Scientists Believe They Have Just Discovered A Parallel Universe

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Scientists believe they may have caught a glimpse of a parallel universe bumping up against ours.

They've seen hints in signals from the most distant points of the universe that suggest the fabric of our universe has been disrupted by another incredibly different universe. Their analysis may be the proof for the multiverse theory.

According to researchers: "Dr Ranga-Ram Chary examined the noise and residual signals in the cosmic microwave background left over from the Big Bang (pictured) and found a number of scattered bright spots which he believes may be signals of another universe bumping into our own billions of years ago."

At least that's the tentative conclusion researchers have come to. According to some cosmological theories, collisions of alternative universes should be possible. Theories conclude that our universe is like a bubble among many.

Once a universe begins in a big bang type setting, it never stops expanding. That goes for all the universes. So it makes sense they'd periodically bump into one another.

They're all likely in a row, say researchers, vibrating, bouncing around, and rubbing up on each other.

Dr. Chary believes that the signal he's received indicate that this other universe is extremely different from our own.

He says it could have a ratio of subatomic particles called photos and baryons that are about 10 fold greater than in our universe.

Dr. Chary explains, “The fine tuning of parameters in the early universe required to reproduce our present day universe suggests that our universe may simply be a region within an eternally inflating super-region.

Many other regions beyond our observable universe would exist with each such region governed by a different set of physical parameters than the ones we have measured for our universe."

More research will need to be done, but this could be the beginning of some very interesting discoveries.

Source : news.sci-nature.com

Treasure Hunter Discovers Mysterious Underwater Structure in the Atlantic Ocean

image crédit : Google Earth

A treasure hunter from the Discovery Channel claimed that he discovered a potential extraterrestrial structure at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near Florida's coast. Darrell Miklos, the host of the show "Cooper's Treasure," was searching for an English shipwreck when he came across the discovery 300 feet below the Bermuda Triangle.

Miklos used maps created by his late friend, NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper, to search for treasure in the Caribbean Sea. Cooper was a firm believer in extraterrestrial life and had claimed to have seen UFOs during his time in the Air Force. Miklos says that Cooper passed on an alleged treasure map to him before his death in 2004.

The object Miklos discovered is referred to as a USO, or an Unidentified Submerged Object. It features 15, 300-foot-long arms extending from a central object, covered in coral that scientists believe could be thousands of years old. They also stated that the coral couldn't have grown in that formation naturally.

Miklos and the production company behind "Cooper's Treasure," AMPLE Entertainment, hope to investigate further and gain funding for a third season of the show. The founder of AMPLE, Ari Mark, stated that they want to uncover the truth behind Miklos' discovery and determine if it supports Cooper's belief in extraterrestrial life.

Although Miklos was surprised by the discovery, he wants to investigate further before making any conclusions. For now, he isn't saying it was aliens, but the possibility remains open.

When and where will the next earthquake happen ?

 In general, regions that are subject to significant seismic activity include subduction zones, active faults, and mountain-forming zones, but it remains very difficult to accurately predict when an earthquake will happen.

However, there are several regions in the world that are considered to be at higher risk of earthquakes due to their geological activity. Some of these regions include:

* The West Coast of the United States, particularly California: this region is on the edge of the Pacific Plate tectonic plate and is seismically active.

* Japan: Japan is on the Pacific Plate tectonic fault line and is exposed to many significant earthquakes and tsunamis.

* The Andes Mountain range in South America: the formation of these mountains is due to the collision of tectonic plates, making the region subject to seismic activity.

* The Himalayan Alps: the Himalaya is forming due to the collision between the Indian and Asian tectonic plates, which can result in significant seismic activity in the region.

* The Middle East: this region is on the Red Sea fault, which is a collision zone between the African and Arabian tectonic plates, resulting in high seismic activity.

Ultimately, it is important to prepare for an earthquake by knowing the proper safety practices and having an emergency plan in place, no matter where you are.

Quand et où aura lieu le prochain séisme ?

