The scientific reason you want to squeeze cute things

Aww.

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  • Researchers appear to have found a neural basis for "cute aggression."
  • Cute aggression is what happens when you say something like, 'It's so cute I want to crush it!'
  • But it's also a complex response that likely serves to regulate strong emotions and allow caretaking of the young to occur.
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The next amazing trick we can learn from geckos

Run across water? Sure. No problem.

(Pauline Jennings, PolyPEDAL Lab, UC Berkeley)
  • Scientists analyze how geckos do something they shouldn't be able to do... walk (well, run like heck) across water.
  • They can race over water nearly as fast as on land.
  • Their method may look crazy... but it works. And humans could potentially do the same.
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biomimicry animals evolution water physiology biology biomechanics

4,000-year-old termite mounds are so vast they're visible from space

Long hidden under trees, it's utterly massive.

(Roy Funch)
  • This 4,000-year-old structure can be seen from space and wasn't built by humans.
  • The mounds are made up of 200 million mounds of earth.
  • They're still under construction today.
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Whale earwax reveals 146 years of humanity’s impact

Thanks to museum curators, there's no shortage of the stuff.

Photo credit: Miguel Medina
  • It's just been discovered that whale earwax contains a record of a whale's sub-lethal stressors.
  • It's generally agreed that cortisol is a reliable indicator of a mammal's response to stress.
  • We now have a detailed 146-year impact study of human activity on whales.
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Why eating turkey really makes you sleepy

Is everyone's favorite Thanksgiving centerpiece really to blame for the post-dinner doldrums?

(Photo from Flickr)
  • Americans kill around 45 million turkeys every year in preparation for the Thanksgiving meal, only to blame our favorite centerpiece for the following food comas.
  • Rumor has it our after-dinner sleepiness results from the tryptophan found in turkey.
  • However, it is the meal's overall nutritional imbalance, not just the tryptophan, that make us want to leave the dishes for tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.
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animals human body meme physiology health food sleep turkey thanksgiving