists found that those who reported moderate to high levels of TV time experienced roughly a 7% increase in cognitive function decline over a 15 year period compared to those that reported lower levels of TV-watching.
Credit: oddharmonic via Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)

• Podcast: What is the point of menstruation? by Marnie Chesterton for CrowdScience.
• It’s surprisingly common to misremember where you were on a specific time and date by Emma Young for BPS Research Digest.
• Oil companies under pressure to change their business by shareholders and governments by Anthony Maiorana at The Polymerist.
• On-the-job exercise may help protect against heart disease and cancer by Gretchen Reynolds for The New York Times.
• You need to weigh some water. All you’ve got is a paper clip by Rhett Alain for WIRED.
• Detecting cancers with neural networks requires a balance of rewards and penalties by Darcy Murphy for Massive Science.
• What’s the price of physics history? by Hannah Pell at Physics Central.
• Venus can’t wait—NASA plans blockbuster return to hothouse neighbor by Paul Voosen for Science.
• What the physics of skipping stones can tell us about aircraft water landings by Jennifer Ouellette for Ars Technica.
• Rechargeable zinc-air batteries: Promising tech in the shift from fossil fuels by Miklos Bolza for Lab Down Under.
• Puppies are born with the genetic ability to understand humans by Christa Lesté-Lasserre for New Scientist.
• Using artificial intelligence to diagnose autism in the womb by Rachel Holland for Sciworthy.
• Freaky Friday: What happens when cancer cells swap mitochondria? by Keighley Reisenauer in OncoBites.
• When viruses collide with parasitic worms by Gertrud U. Rey in Virology Blog.
• The treatabolome will shorten diagnostic odysseys for rare diseases by Ricki Lewis for DNA Science.

To indulge your curiosity even more, follow us on Facebook or Twitter for honourable mentions of great posts that didn't quite make our #SciSeekPicks list this week. Want #SciSeekPicks to help satisfy your scientific curiosity every week? Sign up here for regular notification emails.

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How can tripping mice help us understand psychosis in humans? When is the best time to exercise for metabolic health? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of May 24 - May 30 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's very best from the world of science news, discover the possibilities of data storage with DNA and take a look inside the clothing industry, and why finding uses for waste clothing is an important step towards a sustainable future. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• Scientists induced hallucinations in mice to learn more about human psychosis by Jennifer Ouellette for Ars Technica.

An increase in dopamine in the brain can trigger auditory hallucinations in mice, according to a recent paper published in the journal Science—a surprising link between how human and mouse minds malfunction.
Credit: amandil_eldamar via Flickr (Public Domain)

• The best time of day to exercise for metabolic health by Gretchen Reynolds for The New York Times.
• Blue light glasses help some people sleep, but they don't reduce digital eye strain by Claudia López Lloreda for Massive Science.
• Hiding in plain sight: How cytomegalovirus evades the immune system by Hannah Berrett in ImmunoBites.
• There’s a Great Whip Spider boom. What gives? by Eric Boodman for Wired.
• ‘Triple vision’ image of Jupiter shows what’s beneath its clouds by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang.
• Magnetized threads weave spectacular galactic tapestry by Chandra X-ray Observatory.
• Particles in quark-gluon plasma move in the same way as in water, Physicists discover by Sci-News.com.
• Microbes as biofertilizers by Rachel Burckhardt in Bacterial World.
• DNA: The ultimate data-storage solution by Latchesar Ionkov and Bradley Settlemyer for Scientific American.
• The clothing waste problem - Part 2 by Anthony Maiorana for The Polymerist.

To indulge your curiosity even more, follow us on Facebook or Twitter for honourable mentions of great posts that didn't quite make our #SciSeekPicks list this week. Want #SciSeekPicks to help satisfy your scientific curiosity every week? Sign up here for regular notification emails.

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Are girls more empathetic than boys? When do bees smell like bananas? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of May 17 - May 23 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

Welcome to a bite-sized edition of ScienceSeeker, your best source for the newest and most exciting science research from around the world. This week, discover the viruses with a totally different genome to the rest of life on Earth, and explore the fascinating biology of cicadas. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• Do girls really show more empathy than boys? by Emma Young for BPS Research Digest.