En général, les régions qui sont sujettes à des activités sismiques importantes incluent les zones de subduction, les failles actives et les zones de formation de montagnes, mais il reste très difficile de prédire avec exactitude quand aura lieu un séisme.

Il existe cependant plusieurs régions dans le monde qui sont considérées comme étant plus à risque d'avoir des séismes en raison de leur activité géologique. Certaines de ces régions incluent :

*  La côte Ouest des États-Unis, en particulier la Californie : cette région se trouve sur le bord de la plaque tectonique de la plaque pacifique et est très active sismiquement.

*  Le Japon : le Japon se trouve sur la ligne de faille de la plaque tectonique pacifique et est exposé à de nombreux séismes importants, ainsi qu'à des tsunamis.

*  La chaîne de montagnes Andes en Amérique du Sud : la formation de ces montagnes est due à la collision des plaques tectoniques, ce qui rend la région sujette à des activités sismiques.

*  Les Alpes himalayennes : l'Himalaya est en train de se former en raison de la collision entre les plaques tectoniques de l'Inde et de l'Asie, ce qui peut entraîner des activités sismiques importantes dans la région.

*  Le Moyen-Orient : cette région se trouve sur la faille de la mer Rouge, qui est une zone de collision entre les plaques tectoniques africaine et arabique, entraînant une activité sismique élevée.

En fin de compte, il est important de se préparer à un séisme en connaissant les bonnes pratiques de sécurité et en ayant un plan d'urgence en place, peu importe où vous vous trouvez.

The hollow moon theory

This theory was first proposed in the 1950s and 1960s by Russian scientists who suggested that the Moon might be empty inside. However, this theory has never been proven and is considered by most scientists as unlikely.

Scientific evidence such as high-resolution images obtained by lunar probes and geological studies have shown that the Moon is actually solid and made up of rocks and metals. Furthermore, recent discoveries of frozen water on the surface of the Moon have also contributed to discrediting the hollow Moon theory.

In conclusion, although the theory that the Moon is hollow has been around for decades, it has never been proven and is widely considered as unlikely by the scientific community. The current scientific evidence indicates that the Moon is actually solid and made up of rocks and metals." 

Chinese scientists build robot nanny to look after babies in artificial womb

Parents of the future rejoice! Scientists in China have developed an AI nanny that they say could one day take care of human fetuses in a lab.

Researchers in Suzhou, China, claim to have created a system that can monitor and care for embryos as they grow into fetuses while growing inside an artificial womb, The South China Morning Post reports.

The robotic nanny is already reportedly caring for a number of animal embryos. Experimentation on human embryos, however, is still forbidden under international law, as the newspaper points out.

The team published their findings in the Journal of Biomedical Engineering last month. In the paper, they detail an “online monitoring system” designed for the “long-term culture of embryos.”

The system could theoretically allow parents to grow a baby in a lab, thereby eliminating the need for a human to carry a child. The researchers go as far as to say that this system would be safer than traditional childbearing. 

Beyond those claims, though, it remains unclear whether the system could actually bring an embryo, mouse or otherwise, to term.

As it exists right now, the artificial womb is a container that grows a number of mouse embryos in a row of cubes filled with nutritious fluids, according to the paper. 

The AI nanny is reportedly able to monitor the embryos, detect changes, and adjust their artificial environment accordingly. It can even alert a technician in case an embryo develops a defect or dies. 

The technology is still very much in its nascent stages, but a looming population crisis in China is only serving to accelerate its development. 

Read more on futurism.com

Everything we see is a mash-up of the brain’s last 15 seconds of visual information

Our eyes are continuously bombarded by an enormous amount of visual information – millions of shapes, colours and ever-changing motion all around us. For the brain, this is no easy feat. On the one hand, the visual world alters continuously because of changes in light, viewpoint and other factors. On the other, our visual input constantly changes due to blinking and the fact that our eyes, head and body are frequently in motion.

