Science news of the day thread.

[macdoc]

Great idea and scaleable

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2022 ... ean-energy

[pErvinalia]

What's a great idea?

[macdoc]

read it and find out lazy sod.

[pErvinalia]

Post an excerpt like everyone else, you lazy sod.

[rainbow]

https://www.cidra.com/new/2022-pgm-platinum-conference

Me, I was there.

[Brian Peacock]

read it and find out lazy sod.

It's polite to give some idea of what you're linking to. It helps those of us on limited bandwidth decide if we would like to read it.

[rasetsu]

Bumblebees get a buzz out of playing with balls, study finds



Bumblebees are associated with lives of work rather than play, but researchers have for the first time observed the insects playing with balls for enjoyment, just like humans and dogs.

A team of UK scientists watched bees interacting with inanimate objects as a form of play and said the findings added to growing evidence that their minds are more complex than previously imagined.

Lars Chittka, a professor of sensory and behavioural ecology at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), said bees were “a million miles from the mindless, unfeeling creatures they are traditionally believed to be”.

She added: “There are lots of animals who play just for the purposes of enjoyment, but most examples come from young mammals and birds. This research provides a strong indication that insect minds are far more sophisticated than we might imagine.”

The findings, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, were based on a series of experiments where bumblebees were found to repeatedly roll balls when given the option, despite no apparent incentive to do so. Younger bees were found to roll more balls than older bees, while adult males rolled for longer than their female counterparts.

The researchers designed an experimental arena where 45 bumblebees were given the option of either walking through an unobstructed path to get a treat or going into areas with wooden balls.

According to the researchers, individual bees rolled balls between one and 117 times over the course of the experiment, and the repeated behaviour suggested ball rolling was rewarding, the team said...

C'mon you bees!

I'm reminded of a George Carlin routine where he observed that squirrels which were fed cannabis were more likely to play with their nuts rather than store them.

[rasetsu]

One of the most consumed drugs in the US – and the most commonly taken analgesic worldwide – could do a lot more than simply take the edge off your headache.

Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and sold widely under the brand names Tylenol and Panadol, also increases risk-taking, according to a study from 2020 that measured changes in people's behavior when under the influence of the common over-the-counter medication.

"Acetaminophen seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities – they just don't feel as scared," explained neuroscientist Baldwin Way from The Ohio State University when the findings were published.

"With nearly 25 percent of the population in the US taking acetaminophen each week, reduced risk perceptions and increased risk-taking could have important effects on society."

The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that acetaminophen's effects on pain reduction also extend to various psychological processes, lowering people's receptivity to hurt feelings, experiencing reduced empathy, and even blunting cognitive functions.

In a similar way, the research suggests people's affective ability to perceive and evaluate risks can be impaired when they take acetaminophen. While the effects might be slight, they're definitely worth noting, given acetaminophen is the most common drug ingredient in America, found in over 600 different kinds of over-the-counter and prescription medicines.

(Science Alert)

[Brian Peacock]

Blimey.

[Tero]

Paracetamol has a limited number of mechanisms of action. One of the lesser ones has to do with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabino ... nnabinoids

[Brian Peacock]

Yeah. But if you smoke weed and take paracetamol then you might be prone to slightly riskier behaviour but you really can't be arsed to get off the sofa unless there's chocolate involved!

[Tero]

Now you are getting to the fringes of measurable things. Like how chocolate works. And where all the lost luggage end up. Saturn's rings are suspected.

[rasetsu]

Sperm counts worldwide have halved over the past five decades, and the pace of the decline has more than doubled since the turn of the century, new research shows.

The international team behind it says the data is alarming and points to a fertility crisis threatening the survival of humanity.

Their meta-analysis looked at 223 studies based on sperm samples from over 57,000 men across 53 countries.

It shows for the first time that men in Latin America, Asia, and Africa share a similar decline in total sperm counts and concentration as previously observed in Europe, North America, and Australia.

The authors warn that the mean sperm count has now dropped dangerously close to the threshold that makes conception more difficult, meaning couples around the world may encounter problems having a baby without medical assistance.

(Euronews.net)

[pErvinalia]

Gilead was right!

[Brian Peacock]

My sperm count may be low but at least my boobs are fantastic.