There is as much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today as there was 4 million years ago.

Prior to the industrial revolution, CO₂ concentration was 280 parts per million. Since that time, humans have emitted 1.5 trillion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In May 2020, its level reached 417 parts per million, in May 2021 - 419, in May 2022 - 421. The current amount of CO₂ is comparable to what was on Earth 4.1-4.5 million years ago. Then forests grew on the site of the Arctic tundra, and the sea level was 5-25 meters higher than it is now. This would be enough to flood most modern coastal cities.

[Interesting]

June 8, 2022

Social phobia is visible by biomarkers in the blood, Japanese scientists say.

They found changes in blood counts that are characteristic of hikikomori - people who have abandoned social life and live in isolation for many months or years. The researchers compared the blood tests of 42 hikikomori and 41 regular people. It turned out that sociophobes have a different protein profile. Each of them had increased levels of long-chain acylcarnitine. Hikikomori males also had higher levels of ornithine and arginase, and lower levels of bilirubin and arginine. According to a blood test, scientists were even able to predict the severity of the disease.

[Interesting]

June 8, 2022

More than 20 types of amino acids have been found on the asteroid Ryugu.

Samples from the surface of the asteroid were collected by the Japanese Hayabusa-2 spacecraft and delivered to Earth at the end of 2020. Amino acids are necessary for living beings, and this discovery can become an argument in favor of the extraterrestrial origin of life on our planet.

[Interesting]

June 7, 2022

The UK is testing a four-day work week.

More than three thousand employees from 70 companies are participating in the experiment. The experiment is carried out according to the "100:80:100" model. This means that the British will receive 100% of the salary, reducing working hours by up to 80%, but maintaining 100% productivity. The productivity and well-being of employees will be monitored by scientists from Oxford and Cambridge for six months. The results of their study will show whether the 32-hour work week is effective. Prior to this, the short work week was tested in Iceland for four years. It turned out that the productivity is the same, there is more happiness, and less burnout.

[Interesting]

June 7, 2022

Under the ice of Antarctica found a river with microscopic animals

New Zealand scientists have found a "lost world" under the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. This is a river under a half-kilometer layer of ice, in which small shrimp-like creatures live. Amphipods live in the subglacial river: arthropods five millimeters in size, relatives of lobsters and crabs. Scientists know that under the ice of Antarctica there is a network of freshwater reservoirs, but they are practically not studied. The researchers left the camera and other equipment in the drilled hole. It will help to find out what is the uniqueness of these waters.

[Interesting]

June 7, 2022

Men with high testosterone levels are less likely to be unemployed

High testosterone levels in men reduce the risk of unemployment. These conclusions were made by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. For more than a decade, they have followed the fate of two thousand Britons aged 25-64 and found an association between androgen levels with behavior and cognitive processes that affect job search. In the future, the study wants to find out whether testosterone affects the successful employment of women.

[Interesting]

June 7, 2022

The Hokkaido Zoo has installed vending machines for the sale of wool and animal skin.

The Japanese very quickly take apart pony hair, shed skin of a rat snake, polar bear fur.

[Interesting]

June 7, 2022

Lemon contains more sugar than strawberries.

The sugar content in lemon fruits is up to three and a half percent, while the sugar content in strawberries is six to nine and a half percent: it is obvious that strawberries have two to three times more sugar than lemon fruits. However, if calculated by weight, it turns out that one lemon is sweeter than 1 strawberry. The weight of one lemon is 100 grams, which means it has 3 grams of sugar, and the weight of one strawberry is 20 grams, which means it has only 1.2 grams of sugar.

[Interesting]

June 6, 2022

The number of stars in the Universe exceeds the total number of grains of sand of all the deserts and beaches of the Earth.

This is evidenced by the calculations made by the Australian astronomer Simon Driver. The number of stars visible today with the most modern telescopes alone is 70 billion trillion, represented by a seven followed by 22 zeros.

[Interesting]

June 6, 2022

The meaning of the word "freelancer".

The word "freelancer" was originally used in the 1800s to refer to a medieval mercenary fighting for whichever country or person would pay him the most.

