Author: healthadmin

New research published in journal of intelligence Our findings suggest that a person’s daily music listening habits contain subtle clues about their general cognitive abilities. Scientists have discovered that the lyrics of the songs people choose to play provide more insight into their intelligence than the beat or melody of the music. These findings provide evidence that the digital footprints we leave behind in our daily lives may ultimately help us approximate cognitive skills without formal testing. Traditional intelligence assessments rely on formal tests administered in highly controlled and stressful environments. But cognitive abilities are constantly being used outside the…

When the January 2025 firestorm hit Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, not only did homes burn to the ground, but thousands of people were left standing with smoke damage.The disaster sparked a lawsuit by fire victims who claimed their homes were filled with toxic contaminants, but insurance companies refused to provide sanitary inspections or proper cleaning, refusing to make the homes habitable again.A long-awaited bill was introduced in Congress this week that would set the nation’s first limits for smoke pollutants, require testing and force insurance companies to restore homes to their original condition.The bill specifically applies to homes damaged…

Written by Kathryn Weaver, Pittsburgh Public Source March 19, 2026 Shell Polymers Monaca, a petrochemical plant in Beaver County, has been emitting harmful nitrogen oxides above legally permissible levels for nearly three years without clear enforcement action from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The large-scale facility, which began operations in fall 2022, has had its original interim operating permit extended seven times. The company has not yet received a long-term Title V permit, and environmentalists argue that repeated temporary extensions could protect the company from stricter regulation by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “The (temporary permit) extension…

Nandini Kumari, 18, attends her favorite arts program several afternoons a week. Accompanying her parents to the open-cast coal mines surrounding the small town of Jharia in eastern India is a welcome break from the rest of her days. There she hacks coal blocks with a pickaxe and collects chunks to sell. This work has supported her family and countless others in this town for generations. Open-pit coal mines are spread throughout Jharia, where machines dig through soil and rock to access coal seams near the surface. Fires have been occurring in these coalfields for more than a century, some…

For many years, diabetes prevention has been closely tied to one primary goal: weight loss. But new research challenges that long-held assumption. People diagnosed with prediabetes, which affects up to one in three adults depending on age, have traditionally been advised to eat healthier and lose weight to reduce their risk. This message has remained largely unchanged for decades. However, the results are mixed. The prevalence of diabetes continues to rise around the world, and many people with prediabetes struggle to reach their weight loss goals. As a result, the risks remain high and often discouraged. Remission of prediabetes without…

North Carolina, like much of the United States, is in a high-stakes race to protect consumers and the climate from the data center boom. Without precautions, energy-intensive facilities could raise electricity costs and encourage large-scale expansion of polluting fossil fuel power plants. After much discussion and little action, one concrete strategy to avoid these risks is now gaining attention. Duke Energy, North Carolina’s largest utility, agreed late last month to evaluate the so-called “Energy.” ​”It’s a clean transition tariff. ” The idea is that data centers and other large power customers can connect to the grid while developing enough clean…

Tourists on Smith Island in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay slosh through high waves during a nor’easter. dave harp After Hurricane Sandy caused massive flooding on Smith Island in 2012, the Maryland Housing Authority set aside $2 million in buyout funding for homeowners. The deal was simple. The idea was to take the money and start a new life somewhere else.Instead, the community stood its ground. Residents formed a civic group and campaigned for flood prevention measures. Over the next 10 years, they secured more than $20 million in infrastructure investments. Efforts like this have almost certainly bought time for the 200…

It was long unclear how Oviraptor, a bird-like but flightless dinosaur, hatched its eggs. Did they rely on heat from their surroundings, like crocodiles, or did they directly incubate their eggs, like birds? new research in Frontiers of ecology and evolution explore this question by examining the nesting behavior and hatching patterns of Oviraptors. Researchers in Taiwan combined heat transfer simulations with physical experiments to better understand how these dinosaurs hatched their eggs. They also compared their discovery to the hatching of modern birds. To do this, they built a life-size model of an oviraptor and a realistic nest to…

I Please be aware that this is a serious breach of etiquette. But can we abandon manners and contextualize Donald Trump’s attack on Iran? The West’s intense interest in the Middle East, Western, and Central Asia, sustained for more than a century, and the endless attempts by foreign governments to shape and control these regions, is no accidental political act. They are somehow connected to a specific fuel source located underground.Trump’s war objectives are typically incoherent and clearly incomprehensible even to himself. But Iran would not have been treated as an “enemy of the West” if Winston Churchill’s government had…

A new study finds a sudden and unusual increase in wildfires in tropical peatlands during the 20th century, marking a clear departure from long-term historical patterns. Peatlands are huge underground carbon reservoirs, storing more carbon than all the world’s forests combined. When these areas burn, large amounts of stored carbon are released into the atmosphere. Wildfires have increased across the tropics in recent decades, but scientists have limited insight into how tropical peatland fires behave over time. Ancient charcoal records reveal fire history To better understand past fire activity, researchers examined charcoal preserved in peat deposits in Central and South…