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Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed
New CU Boulder research finds that overweight populations have a 22% higher mortality risk than those of healthy weight, while obese populations have as much as
Topics /
Science & Space
The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 2,419 posts.
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Smoking around the world
Tobacco smoking is one of the world’s largest health problems today.
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Conservation should be allowed to pay its own way on public lands
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auction in February, 2016, for oil and gas drilling rights near Arches National Park was unremarkable. The high bidder, Tempest Exploration Co. LLC, paid $2,500 for the 1,120 acre lease by credit card and began paying annual rental fees. What soon did prove remarkable, though, was…
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Micron announces $10B research hub in Boise
Backed by a $10 billion planned investment over the next decade, Micron Research Labs will unite academia, government, startups and industry to advance the memory and compute breakthroughs that will define the AI era BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) today unveiled…
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Sensors of largest digital camera snap first 3,200-megapixel images at SLAC
The camera will explore cosmic mysteries as part of the Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
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Press Conference in Brazil to Announce Discovery in Outer Solar System
Media Advisory: Press Conference in Brazil to Announce Discovery in Outer Solar System
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The spotlight of attention is more like a strobe, say researchers
Despite the 'illusion' of continuity, human perception pulses in and out four times per second, says Princeton neuroscientist Sabine Kastner.
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Ushikuvirus: Newly discovered virus may offer clues to the origin of eukaryotes
Ushikuvirus, an amoeba-infecting giant virus, joins the family of giant viruses that may have driven the evolution of co...
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ESO Instrument Finds Closest Black Hole to Earth
A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our Solar System than any other found to date and forms part of a triple system that can be seen with the naked eye. The team found…
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Why Does the Sunlight Always Come from the North in Shaded Relief Maps?
If you've got a sharp eye and a knack for details, you might have noticed the sun coming from an unrealistic angle in most shaded relief maps: the north. In this article we explain why.
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New study simulates gravitational waves from failing warp drive
Warp drives are staples of science fiction, and in principle could propel spaceships faster than the speed of light. However, there are many problems with constructing them in practice, such as the requirement for an exotic type of matter with negative energy. Nevertheless, physicists have been exploring the…
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Understanding is a poor substitute for convexity (2012)
Something central, very central, is missing in historical accounts of scientific and technological discovery. The discourse and controversies focus on the role of luck as opposed to teleological programs (from telos, "aim"), that is, ones that rely on pre-set direction from formal science. This is a faux-debate: luck…
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Diabetes in mice cured rapidly using human stem cell strategy
New technique efficiently converts human stem cells into insulin-producing cells
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Opioids and the Labor Market (2018)
This paper finds evidence that opioid availability decreases labor force participation while a large labor market shock does not influence the share of opioid abusers. We first identify the effect of availability on participation using the geographic variation in opioid prescription rates. We use a combination of the…
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A laser-based process that enables adhesive-free paper packaging
Paper packaging offers a number of advantages over its plastic counterparts: It has a high recycling rate, lower CO₂ emissions, and lower disposal costs. However, it cannot yet be sealed without adhesives or layers of plastic—a disadvantage for manufacturing and recycling processes. In the PAPURE project, four…
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Ancient Stars Made Extraordinarily Heavy Elements (2023)
How heavy can an element be? Ancient stars were capable of producing elements heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth.
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AI predicts certain esophageal and stomach cancers three years before diagnosis
AI can predict certain forms of esophageal and stomach cancer Michigan Medicine study says.
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Public's Dread of Nuclear Power Limits Its Deployment
In the ongoing effort to decarbonize U.S. energy production, one energy source often attracts great controversy.
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Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?
Americans have a lower life expectancy than people in other rich countries despite paying much more for healthcare. What factors may explain this?
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What I learned from reading over 100 weight loss studies
The average overweight American looking to lose weight will set a goal of losing 30 lbs. Most people will never come close. Does anything actually work?
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23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company
23andMe to Merge with Virgin Group’s VG Acquisition Corp. to Become Publicly-Traded Company Set to Revolutionize Personalized Healthcare and Therapeutic Development through Human Genetics January 15, 2021 Medscape study in collaboration with 23andMe finds Primary Care Physicians are increasingly more comfortable with…
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The Rhisotope Project: Insertion of radioisotopes into live rhinoceros
The Rhisotope Project at Wits is entering a new testing phase with the insertion of radioisotopes into 20 live rhinoceros.
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Calculating a record-breaking 31.4T digits of Pi with GCP
Pi in the sky: Calculating a record-breaking 31.4 trillion digits of Archimedes’ constant on Google Cloud
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Device wraps around hot surfaces, turns wasted heat to electricity
Penn State scientists have created flexible thermoelectric devices that can wrap around pipes and other hot surfaces, converting wasted heat into electricity more efficiently than previously possible.
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LIGO and Virgo announce the detection of a black hole binary merger
Scientists searching for gravitational waves have confirmed yet another detection from their fruitful observing run earlier this year. Dubbed GW170608, the latest discovery was produced by the merger of two relatively light black holes, 7 and 12 times the mass of the sun, at a distance of about a thousand million…
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