Stress in Dogs, at Work and How Exercise and Scary Movies Can Be Helpful: ScienceSeeker Psychology Picks from June 2019

Did you know that dogs can pick up stress from their owners? Or that being too engaged with work can make you defensive and unwilling to share knowledge? These are among the subjects reported in the best coverage of psychology research from June 2019 according to ScienceSeeker editor Antanas Spokas. He has made the video below to summarise them - and to read the posts themselves, access them from our ScienceSeeker picks posts from June.

ScienceSeeker Psychology Picks from May 2019

Here is the roundup of the best coverage of psychology research from May 2019 according to ScienceSeeker editor Antanas Spokas. To read the posts themselves, access them from our ScienceSeeker picks posts from May.

Space: the final frontier-of-the-year quiz

by Ananya Sen

The year 2018 saw several unusual discoveries that were made in our solar system and beyond. The findings ranged from explaining historical artifacts to confirming predictions that were made by science fiction enthusiasts. If you consider yourself a space trivia enthusiast or you want a summary of the exciting discoveries that have been made this year, this quiz is exactly what you’re looking for.

A note on how the quiz works: You choose the answer you prefer, and then carry on reading through the questions and check the answers at the end against your choices. There's no automated scoring, but we hope you enjoy the quiz! Please share how well you did!

1. Images taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby of Pluto showed the presence of dunes on Pluto’s surface. This discovery was surprising because there is not much of an atmosphere on Pluto’s surface. What were the dunes made of?

 Frozen methane
 Ice
 Sand

2. This year scientists were carrying out studies on the black hole that is at the center of our universe. What serendipitous discovery did they make?

 The collapse of a planet into the black hole
 Visual images of the black hole that show light bending away from it on all sides
 Bright flares from a superheated gas racing around the black hole

3. The Dark Energy Survey, an international research effort is a five-year project that ended in 2018. In August 2016 they detected something interesting as seen in the animation below. What does it show?

 The birth of a new star
 A supernova
 A distant planet that resembles Earth

4. Astronomers have discovered a planet revolving around 40 Eridani A, an orange dwarf star 16 light years from Earth. Which fictitious planet was predicted to be associated with this star?

 Tatooine
 Krypton
 Vulcan

5. Scientists believe they have finally discovered

 Hydrogen sulfide (farts)
 Methane (marshy land)
 Methanethiol (rotting vegetables)

6. How many new moons were discovered around Jupiter in 2018?

 5
 10
 15

7. In 1922 Howard Carter, a British archeologist, discovered King Tut’s tomb. Inside the tomb he found a breast plate which contained a winged scarab, made from a yellow, translucent gemstone. How was this gemstone formed?

 A comet exploded over the Libyan Desert and the resultant heat melted the sand glass forming bits of the gemstone
 It was formed when hot magma was expelled from deep inside the earth’s crust and cooled rapidly in the desert
 The gemstones were formed deep inside the earth and were encased in rocks. These rocks then made their way to the surface and the weathering process released the underlying gemstone

8. For the past three years two radio telescopes in Tasmania and continental Australia have been arranged to track the Vela pulsar, a neutron star associated with the constellation of Vela. What were the telescopes trying to detect?

 Radio emissions
 A glitch in its normal behavior
 Magnetic fields

9.Which satellite was launched in 2018 to detect rocky planets around nearby stars?

 TESS
 Horizons-3e
 Skylab

10. Where on Mars did NASA’s Curiosity rover find organic material in 2018? 

 In the debris of the Hellas Planitia crater
 The soil on the Olympus Mons volcano
 Mudstones on the slopes of Mount Sharp

The answers:

Question 1: Pluto's sand dunes are made of frozen methane.

Question 2: The scientists discovered bright flares from a superheated gas racing around the black hole.
Question 3: The Dark Energy Survey observed a supernova in 2016.
Question 4: Vulcan was predicted to be associated with 40 Eridani A.
Question 5: Uranus smells of hydrogen sulfide (farts).

Question 6: 10 new moons were discovered around Jupiter in 2018. 

Question 7: A comet exploded over the Libyan Desert and the resultant heat melted the sand glass forming bits of the gemstone.

Question 8: The telescopes were trying to detect a glitch in the Vela pulsar. 

Question 9: TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) was launched in 2018

Question 10: The Curiosity rover discovered organic matter in the mudstones on the slopes of Mount Sharp.

