Science & Health
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The Rate of Earth’s Spin Appears to Be Accelerating
The year 2020 will be remembered for many things, most of them unpleasant, but it will also be remembered for being one of the fastest on record, due to our planet’s accelerating rate of spin. Should this trend continue, it could result in an unprecedented “negative leap second.”
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Researchers Take Another Look at Platypus DNA, and Yup, Still Weird
Waddling, wriggling, ambling, digging, laying eggs. There’s no shortage of verbiage when it comes to describing monotremata — the taxonomic order made up of only two animals, the platypus and the echidna. Rattling off the numerous weird traits of these creatures is trope in news coverage — and it’s near impossible to avoid, since they…
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Good News: Natural Immunity to the Coronavirus May Last Years, Study Suggests
New research released Wednesday should provide comfort to covid-19 survivors worried about losing their natural immunity to the coronavirus anytime soon. The findings suggest that in most people, a robust immune response to the virus lasts for at least eight months — and there are good signs that it could even last years.
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Archaeologists Uncover Disturbing Amount of Plastic Waste at Iron Age Site
One by one, the archaeologists stumbled upon pieces of junk. Using techniques typically reserved for documenting stone tools and bones, the team recorded such items as plastic spoons, eye glasses, bottle caps, straws, mobile phone batteries, paint can lids, candy wrappers, and plastic wrap. By the time the experiment was over, the archaeologists had uncovered…