Health & Science

The dawn of neutrino astronomy

An innovative telescope buried in Antarctic ice has detected its first cosmic neutrinos—nearly massless, extremely high-energy particles that stream to Earth from outside our solar system. “This is the dawn of a new age of astronomy,” University of Wisconsin physicist Francis Halzen tells ScienceDaily.com. “It is gratifying to finally see what we have been looking for.” By studying cosmic neutrinos, which can be generated billions of light-years away, scientists can learn more about the nature of black holes, dark matter, and other astrophysical phenomena. Trillions of neutrinos reach Earth every second, passing through our bodies unnoticed and rarely interacting with other matter, making these ghost-like particles difficult to study. Scientists have addressed that problem with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, built over a decade for $271 million, which contains 5,000 optical sensors embedded in a cubic kilometer of ice. The density of the ice and sheer size of the detector increase the odds of catching incoming cosmic neutrinos, which upon collision with the ice produce a flash of blue light that can be analyzed to determine a neutrino’s direction and energy. Scientists say the years ahead will be like waiting for a long-exposure photograph to develop, with additional measurements pointing to where in the universe the neutrinos originated.

Digging into Buddha’s life

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Archaeologists excavating at the traditional birthplace of the Buddha have uncovered remnants of a timber shrine dating from the 6th century B.C.—suggesting he was born more than a century earlier than previously believed. “This is the earliest evidence of a Buddhist shrine anywhere in the world,” British archaeologist Robin Coningham tells BBC.com. “It sheds light on a very long debate, which has led to differences in teachings and traditions of Buddhism.” The shrine was found beneath a number of brick temples, all of which lie on the site of the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini, Nepal, a UNESCO World Heritage site that draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year. Siddhartha Gautama, an ordinary man who became the Buddha after a process of spiritual exploration and meditation, is believed to have been born at the site. Scientists determined the approximate date of the wood structure using radiocarbon and other dating techniques on grains of sand and charcoal fragments there. They found mineralized tree roots in a central portion of the structure that had never been covered by a roof—details that correlate with the story that the Buddha’s mother held on to a tree branch while giving birth to him. “This is one of those rare occasions,” Coningham says, “where belief, tradition, archaeology, and science actually come together.”

Why you should eat nuts

Regularly eating a handful of nuts could help you live a longer, healthier life, CNN.com reports. A new observational study of about 119,000 men and women found that those who ate the recommended 1.5-ounce serving of nuts every day were 20 percent less likely to die over 30 years, compared with those who did not. Researchers also saw a 29 percent reduction in deaths from heart disease and an 11 percent reduction in the risk of dying from cancer. Even eating nuts occasionally correlated with a 7 percent lower death rate over 30 years. “There’s something unique about nuts,” says Charles Fuchs of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who speculated that they may have an effect on inflammation or metabolism. But scientists said the correlation between nut-eating and longer lives doesn’t prove a cause; nut eaters also tended to be leaner, less likely to smoke, and more likely to exercise and eat fruits and vegetables.

Grim numbers on methane

The U.S. may be emitting 50 percent more of the greenhouse gas methane than previously thought. A new study by 15 climate scientists found that previous estimates, including those from the Environmental Protection Agency, seriously undercounted methane, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. “These are pretty substantial numbers we’re dealing with, and an important part of greenhouse gas emissions,” Harvard environmental scientist Scot Miller tells The New York Times. Unlike prevailing models, the new estimate is derived from actual measurements of atmospheric methane, incorporating data from nearly 12,700 samples collected atop communications towers and through aircraft monitoring. Those measurements found at least 2.7 times the previously estimated methane in the atmosphere over Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Far higher quantities than expected were found to come from oil and natural gas extraction in that area, along with substantial amounts from the burps and flatulence of livestock. Methane accounted for 9 percent of the U.S.’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2011, but it traps 21 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide does.