Ananya Sen is a grad student in microbiology at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She spends 80% of her time working on oxidative stress in the Imlay lab and the remaining 20% of her time blogging about science, exploring food, taking care of her dog.

Global warming is not a distant nightmare anymore

by Ananya Sen

Climate change has been hotly debated in the past couple of decades, and while the evidence is clear that it’s a big problem, sometimes it’s hard to picture that in your head. But the visual evidence that scientists have gathered can be even more compelling than the climate change projections – take a look for yourself. Click on and move the big circle to slide the line dividing these two overlaid pictures of a glacier in 1909 and 2018, and compare and contrast:

Image credit: Eduard Spelterini/Kieran Baxter/University of Dundee

In October 2018 a team of photographers recreated a 1909 expedition that took stunning pictures of the Mer de Glace glacier in the French Alps. Eduard Spelterini, a Swiss aviation pioneer, took the original pictures during his voyage in a gas-filled balloon. The 2018 team embarked on the same trip to document the changes the past century has brought. What used to be an impressive glacier has now largely been replaced by an empty valley and debris.

That illustrates what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in its report on climate change and its predictions for the next few decades in October 2018. The report is sobering to say the least. Several land and ocean ecosystems have already changed due to global warming. For example, for an increase in 1.5 °C 6% of insects, 8% of plants, and 4% of vertebrates are projected to lose over half of the area they identify as home. A direr situation awaits coral reefs, which are projected to die out almost completely for the same temperature change. ScienceSeeker’s picks for 2018 include many articles that highlight such consequences of climate change.

Climate change has obviously changed marine ecosystems. Some reef fish have evolved to depend on coral reefs for food and protection. These fish are smaller and have less defensive spines, enabling them to live among the corals instead of the sea bed. Many reef-dwelling fish have vanished with the decline in reef ecosystems. Sea turtles represent another group of animals that have been adversely affected due to climate change. Although their ancestors survived the extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs, the modern descendants are among the most threatened groups of vertebrates in the world. Currently 61% of the population is threatened or extinct, which can have ominous consequences for their diverse ecosystems. 

Even land inhabitants that have been flourished for centuries are now struggling. For example, more than half of Africa’s giant baobabs, some of which are 1,500-2,000 years old, have died between 2006 and 2017. Other organisms have displayed the effects of climate change in a different way. Birds sing to attract mates and establish territories. The timing of the bird songs depends on the breeding season. Recent recordings by scientists have shown that the timing has been moving up four days per decade. This can result in a mismatch for migratory birds whose breeding and feeding patterns might become out of sync with their surroundings, leading to a population loss.

The effects of climate change will also have adverse effects on humans. It has been predicted that global warming will increase the number and intensity of tropical storms. For example, in New York City the return period will be reduced from 25 years today to five years in the next three decades. Analysis of the tropical cyclone data from 1980 to 2016 has shown a significant global increase in the number of storms with maximum speeds of 175 km/h. More troubling is the observation that the number of storms with speeds of 200 km/h has doubled, and of those of 250 km/h has tripled. Climate change is also shifting the location of the storms and expanding the affected areas. Regions near the poles that have been historically less threatened by these storms are going to be at risk.

Although the outlook is grim, all is not lost. The Paris agreement has made countries aware of the steps that need to be taken to reduce global warming, prompting efforts to reduce carbon emissions. To that end, California is seeking to create a blueprint for others to follow. In September 2018 the California Governor issued an executive order calling for the California economy to become carbon neutral by 2045. The measures include transitioning to clean energy, using electric cars for transportation, increasing carbon sequestration by farming, and changing livestock feeds to reduce methane emissions from cattle.

The most important step for all of us is to recognize that the reality of climate change is going to affect our generation. It is easy to feel resignation and remain idle but we need to take active measures, no matter how small. It has been estimated that only 100 companies are responsible for 75% of the global emissions. Together we can pressure these companies into making environmentally conscious decisions. We can also aim to reduce our own carbon footprints and adjust our living standards. It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention. By reminding ourselves that the fate of the Earth and its future rests on our shoulders, humans can drive the changes required to bring our planet back from the brink of collapse.

Ananya Sen is a grad student in microbiology at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She spends 80% of her time working on oxidative stress in the Imlay lab and the remaining 20% of her time blogging about science, exploring food, taking care of her dog. 

