What are the psychological impacts of poverty? What's the neurological basis behind seasonal affective disorder? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Dec 2 - Dec 8 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science journalism, read about how certain people can read cats' facial expressions, and explore the physics of fire ant 'rafts'. 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?

• The psychological impacts of poverty, digested by Emma Young for BPS Research Digest.

“Kids from lower socioeconomic levels show brain physiology patterns similar to someone who actually had had damage in the frontal lobe as an adult.”
Credit: Alexandra Stevenson via Flickr (CC-BY-ND)

• When it gets dark, people get SAD (seasonal affective disorder) by Emily Baltz at Neuwrite.
• Cats have facial expressions and some people can read them, scientists say by Sci-News.
• On a bad argument for grant lotteries by Jeremy Fox at Dynamic Ecology.
• Transforming the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into graphene by Michael Berger at Nanowerk.
• Is the Anthropic Principle scientific? by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction.
• 5 big trends that increased Earth’s carbon pollution by Robinson Meyer for The Atlantic.
• Population decline has all Hawaii’s songbirds singing the same tune by GrrlScientist for Forbes.
• Catching fish to feed fish: Report details ‘unsustainable’ fishmeal and oil industry by Monica Evans for Mongabay.com.
• AI-based discovery seeks non-opioid pain drugs by Alan Kotok for Science and Enterprise.
• Hard as a Rock: the neutrophil’s role in gallstone generation by Zaynah Dewan for ImmunoBites.
• We’ve discovered a planet orbiting an exploded star for the first time by Layal Liverpool for New Scientist.
• The physics behind how fire ants band together into robust floating “rafts” by Jennifer Ouellette for Ars Technica.

Check back next week for more great picks!

How sustainable is your country's food system? How does mining Cryptocurrency harm human health? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 25 - Dec 1 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's cream-of-the-crop of science news from around the world, find out why scientists are playing with fake poo and creating non-stick coatings for toilets, and explore how your recurring nightmare may be your brain's way of preparing you to face your fears. 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?

• World map rates sustainable food systems by Natalie Parletta for Cosmos magazine.



The new map rating the sustainability of food systems. The scale goes from blue to red, with blue indicating a high score. Grey indicates insufficient data to rate a country.
Credit: Caption - Cosmos magazine, Image - Béné et al./International centre for tropical agriculture
(CC-BY-ND 2.0)


• Cryptocurrency mining harms human health by Sarah DeWeerdt for Anthropocene magazine.
• Noisy home environments affect autonomic reactions in infants by Dr. Jessica Edwards for ACAMH.
• Extra-virgin olive oil-rich diet protects mice from multiple forms of dementia by Sci-News.com.
• The controversial plan to move five captive belugas by Bethany Augliere for Hakai magazine.
• Ocean change written into bird bodies by Sarah Gilman for Hakai magazine.
• Nearly extinct vaquita mothers with calves spotted in recent expeditions by Shreya Dasgupta for Mongabay.
• Non-stick toilets, synthetic poo and saving the environment by Kat Day at The Chronicle Flask.
• Why science needs to catch up with what dog-trainers know by Jessica Hekman for Aeon.
• How our dreams prepare us to face our fears by Science Beta.
• Abstaining from social media doesn’t improve well-being, experimental study finds by Matthew Warren for BPS Research Digest.
• How safe is vaping? New human studies assess chronic harm to heart and lungs by Jennifer Couzin-Frankel for Science.
• Dark energy might not exist after all by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction.
• Science Theories: How Fast Does Santa Travel? by Meghan Nichols at Schooled by Science.
• Astronomy in Shakespeare: How Many of His Plays Were Influenced by the Stars by Megan Ray Nichols at Schooled by Science.
• The physics of car crashes: How to keep your child safe by Tristan Mañalac for FlipScience.

Check back next week for more great picks.

Why is same-sex sexual behaviour so common in animals? Are teachers biased against overweight children? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 18 - Nov 24 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science journalism, find out how the nine to five is ruining our minds and gaze into the void as we explore the possible non-existence of objective reality. 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?

• Why is same-sex sexual behavior so common in animals? by Ambika Kamath, Julia Monk, Erin Giglio, Max Lambert and Caitlin McDonough for Scientific American. 

Same sex sexual behaviours may have arisen from an ancestral species that mated indiscriminately.
Credit:Jodie Wilson via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• Tree-planting programs turn to tech solutions to track effectiveness by Malavika Vyawahare for Mongabay.com.
• Quantum physics: our study suggests objective reality doesn't exist by Alessandro Fedrizzi and Massimiliano Proietti for Mapping Ignorance.
• Q+A: Are nanomaterials ready to save the world? by Britt Faulstick for Drexel News blog.
• Crinkle crankle wall calculus by Bob Jones for John Cook Consulting.
• To save the world's minds, we need to kill the nine to five job by Greg Fish at World of Weird Things.
• International year of the Periodic Table by Lauren Nelson at A Short Scientist.
• Are huge genetic databases leaving marginalized people out of their data? by Rebecca Muir for Massive Science.
• How many doubly manlocked scientists are there?  by Lior Pachter at Bits of DNA.
• Teachers show biases against overweight kids, including giving them lower grades by Emily Reynolds for BPS Research Digest.
• The brain on gratitude by Carmine Chavez-Martinez at NeuWrite San Diego.
• Humans across cultures may share the same universal musical grammar by Ruby Prosser for New Scientist.
• 20 years at Imperial: what have I learnt? by John Tregoning.
• ‘Ice fossils’ from the desert by Richard Lovett for Cosmos magazine.

