Over the past twelve months, researchers around the world have made surprising and interesting findings. Before the end of 2012, we have selected some of those revelations that we did not know at the beginning of the year:
1. TheBlue light makes you want to drive just like a coffeeand avoids drowsiness at the wheel, according to a study by the University of Bordeaux (France).
2. There is aexoplanet called PH1 that has 4 suns. It has been observed using data from NASA’s Kepler space probe.
3. Quitting smoking before thirty can extend life by a decade, according to an article published in the medical journal The Lancet.
4. The hair on the body of mammals appeared to be able to cool the skin in regions where the heat was pressing, according to a study from Princeton University (USA).
5. Early risers, who wake up naturally when the sun rises and wake up even before drinking coffee every morning,they are happierand feel more satisfied with their lives, as revealed in a recent study by the University of Toronto, published in the journal Emotion, based on more than 700 adults.
6. The tChinese softshell octopus Pelodiscus sinensis excretes urea through mouthrather than through the kidney, scientists at the National University of Singapore have shown.
7. When a person lies, the call is produced“Pinocchio effect”, due to which the temperature of the tip of your nose increases or decreases.
8.Chimpanzees and orangutans also suffer from the midlife crisis. The evolution of their well-being over the years, as in humans, draws a U-shaped curve.
9. Using lasers, biologists at the University of Manchester have calculated with more precision than ever what would be the weight and size ofthe dinosaurs, and have concluded thatthey weren’t as heavy as thought. For example, a giant brachiosaurus whose remains are preserved in the Natural History Museum in Berlin and for which an estimated weight of 80 tons, had to weigh “only” 23 tons.
10. Thebacteriaare not guided by selfish dynamics, but cooperate andthey collaborateeach.
11. What until now was considered as“Junk DNA” is actually a useful and important component in the human genome, which functions as a large control panel with millions of “switches” that regulate the activity of our genes.
12. Thedepression and chronic stress can cause a decrease in brain volumedue to a loss of neural connections, according to what could be read in the middle of the year in Nature Medicine.
13. At 100,000 years old,Posidonia oceanica is the oldest species in the biosphere.
14. Theamount of methane gas released by large dinosaurs in their wind speedscould be enough toincrease the planet’s temperature150 million years ago, according to a study published in the journalCurrent Biology.
15. TheToday’s Americans descend from three waves of immigration. Most of today’s natives – living from Canada to Chile – descended from a first wave of migration and crossed the Bering Strait about 15,000 years ago. In contrast, the other two waves of expansion come from Asia.
16. Pluto has a fifth moonwith irregular shape and an extension of between 10 and 25 kilometers.
17. Dogs have bigger brains than catsbecause they are more sociable, while felines lead a lonelier existence, as publishedPNAS.
18. During the last 15 years, abulging on the surface of the Arctic oceandue to the accumulation of large amounts of fresh water. If the wind direction were to change, fresh water could be directed into the Atlantic Ocean, changing currents and cooling Europa.
19. Thehuman brain is predisposed to optimism, probably because of an evolutionary strategy that makes us overlook the dangers. But it can be deactivated using magnetic stimulation, as neurologists at University College London did.
20. On the island of Sulawesi (Indonesia) livesa kind of rodent that lacks teeth. They have baptized itPaucidentomys vermidaxand, according to its discoverers in Biology Letters, it eats only worms and earthworms.
21. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe obtained evidence thatlarge snowfalls of carbon dioxide occur on Mars. It is the only known example of this type of snow in the entire solar system.
22. There areat least 6 genes related to migraine, four of them (MEF2D, TGFBR2, PHACTR1 and ASTN2) discovered this year by researchers from the University of Barcelona.
23.electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones affect the ants’ ability to orient and memorize, as revealed by a study published in the journalElectromagnetic Biology and Medicine.
24. Spending more than 3 hours a day sitting shortens life, according to an extensive study whose conclusions were released by the magazineBMJ Open. The investigation, based on 167,000 cases, also reveals that watching television for less than two hours a day would extend life by 1.4 years.
25. Researchers from the University of New South Wales showed this year thatgray and rainy days are good for the human brain and memoryas they improve the ability to remember. On the contrary, on sunny days our memory works worse.