How can you simply prove the Earth is a sphere? Can pets treat depression? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of November 19-25 2018 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm

This week's best science stories include fascinating details about that strange asteroid 'Oumuamua and our festive turkeys, and a way to scrutinise scientific AI claims. But there are many other topics touched on in ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise for the past seven days. Here is the full round-up of the ScienceSeeker Editors’ Selections:

An old tradition - but just when did humans domesticate turkeys?
Image credit: Chris Burke via Flickr CC BY 2.0 Licence

• The turkey on your Thanksgiving table is older than you think by Michael Price at Science
• 6 Strange Facts about the Interstellar Visitor 'Oumuamua by Abraham Loeb at Scientific American
• Physics can explain the fastball’s unexpected twist, new study finds by Jennifer Ouellette at Ars Technica
• Pendulums, spheres, and the spinning Earth by Gregory J. Gbur at Skulls in The Stars
• Machine Learning: Be Careful What You Ask For by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine 
• For these people with depression, all treatment approaches had failed, but then they adopted a pet … by Christian Jarrett at British Psychological Society Research Digest
• "Everybody's Brain Knows How to Run a Tail" E. Glen Weyl at Logic Magazine
• The hidden price of Iceland’s green energy by Henner Busch at ScienceNordic
• The bad bugs of the Anthropocene by Sarah DeWeerdt at Anthropocene
• Open Science in Africa by Justin Sègbédji Ahinon and Jo Havemann at Elephant in the Lab 

Check back next week for more great picks!

Why are some people left-handed? What's behind the surge in celiac disease? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 13-19 2018 #sciseekpicks #scicomm

This week, the best science posts include lessons on biology from large mammals, a plan to explore space that could devastate any alien civilisation it finds and what happens when we sleep. But there are many other topics touched on in ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise for the past seven days. Here is the full round-up of the ScienceSeeker Editors’ Selections:

• Are you in your right mind? The evolution of left handedness by Roising Coneely at Seeking Science
• Celiac disease: What’s behind the surge in diagnoses? by Andrew Porterfield at The Genetic Literacy Project 
• 2-Minute Neuroscience: Stages of sleep at Neuroscientifically Challenged
• Hospital superbugs are evolving to survive hand sanitizers by Beth Mole at Ars Technica
• Big Tech waves in Healthcare and The Death of EMR: Blockchain Technology and Its Likely Impact on Healthcare by Dr Fey at Digital Sky MD
• Cancer Is One Worry Elephants Can Feel Free to Forget by Katherine J. Wu at Smithsonian.com
• What a Grieving Orca Tells Us by Ed Yong at The Atlantic
• Hacking The Electric Grid Is Damned Hard by Maggie Koerth-Baker at FiveThirtyEight
• Exploring microfluidics…using Lego? by Emi Schutz at Chembites
• Researchers Discover New Molecular Properties of Water at Science-News.com
• Meteorite Bombardment Likely Created the Oldest Rocks on Earth by Meghan Bartels at Space.com
• Is Humanity About To Accidentally Declare Interstellar War On Alien Civilizations? by Ethan Siegel at Starts With a Bang! 
• MIT scientists crack the case of breaking spaghetti in two by Jennifer Ouellette at Ars Technica
• LHC physicists embrace brute-force approach to particle hunt by Davide Castelvecchi at Nature News and Comment
• Podcast of the week: Heatwaves: the next silent killer? by Graihagh Jackson at Guardian Science Weekly
• Smokey superlatives: widespread wildfire impacts seen from as far away as a million miles from Earth by Tom Yulsman at ImaGeo
• Bird Species Collapse in the Mojave, Driven by Climate Change by Amanda Heidt at KQED Science
• U.S. energy research agency doesn't need a scientist at the helm, Congress tells nominee by Jeffrey Mervis at Science
• How To Make A Civics Education Stick by Emily Cardinali at MindShift 

Check back next week for more great picks!

On the evolution of the science blogosphere

By Andy Extance, ScienceSeeker Editor-in-Chief

In recent months, ScienceSeeker has exorcised many of the dead blogs haunting its list of science sites. Consequently, the number of sites we aggregate has decreased from 2170 when I became editor-in-chief in January 2016 to 2065 now, in May 2017. But rather than finding that decline worrying, I think this exercise has shown how science sites are adapting to a changing blogging environment.

When my predecessor Jordan Gaines Lewis handed the reins over to me, she and fellow editor Jessica Perry Hekman had just completely rebuilt ScienceSeeker. The site had been born in the whirlwind, heat and flash of the ScienceOnline movement, supported, I understand, in part by the revenues from its conferences. That had enabled a professional-looking, highly functional site that cost $40 a month to run.

The ScienceOnline money inevitably ran out, and to start with our editors took turns in paying. Jordan and Jessica then switched to our now almost-free format, hosted on Blogger and powered by the RSS feed reader Inoreader. Not only is this more frugal, Inoreader kindly informs us which feeds are no longer active. Therefore over the last 17 months I have been going through that list, seeking the new homes of blogs that have moved and removing those that have expired. And the experience has provided some interesting insights into trends in the science blogosphere at various levels. The headlines are as follows:

ScienceSeeker Editor's Selections April 3-9 2017 #sciseekpicks #scicomm

Each week, the ScienceSeeker editors pick their favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise. Here is a round-up of the Science Seeker Editors’ Selections for the past week:

• Citizen Scientists Spot Candidates for Planet Nine by Mike Wall at Scientific American
• 5 vital lessons scientists learn that can better everyone’s life and Hey Shaq? Here’s how you can figure out the Earth is round for yourself by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang!
• Forensic Hair Analysis Has A Long Road Back To Courtroom Glory by Carmen Drahl at Forbes
• Meet the biochemist who wants to save the world by making the perfect meat-free burger by Laurie Zoloth at Cosmos Magazine
• New rice fights off drought by Adam Phillips at It Ain't Magic
• 3 Big Myths about Modern Agriculture by David R Montgomery at Scientific American
• Japanese babies are upending the world of linguistics, one mora at a time by Amanda Alvarez at Neurographic
• Can Babies Hear Color? by Melissa J Glenn at On Psychology and Neuroscience
• Inside Arctic Ice Lies a Frozen Rainforest of Microorganisms by Rhiannon Russell at Arctic Deeply
• Big Promises From a Big Polluter While Neighbors Hold Their Breath by John Thompson at Arctic Deeply
• What is EPA’s Vehicle Lab, and Why Should I Care How It’s Funded? by Dave Cooke at Union of Concerned Scientists
• The flu shot saves children’s lives by Claire McCarthy at Harvard Health Blog
• Noise Makes Dolphins and Whales Flee—and That Can Take Their Breath Away by Jason Bittel at NRDC On Earth
• Octopuses, Squid, and Cuttlefish: RNA Editing Instead of Genome Evolution? by Ricki Lewis at DNA Science Blog
• Cancer and random mutations – your blueberry kale shake won't help by The Original Skeptical Raptor at Skeptical Raptor
• Mutation in clock gene explains why some night owls stay up late at New Scientist
• Human cannibalism, March for Science by Tabitha Powledge at On Science Blogs

Check back next week for more great picks!

Welcome to the new ScienceSeeker!

Last October, we were happy to announce that ScienceSeeker would continue to operate despite the dissolution of ScienceOnline. Since then, our technical team, editors, and I have been working to find more sustainable options for ScienceSeeker's future. We greatly appreciate everyone who gave us feedback on ScienceSeeker when we distributed our survey early last month.

After lots of discussion and hard work, we've created this site. We've been able to hold onto many of ScienceSeeker's old functions, but re-introduce them in new ways:

• Our blog feeds are now housed by Inoreader. You can access individual feeds by topic on the right sidebar. You can also search for specific blogs within each feed. Any new posts you write on your blog will be automatically updated on Inoreader.
• Our weekly Editor's Selections will still continue and can be found right here on this blog every Monday morning. Our editors and/or the @SciSeeker Twitter account will contact all authors whose posts have been selected as best of the best each week.
• If you'd like to add your blog to our site, you can do so here (link is also in the top menu).
• Although we no longer have our citation generator, which we know that many users appreciated, we have included a brief tutorial (see top menu link) for easily creating citations using Google Scholar in MLA, APA, or Chicago format.

I'd like to especially thank Jessica Perry Hekman and Karyn Traphagen for all their hard work, late-night e-mails and phone calls, and outreach efforts during the past few months as we planned for ScienceSeeker's future together. We're thrilled that we are able to continue doing what we've always done, and we'd love to get your feedback as we grow our new site. Thank you for your continued support of ScienceSeeker!

Jordan Gaines Lewis, @GainesOnBrains

Editor-in-Chief, ScienceSeeker

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