Check back next week for more great picks!

Why do we believe falsehoods even after we know they're not true? What makes gold gold? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 11 - Nov 17, 2019 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's curated selection of science news from science newsmakers, explore the increasing body of evidence that suggests that vaping is not as risk-free as first believed, and find out whether the human brain's smell centre is actually necessary for our sense of smell. 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?

• Why we continue to believe false information even after we’ve learned it’s not true by Rhi Willmot for BPS Research Digest.

  

  The 'continued influence' effect means we have a bias towards a complete mental image of an event, even if some of the information is inaccurate.
  Credit: ElizaC3 via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• CDC report finds 35,000 Americans die of antibiotic-resistant infections each year by Helen Branswell at Scientific American.
• Eating a keto diet may give some protection against the flu by Gege Li for New Scientist.
• Don’t snooze your biological clock during flu season by Olivier Lucar for ImmunoBites.
• CDC update on acute lung injuries linked to vaping (Nov 14th) by Michael Coston at Avian Flu Diary.
• Is the human olfactory bulb necessary? by Neuroskeptic.
• The seven stages of fieldwork grief by Sam Ross for EcoEvo @ TCD.
• Setting yourself free of perfectionism? by Gabriella Wilson at The Thesis Whisperer.
• Deep sleep detoxifies your brain – cerebrospinal fluid for the win by Jordan Pennells for LIFEApps. 
• National parks estimated to save trillions in mental health costs by Natalie Parletta for Cosmos magazine.
• Snails are turning yellow to adapt to climate change by Sruthi Sanjeev Balakrishnan for Massive Science.
• Scientists looked at sea levels 125,000 years in the past. The results are terrifying by Fiona Hibbert, Eelco Rohling and Katharine Grant at the Conversation US.
• Feral horses gallop to the rescue of butterflies in distress by Nanticha Ocharoenchai for Mongabay.com.
• Microbes for disappearing dunes by Abigail Bezrutczyk for Envirobites.
• Barnacles are a clock for the dead by Ivy Shih for Hakai magazine.
• Superhard carbon forms predicted - harder than diamond by Tribonet.
• What gives gold nanoparticles their color? by Meng Wu at SustainableNano.
• First-generation stars formed more quickly than previously thought by Sci-news.com.
• Physics holds the secret to volleyball’s highly unpredictable “float serve” by Jennifer Ouelette for Ars Technica.
• Close encounter with a black hole exiles a star from our galaxy by Brian Koberlein for Forbes.

Check back next week for more great picks!

Is 5G safe for humans? Who owns science? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 4 - Nov 10, 2019 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out how you can watch Mercury's transit across the Sun, and explore the link between Indonesian wildfires and your favorite sweet treats. 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?

• Berlin Debate – Who owns science? by Stephen Curry at Reciprocal Space.
• The planets and you by Caleb Scharf at Scientific American.

Today (Monday the 11th of November), you can see Mercury's transit across the Sun!
Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SwRI, MSSS Image processing by Kevin M. Gill (CC BY 3.0)

• Accessible astronomy: The transit of Mercury by Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
• Neural network reconstructs human thoughts from brain waves in real time by Ibezim Chukwuemerie for Human Bioscience.
• A bonanza of data from the second Voyager to reach the Solar System’s edge by John Timmer for Ars Technica.
• The science of why 5G is (almost) certainly safe for humans by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang.
• Colombian woman’s genes offer new clues to staving off Alzheimer’s by Kelly Servick for Science magazine.
• Knowing when to hold and fold ’em: the explore/exploit dilemma by Drew Schreiner for NeuWrite San Diego.
• Why (some) sleepy brains get grumpy by Rosa García-Verdugo for Mapping Ignorance.
• Your guide to behavior and the gut microbiome by Ana Zdravic at Maze Engineers.
• Autumnal ombre: Colour chemistry by Lauren Nelson at A Short Scientist.
• The money in mangroves: how our coastal forests save us billions by Harry Baker for Marine Madness.
• Rumors of Dory’s demise were greatly exaggerated by Emily Sohn for Hakai magazine.
• What does climate change sound like? by Brandon Keim for Anthropocene magazine.
• Is clean meat possible? by Gege Li for The Biochemist Blog.
• Makers of Oreos, KitKats among brands linked to Indonesia forest fires by Hans Nicholas Jong for Mongabay.
• Scientists Say new research tracing the origin of modern humans to Botswana is deeply flawed  by George Dvorsky at Gizmodo.

Check back next week for more great picks!