Sciencie news on Xataka On, page 8

An Ode to The World’s Unluckiest Astronaut: He Trained for 14 Years to Go Into Space, Only to Be Replaced by an Actress

Space

Russia has requested the cosmonaut's resignation letter.

Latinos in South Florida Have Been Blending English and Spanish for Years. Linguists Say They’ve Created a New Dialect

Magnet

Linguistic calques are transforming local English into something entirely different.

Humans Aren’t Meant to Explore the Depths of the Ocean. They Still Insist on Doing It and Asking a Question: How Deep Can a Submarine Go?

Nature and Environment

We know more about the surface of Mars than the bottom of the ocean. But it’s not a technological issue.

Researchers Are Trying to Find Out Why Space Food Is So Bad: It’s Not the Food but the Astronauts

Space

Researchers recreated a virtual ISS with dozens of volunteers to find out why space food tastes so bland.

Can We Lose Weight by Walking? According to These Researchers, the Answer Lies in Our Genetics

Health

There are many reasons to start walking and get closer to that symbolic 10,000 steps a day. For many, keeping weight under control is one of the main motivations.

How a Bat Die-Off Led to a Rise in Infant Deaths in America

Nature and Environment

A new study finds that the lack of bats, which eat insects that prey on crops, resulted in the use of more insecticide by farmers.

Scientists Have Been Searching for the Elixir of Invisibility for Decades. It Turns Out It Was in the Most Unexpected Place: Doritos

Research

The color of these legendary snacks may turn out to be one of the inventions of the century.

Chinese Researchers Present a Simple Strategy for Weight Loss: Eating Raw Vegetables

Health

Amid the obesity epidemic, people are still searching for effective (and surprising) ways to shed pounds.

The End of Plastic as We Know It Is Near. Self-Destructing Plastic Is Just Around the Corner

Materials

An ordinary plastic bottle, such as those found in any supermarket, takes up to 1,000 years to completely degrade.

Elon Musk’s Starship Opened an Unprecedented Hole in the Ionosphere, Russian Researchers Say

Space

The destruction of SpaceX’s mega-rocket on its second flight created one of the largest holes ever detected in the ionosphere, the ionized layer of the atmosphere.

There’s a Big ‘Black Hole’ in Our Daily Productivity. This Neuroscientist Believes He’s Found a Way Around It: Coffee

Research

For centuries, coffee has been an effective tool for enhancing our attention. Could we be using it incorrectly?

China Isn’t Satisfied With Creating the World’s Largest Offshore Windmills. Now It Wants Them to Be Used to Breed Fish, Too

Energy

What if wind farms could be used for more than just generating renewable energy?

When Landslides Turn a Paradise Into Hell: A Look at the Crisis in Rancho Palos Verdes in California

Nature and Environment

Landslides have been moving things around in the city for years. However, heavy rains in recent years have meant that instead of moving a few inches, things are moving a few feet.

The Clue Needed to Solve the Stonehenge Mystery Was in a Spanish Dolmen From 1,000 Years Earlier. It Weighs More Than Two Boeing 747 Aircraft

Magnet

The iconic monument’s great mystery required a clue from the past. One from 1,000 years earlier, to be precise.

‘The Atlantic Tropics Are Completely Broken’: Experts Say the Intertropical Convergence Zone Is Shifting North, Posing a Significant Challenge

Nature and Environment

Experts anticipated a highly active hurricane season, but 2024 indicates otherwise. The question is, why?

The U.S. Atomic Bomb Development Site Is Experiencing a Plutonium Contamination Issue, Reaching Levels Similar to Chernobyl

Nature and Environment

A recent paper has raised the alarm about radioactive contamination in this notorious location.

Astrophysicists Now Suspect Dark Matter Is Responsible for the Formation of Supermassive Black Holes

Space

Cosmologists have limited knowledge about dark matter, and much of it is speculative. As a matter of fact, the nature of dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics.