Tag Archives: Science

World’s Tallest Teenager Reaches Record-Breaking 7ft 8ins & He Is Still Growing

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The world’s tallest teenager has reached a record-breaking height of 7ft 8ins and he is still growing.

Broc Brown, who was officially the world’s tallest teenager before becoming too old for the 18-and-below classification, is growing at the rate of six inches a year.

If he maintains that rate, the 19-year-old from Michigan could easily surpass the current world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen, who stands at 8ft 2ins.

His mother, Darci said: “I’d say Broc was around 5ft 2ins when he was in kindergarten. When he got into middle school he was around 6ft tall and by high school he was 7ft tall – he could easily grow six inches in a year. It’s a genetic disorder and there’s nothing that can stop him from growing – I don’t know if he will ever stop.”

He was diagnosed with Sotos Syndrome, known as cerebral gigantism, when he was just five-years-old and his mother was told that he would not outlive his teenage years.

The condition effects one in every 15,000 people but doctors are now confident that Broc will have a normal life span despite his health problems .

Along with his gigantism Broc also suffers from learning difficulties, strain on his heart, curvature of the spine and narrowing of the spinal cord.

He was also born with one kidney so is unable to take painkillers despite suffering constantly with his back.



Laziness Is Actually A Sign Of High Intelligence – Scientists

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Brainy people spend more time lounging around than their less intelligent counterparts, a new study has found.

 

People with a high IQ rarely get bored, leading them to spend more time lost in thought, according to scientists Florida Gulf Coast University.

 

The results suggest that less intelligent people are more prone to boredom, and may use physical activity as a way of alleviating it.

 

Using a decades-old “need for cognition” psychology test, researchers identified 30 students who expressed a strong desire to think a lot, and 30 who were keen to avoid anything too mentally taxing.

 

The test, which was taken online, involves rating how strongly participants agree with statements such as: “I really enjoy a task that involves coming up with new solutions to problems”.

 

 Brain activity

All of the participants – 30 ‘thinkers and 30 ‘non-thinkers’ – then wore a fitness tracker on their wrist for seven days to measure how physically active they were during their everyday lives.

 

The thinkers were found to be significantly less active from Monday to Friday than the non-thinkers.

 

There was no difference between the two groups over the weekend, something that the researchers were unable to explain.

 

While less active people may be more intelligent, the researchers stressed that physical activity is important to avoid the negative health affects of a sedentary lifestyle.

 

As the sample of just 60 students was so limited, further study with a larger sample group, plus non-students from different cultures may be needed to build on the findings.

The study was published in the Journal of Health Psychology .

You Won’t Believe This Incredibly Handsome Male Model Used To Be A Woman

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Ladies, if this guy wooed you, would you even begin to imagine he was once a woman?

Hunky transgender model Laith Ashley, has racked up tens of thousands of Instagram followers thanks to his piercing eyes, broad shoulders, and sexy six-pack. What makes his popularity more exciting is the fact that he used to be a woman

Laith, 26, has been finding success in the modeling world since he started transitioning two years ago, walking in shows for Adrian Alicea and Gypsy Sport during New York Fashion Week this February and even posing for a Barney’s New York campaign with legendary fashion photographer Bruce Weber

“Being a model now is definitely exciting. I’m always shocked when I’m walking to the gym or going to the store and people recognize me. It makes me feel good, but it can be a bit of shock,” he said.

The muscular New Yorker was just five when he noticed the ‘misalignment’ with his body and gender identity, he said. When he was a 17-year-old girl, still not quite sure of who he was, he came out as gay to his parents.

when Laith was still a girl

“At the time I didn’t know what transgender was, so I just told them I had a girlfriend,’ he explained. ‘But I never felt right with the idea of being a lesbian woman.”

Finally, a year before he medically transitioned, he broke the news to his mom.

“My mom is Pentecostal Christian, and although she loves me she felt it conflicted with her faith,’ he said, adding that she now brags about him to her friends at church.

“My dad was fine. I told him that if he is proud of me, it takes away the power of people who criticize. Who cares what other people think, if he is proud?”

After two years of being on testosterone, Laith underwent surgery in 2015.

Laith, during her transition. she even had surgery on her nose to widen it like a man’s

‘There was a lot of fear at first. It took me six years from the moment I came out as trans to actually begin my medical transition,’ he recalled. ‘Once I got over that fear, there was no stopping me. I am the most comfortable I have ever been.’

Now, he works out three times a week to keep himself muscular, and flexes his incredibly toned physique online.

‘When I look in the mirror, I am satisfied with that image. It is how I want to present myself to the world. This is me,’ he said.

Kenny Damola: A Desperate Memo To Nigeria’s Minister Of Science And Technology

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Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, I find it very pertinent at this point in time to send this memo to you sir. I have been itching to bring to your notice a number of issues as the minister of science and technology, chief among which is the neglect of the highly innovative young Nigerians who have been making laudable inventions.

I have never been in doubt of your ability to bring Change to the ministry of science and technology. Not long after your swearing-in ceremony, you vowed to Nigerians that you will indeed “be the best minister Nigeria ever had.” Many Nigerians are eagerly looking forward to seeing that happen.