To get an idea of the “noisiness” of this visual input, place a phone in front of your eyes and record a live video while you are walking around and looking at different things. The jittery, messy result is exactly what your brain deals with in every moment of your visual experience. This can be seen also in the video below. The white circle on the right shows potential eye movements, and the blurry blob on the left reveals the jumpy visual input in every moment.

Yet, seeing never feels like work for us. Rather than perceiving the fluctuations and visual noise that a video might record, we perceive a consistently stable environment. So how does our brain create this illusion of stability? This process has fascinated scientists for centuries and it is one of the fundamental questions in vision science.

The time machine brain

In our latest research, we discovered a new mechanism that, among others, can explain this illusory stability. The brain automatically smoothes our visual input over time. Instead of analysing every single visual snapshot, we perceive in a given moment an average of what we saw in the past 15 seconds. So, by pulling together objects to appear more similar to each other, our brain tricks us into perceiving a stable environment. Living “in the past” can explain why we do not notice subtle changes that occur over time.

In other words, the brain is like a time machine which keeps sending us back in time. It’s like an app that consolidates our visual input every 15 seconds into one impression so that we can handle everyday life. If our brains were always updating in real time, the world would feel like a chaotic place with constant fluctuations in light, shadow and movement. We would feel like we were hallucinating all the time.

We created an illusion to illustrate how this stabilisation mechanism works. Looking at the video below, the face on the left side slowly ages for 30 seconds, and yet, it is very difficult to notice the full extent of the change in age. In fact, observers perceive the face as ageing more slowly than it actually is.

To test this illusion we recruited hundreds of participants and asked them to view close-ups of faces morphing chronologically in age in 30-second timelapse videos. When asked to tell the age of the face at the very end of the video, the participants almost consistently reported the age of the face that was presented 15 seconds before.

As we watch the video, we are continuously biased towards the past and so the brain constantly sends us back to the previous ten to 15 seconds (where the face was younger). Instead of seeing the latest image in real time, humans actually see earlier versions because our brain’s refresh time is about 15 seconds. So this illusion demonstrates that visual smoothing over time can help stabilise perception.

Read more on theconversation.com

Découverte d'un nouveau virus NeoCoV potentiellement transmissible à l'homme

Un nouveau virus connu sous le nom de NeoCoV a été découvert, et pourrait être très transmissible – avec une mutation – selon une nouvelle étude menée par des scientifiques chinois de Wuhan, rapporte le Jérusalem Post.

Selon l'étude préliminaire, le NeoCoV est un type de coronavirus détecté à l'origine en Afrique du Sud, qui serait lié au virus MERS-CoV, également connu sous le nom de syndrome respiratoire du Moyen-Orient (MERS), qui a déjà donné lieu à des épidémies dans plusieurs pays du Moyen-Orient.

A l'heure actuelle, aucune transmission à l'homme n'a encore été identifiée, mais selon les chercheurs, cette mutation serait potentiellement dangereuse pour la vie des humains.

De plus, selon l'étude, les anticorps ciblant à la fois le SRAS-CoV-2, qui cause le Covid-19, et le MERS-CoV n'ont pas été en mesure de stopper le NeoCoV.

"La question de savoir si le virus détecté dans l'étude présentera un risque pour l'homme nécessitera une étude plus approfondie", a déclaré l'organisation à l'agence de presse russe TASS, ajoutant qu'elle "travaillait en étroite collaboration" avec l'Organisation mondiale de la santé animale (OIE), le ministère de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture internationale (FAO) et le Programme des Nations unies pour l'environnement (PNUE) afin de "surveiller et répondre à la menace des virus zoonotiques émergents".

Le Covid-19 a fait plus de 5 millions de morts dans le monde depuis son apparition.

Source :  i24news.tv

NeoCov: Doctors advise not to panic

Even as reports emerge of a new lethal variant called 'NeoCov' that requires only one mutation to infiltrate human cells, doctors on Saturday advised people not to panic

NeoCoV has been discovered by scientists from the Wuhan University in China in a bat population in South Africa.

