How literally does music heal your heart? What is the physics anomaly no-one is talking about? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of September 13-19 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's edition of the best of science news from around the world, discover why that fancy sourdough bread might not be so unique, and learn about what listening to the stars can tell you. 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?

• Farewell San Francisco Sourdough? by Roberto Kolter at Small Things Considered

Maybe that sourdough yeast starter isn't as unique as people say. 

Photo by Margaret Jaszowska on Unsplash

• Why a Water Roux Improves Your Donuts at Food Crumbles 
• Podcast: Weight: Is Fat Unhealthy? by Rose Rimler for Science Vs
• How Music Can Literally Heal the Heart by Elaine Chew, Psyche Loui, Grace Leslie, Caroline Palmer, Jonathan Berger, Edward W. Large, Nicolò F. Bernardi, Suzanne Hanser, Julian F. Thayer, Michael A. Casey and Pier D. Lambiase at Scientific American
• As COVID cases rise, so do hospital-related infections by Maryn McKenna at Ars Technica
• Precise CRISPR gene editing can correct the mutation that causes cystic fibrosis in mini-intestines by Charlotte Douglas at Massive Science
• Mice don’t get Alzheimer’s, so why test Alzheimer's drugs on them? by Peter Weinberg at Massive Science
• Earth's oxygen is projected to run out in a billion years by Briley Lewis at Massive Science
• Why Make Sonifications of Astronomical Data? Interview with Kimberly Arcand at NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory
• The physics anomaly no one talks about: What’s up with those neutrinos? by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction
• Researchers Use Electric Field to Create Polygonal and Toroidal Droplets, Liquid Lattices at Sci-News.com

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.

Why are cows bad for climate change? Why aren't dahlia flowers blue? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of September 5-12 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's  edition of the best of science news from around the world, discover an entertaining new cure for blocked noses, and aggressive courtship behaviour in dinosaurs. 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?

• Sex can relieve nasal congestion, and other work honored by 2021 Ig Nobels by Jennifer Ouellette at Ars Technica
• Podcast: Explainer: Why Cows Are So Damned Bad for Warming – Stories and conversations about planetary change by Michael Osborne at Generation Anthropocene
• Dahlia colour chemistry: Why don’t we see blue dahlias? by Andy Brunning at Compound Interest

Chemistry is responsible for flower colour. Image credit: Compound Interest

• Podcast: The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Atoms by Gerd Binnig and Megan Hall at Scientific American
• Fusion of the Future by Lauren Nelson at A Short Scientist
• The Dark Asteroid Ryugu Finally Comes Into the Light by Ramin Skibba at Wired
• The dog-bone asteroid by Gianluigi Filippelli at Doc Madhattan
• Tyrannosaurus Rex face bites suggest Cretaceous love hurt by Rodrigo Perez Ortega at Science 
• What engineers can learn about infrastructure from predatory army ants by Celia Ford at Massive Science
• New machine learning approach can identify your circadian rhythm from a blood sample by Soren Emerson for Massive Science 
• Podcast: How COVID-19 Reveals Existing Biases Against The Disability Community by Christopher Egusa at Science Friday

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.

Could free school lunches have lifelong health benefits? Why don't kids get as sick as adults from the coronavirus? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 30 - September 5 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's bitesize edition of the best of science news from around the world, discover how researchers could be using your Facebook data for scientific research, and discover the sweet secrets of beetroot and what the link is between it and the smell of rain on a dry surface. 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?

• Access to free school lunch creates health benefits for a lifetime by Sam Zlotnik for Massive Science.

  

  A study of India’s Midday Meal program shows clear nutritional benefits that are even passed on to the next generation.
  Credit: woodleywonderworks via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

  
  
• Why don’t kids tend to get as sick from Covid-19? by Sara Reardon for Knowable Magazine.
• Researchers might be using your Facebook data in their papers by Elliot Eva Ping for Massive Science.
• Misinformation protests, pediatric cases, and more coronavirus news by Eve Sneider for Wired.
• New evidence against the Standard Model of Cosmology by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction.
• Beetroot and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) by Natalie Fey and Chris Adams at Picture It Chemistry. 

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.

Do we need COVID-19 booster jabs? How is quantum mechanics weird and not weird? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 23-29 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's edition of the best and brightest from science news around the world, discover whether the protective bubble Ryan Reynolds uses in the film 'Free Guy' would really work and hear about new Alzheimers' disease findings. 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?

• Would the 'Free Guy' Inflatable Bubble Protect a Real Person? by Rhett Allain at Wired 
• Crochet Enantiomers by Natalie Fey at Picture It Chemistry

You too can crochet molecules that can't be superimposed onto each other

Image credit Natalie Fey at Picture It Chemistry used via CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence     

• Why is quantum mechanics weird? The bomb experiment by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction 
• Are COVID-19 vaccine boosters needed? by Vincent Racaniello at Virology Blog
• Scientist find the cause of Long COVID syndrome by Sudhriti M for BIOINOURLIFE 
• How COVID-19's Delta variant upended the world's fall plans by Sara May Bergstresser at Massive Science
• Biologists grow mouse eggs in mini ovaries developed from stem cells by Charlotte Douglas at Massive Science
• The Unsilencing by Molly Webster at Radiolab  
• Gelatins may protect the brain against Alzheimer’s disease by Kareem Clark at 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.

Why do some people prefer conspiracy theories? How can you ace physics class? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 16-22 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's edition of the best and brightest from science news around the world, discover why food germs love melted ice cubes, and why dark energy is probably a real thing. 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?

• How to Ace Physics Class (Even if You Don’t Ace Physics) by Rhett Allain at Wired
• Ask Ethan: Could Dark Energy Simply Be A Misinterpretation Of The Data? by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang!

Why does a drug improve ability to recall and predict traumatic 

events at some points of the month in female mice, 

but always reduce it for male mice? Image by sibya from Pixabay

• Drug found to have opposing effects on the minds of male and female mice by Tommy O'Regan at  EUSci: Edinburgh University Science Media
• Conspiracy Theories Are More “Entertaining” Than The Truth — And This Helps Explain Why People Believe Them by Emma Young for BPS Research Digest
• T cells activated by mRNA vaccines are effective against Alpha, Beta, and Gamma COVID-19 variants by Josseline Ramos-Figueroa for Massive Science
• Melted ice cubes create a playground for food germs. Gelatin ice cubes could be safer by Iflah Shahid for Massive Science
• Add more coloured fruits and vegetables to your diet to reduce age related cognitive decline by Sudhriti M for BIOINOURLIFE
• 3D Printed Radioprotective Devices Could Reduce Painful GI Injuries in Cancer Patients at Bench Press
• AI-Analyzed Liquid Biopsy IDs Early Lung Cancer by Alan Kotok for Science & Enterprise

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.