The director of astrobiology at Columbia University saw something this week that he just had to respond to: Elon Musk “talking about sending 1 million people to Mars by 2050, using no less than three Starship launches per day (with a stash of 1,000 of these massive spacecraft on call).” Iwastheone shared this article from Scientific American: The martian radiation environment…
Tag: microbiome
Your microbiome reveals more about your health than your genes do
The microbes that live inside you say more than your genes do about your likelihood of developing health conditions ranging from asthma to cancer and schizophrenia Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2230151-your-microbiome-reveals-more-about-your-health-than-your-genes-do/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Twenty years of discoveries changing story of human evolution
Archaeological discoveries are happening faster than ever before, helping refine the human story. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/archaeological-discoveries-changing-story-of-human-evolution…
DNA From ‘Chewing Gum’ Provides Clues To Life 5,700 Years Ago
New submitter RG-man writes: DNA obtained from birch pitch used as a type of ancient chewing gum has revealed significant insights into the life of a young girl who lived 5,700 years ago. CNN reports: “…[Lola] chewed on birch pitch, a material that functioned a bit like an ancient chewing gum. A study of that birch pitch has uncovered the girl’s…
Anti-ageing drug rejuvenates the mouths and oral microbiome of mice
In the first treatment shown to rejuvenate oral health, a drug used for organ transplants has regenerated the bone in which teeth are embedded in mice Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2227421-anti-ageing-drug-rejuvenates-the-mouths-and-oral-microbiome-of-mice/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Gut microbes may predict whether exercising will prevent diabetes
Exercising helps some people avoid developing diabetes but not others, and we may now know why: it could be down to features of the human gut microbiome Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2224911-gut-microbes-may-predict-whether-exercising-will-prevent-diabetes/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Gut microbes help mice overcome their fears by changing brain activity
Mice without healthy gut bacteria have a hard time moving on from fearful situations, adding to evidence that the microbiome influences how the mammalian brain works Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2221022-gut-microbes-help-mice-overcome-their-fears-by-changing-brain-activity/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Man’s body brews its own beer after yeast take over his gut microbiome
One man in the US has started producing beer in his gut after a course of antibiotics allowed brewer’s yeast to outcompete the other microbes in his microbiome Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2220432-mans-body-brews-its-own-beer-after-yeast-take-over-his-gut-microbiome/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Just three days in hospital can change the bacteria in your gut
A study of people in an intensive care unit has found that being in hospital can lead to harmful strains of bacteria taking over your microbiome Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2218280-just-three-days-in-hospital-can-change-the-bacteria-in-your-gut/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
C-Section Babies Have More Potentially Infectious Gut Bacteria
Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, UCL, the University of Birmingham and their collaborators discovered that whereas vaginally born babies got most of their gut bacteria from their mother, babies born via caesarean did not, and instead had more bacteria associated with hospital environments in their guts. Science Daily reports: The exact role of the baby’s gut bacteria is unclear and…