While it has only been known to spread among these animals to date, the variant has shown the potential to penetrate human cells in the same way as the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

"Currently, there is no direct evidence that NeoCov affects the human body, and we should not panic or get stressed," Dr Rahul Pandit, Member of National and Maharashtra's Covid-19 Taskforce.

"There are many viruses in the world that are yet to be discovered and whose characteristics are not known. We are going through a challenging time and should focus on managing the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. I advise people not to panic, keep their guard up and follow Covid-19 appropriate protocols," added Pandit, who is also Director-Critical Care, Fortis Hospitals Mumbai.

According to the research on NeoCov, posted on preprint and not been peer-reviewed yet, the variant carries the combination of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS)-CoV mortality rate (where one in every three infected persons may die) and the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus' high transmission rate.

"It is only one mutation away from becoming dangerous for humans," the researchers said.

But, Dr Dhiren Gupta from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi stated that the variant's transmission to humans is still a "scientific speculation" and "hypothesis".

"This NeoCov is very different from SARS-CoV virus (sarbecovirus) and belongs to merbecovirus which is a different genus.

"It cannot infect human ACE2 (scientists are speculating if it can combine with SARS and start affecting humans). This is a hypothesis raised by scientists (which is not unusual in science)," Gupta said.

He added that the theory that "one out of three may die is just an hypothesis, which social media made headlines".

"It's just a hypothesis turning into sensationalist doomsday predictions," Gupta said. 

Read more on nationalheraldindia.com

Unknown space object beaming out radio signals every 18 minutes remains a mystery

 

While mapping radio waves across the universe, astronomers happened upon a celestial object releasing giant bursts of energy -- and it's unlike anything they've ever seen before.

The spinning space object, spotted in March 2018, beamed out radiation three times per hour. In those moments, it became the brightest source of radio waves viewable from Earth, acting like a celestial lighthouse.

Astronomers think it might be a remnant of a collapsed star, either a dense neutron star or a dead white dwarf star, with a strong magnetic field -- or it could be something else entirely.

A study on the discovery published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations," said lead study author Natasha Hurley-Walker, an astrophysicist at the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, in a statement.

"That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there's nothing known in the sky that does that. And it's really quite close to us -- about 4,000 light-years away. It's in our galactic backyard."

Curtin University doctoral student Tyrone O'Doherty made the unusual discovery while using the Murchison Widefield Array telescope in the outback of Western Australia.

"It's exciting that the source I identified last year has turned out to be such a peculiar object," O'Doherty said in a statement. "The MWA's wide field of view and extreme sensitivity are perfect for surveying the entire sky and detecting the unexpected."

"When studying transients, you're watching the death of a massive star or the activity of the remnants it leaves behind," said study coauthor Gemma Anderson, ICRAR-Curtin astrophysicist, in a statement. "'Slow transients' -- like supernovae -- might appear over the course of a few days and disappear after a few months. 'Fast transients' -- like a type of neutron star called a pulsar -- flash on and off within milliseconds or seconds."

This new, incredibly bright object, however, only turned on for about a minute every 18 minutes. The researchers said their observations might match up with the definition of an ultra-long period magnetar. Magnetars usually flare by the second, but this object takes longer.

Read more on cnn.com

Il existe un dinosaure deux fois plus long et cinq fois plus lourd que le T-REX

Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis est officiellement le dinosaure qui détrône tous ceux connus jusqu'à présent. Cet animal est un gigantesque prédateur que les paléontologues placent désormais au sommet de la chaîne alimentaire. Ce dinosaure est un carcharodontosaure, ou dinosaure à dents de requin, comme son cousin et concurrent le tyrannosaure.

Il y a 90 millions d'années, ce carnivore errait en Asie et plus particulièrement dans l'actuel Ouzbékistan, d'où son nom scientifique. «Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis» fait écho à l'astronome, mathématicien et sultan Ulugh Beg qui régnait sur ce territoire au XVe siècle. Un morceau de mâchoire a permis d'identifier cette nouvelle espèce présente dans la région. Découvert dans les années 1980 dans le désert de Kyzylkoum, le squelette a ensuite été oublié dans la collection d'un musée ouzbek. Mais en 2019, des chercheurs sont à nouveau tombés dessus.

