your science briefing for 01.23.2015
The unexpected things that JWST taught us, archeology debunks the paleo diet, the consequences of inactivity for children, and more...
We expected the James Webb Space Telescope to tell us a lot more about the dawn of the observable universe. But its most meaningful and surprising discoveries were in filling in the fine details of things we thought we already understood… (BigThink)
If you’ve ever mused aloud that your friends have more pictures of their dogs than of their family and partners on their phones, you’re probably right according to a study from pet care company Rover. And yes, your pet-having friends do see and treat their dogs as members of their families in just about every way possible… (Rover)
The blockbuster weight management drug Ozempic works by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, which tells us when we’re full. Which is all well and good, but there might be a way to prompt our gut microbes to produce more GLP-1 instead, helping us lower our cravings for sweets, fine tune our metabolism, and assist with management of type 2 diabetes… (ScienceAlert)
Trendy paleo and carnivore diets are based on the idea that our ancestors didn’t eat a lot of plants and vegetables because they didn’t have the skills or patience to process them to extract the maximum amount of nutrients. But a discovery in a 780,000 year old settlement shows otherwise… (The Independent)
Eliminating third spaces for urban sprawl and spending too much time inactive has its consequences, even for children. Kids who aren’t getting enough exercise also tend to have higher rates of depression and anxiety. Doubly so if they also develop autism or ADHD along the way… (ScienceAlert)