With the rise of mass media channels and then the internet, production rates of scientific papers have skyrocketed since the 80s. No longer meant for the scientific community only, scientific studies are now geared toward a wider population as they circulate the world through social media portals and news channels.
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With such a crazy output, no one has time to follow every scientific study that mass media tries to throw in our faces, so let’s explore the 5 most relevant and interesting studies that may actually cause you to rethink some aspect of your life.
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Early Warning Weather Forecasting Systems
Modern scientists can extrapolate the exact landing site of an asteroid, hurtling toward the earth from millions of miles away, down to the nearest meter, but cannot reliably predict weather beyond the next few days. Weather is notoriously chaotic, meaning it is absolutely determinable in theory but too multi-variable and complicated for complete human analyses.
A great deal of work involving massive scientific talent has gone into designing early warning systems for the weather with already some tangible results. But these industry-leading scientists didn’t work through restless nights, so you can better plan your vacation. The main goal was to predict earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural hazards.
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Exercise can Alter Genetic Makeup
HealthDay News reports that a new comparative study conducted between twin siblings indicates that physical exercise can alter and enhance genetic makeup.
Prior to the study, it was conventionally thought that exercise benefitted the health and physical condition of the individual only, with no discernible benefits being passed down to the offspring. The development of species and generations as a whole is for the wider evolution to deal with!
Based on this groundbreaking study, we can conclude to a reasonable degree of certainty that physical fitness can positively affect and reshape our genes, with the resulting benefits being transferred to our children.
If you needed further incentive to scrape your bottom off the couch and work out, here it is.
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High-Intensity Learning is Counterproductive
Multiple studies on the science of learning agreed on the negative overall effects of fast-paced learning. Researchers in one such study tasked 10 student subjects to learn a given material in varying stretches of time and had them each do two tests, one immediately after and the other 3 months after the learning process was over. While the fast-paced half of the group excelled in test 1 (since the information was recent and fresh), the ‘slow learners’ showed a much deeper visceral understanding and long-term retainment of the subject and much higher test results 2. So next time when you need help writing essays, don’t hesitate to hire a writer online to ease the load instead of ‘cheating yourself.’ As parents like to say, you might actually be doing your overall learning a favor.
When soaking in new information, the brain needs some gestation period to build new neural pathways and synapses. When learning too much in too little time, as so many students do before a test, previous knowledge gets built over by new data, as the brain can't keep up with the information influx to build new synapses. Moreover, this hastily acquired knowledge doesn't have time to settle and quickly evaporates. More than a dozen similar studies were conducted on this matter to improve quality data, exclude happenstance, and verify the accuracy of the results, so take their word for it.
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Can Squirrels Help Us Build More Capable Robots?
Squirrels will take a chance on a long leap to cross a treetop if there is a strong branch to land on. A squirrel's expert-level recovery skills—possibly gained from earlier errors—help them almost always stick the landing, even if their next halt is tenuous. Researchers behind the study at the University of Nebraska believe the next generation of swift, nimble robots may be able to recognize chances to take advantage of certain features of their environment that directly supplement their own abilities. Modern robots seem clumsy and stiff. Studying squirrels' agility and recovery skills might help design robots that are more nimble and adaptive to their environment.
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Untangling Quantum Entanglement
Now to the serious stuff. Albert Einstein famously called quantum entanglement “Spooky action at a distance.” No question, Quantum physics is an unintuitive, esoteric, weird mess (for us, common folk), but it is an all-encompassing scientific field promising to subsume relativity and replace it as the most fundamental scientific theory.
Late last year, three pioneering quantum physicists made a leap in understanding the field and were awarded a Nobel Prize for their work. This is particularly important for establishing the framework for advances in quantum encryption, which might enable secure communications, as well as quantum computers, which could perform complicated computations that would be unfeasible on a regular computer.
Final Thoughts
As mentioned in the introduction, scientific studies are no longer geared exclusively toward the scientific community. Being meant for the consumption of wider masses means the esoteric substance needs to be adapted and simplified for easy digestibility by laymen. Dumbing down complicated science to the comprehensibility level of an average reader means the substance can get distorted and misinterpreted by scientifically unconscientious readers, so tread lightly when drawing definitive conclusions. The marketing aspect of scientific research sullies scientific purity as it introduces financial interest and prioritizes ‘’interesting’’ over ‘’accurate’’. Headlines like ‘’chocolate causes cancer’’ or ‘’wearing yellow clothes doubles the risk of miscarriage’’ should always be taken with a grain of salt, as they’re usually driven by the desire to draw public attention and cause a stir rather than spending the honest word of science.
Author’s bio
A popular news blogger, experienced student counselor, and an accomplished writer, Diane Sherron knows everything there is to know about best academic writing practices and how to compel the reader and draw in diverse audiences. Her advice enables pupils to write more swiftly, convincingly, and authoritatively. Diane is a practicing bilingual, and Further compounding her completeness as a writer, she has done extensive translation work on a freelance basis - localizing content to fit a particular culture.