Un mastodonte entre l'éléphant et le bison

L'équipe de paléontologues a été surprise par la taille et le poids de ce dinosaure, rapporte ScienceAlert. Deux fois plus long et cinq fois plus lourd que le tyrannosaure Timurlengia, le prédateur se place à mi-chemin entre l'éléphant d'Afrique et le bison. En effet, Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis mesure huit mètres de long et pèse près d'une tonne.

Les scientifiques estiment qu'il engloutissant des dinosaures à cornes et des sauropodes à long cou grâce à ses dents de requin. Pour Peter Makovicky, professeur en paléontologie à l'Université du Minnesota, la mâchoire d'Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis «est si grosse qu'elle aurait fait de lui un important prédateur et probablement celui au sommet de son écosystème».

Selon les chercheurs, les carcharodontosaures ont disparu il y a environ 80 millions d'années, laissant la place au tyrannosaure qui a pris le relais à la tête de la chaîne alimentaire en Asie et en Amérique du Nord.

Source : slate.fr

Des ânes hybrides pour faire la guerre il y a 4.500 ans

 Avant l'introduction du cheval domestique, les Mésopotamiens ont effectué des croisements entre espèces afin de générer une monture prestigieuse et utile à la guerre. Une hybridation entre équidés a permis de créer le kunga, un animal qui avait hérité des caractéristiques avantageuses de ses deux parents puisqu'il était à la fois docile, rapide et fort.

Il y a environ 4.500 ans, en Mésopotamie, des représentations et des textes ont été produits qui montrent qu'une élite de personnes utilisait des équidés, non seulement pour se déplacer en temps normal mais également pour faire la guerre. Or, la présence de chevaux domestiqués n'a été rapportée qu'à partir de 4.000 ans en arrière dans cette région, ce qui signifie que les équidés, appelés kungas, utilisés par les Sumériens n'étaient pas des chevaux domestiques.

Afin de comprendre quelle était la nature de ces mystérieux et précieux animaux, une équipe spécialisée en paléogénomique a analysé les génomes de certains kungas identifiés par une archéozoologue et enterrés dans des tombes séparées. Ils étaient inhumés dans le complexe funéraire princier d'Umm el-Marra, situé à 60 kilomètres à l'est de la ville d'Alep, en Syrie.

Ce site a été fondé au cours des premiers événements d'urbanisation et a été occupé tout au long de l'Âge du bronze (entre 2.700 et 800 ans avant J.-C. environ). Les résultats de l'étude du génome de ces individus ont été publiés dans le journal Science Advances.

Une hybridation bien pensée

Ils ont ainsi pu identifier que les kungas étaient le résultat d'un croisement entre une ânesse domestique (Equus asinus) et un hémione (Equus hemionus). Les hémiones sont des ânes sauvages et les auteurs ont pu analyser l'ADN de ces spécimens récents ainsi que d'un individu provenant du site de Göbekli Tepe (fondé il y a au moins 11.000 ans en arrière). Les kungas étaient par ailleurs stériles, ce qui signifie que les populations qui les utilisaient devaient forcer chaque croisement afin d'obtenir la précieuse monture.

Un tel résultat d'hybridation au sein des équidés n'est pas surprenant, il rappelle notamment le cas du bardot, issu du croisement entre un étalon (Equus caballus) et une ânesse, ainsi que du mulet, issu de l'hybridation entre un âne et une jument domestique. Par sa mère, le kunga devait donc être relativement docile et de par son père, il était probablement plus fort et plus rapide que les ânes domestiques.

S'il devait être aisé de favoriser les reproductions entre ânes et ânesses domestiques, la production de kungas devait être beaucoup plus contraignante car il était nécessaire de capturer et de canaliser des hémiones sauvages pour la reproduction. La difficulté de reproduction est probablement la raison pour laquelle les kungas ont ensuite été supplantés par les chevaux domestiques lorsque ceux-ci ont été introduits depuis les steppes d'Europe de l'Est.

