Author: healthadmin

When my colleagues and I discovered microplastics in hedgehog poop, we wanted to know where it came from. One answer was surprisingly familiar. It’s pet food. The story begins in 2021, when we collected 189 hedgehog faecal samples from residential gardens and rehabilitation centers across the UK. Plastic was found in 19% of them. Little did anyone know that hedgehogs were ingesting microplastics, despite being one of Britain’s most beloved wild animals and now officially listed as ‘Near Threatened’. To understand where these microplastics come from, we decided to investigate their diet. Naturally, European hedgehogs eat invertebrates such as beetles,…

Scientists expressed concern after two wildfires broke out within a week on the Arctic island of Greenland earlier this month.A fire broke out near Sisimiut, Greenland’s second-largest town and popular tourist center, on June 14 and 15, and a second fire broke out in Kujarek, on the island’s southern tip, on June 17, satellite images showed.Most of Greenland, a largely autonomous territory, is covered by vast ice sheets and thick glaciers, but much of it is ice-free and covered by tundra. Wildfires in these areas are rare but are becoming more common.wildfires in greenlandBut two fires at the beginning of…

Some Democratic lawmakers and big tech companies are weighing the pros and cons of a growing bipartisan bill to protect utility customers from energy costs associated with data centers, or are refraining from considering it. House Energy and Commerce Republicans are proposing the Ratepayer Protection Act as a response to growing public opposition to data center development while preserving America’s competitiveness in artificial intelligence. The bill, scheduled for a subcommittee vote this week, has garnered rare bipartisan support, including Colorado Republican Gabe Evans and co-sponsor Democratic Sen. Kathy Castor of Florida. But despite Microsoft’s endorsement last week, the Data Center…

New research provides evidence that while advanced artificial intelligence models process language with remarkable skill, they have a very hard time with tasks that require the kind of sustained focus and conflict resolution found in human attention. The study, published in PNAS Nexus, shows that as cognitive demands increase, the ability of these programs to override automatic responses completely collapses. This finding suggests that artificial intelligence systems currently lack the fundamental executive control needed to develop true artificial general intelligence. To understand these findings, it helps to examine how modern artificial intelligence works. Programs like ChatGPT rely on a framework…

A new study reveals that while your menstrual cycle influences the function of your heart’s autonomic nervous system, your physical fitness, motivation, and overall mood remain significantly stable throughout the month. Research: Effects of the menstrual cycle on the autonomic nervous system, muscle strength, and mood states. Image credit: Pormezz/Shutterstock.com recent scientific report This study investigated the influence of menstrual cycle stage on autonomic cardiac function, neuromuscular performance, and psychological status in naturally menstruating women. Menstrual cycle and physiology The menstrual cycle (MC) is a recurring physiological process characterized by periodic fluctuations in pituitary hormones such as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)…

Remarkable fossils discovered in a cave near Waitomo on New Zealand’s North Island are giving scientists an unprecedented look into a long-vanished ecosystem. Researchers in Australia and New Zealand have discovered fossilized remains of ancient birds and frogs that lived about a million years ago, including a previously unknown relative of the iconic kakapo. The discovery marks the first time scientists have recovered a large collection of terrestrial vertebrate fossils from this period in New Zealand’s history. The cave contains fossils of 12 bird species and four frog species, providing a rare snapshot of the world as it existed hundreds…

By Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News June 23, 2026 Written by Will Atwater Science is catching up to this concern.The EPA has designated microplastics as a priority pollutant group for the first time. Policy progress has been slow in North Carolina.A statewide plastic bag fee was rejected by the General Assembly. Advocates say politics has not yet matched the urgency. Change may start closer to home than you think.Experts say meaningful progress on plastic waste typically starts at the local and state level. In recent years, environmental activists and researchers in North Carolina have raised further red flags about…

Even after the researchers took into account genetic and family-related factors, children who were exclusively breastfed for long periods of time showed slightly fewer symptoms of ADHD from ages 3 to 8, suggesting that early breastfeeding patterns may play a small but meaningful role in neurodevelopment. Study: Breastfeeding and the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms across childhood. Image credit: Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock.com According to a recent study published in biological psychiatrybreastfeeding was associated with a modest reduction in symptoms of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It turns out that breastfeeding may improve ADHD ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in…

NASA’s upgraded Cold Atom Lab is back up and running on the International Space Station, giving researchers a powerful new way to probe the fundamental properties of matter and advance the development of future quantum technologies. This facility uses the station’s microgravity environment to conduct experiments that cannot be done on the ground. Quantum science focuses on the behavior of matter and energy at very small scales, such as atoms, electrons, and particles of light. Atoms are often pictured as tiny spheres colliding with each other, but the quantum world is much stranger. Atoms behave like waves, appearing in multiple…

More than 4.5 billion years ago, a giant world potentially as large as the moon or Mars was traveling around a young sun before being shattered into pieces by a violent collision. Scientists have now announced that they have discovered the first direct evidence that this long-lost planetary embryo, known as a protoplanet, once existed. Discoveries recorded in the diary Earth and Planetary Science Lettersindicating a different type of planetary evolution than previously recognized. “It’s hard to believe that there was ever a world this big,” said Aaron Bell, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the…