[Interesting]

June 6, 2022

The Buick Wildcat EV concept helps the driver relieve stress

The company claims that the Wildcat EV concept will be a platform for testing technologies that can be used in future models of the brand. For example, artificial intelligence, aromatherapy and biometrics. These systems are able to detect the passenger's heart rate spike and activate Zen mode, dimming the cabin lights, releasing aromatic scents and activating the massage seats to normalize physiological parameters. The first mass-produced electric car from Buick will appear no earlier than 2024.

[Interesting]

June 6, 2022

Bloomberg has calculated that electric transport reduces the consumption of oil by about 1.5 million barrels per day.

The figure is serious - it is more than a percent. True, there is a classic manipulation of facts. The headline wants everyone to think that it's about Tesla and other cars. However, the Bloomberg chart clearly shows that 2/3 of this figure falls on two and three-wheeled electric vehicles. That is, for all kinds of scooters and mopeds. Buses follow, and we are almost sure that for the sake of beauty, the pictures also included trolleybuses riding on centuries-old technologies. Well, directly four-wheeled electric vehicles are just a speck of savings. And Bloomberg also forgot to calculate how much oil is spent on creating electric vehicles and charging them.

[Interesting]

June 6, 2022

Scientists have calculated how many aggressive alien civilizations can exist within our galaxy.

Calculations have shown that 15,785 alien civilizations may exist in the Milky Way. Further, the formulas of aggression were taken into account, showing that the chance of an advanced civilization being aggressive towards another is 0.0014%. That is, in the Milky Way, according to the equation 0.22, there are aggressive planets with aliens. However, if we take into account not only advanced civilizations but also incapable of interstellar travel like ours, the figure jumps to 4.42. The calculations were based on the Drake equation.

[Interesting]

June 6, 2022

Did you know that the demand for the Dior Sauvage fragrance, whose face is Johnny Depp, has skyrocketed in the last weeks of the trial!

Searches on Google and TikTok also grew by about 60%. Now this fragrance is considered the most popular in the world!

[Interesting]

June 5, 2022

Interesting facts about Koalas.

The weight of a newborn baby Koala is extremely small - only 6 grams. Koala loves to sleep so much that he does it 18-22 hours a day. Koalas are the most peaceful and completely non-aggressive animals. They can't even take care of themselves.

[Interesting]

June 5, 2022

If dyes were not added to Coca-Cola, then it would be green.

It seems to be okay - there are a lot of green drinks. But with what they "paint" the famous Coca-Coly, it's really curious. According to the results of the research, it was found that the composition of the mysterious extract of "Coca-Cola" - one of the ingredients of the drink includes a natural dye carmine or food additive "cochinelle", it is also carminic acid, which has been assigned the international index E-120. What is a cochineal? Cochinel is a species of insects of the families of the coccid suborder, from the females of these insects they get carmine - red paint (the color of the Cola label).

[Interesting]

June 5, 2022

They have lost a lot.

More than 3.5 billion people in the world (almost half of the world's population) have never seen snow.

[Interesting]

June 5, 2022

Scottish engineers have created ultra-sensitive electronic skin for prosthetics.

She reacts to heat, cold, pain and learns from her feelings. Engineers took as a basis the mechanisms of the human peripheral nervous system - it processes sensory information and transmits it to the brain. The e-skin-covered roboarm quickly recoils upon contact with unpleasant stimuli. The speed is driven by a network of synaptic transistors - learning devices that simultaneously process and store information, just like the human brain. The network of synaptic transistors in the material is the main difference between this electronic skin and analogues. Other types of artificial leather use computer-connected temperature and pressure sensors. The transfer of information between them slows down the reaction to stimuli.

[Interesting]

June 5, 2022

Japanese scientists have set a world data transfer speed record.

The specialists managed to transmit data over 51.7 km at a speed of 1.02 Pbps. The speed of 1 Pbps makes it possible to broadcast 10 million video channels per second with a resolution of 8K. The new record is 100,000 times faster than today's maximum home internet speed. It is also interesting that such results were shown using a four-wire cable. Previously, speeds of 1 Pbps+ could only be achieved with a 15-core cable.

[Interesting]

June 5, 2022

Rats have been trained to find people under rubble after earthquakes.

The rescue rats were trained by the APOPO organization (Tanzania). The rats are wearing tiny backpacks with a microphone, video equipment and a location tracker. With their help, rescuers can communicate with survivors. Because of their agility and small size, rats are great at finding people. It takes only 2 weeks to train them.

[Interesting]

June 5, 2022