Sir, it’s important to re-echo the role of science and technology; it’s the lifeline of any nation that desire to grow. Few weeks ago, I watched with awe the documentary of how one 30-storey building was completed within a record 360 hours—an astonishing 15 days—in China.

Nigeria is endowed with great inventors

Sometime in 2014, I interviewed Oyeyiola Segun, a final year student in the Department of Electrical Electronics, Obafemi Awolowo University, who built a solar-powered car. I was very amazed at his brilliance. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get any form of support from the government, despite all his efforts. The last time I heard from him—a few months ago—nothing has changed.

I was held spellbound as I watched a number of “made in Nigeria” mini airplanes, which were built by Aghogho Ajiyen, a young Nigerian who resides in Edo State, take off and fly several metres in the air. Channels Tv Eyewitness Crew had visited the inventor of these camera-fitted airplanes, which were made from locally sourced materials. Isn’t that amazing?

Sir, I’m pleased to inform you that two young Nigerians, 13-year-old Anesi and 15-year-old Osine Ikhianosime recently developed an Android-based web browser known as “Crocodile Browser Lite”. Not only that, I also read the story of one 27-year-old Hillary Promise who invented a remote controlled ship, aeroplane as well as bio-fuel.

And only recently, a young junior secondary school student, Chinecherem, from Anambra State, single-handedly constructed a very beautiful mini-duplex house for himself. It’s a long list and these are only a few of the numerous innovative young people that Nigeria is blessed with. There are still many more whose potentials, when unleashed, can make Africa’s largest economy the true Giant of Africa.

The world is moving fast; we should take a step

The World Economic Forum was held in Davos, Switzerland, between January 20-23 and the fourth industrial revolution was the subject of discussion. The use of Artificial Intelligence, evolving robotics, and emergence of self-driving cars was widely debated. The United States, China and other developed nations are already taking the lead. Sadly, we are still very far behind. Nevertheless, we have to start somewhere. And a good place to start is grooming and investing in the budding talents that are scattered across the country so as to turn our dream of becoming a technology giant into reality.

Mr Minister, I believe the ministry of science and technology should have a think tank mostly comprised of young and energetic Nigerians who are tech-savvy. This will enable you have access to first-rate ideas that can help revolutionize the sector. Also, I think there is the need to engage the tens of millions of Nigerian youths who are active users of both social and digital media. Prove to them that there is still hope despite the age-long neglect of this indispensable driver of change—science and technology.

In my opinion, I think your ministry needs to organise, as a matter of urgency, an effective exhibition during which the finest inventions in the country are showcased. Working closely with the media, I believe this will show the world that our country boasts some of the greatest inventors. Once the best of the best are selected in a most transparent way, they will have to be supported and established to do more, thereby solving many of our local problems.

These inventions can be improved upon through further trainings and partnerships with several international organisations. I believe this will go a long way, at least, in laying the foundation for the future you desire, the one every patriotic Nigerian desires.

Science and technology, once developed, can help transform many sectors—from education, health to agriculture, and trade and investment. In fact, it will help tremendously in fighting terrorism, corruption, oil bunkering and all forms of crime when given attention. That’s not to talk of the jobs it would create for the teeming unemployed and resourceful youths.

Sir, you can’t afford to let the many enthusiastic Nigerians down. We have your copious promises at our fingertips; it’s time for action.

 

 

Albert Einstein Was Right: Scientists Detect Gravitational Waves 100 Years After

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Scientists said in an historic announcement, on Friday that they have for the first time directly detected the existence of gravitational waves.

 

David Reitze, Executive Director of the U.S.based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), said in Washington that the gravitational waves which were predicted 100 years, ago by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, was one of the two pillars of modern physics.

 

“We did it. This was truly a scientific moon-shot. I really believe that. And we did it. We landed on the moon.”

 

Reitze said the detected gravitational waves were produced during the final fraction of a second of the merger of two black holes to produce a single, more massive spinning black hole.

 

The director explained that gravitational waves were the last piece of Einstein’s theory of general relativity that has yet to be proven.

 

Reitze said signals from gravitational waves are so weak that Einstein himself questioned whether a device sensitive enough could be developed to capture this phenomenon.

 

He noted that the collision of two black holes had been predicted but never observed.

 

“The gravitational waves were detected on Sept. 14, 2015, at 5:51 a.m. EDT (0951 GMT) by both of the twin LIGO detectors, located in Livingston, Louisiana; and Hanford, Washington.

 

“Based on the observed signals, LIGO scientists estimated that the black holes for this event were about 29 and 36 times the mass of the Sun, and the event took place 1.3 billion years ago.

 

About three times the mass of the Sun was converted into gravitational waves in a fraction of a second, with a peak power output about 50 times that of the whole visible universe,’’ he said.

 

Reitze recalled that in 1916, German-born theoretical physicist Einstein, predicted the existence of gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space-time resulting from the most violent phenomena in our distant universe such as supernovae explosions or colliding black holes.

 

“In 1974, two American scientists discovered a binary pulsar, a pair of two dead stars emitting pulses of radio waves.

