The brightest take on this week’s science
The natural world is stranger than fiction.
For the first time, scientists have observed trees shooting beams of light from their leaves.
They’ve also figured out how queen bees survive underwater for days, like little scuba divers.
Read on to learn how these curious life forms do it…
Also in this issue:
💊 A daily supplement that could slow aging
🤯 A mind-blowing fact about the number pi
🔬 A microscope mystery
To the science!
LOOK IN
A Daily Supplement That Could Slow Aging
(brizmaker/GettyImages)
Can a supplement a day keep death at bay?
A long-term randomized controlled trial has now found some of the best evidence to date that specific nutritional supplements in older age may slow aging.
The study analyzed the health data of nearly 1,000 participants around the age of 70, some of whom took a daily, broad-based multivitamin–multimineral (MVM) for two years.
Based on two biological ‘age’ clocks, those who took the daily supplement grew older at a slower rate than those who took a placebo.
In the US, more than 100,000 vitamin and dietary supplements are available for purchase, many of which have not been studied rigorously.
A broad-based multivitamin in older life may be one of the better options…
HEADLINES
What Else We're Watching
🏅This week’s most read: The Number of Kids You Have May Affect Your Lifespan
LOOK OUT
Trees Caught Shooting Beams of Light
(William Brune)
During a thunderstorm, most of us are focused on the lights in the sky. But for the first time, meteorologists have glimpsed trees on the ground performing their own light show.
As a conduit for electricity from the ground, a tree can shoot tiny, ultraviolet sparks of light from the very tips of its leaves.
Scientists have shown this curious phenomenon in the lab, but now, they have discovered it occurring in nature, too.
"These things actually happen; we've seen them; we know they exist now," says Pennsylvania State University meteorologist Patrick McFarland.
In footage captured from North Carolina, researchers counted 41 bursts of light, bouncing on the canopy of a sweetgum forest.
As the lightning storm raged above, the ultraviolet signals danced from leaf to leaf as if no one was watching.
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Callista Images/Connect Images/Getty Images)
A) Elastic band
B) Fibrin clot
C) Parasitic worms
D) Lyme disease bacteria
Answer at the bottom.
LOW-KEY GENIUS
Queen Bees Can Survive Days Underwater
(a6475/iNaturalist, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Incredible as it sounds, bumblebee queens can survive more than a week without a breath of fresh air.
Now, scientists have figured out how they do it.
It turns out these amazing insects can suck oxygen from the water.
The skill may have evolved to help bee colonies survive flooding events.
In experiments conducted a few years ago, 90 percent of queen bees survived after more than a week underwater.
To survive that astonishing length of time, researchers have now found that bees enter a state of extremely minimal metabolic function, exchanging gas with the water surrounding them.
Some aspects of this skill, however, are still a mystery…
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
(Jeffrey Coolidge/Getty Images)
The constant pi (3.14….) is an extremely powerful number, even when its tail is cut off at just 37 decimal places.
Even with so few numerals, scientists can calculate the circumference of the observable Universe to within the width of a hydrogen atom.
On Pi Day, we’re following the recent race to calculate as many pi decimal places as possible. The winner currently sits at 314 trillion.
Check ScienceAlert this Sunday for more!
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
A quick trip through the brain.
Microscope answer: Lyme disease bacteria.
One of the pathogens behind Lyme disease is not just shaped like a corkscrew; it acts like one, too. With its spiral shape, the bacterium can drill right into the tissue of its host. When it joins with other bacteria in clumps, the squiggly strands look like spaghetti.
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
