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The giant short-faced bear (_Arctodus simus_), the largest mammalian carnivore to have ever roamed North America, lived during the Pleistocene around 2 million years ago. Standing over 3.3 meters (11 feet) tall on its hind legs and weighing up to 1,000 kilograms (2,204 pounds), it dwarfed modern bears like the Kodiak and polar bears. Remarkably, it could run at speeds exceeding 60 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, aided by its unique toe structure. While often considered a carnivore, the short-faced bear was likely an omnivore and scavenger, consuming a varied diet based on availability. It went extinct around 11,000 years ago, coinciding with the decline of other megafauna and the arrival of humans in North America, with factors such as climate change and the loss of large herbivores potentially contributing to its demise. Its closest living relative is the spectacled bear, primarily herbivorous and found in South America. 
Published: Jul 21 2025, 9 pmeznews.inForty-six years after Voyager 1's historic flyby of Jupiter, the magnetic data it collected remains a source of fascination, revealing the planet's complex magnetosphere. This region, where Jupiter's powerful magnetic field—16 to 54 times stronger than Earth's—interacts with the solar wind, creates a bow shock akin to a sonic boom. Voyager 1's findings in 1979, which showed a smaller magnetosphere than expected due to intense solar wind, laid the groundwork for subsequent missions, including Juno, which crossed the bow shock in 2016. Juno's observations unveiled an even more intricate boundary structure, with the magnetosphere extending up to 745 million kilometers behind Jupiter. As scientists continue to study this extreme world, new discoveries, such as previously unseen plasma waves, highlight the ongoing quest to understand Jupiter and its magnetic behavior, crucial for insights into other celestial bodies across the universe.
Published: Jul 23 2025, 12 ameznews.inChina has commenced construction on the Yarlung Tsangpo River megadam, poised to become the world's largest hydropower facility, surpassing the Three Gorges Dam. Premier Li Qiang announced the groundbreaking on July 19 in Nyingchi City, where the dam will feature five cascade hydropower stations, generating an estimated 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually—nearly three times the output of the Three Gorges Dam. This renewable energy project, which has attracted around 1.2 trillion yuan ($167.8 billion) in investment, aims to enhance China's green energy transition while delivering power beyond Tibet. However, the initiative has raised geopolitical tensions, particularly with downstream nations like India and Bangladesh, which rely on the river's flow and fear potential impacts on their water security. As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, concerns over resource control may lead to future conflicts in the region.
Published: Jul 22 2025, 9 pmeznews.inA recent study led by Dr. Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad from the University of Nottingham suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated brain aging, even in individuals who did not contract the virus. Analyzing brain scans from nearly 1,500 participants, researchers found significant differences in brain structure between those scanned before and after the pandemic, indicating that stress, isolation, and disruption during this period could have detrimental effects on brain health. While the average brain age difference was only five months, experts caution against overinterpretation, noting that the cognitive performance gap was minimal. Additionally, those infected with COVID-19 exhibited more pronounced cognitive declines. The findings underscore the broader health impacts of global crises, highlighting the need for further research to understand and mitigate these effects in future pandemics. The study is published in *Nature Communications*.
Published: Jul 22 2025, 9 pmeznews.inA video from Alberta, Canada, has sparked intrigue as it captures a glowing blue-white orb moving slowly across a field for approximately 20 seconds before vanishing. Filmed by weather enthusiasts Ed and Melinda Pardy while searching for funnel clouds post-storm, the orb hovered about 7 meters above the ground. Ed speculated it could be the elusive phenomenon known as "ball lightning," which has been reported since the 12th century but remains scientifically unexplained. While some researchers suggest it may result from lightning vaporizing soil, producing silicon and other elements, the orb's size and color differ from typical ball lightning reports. Experts, including storm chaser George Kourounis, propose that the phenomenon could instead be an "electric power line arc," which can emit similar colors. Without further evidence, the true nature of the orb remains uncertain, but it has certainly captured the public's imagination.
