Scientists Define a New Category of Heat Wave: “Snow Eaters” - Eos

Humans are living longer than ever before. By 2050, scientists predict that nearly half a billion people could be older than 80. The rise in human life expectancy is partly due to improvements in nutrition, but which food choices lead to the longest and healthiest outcomes in older age? Scientists are still trying to figure that out. In younger cohorts, some particular diets are associated with years of added life, especially those focused on whole, plant-based foods and healthy fats. But meat choices are more controversial, and they typically come with a catch. A study from China has now added another wrinkle to the research. Among more than 5,000 people aged 80 and over, researchers found that female meat eaters were more likely to reach age 100 than female vegetarians. There was no significant association between longevity and vegetarianism among males when the researchers analyzed the data by sex. Before you go sending this article to every female vegetarian you know, you should stay for the nuance. It was only vegetarian participants deemed underweight who were less likely to live to 100 than meat eaters.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher Isaiah Santistevan led the development of three-dimensional simulations exploring how a nuclear device could deflect or disrupt an asteroid threatening Earth. Credit: Blaise Douros/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers are developing three-dimensional simulations to examine how a nuclear device could be used to deflect or potentially disrupt an asteroid threatening Earth.

Milky Way’s first microblazar candidate sits 12,000 light-years away, offering a rare ground-level lab for studying relativistic jetsA black hole 12,000 light-years away is firing a jet of plasma almost directly toward Earth. At that distance, no known or expected danger to Earth has been identified by the researchers or the institutions involved. What astronomers have actually found is rarer and more interesting than a threat. Researchers have identified IRAS 18293-0941 as a compelling candidate for the Milky Way’s first microblazar, a class of object that gives astrophysicists a close-up laboratory for studying some of the most violent physics in the galaxy. What Astronomers FoundThe discovery centers on a binary system whose black hole expels plasma jets at close to three-quarters the speed of light, pointed almost directly toward Earth. The system pairs a hot, massive star with a black hole that completes a full orbit roughly every 11.38 days. Material drawn from the companion star feeds the black hole, and some of that matter gets expelled outward as opposing jets traveling at approximately three-quarters the speed of light. Terminology matters here.