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Friday • January 12, 2024
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We have some exciting news for anyone who loves Top Gun, and therefore developed some basic knowledge of supersonic flights. This afternoon, at around 4 p.m. ET, NASA is scheduled to unveil its experimental X-59 aircraft, which was created with the goal of exploring commercial supersonic travel. To do that, though, the space agency had to overcome supersonic’s major downfall: the distinctive (and very loud) boom that occurs when an aircraft exceeds the speed of sound. Rather than a boom, the X-59 generates a gentle “sonic thump.” If you want to tune in to the rollout later today, head to this livestream link.
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Science
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| Love on the Brain? Scientists Explore How and Why Romance Affects Our Minds |
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mapodile/ iStock
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Falling in love is associated with a whole host of physical symptoms, including a fuzzy, romance-fogged mind. A team of scientists from the Australian National University, University of Canberra, and University of South Australia recently conducted a world-first study digging deeper into the neurological effects of love, looking at how and why it “scrambles” our brains.
“We know the role that oxytocin plays in romantic love, because we get waves of it circulating throughout our nervous system and blood stream when we interact with loved ones,” co-author Phil Kavanagh said in a statement. “The way that loved ones take on special importance, however, is due to oxytocin combining with dopamine, a chemical that our brain releases during romantic love. Essentially, love activates pathways in the brain associated with positive feelings.”
The researchers reached this conclusion after surveying more than 1,500 young adults who identified as being “in love,” per a release. Lead author Adam Bode said their work, which specifically explains why lovebirds tend to put each other “on a pedestal,” will aid in the overall study of how and when romantic love emerged in humankind.
“We actually know very little about the evolution of romantic love,” he said. “As a result, every finding that tells us about romantic love’s evolution is an important piece of the puzzle that’s just been started.”
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Begin Your Path to Debt Freedom
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What better way to kick off the new year than beginning your path to debt freedom? If you have outstanding credit card debt, getting a new 0% intro APR credit card could help ease the pressure while you pay down your balances.
FinanceBuzz’s credit card experts identified one of their top credit cards for balance transfers — perfect for anyone looking to pay down debt and not add to it. Click below to see what all the hype is about.
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Culture
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| “Monumental Discovery” Sheds Light on Social Changes in the Late Roman Empire |
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PaulaConnelly/ iStock
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The simplified history of the late Roman Empire typically teaches that when Emperor Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313, Roman society shifted from practicing polytheism to Christianity. But a “monumental discovery” in the Italian town of Spello has shed more light on this religious transition, showing that “things didn’t change overnight,” said historian Douglas Boin in a press release.
Boin chose to conduct an archeological dig in Spello due to a letter written by Constantine that referred to a religious festival. In the letter, he said he would allow the townspeople to celebrate the holiday there, but on the condition that they erect a temple to Constantine’s divine ancestors. The request indicates that imperial cult practices and paganism were still active under the converted Christian ruler.
Using the text, Boin and fellow researchers from Saint Louis University unearthed what they believe to be an inside wall of the temple, a discovery that he said “changes everything about how we perceive the pace of social change.”
He continued: “This building, in a very radical way on its own, shows us the staying power of the pagan traditions that had been on the ground for centuries prior to the rise of Christianity, and it shows us how the Roman emperors continued to negotiate their own values, their own hopes and dreams for the future of the emperor and the empire without knocking down or burying the past.”
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Acts of Kindness
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| First-of-Its-Kind Michigan Program Offers Cash to Pregnant Women, Families With Newborns |
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Rawpixel/ iStock
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Flint, Michigan, has one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the country — five times the national average. That’s something officials are hoping to change with a new program: Rx Kids.
The initiative, billed as “a prescription for health, hope, and opportunity,” involves offering one-time $1,500 cash stipends to pregnant women, and then $500 a month to families with newborns throughout the first year of life.
The $1,500 can be used on food, prenatal care, rent, cribs, or whatever else is needed, and the $500 is intended to help with formula costs, diapers, childcare, and more post-birth expenses. There are no income restrictions or strings attached, thus “empowering parents with the freedom and choice to make the decisions that best fit their families’ needs,” per a news release from Michigan State University.
Pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha, the same Flint clinician who first alerted the city to its lead-tainted drinking water nearly a decade ago, is spearheading Rx Kids. “This first-in-the-nation initiative boldly reimagines how society supports families and children — how we care for each other,” she said.
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In Other News
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Inspiring Stories
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An unexpected gift
After noticing that the 5-month-old next to her was staring at her crocheting on a plane, Meegan Rubin crafted an adorable beanie for the baby and gifted it at the end of the flight. “It was beyond kind and such a shock,” the little one’s mom said. Check out the adorable hat.
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“Operation Frost”
A dog shelter in Poland was pleasantly surprised by how the local community came together when it issued a plea for people to adopt or temporarily shelter some pups amid a cold spell. In the end, 120 dogs were taken into warm homes.
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Post Of The Day
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@hoglezoo
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You might look at this sweet black-footed cat and think she would make an ideal cuddling companion, but “looks can be deceiving,” as Utah’s Hogle Zoo notes. “With [her species’] impressive 60% hunting success rate (compared to ~20% by big cats), she stands as one of the deadliest cats in the world,” the zoo explained of the 8-month-old, named Gaia. But we can still adore her from afar — watch a video of the feline looking around her habitat. (Photo Credit: Utah’s Hogle Zoo/Instagram)
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Quote of the Day
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| “Envy those who see beauty in everything in the world.”
- Egon Schiele
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