Why Iceland Has No Mosquitoes (And What It Means)
Iceland does not have an established population of mosquitoes. Individual mosquitoes occasionally arrive on planes or ships, but repeated surveys…
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Can a Blizzard Happen Right After a Tornado?
Yes. A blizzard can follow a tornado within hours, and in rare cases within about an hour, when a fast-moving,…
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Why Scientists Renamed 27 Human Genes Because of Excel (And What It Means)
Scientists renamed 27 human genes in 2020 because Microsoft Excel was automatically converting their symbols into dates, corrupting data in…
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How Do Optometrists Determine Your Glasses Prescription?
Optometrists determine your glasses prescription by measuring how your eye focuses light and then balancing that error with lenses until…
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Did T. rex Have Feathers and What Color Were They?
Adult Tyrannosaurus rex were likely mostly scaly, with no confirmed body-covering feathers, though small patches of simple filaments in juveniles…
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What Is mGluR5 and How Is It Linked to Autism?
mGluR5 is a metabotropic glutamate receptor that modulates how neurons respond to the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. A Yale-led brain imaging…
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Why Do Cats Purr (And What It Means)?
Cats purr because rhythmic activity in the voice box makes the vocal folds vibrate at low frequencies as the cat…
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How Much Oil Has Been Extracted From The Ground And What Would It Fill?
It is literally impossible to put all the oil humanity has ever extracted into a single container, but we can…
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What Is the “Dark Photon” Theory of Light and Does It Upend Quantum Mechanics?
The “dark photon” theory of light, as described in recent viral posts, is not a new particle and it does…