Published: Jul 22 2025, 10 pmeznews.inAstronomers have unveiled that the Milky Way may be a mere fragment of a vast cosmic structure, potentially reshaping our understanding of the universe's evolution. This research suggests that our galaxy is part of a larger "basin of attraction" (BoA), which could be ten times the volume of the Laniakea Supercluster, where the Milky Way resides alongside the Local Group and the Virgo Supercluster. The study, which analyzed the movements of 56,000 galaxies, indicates that these BoAs are not gravitationally bound but exhibit common flow patterns, akin to watersheds on Earth. The findings raise questions about the limitations of current cosmological models, as they suggest structures larger than previously thought. While the Milky Way's exact position remains uncertain—there's a 60% chance it may belong to the Shapley concentration—the implications of this research could significantly alter our comprehension of cosmic architecture. The study was published in *Nature Astronomy*.
Published: Jul 19 2025, 6 pmeznews.inA recent study led by Dr. Yanagisawa Kuniaki from Kobe University reveals significant differences in brain activity between optimists and pessimists. While optimists exhibit similar patterns of brain activity when envisioning future events, pessimists display a diverse range of neural responses, suggesting a more original and creative approach to negative outlooks. The research, involving 87 married participants in fMRI scans, indicates that optimists process negative scenarios more abstractly, reducing emotional impact, while vividly imagining positive outcomes. This distinction raises questions about whether such shared optimistic thinking is innate or developed through experience. The study also hints at the evolutionary advantages of pessimism, suggesting that a mix of traits within social groups may enhance problem-solving diversity. Although the findings were significant for self-referential scenarios, they noted limitations in partner-related imaginings, which the authors aim to address in future research. The study is published in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*.
Published: Jul 22 2025, 4 pmeznews.inA new study suggests that alcohol may have played a significant role in the development of complex societies, supporting the so-called "drunk hypothesis." Researchers analyzed historical ethnographic reports from 186 non-industrial societies, finding a correlation between traditional low-alcohol beverages and political complexity. The study focused on milder drinks, such as cereal beers and fruit wines, which are believed to foster social bonding and creativity, in contrast to stronger spirits linked to negative social outcomes. The authors argue that alcohol facilitated political cohesion in ancient cultures, serving as a tool for alliance-building and mobilizing labor during rituals and feasts. Their findings indicate that the presence of indigenous alcoholic beverages correlates with higher political complexity, suggesting that the social benefits of moderate drinking may outweigh its disruptive effects. However, the researchers caution that alcohol alone was not the sole driver of civilization, with factors like agriculture and religion also playing crucial roles.
Published: Jul 22 2025, 8 pmeznews.inA new study from physicists at The University of Arizona suggests that some asteroids, particularly 33 Polyhymnia, may contain heavy elements beyond the current periodic table, classified as Compact Ultradense Objects (CUDOs). These asteroids exhibit mass densities exceeding that of osmium, the densest naturally occurring element. The researchers explored theoretical elements with atomic numbers higher than 110, predicting that those near atomic number 164 could possess mass densities between 36.0 and 68.4 g/cm³, potentially explaining the density of 33 Polyhymnia. While elements beyond the periodic table are typically unstable, the possibility of discovering stable superheavy elements within dense asteroids has sparked interest among physicists and space mining enthusiasts alike. The findings, published in The European Physical Journal Plus, highlight the potential for new materials in our Solar System, with implications for both scientific research and future resource exploration.
Published: Jul 19 2025, 5 pmeznews.inThe concept of infectious cancer, while reminiscent of dystopian fiction, has been observed in nature, particularly in animals. Notably, the canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) has been documented since 1876, primarily affecting dogs and transmitted during mating. This tumor, characterized by ghastly red growths, responds well to chemotherapy, leading to high survival rates, although it remains prevalent among stray and wild dogs in less developed regions. In contrast, the Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), first identified in 1996, has decimated up to 90% of the Tasmanian devil population, as it is nearly always fatal and often goes undetected by the immune system. Other rare instances of transmissible tumors have been noted in laboratory hamsters and soft shell clams, the latter presenting a unique mystery as the clams do not interact physically. Currently, humans remain unaffected by such transmissible cancers.
Published: Jul 22 2025, 6 pmFor the fastest, latest, not so wokest news, 'experts say' you need to visit Eznews
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