DJ Talk

Nerd News!

It’s time for “Nerd News,” covering the most important news for your brain you may have missed.

 

Here’s a quick rundown of this week in science:

1.  Could we live to see the 22nd century?  Researchers in Singapore think the human body might have the ability to live to 150 years old.

2.  A study at Michigan State found that when we don’t get enough sleep, caffeine can help us with simple tasks.  But it doesn’t help much with complicated ones.

3.  In space news:  The Mars helicopter got pretty wobbly on its sixth flight and almost crashed, but didn’t.  Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket had its 100th successful launch in a row.  And now that civilians can go to space, do we need a new definition for “astronaut”?  Is anyone who goes up there an astronaut, or should we call them “space tourists“?

4.  In COVID news:  Two new studies show that immunity might last years.  And the White House told U.S. intelligence to get to the bottom of whether the virus came from an animal, or escaped from a lab.

5.  For the first time ever, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh used a gene therapy to partially restore a blind man’s vision.

6.  And a study in the U.K. found that our memories fade as we get older, so we just remember the gist of what happened.