This Week in Science: Coffee Haters, Ancient Wine, and a Friday the 13th Doomsday Asteroid
It’s time for “Nerd News,” covering the most important news for your brain.
Here’s a quick rundown of this week in science . . .
1. (Careful!) Sorry guys, but there’s probably junk in your junk. A study last month declared microplastics were “found in every human testicle.” Now a separate study just found them in the shaft as well.
2. Don’t like coffee? Blame your parents. A study by 23andMe found hating or loving coffee might be a genetic trait you inherited.
3. New fear unlocked: Researchers just found out leeches can jump. The ones they saw do it were in Madagascar though . . . and they can’t jump THAT far.
3. New dinosaur discovered: Lokiceratops were similar to triceratops, but with a little more flare. They had big, ornate horns at the top of their head. They named it after the Norse god, Loki. The same one the Marvel character is based on.
4. In space news: Remember the Titanic submersible that imploded? It happened a year ago this week. Now the surviving co-founder of the company thinks we should be planning a manned mission to Venus . . . and says he knows how to keep the astronauts safe.
5. In other space news: A company called SpinLaunch wants to launch satellites using a giant catapult. And the two astronauts Boeing sent up to the space station this month were supposed to be back by now. Boeing is still deciding if their damaged Starliner capsule is safe enough for reentry.
6. In apocalypse news: An asteroid the size of the Empire State Building will zip past us in 2029 and come closer to hitting Earth than any large asteroid in human history. (!!!) Experts expect it to miss us by just 19,635 miles, or one-tenth the distance to the Moon. Bonus: It’s happening on Friday the 13th.
7. In Marge Simpson news: A 3,000-year-old mummy was unearthed in Egypt, and a drawing inside the sarcophagus looks a LOT like the “Simpsons” character. (Here’s a photo.)
8. And in booze news: The oldest wine ever found in liquid form was unearthed in southern Spain. Geologists say it’s about 2,000 years old. (Might pair well with that moldy block of cheese sitting in my fridge.)