A Virus Likely Triggers Almost All Multiple Sclerosis, Massive Study Concludes
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is almost always a delayed response to infection with the Epstein-Barr virus, a study of 10 million former military personnel in the US indicates. The findings could provide clues on how to treat the disease. The Epstein-Barr virus is part of the herpes family of viruses. Its high transmissibility through kissing, spitting, or sharing food means most of the population has been infected by their late 20s.
Earliest Human Fossils From East Africa Dated To At Least 233,000 Years Ago
Researchers recently took another look at the layers of volcanic ash where the remains of Omo I – widely thought to be one of the earliest Homo sapien fossils ever found – was first discovered in the Omo Kibish Formation of southwestern Ethiopia in the 1960s. The minimum age of the remains is now confined to approximately 233,000 years old, some 36,000 years older than previously thought.
Second Potential Supermoon Found Outside The Solar System, And It's Huge
For only the second time, astronomers have found what they think is a moon orbiting a planet, orbiting a star that is not the Sun. It is gigantic – larger than half the planets in the Solar System. The exomoon candidate is suspected to orbit Kepler 1708b, a not quite Jupiter-sized planet 5,500 light-years away. If real, the moon has a radius 2.6 times Earth's – making it a probable gas world rather than a rocky object.
Medieval War Horses Were Smaller Than Modern-Day Ponies
A new study has found that most war horses were no bigger than modern-day ponies. A team of archaeologists and historians analyzed the largest set of English horse bones from 300 to 1650 CE. Rather than the large horses of 17 to 18 hands high, they found that horses were often under the height of 14.2 hands. Modern-day ponies can range from about 14 hands to nearly 14.3 hands tall.
World's Tiniest Antenna Built Out Of DNA
Scientists have used DNA to build the world's smallest antenna. Just 5 nanometers long, the system works likes a two-way radio, receiving light in one color and then re-emitting light in a different one depending on the structural changes to the protein it is attached to. DNA chemistry is relatively simple and programmable. So antennae can be created to suit different investigation needs depending on the protein in question.
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Is Omicron Really "Milder" Than Other Variants?
Should we really be calling Omicron “mild”? Hospitalizations are sky high, people are still dying, and long COVID is still a thing. Is the “mild” message misleading? Many experts are pushing back against describing the variant as such. We explore why.
