Daily Science Brief

RFK Jr. slashes mRNA vaccine funding, a glue that holds firm underwater for over a year, scientists solve why sea stars keep turning to goo, and SpaceX sends bacteria to the ISS.

SOURCES

• What you need to know about mRNA vaccines in light of RFK's claims | New Scientist
• HHS Winds Down mRNA Vaccine Development Under BARDA | US Dept of HHS
• Time and cost of administering COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in the United States | NIH
• Super-sticky hydrogel is 10 times stronger than other glues underwater | New Scientist
• Mystery of why sea stars keep turning into goo finally solved — and it's not what scientists thought | Live Science
• SpaceX launched disease-causing bacteria to the International Space Station | Live Science

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Back pain relief that lasts for three years with no pills, or surgery. Gold heated 14× past it’s melting point … without melting. Retired coal plants get a clean energy reboot. And the Titan sub’s implosion traced to a toxic workplace.

SOURCES

• Short course of psychotherapy relieves lower back pain for three years | New Scientist
• Scientists heat gold to 14 times its melting point — without turning it into a liquid | Live Science
• We can repurpose retired coal plants to produce green energy | New Scientist
• Titan sub implosion caused by absolutely bonkers “toxic workplace environment” | Ars Technica

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A tomato and its cousin accidentally invented the potato, eye-inspired cameras might transform astronomy, your brain may enter deep sleep while you’re awake, and a universal deepfake detector just raised the bar for spotting fakes.

SOURCES

• Tomatoes randomly mated with another plant 9 million years ago. The result? Potatoes. | Live Science
• Cameras that work like our eyes could give boost to astronomers | New Scientist
• When your mind goes 'blank,' your brain activity resembles deep sleep, scans reveal | Live Science
• 'Universal' detector spots AI deepfake videos with record accuracy | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Smartphones can now detect earthquakes, scientists confirm ancient honey, a universal cancer vaccine heads to human trials, and lightning may actually come from outer space.

SOURCES

Google has turned 2 billion smartphones into a global earthquake warning system — it's as effective as seismometers, tests show | Live Science

Sticky goo in 2,500-year-old bronze jars finally identified, settling 70-year debate | Live Science

Ancient pots found near Pompeii contain 2500-year-old honey | New Scientist

'Universal' cancer vaccine heading to human trials could be useful for 'all forms of cancer' | Live Science

Lightning on Earth is sparked by a powerful chain reaction from outer space, simulations show | Live Science

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

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A monster earthquake rattles the Pacific, mitochondria double as immune agents, the EPA backs away from climate science, and animal-filled forests fight carbon better.

SOURCES

expert reaction to earthquake off Russia and tsunami warnings across the Pacific | Science Media Centre

Waves hit US west coast after Russian earthquake as Japan lifts tsunami warnings | BBC

Mitochondria aren't only the 'powerhouses of cells' — they also battle germs | Live Science

EPA plans to ignore science, stop regulating greenhouse gases | Ars Technica

Forests with robust animal populations store four times as much carbon | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

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Maggot meat may have helped Neanderthals thrive, mice get flu shots by flossing, grief might be deadly, and your frenemies could be aging you—literally.

SOURCES

• Neanderthals likely ate fermented meat with a side of maggots | The Conversation
• Neanderthals, hypercarnivores, and maggots: Insights from stable nitrogen isotopes | Science Advances
• Scientists gave mice flu vaccines by flossing their tiny teeth — and it worked | Live Science
• Intensely grieving a loved one could shorten a mourner's life | New Scientist
• Grief trajectories and long-term health effects in bereaved relatives: a prospective, population-based cohort study with ten-year follow-up | Frontiers in Public Health
• Negative social ties, like frenemies, could be ageing you | New Scientist
• Negative Social Ties as Emerging Risk Factors for Accelerated Aging, Inflammation, and Multimorbidity | medRxiv

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New clues about dino friendships, why 7,000 steps—not 10,000—might be enough, how a moon crater helped test for alien life, and a crumpled piece of Bronze Age armor tells a warrior’s tale.

SOURCES

• Remarkable set of tracks suggests different dinosaurs herded together | New Scientist
• Walking 7000 steps a day seems to be enough to keep us healthy | New Scientist
• Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis | The Lancet
• Iconic 'Apollo Earthrise' crater just helped a spaceship get better at hunting aliens | Live Science
• 'Extremely rare' bronze armor found in Czech Republic dates to Trojan War era | Live Science

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

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A fossilized brain rewrites spider evolution, conspiracy theorists think their views are mainstream, a male birth control pill shows early promise, and cleaner air is triggering more heatwaves.

SOURCES

• Ancient animal's fossilised brain prompts rethink of spider evolution | New Scientist
• Cambrian origin of the arachnid brain | Current Biology
• Conspiracy theorists don’t realize they’re on the fringe | Ars Technica
• Male birth control pill passes early safety test, with more trials underway | Live Science
• Cleaner air has increased the number of city heatwaves | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

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A study says your baby’s sex might not be a coin flip, ancient Mars may have had heavy rains, a shorter workweek boosts well-being, and gluten might not be to blame for your IBS.

SOURCES

• Your chance of having a boy or girl may not be 50/50 | New Scientist
• Is sex at birth a biological coin toss? Insights from a longitudinal and GWAS analysis | Science Advances
• If aliens existed on Mars 3.7 billion years ago, they would have needed umbrellas | Live Science
• How Hard Did It Rain on Ancient Mars? | Sky & Telescope
• Work time reduction via a 4-day workweek finds improvements in workers’ well-being | Nature Human Behavior
• Gluten may not actually trigger many irritable bowel syndrome cases | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

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Babies born using DNA from three people, sloths settle a flatulence mystery, a simple device turns moon dust into water and fuel, and astronomers find ice cubes in a place they absolutely shouldn’t be.

SOURCES

• Babies made using three people's DNA are free of hereditary disease | New Scientist
• 8 babies spared from potentially deadly inherited diseases through new 'mitochondrial donation' trial | Live Science
• Do sloths fart? Cute new video finally settles age old question | Live Science
• Simple device can produce water, oxygen and fuel from lunar soil | New Scientist
• 'Ice cube' clouds discovered at the galaxy's center shouldn't exist — and they hint at a recent black hole explosion | Live Science

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

Brought to you by the DTNS Family of podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.