 

They later realised that the orbit of the pulsar was slowly shrinking over time because of the release of energy in a way Einstein’s theory predicted: gravitational waves,’’.

 

He said for discovering the pulsar and indirectly confirming the existence of gravitational waves, the two were awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics.

 

Rainer Weiss, Professor of Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the new LIGO discovery was the first observation of gravitational waves themselves.

 

He said they were made by measuring the tiny disturbances the waves made to space and time as they passed through the earth.

 

“Our observation of gravitational waves accomplishes an ambitious goal set out over five decades ago to directly detect this elusive phenomenon and better understand the universe, and, fittingly, fulfills Einstein’s legacy on the 100th anniversary of his general theory of relativity.

 

“It would have been wonderful to watch Einstein’s face had we been able to tell him,” he said.

 

Weiss said the new discovery, has been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters.

The journal was made by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC), a group of more than 1,000 scientists from universities around the U.S. as well as in 14 other countries.

Lawrence Krauss, a Theoretical physicist at the Arizona State University, described the finding as “a huge milestone.”

He said the discovery would open a new window on the universe, like the invention of the telescope or discovery of radio waves from space.

Krauss added that the gravitational wave astronomy would be the astronomy of the 21st century.

Gabriela Gonzalez, LSC Spokesperson and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the Louisiana State University, echoed the same view.

 

He said the detection was the beginning of a new era and the field of gravitational wave astronomy is now a reality.

 

“With this discovery, we humans are embarking on a marvelous new quest, the quest to explore the warped side of the universe objects and phenomena that are made from warped space time.

 

“Colliding black holes and gravitational waves are our first beautiful examples,” he said.

 

 

(Xinhua/NAN)

UK Scientists Win Permission To Genetically Modify Human Embryos For The First Time

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UK scientists have been given the go-ahead by the fertility regulator to genetically modify human embryos. The research will take place at the Francis Crick Institute in London and aims to provide a deeper understanding of the earliest moments of human life.

The experiments will take place on embryos in the first seven days after fertilisation and could explain what goes wrong in miscarriage, the real reason they want to modify one, but it will be illegal for them to implant the embryos into a woman.

Science Prescribes Exactly How Often Couples Should Be Having Sex

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When you think of a deliriously happy couple, you might assume they’re having sex every waking moment. But according to a new study, it turns out that many satisfied couples spend most nights reading in their pajamas instead.

Researchers at the University of Toronto collected data from surveys of 30,000 Americans over the past 40 years to see if happy couples have more or less sex than unhappy ones. Their results, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, revealed there’s a sweet spot for happy couples everywhere, and that’s having sex once a week.

They found that more sex meant more happiness, but there was a limit to the connection, and that was the once-a-week mark. This was the case regardless of age, gender, or length of a relationship. But this was only for people in relationships; for single people, there was no link between frequency of sex and general happiness.

Why does satisfaction drop off after once a week? It remains unclear, but the study authors write that couples might feel satisfied if they’re having the amount of sex they think is “average” for couples like them. Previous studies have found that people tend to report they have sex approximately, yep, once a week, so couples who do it that often probably feel pretty good about themselves.

Overall, the researchers say their results shouldn’t be a prescription for more or less sex, but a reason to have a conversation with your partner and see if you’re meeting each other’s needs in the bedroom.

“Our findings suggest that it’s important to maintain an intimate connection with your partner, but you don’t need to have sex everyday as long as you’re maintaining that connection,” researcher Amy Muise said in a statement. “It’s important to maintain an intimate connection with your partner without putting too much pressure on engaging in sex as frequently as possible.”

Cosmopolitan

Science Explains Why Hot Women Don’t Always Go for Hot Guys (Vice Versa)

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We’ve all seen couples pass us by on the street where the woman is hot and the guy is, well, not — and vice versa. If we’re truly being honest, we’ve secretly wondered how they got together in the first place.

These types of couples may stand out in our minds is because, in general, research shows we’re more likely to be romantically interested in someone who shares our same level of attractiveness (there’s even a scientific term for it: “assortative mating”).

A new study in the journal Psychological Science sheds some light on these couples with so-called “mismatched” levels of physical attractiveness. The researchers studied 167 couples to find out whether getting to know someone over time can trump the natural bias toward good looks. The study found that oftentimes, the answer is yes.

The researchers found that couples who were similarly physically attractive tended to become romantically involved after a short period of time — in other words, “You’re hot, I’m hot, let’s get together!” — while paramours who paired up and didn’t share the same level of physical attractiveness were more likely to have spent time getting to know each other first. In fact, 40 percent of the pairs in the study started as platonic friends. So time helps level the playing field.

“In our previous work, we found that as people get to know each other better over time, they tend to make more unique evaluations of them,” study researcher Lucy Hunt, of the University of Texas at Austin, tells Yahoo Health.

She points out that if you ask a bunch of strangers to rate your attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very unattractive and 10 being very attractive, the group will likely agree on the same number. But if you ask your friends who’ve known you for a while to rank your physical attractiveness, that number would be higher (or eek, lower) because they’re also factoring in your personality. As Hunt points out: “Getting to know someone will either make you like them more or less.”

Read More: yahoo