Source : futura-sciences.com

Sliding Mount Etna may trigger catastrophic Mediterranean Tsunami

Europe’s largest active volcano is slipping into the ocean, sparking concern it could cause a massive tsunami. Scientists investigating Mount Etna in Sicily believe the current slow movements could accelerate.

The study by the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany measured its advance through underwater pressure sensors.

It concluded that one day Mount Etna will collapse into the Ionian Sea, putting communities around the Mediterranean region at risk.

Such an event would see falling volcanic debris causing giant waves and potentially trigger a tsunami. But researchers are unable to tell whether this will happen in years or centuries.

Previous studies indicated Mount Etna’s movement was confined to its summit through the effect of magma swirling inside the volcano.

But analysis of the sea bed from pressure sensors around the site showed the volcano’s sliding movements are over a far wider area.

“Mount Etna is huge. It’s over 3000m high and it rises up from below sea level,” Dr Morelia Urlaub, of the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany, told the Independent.

“It’s really heavy, and it grows continuously.”

Dr Urlaub said the landslide is advancing at a snail’s pace of 4cms in 15 months, “but there is a danger that it could accelerate and form a landslide that moves really fast into the sea”.

While the information gives scientists a better idea of Mount Etna’s movements, he said predicting when it collapses remains difficult.

“It could happen in 10 or 100 or 100,000 years - we can’t tell.”


Source : 9news.com.au

Fasting For Three Days Can Regenerate Entire Immune System

A person’s entire immune system can be rejuvenated by fasting for as little as three days as it triggers the body to start producing new white blood cells, a study suggests.

Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as “remarkable”.

Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection.

Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.

It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even common diseases.

The researchers say fasting “flips a regenerative switch” which prompts stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system.


Source : thehealthyarchive

La Nasa photographie un iceberg parfaitement rectangulaire en Antarctique

Il ressemble à une planche découpée à la scie. Une équipe de la Nasa a repéré et photographié un iceberg parfaitement rectangulaire, en Antarctique, dans le cadre de son opération IceBridge. Deux icebergs, même, ont été aperçus mais le second est nettement moins bien découpé. "Je n'en avais jamais vu avec des angles aussi droits", témoigne le photographe de la Nasa Jeremy Harbeck, sur le site de l'agence spatiale (en anglais), mardi 23 octobre.

Cet iceberg aux angles parfaits "semble s'être détaché récemment de la barrière de Larsen", une barrière de glace, ajoute la Nasa. Plus précisément, il vient de Larsen C qui avait déjà libéré l'iceberg géant A68, en juillet 2017. Et sa forme est tout à fait naturelle.

"Il y a deux types d'iceberg", résume Kelly Brunt, glaciologue pour la Nasa, à Live Science (en anglais). "Celui que tout le monde peut imaginer couler le Titanic, en forme de prisme, avec une partie immergée énorme, et les icebergs tabulaires", explique-t-elle. Les icebergs tabulaires sont vastes et plats, et leur partie immergée est tout aussi régulière. Ils se détachent des barrières de glace, "comme un ongle qui pousse trop et qui se casse". Ces icebergs-là ont souvent des formes géométriques et des bords rectilignes, comme l'explique Catherine Ritz, directrice de recherche au CNRS, à franceinfo :  "La glace s'étend et se déforme. La traction vient de loin et il n'y a pas de force qui va créer des zigzags." 


Source : francetvinfo.fr

E-Cigs Have 10x More Cancer Causing Ingredients Than Regular Cigarettes

Japanese scientists announced that e-cigarettes contain 10 times the level of cancer-causing carcinogens than its counterpart in the tobacco world. At one time, e-cigarettes were touted as the answer to smoking without the complication of so many dangers.

The electronic nicotine products have increased in popularity with many believing that they are receiving a hit of nicotine without the health damage of a normal cigarette, laden with chemicals.

