The brightest take on this week’s science
Welcome back to Spark!
If you think you’re having a bad week, at least your car hasn’t been hit by a meteorite.
Also in this edition:
👨🦳 A surprising upside to gray hair
🤯 A mind-blowing fact about ‘penis-fencing’
🔬 A juicy microscope mystery
Scroll for your weekly science fix!
LOOK UP
A Meteorite May Have Hit a Moving Tesla
The Tesla windscreen. (ABC News (Australia)/YouTube)
The chances of a meteorite striking a moving vehicle are very low indeed.
But, despite the odds, a man in Australia suffered some absolutely terrible luck.
Andrew Melville-Smith had his Tesla on autopilot when, suddenly, something hit his windscreen with such force that the glass seemed to partly melt before his eyes.
The car kept driving while its driver sat there, no doubt, aghast.
Experts at the South Australia Museum are now investigating whether this was truly a meteorite collision.
Not since the 1950s has this happened before – that we know of…
HEADLINES
What Else We're Watching
🏅This week’s most read: The Junk Foods That Harm Your Brain Most, Ranked by New Research
LOOK OUT
Many Medicines Can Disrupt The Gut
(Nanoclustering/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
It’s not just antibiotics that can leave a lasting impact on the gut.
A new study has found that many common medications can mess with the carefully balanced community of microbes that colonize our intestines.
The disruption can even last for years.
Out of all 186 drugs considered by researchers, almost 90 percent were associated with changes to a person’s gut microbiome.
Anxiety medications called benzodiazepines, for instance, showed an impact on the gut nearly on par with antibiotics.
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Karen Gustafson/Wellcome Collection)
A) Crystallized ginger
B) Melted butter
C) Honeycomb
D) Sap
Answer at the bottom.
LOOK OUT
Gray Hair Could Be A Good Sign?
(Leland Bobbe/Getty Images)
Gray hair is a natural part of getting older, but it’s hardly a bad sign. Losing your hair color could actually be a good thing, according to new research.
When the hair follicles of mice are exposed to carcinogens, such as ultraviolet (UV) light, cells in the follicles that don’t turn gray are more likely to become cancerous.
The findings suggest that graying hair is the body’s way of killing off damaged cells that pose a danger.
This does not mean gray hair is a direct defense against cancer, but it’s a general sign that your body is protecting itself.
A blessing in disguise.
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
Some flatworm species are reluctant parents.
When two hermaphrodites bump into each other, they begin ‘penis-fencing’. The goal is to stab and inseminate the other with a dagger-like stylet. The loser has to carry the offspring.
Sometimes the battle can last up to an hour.
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Time to jump into the weekend!
Microscope answer: Crystallized ginger.
Candied ginger looks delicious under the microscope. While a coating of sugar isn’t especially healthy, some evidence suggests that drying out ginger root makes it even richer in antioxidants.
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
P.S.
The countdown is on to see if you’re the winner of our Spark into Space sweepstakes and will be heading to Florida to train like an astronaut!
The winner will be randomly selected on December 11, but now we’re giving you a chance to boost your odds of winning!
Simply share this newsletter with your friends, and you’ll receive an extra entry for every friend that signs up.
