Learning is a blast—literally—at the South Side Science Festival - University of Chicago News

Physicists have used radioactive lutetium to create what they say is the most accurate atomic clock ever, keeping time perfectly up to 19 decimal places.

Dinner by yourself can be a lonely affair. The lack of social connection could change the way that your body processes your meal. A new study published in Science Advances has now found evidence that eating with others could help your body balance your blood sugar levels. In experiments, 108 participants consumed just over 100 grams of white-wheat bread. For the following two hours, researchers tracked their glycemic response. In one scenario, participants ate the bread on their own. In another scenario, they were accompanied by a close companion. In the social scenario, blood sugar levels spiked less and returned to baseline faster than in the alone scenario. The authors argue that this aligns with a "robust phenomenon" in humans. "Blood sugar regulation is not just about what we eat, but who we eat with," explains Shir Atzil from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. "Our relationships have an active biological role in our physical well-being. "After the same carbohydrate meal, participants' blood sugar rose less when they ate with a close companion (blue) than when they ate alone (red).

A new Australian study suggests that zoo lions behave more like their wild counterparts when they are given whole animal carcasses as part of a feast and fast feeding schedule. Published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, the research was conducted by Adelaide University and Monarto Safari Park in South Australia. Scientists studied a group of adult male African lions after animal care staff added whole carcasses every nine days to an existing feeding routine designed around periods of eating and fasting.

The spacecraft delivered materials and equipment for new research studies to the station.