However, the research commissioned by the Japanese Ministry of Health found formaldehyde and acetaldehyde carcinogens in the liquid produced by a number of e-cigarette products, a health ministry official stated.

The group also learned that e-cigarettes can fuel potentially  life-threatening drug-resistant pathogens. This is based on lab study where they tested e-cigs vapor on live methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and human cells.

The formaldehyde carcinogen was found to be much more present in the e-cigarette liquids than in the chemicals used in regular cigarettes, according to the official.

“In one brand of e-cigarette the team found more than 10 times the level of carcinogens contained in one regular cigarette,” said researcher Naoki Kunugita.

“Especially when the wire (which vaporizes the liquid) gets overheated, higher amounts of those harmful substances seemed to be produced.”

However, Kunugita added that the levels of the formaldehyde carcinogen fluctuated in the final results.

“You call them e-cigarettes, but they are products totally different from regular tobacco,” the Japanese health ministry official said.

“The government is now studying the possible risks associated with them, with view to looking at how they should be regulated.”

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged governments to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors because of the “serious threat” posed to them.

The UN health agency said that despite the lack of evidence on the damage caused by e-cigarettes, there was enough “to caution children and adolescents, pregnant women, and women of reproductive age” about their use, adding that they should be outlawed from indoor public spaces.

According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “More than a quarter of a million youth who had never smoked a cigarette used electronic cigarettes in 2013, according to a CDC study published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. This number reflects a three-fold increase, from about 79,000 in 2011, to more than 263,000 in 2013.”


Source: blog.xposethereal.com

The Strange Indonesian Herb that Supercharges Testosterone

Low testosterone is not just an old man’s problem. Many men in their 30s and 40s fall prey to low testosterone counts — and their muscle mass, competitive vitality and even libido suffer. But you can reverse that natural decline, boost growth hormone, to build muscle and lose belly fat and recharge your sexual prowess — all naturally!  
The secret is a unique extract from a rare Indonesian tree called Tongkat Ali, most popularly found in the new dietary supplement Adaptophen.

Tongkat Ali is often described as "nature's answer to steroids." The tree root extract native to Malaysia and Indonesia has been shown to radically upregulate the body's natural production of the anabolic hormone testosterone. It is also gaining interest among athletes because when you increase testosterone levels in your body, you can increase your muscle mass and your strength while getting rid of bodyfat — especially from your belly.

One 2013 study just published in the one of the nation's leading Sports Medicine journals found that men taking this supplement for only 28 days saw a stunning 37% boost in free testosterone levels — the highest amount ever recorded in men using a natural dietary supplement.

A separate 2014 study published in the journal Andrologia concludes, "Tongkat Ali is a natural alternative to Testosterone-Replacement Therapy and has been shown to restore serum testosterone levels, thus significantly improving sexual health and reduced fat mass."


Lire la suite sur  http://www.hlifestyles.com

What These Divers Found Hidden Deep In The Ocean Seems Like Science Fiction

How amazing would it be to an aquatic explorer? You'd spend your life looking for the lost remnants of ships from the past, deep below the ocean's surface. You'd find lost treasure and other valuables scattered across the ocean floor or in old shipwrecks. Maybe one day you'd find the mother of all aquatic treasures – the lost city of Atlantis. (Plus... sharks!) Underwater archaeologist Frank Goddio may not have found Atlantis, but he found something close.

In the Mediterranean Sea, in the Abu Qir Bay on the coast of Egypt, there lies the sunken Egytian city of Thonis-Heracleion.

That's right, a sunken city, lost thousands of years ago, was found in the Mediterranean Sea.

Read More & more pictures here: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com

Hikers "walk on air" in Slovakia: Glasslike frozen lake discovered

Slovakian hiker Tomas Nunuk, 38, of Bratislava, made the 38-second video of him and his friends walking on the crystal clear ice after hiking up the country's High Tatras mountain range. Some commenters were amazed to see the three on the transparent frozen lake. But others doubted the clip was real.
A spectacular video of an incredible frozen lake whose ice is like a clear sheet of glass, allowing for a perfect view of the bottom, has gone viral.
Slovak hiker Tomas Nunuk, 38, of Bratislava, made the short video of him and his friends walking on the crystal clear ice after hiking up Slovakia's High Tatras mountain range.
The video, titled "Walking on beautiful clean ice in Slovakian Mountains," was posted Monday on YouTube and quickly generated 500,000 views in a couple of days.