Hundreds of studies seem to suggest that girls are more empathetic than boys, but we should be wary of making sweeping generalisations on that basis.
Credit: Brian Richardson via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• Sleep deprivation prevents us from blocking out painful memories by Jonas Ho Chan Wai for Massive Science.
• "Spatially resolved transcriptomics" takes a snapshot of gene expression in our brains by Malosree Maitra for Massive Science.
• We hiked along with cicada biologists so you don’t have to  by Eric Niiler for Wired.
• Brilliant Bee Chemistry! by Kat Day at The Chronicle Flask.
• Aliens that weren't aliens by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction.
• Some viruses have a completely different genome to the rest of life on Earth by Jacinta Bowler for Science Alert.
• Deadly fungi are the newest emerging microbe threat all over the world by Maryn McKenna for Scientific American.

To indulge your curiosity even more, follow us on Facebook or Twitter for honourable mentions of great posts that didn't quite make our #SciSeekPicks list this week. Want #SciSeekPicks to help satisfy your scientific curiosity every week? Sign up here for regular notification emails.

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Who walks faster; you or a T-Rex? How many bacteria is your keyboard harbouring? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of May 10 - May 16 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's edition of the best from the world of science news, find out what makes things taste good, and discover the policies that could help to improve plastic recycling. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• Podcast: Who laps whom on the walking track— Tyrannosaurus rex or you? Science has a new answer by Christopher Intagliata at Scientific American.

An analysis of the animal’s walking speed suggests that T. rex’s walking pace was close to that of a human.
Credit: Adapted from Ivan via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

• By eating them, hyenas gathered 9 Neanderthal skeletons in one cave by Sci-News.com.
• Fish-friendly gold mines produce “Salmon Gold” by Ryan Stuart for Hakai magazine.
• Cicadas' shrieks have annoyed — and delighted — humans for thousands of years by Eliza Middleton and Linda Evans for Massive Science.
• How dirty is your QWERTY? by Jon Otter in Reflections On Infection Prevention And Control.
• Researchers are mapping how information about what we eat travels from our guts to our brains by Julia A Lichola for Massive Science.
• Podcast: Yum by Michael Osborne for Generation Anthropocene.
• New mask guidance, shots for teens, and more coronavirus news by Eve Sneider for Wired.
• Beating covidsomnia by Nada Salem and Zahra Nasser for Science Borealis.
• What policies can help improve plastics recycling? by Craig Cookson at American Chemistry Council.
• This flat pasta morphs into surprising shapes as it cooks by Hannah Pell for Physics Central.
• China lands Tianwen-1 rover on Mars in a major first for the country by Jonathan O'Callaghan for Scientific American.
• Trace seabed plutonium points to stellar forges of heavy elements by Dan Clery for Science.

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What do cats' love of boxes tell us about their sight? How does measuring time increase disorder in the universe? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of May 3 - May 9 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best from the world of science news, find out how extra-squeaky bats are helping scientists to understand echolocation, and discover the COVID app that tell you when your friends are sick. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• What cats’ love of boxes and squares can tell us about their visual perception by Jennifer Ouelette for Ars Technica.

"It's the presence of the contours, either in the Kanizsa square or in the real square, that causes cats to sit inside, rather than the presence of shapes on the floor,"
Credit: Andy Miccone via Flickr (Public Domain)

• Measuring time accurately increases the entropy in the universe by Leah Crane for New Scientist.
• Bats raised in helium-rich air reveal a key to echolocation by John Timmer for Wired.
• An anonymous COVID-19 contact tracing app that warns you when your friends are sick by Dan Samorodnitsky for Massive Science.
• Flu has disappeared worldwide during the COVID pandemic by Katie Peek for Scientific American.
• What should universities keep after Covid? by In the Dark.
• Which ‘hints’ of new physics should we be paying attention to? by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang.
• The search for Blue No. 1 by Hannah Johnson at Lions Talk Science Graduate Student Blog.
• Antimatter stars could be lurking in Milky Way by Sci-News.com.
• 2021's wildfire season could be even more devastating to the western US than last year's record-breaker by Kristen Vogt Veggeberg for Massive Science.

To indulge your curiosity even more, follow us on Facebook or Twitter for honourable mentions of great posts that didn't quite make our #SciSeekPicks list this week. Want #SciSeekPicks to help satisfy your scientific curiosity every week? Sign up here for regular notification emails.

Check back next week for more great picks!