Some commenters were amazed at the 38-second footage that shows the three hikers walking across the transparent frozen lake. But others doubted the clip was real.
YouTube user Shawn G wrote: "I've never seen ice that clear in my life. And I'm Canadian, so I've seen quite a bit of ice."
Narwhal Bacon, a video analyzer and Redditor, agreed. "Last time I tried this with such clear ice, it just collapsed from under my feet. I'm calling fake on this one guys,” he said.

But others were convinced it was genuine, like John Callaghan, who sarcastically wrote: "Yep, the guy who was filmed was wearing airboots, then they Photoshopped those away, a few hundred thousand square metres of cardboard mountains in the background were then added, and of course the one who was filming was suspended from a helicopter, but they Photoshopped the ripples in the water away, and there you have it ... fake (lol)."
Slovak YouTube user Jakub Kutny wrote: "I would advise you to visit this place instead of arguing about the originality of the video."
Experienced tourist Igor Ludma of Slovakia was able to give a scientific explanation for the fact that the ice look like glass.
"It is only possible when the temperatures fall from being relatively mild to very cold very quickly, and at the same time it's important that there has not been any snow which tends to make the ice very cloudy,” he said. “And we have had those conditions lately which would explain this very clear ice.

"It looks like it was about (2 centimeters) thick and it is therefore able to carry a man."

Ludma backed up something noted by several other users: it is possible to hear the cracking of the ice as the hikers walk over it.

The author of the video has not added details about the exact place where the video was filmed. But Slovakians who know their homeland's High Tatras mountains say it’s a lake called Velke Hincovo Pleso.

Velke Hincovo Pleso is located 1944 metres, or 6,300 feet, above sea level in Mengusovska Dolina, under the Koprovsky Stit mountain. The lake is 53.7 metres, or 176 feet, at its deepest point, making it the biggest and the deepest in Slovakia.


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Lipunov s'alarme: Un astéroide gros comme une montagne menace la Terre !

Un astéroïde de la taille d’une montagne : c’est l’objet que l’astrophysicien russe Vladimir Lipunov a découvert fin novembre aux confins du système solaire.
L’astéroïde, baptisé 2014 UR116 décrit une orbite qui croise celle de la Terre tous les trois ans.  Il ne présente pas de menace immédiate mais la situation peut évoluer. Car les trajectoires des astéroïdes de cette taille sont perpétuellement soumises à l’attraction gravitationnelle des autres planètes. «La moindre petite erreur de calcul peut avoir des conséquences cataclysmiques» souligne Vladimir Lipunov qui a mis en ligne sur le site de l’Agence Spatiale Russe une vidéo pédagogique au titre à peine alarmiste : «Asteroid Attack».

2014 UR116 mesure, selon les estimations du professeur à l’Université de Moscou près de 370 mètres de diamètre. C’est bien plus que la fameuse météorite de Chelyabinsk qui en 2013 a semé la panique dans l’Oural. Bien que l’objet de la taille d’un bus se soit fragmenté en entrant dans l’atmosphère terrestre, les débris qui ont touché le sol ont causé des dégâts parfois spectaculaires. On n'ose imaginer la catastrophe que causerait une explosion «mille fois plus puissante». «Il ne faut pas cesser d’étudier la trajectoire pour noter le moindre de ses changements d’orbite» recommande Vladimir Lipunov. Malheureusement, si ce n’est lui, ce sera sans doute son frère qui frappera un jour notre planète : on estime à environ 100 000 le nombre d’astéroïdes et de comètes, assez imposants pour représenter une menace, qui sillonnent notre proche banlieue. Seuls 10% sont recensés et suivis de près…


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