Hobbits appearing doll size, tourists pinching a grain-of-salt-size Eiffel Tower for Instagram, and beachgoers standing atop a body of water are all made possible by something called forced perspective, a technique that uses changes in distance and vantage point to hijack the way our minds perceive size. Take the Ames room, as depicted above. This seemingly normal space allows anyone to dramatically increase in size when they walk from one end of the expanse to another....

Pfizer and Moderna have both begun their COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials in children ages 6 months through 11 years. The Pfizer trial, which started on March 24, will last two and a half years and involves more than 4,600 participants. With data from its previous trial in children ages 12 to 15 already coming in, Pfizer is starting a Phase 1 component to home in on optimal dosage sizes for three age groups: six months to one year, two to four years, and five to 11 years....

Pfizer-BioNTech asks FDA to authorize vaccine for children 5 to 11 In an anticipated request that could alter the course of the school year, Pfizer-BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize its vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Promising to move quickly, the FDA has an October 26 meeting on the books to consider it, and will likely announce a ruling between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Children generally suffer less severely from COVID-19-induced illness, but in August nearly 30,000 kids were hospitalized with the Delta variant....

Akhenaton, who ruled from 1353 to 1336 B.C., is shown in paintings and statues as having prominent breasts and buttocks—indications, Braverman says, of a hormone disorder. An overproduction of the enzyme aromatase, which is instrumental in the body’s production of the hormone estrogen, is the likely culprit. In males, the disorder results in the development of feminine traits by puberty. Depictions that show Akhenaton’s prepubescent daughters with breasts support the genetic hormone-disorder theory....

For those reasons, and a mutual understanding of the importance of climate change, both candidates gave similar answer to the Science Debate 2008 question about ocean health. But do their records back up what they said? According to Kevin Wheeler and Robert Gagosian of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, a non-partisan group that informs the ocean policy of both campaigns, neither candidate has enough of a record on this issue to say....

COVID rates were spiking internationally and across many states across the country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide cases were creeping into the millions. Deaths reached over 300,000 by May 2020. As emissions-heavy air travel came to almost a grinding halt, emissions began to drop across China and several European countries. By late March, Europe’s electricity usage sunk— Spain and France had decreased by 10 percent, and Italy dropped about 20 percent....

Because of a shortage of donated blood, and fears that it could be contaminated, scientists have been working on creating viable synthetic blood for 40 years. And though there are some versions of synthetic blood that are currently being tested in clinical trials, similar efforts in the past have proven fruitless. One of the reasons is that researchers have struggled to pack synthetic blood with the right proteins, such as hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood; once removed from the red blood cells that carry it, hemoglobin often deteriorates too quickly....

Zeitgeist is a video, interactive map, and a bunch of top 10 lists showing the top searches and trends of the year, encapsulating important moments worldwide–the London Olympics, the reelection of President Obama, a smattering of protests, the deaths of notable people. The map and the list are interesting, but at least for us, not all that surprising. It’s not exactly shocking that the iPad 3 makes the top of the list in trending consumer electronics....

The intention behind building such a network is to enable researchers to experiment with new types of quantum communications, security protocols, and algorithms with the goal of advancing towards a preliminary quantum internet (which could very well look like an early version of the classical internet). Currently, Toshiba is using it to test their distributed quantum encryption keys in a setting that experiences factors like noise, weather, and temperature fluctuations in order to understand how robust this method is, and what potential issues may come up....

New to science, yes, but the iguana’s lineage marks one of the oldest cases of divergence from other species on the Galapagos. Scientists were surprised to date the species’ origin to more than five million years ago, before some of the islands had even formed. A pink and black-striped pattern sets the iguana apart from the yellow land iguanas found previously on the islands. Darwin had little good to say about either the land or marine iguanas he encountered on his trip, merely noting that land iguanas are “hideous animals, but are considered good food....

New research out today suggests that in the process of making heat, brown fat also acts as a “metabolic filter,” using up excess essential amino acids that might otherwise increase risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. It’s a game-changing discovery for a kind of body tissue we’re barely beginning to understand. We already knew that the mitochondria of brown fat use glucose and fatty acids to produce heat and warm up your body—that’s why exposing people to cold or otherwise activating brown fat to burn calories is something that weight loss research has been poking at for a while....

Together, they account for about 13 percent of U.S. energy production. One of the reasons there isn’t more solar and wind is that there are costs associated with installing them that haven’t decreased so significantly. Experts refer to them as “soft costs.” “When it comes to deploying renewable energy, there are hard costs. The cost of the system. How much do the panels cost? How much did the inverter cost if you’re doing a residential system?...

Electric motorcycles, though, are very different from their four-wheeled counterparts. The sounds of thundering V-twins from Milwaukee and screaming inline four-cylinders from Japan rise and fall as the rider works through the gears, and bikes with loud aftermarket exhaust pipes let bystanders know you’re there. Battery-powered bikes like the Zero SR, on the other hand, will never be mistaken for gas motorcycles, either from the saddle or from the sidewalk....

Roku Select TVs will come with Roku’s Voice Remote. In contrast, Roku Plus TVs will come bundled with the company’s “pro” remote, which has a built-in headphone jack for personal listening and two shortcut buttons, which can be programmed open up any app you choose. All of Roku’s TVs will be compatible with Roku’s new Wireless Soundbar, its latest entry in the audio space following the release of its Streambars, subwoofer, and auxiliary speakers....

Marker is an uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV), similar in form if not armament to a tank. And like a tank, it has a tracked platform, onto which a range of sensors and weapons can be added. These include a turret with machine guns and anti-tank missiles, as well as a case that can launch drones. Built by Android Technologies for the Advanced Research Foundation, Russia’s DARPA analog, the Marker has been a showcase vehicle in demonstrations since at least 2019....

Snoring usually occurs when the flaccid muscles on one’s throat block the airways, preventing the air from flowing through a person’s nose and throat as they breathe. If you’ve been told that you’re a habitual snorer, you can put a stop to it using a muscle stimulator you can place on your chin every night—the Snore Circle Anti-Snoring Sleep Aid Muscle Stimulator is on sale for just $59.97 (reg. $119) during our Pre-Black Friday Doorbusters Sale....

Sony OLED 65-inch BRAVIA XR A80K $1,698 (was $2,229) The most accessible OLED deal comes in the form of Sony’s 65-inch Bravia XR A80K. It promises all the dark black levels and meticulous color reproduction you expect from a high-end OLED display. Plus, it offers an array of HDMI 2.1 ports, which support the maximum performance from current game consoles like the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. The 65-inch TV has really hit the sweet spot when it comes to sizing and I haven’t seen a price this low on this TV yet....

Math proficiency is not a measuring stick to your intelligence, but being good in math benefits you in various ways, including cooking, shopping, budgeting, and reasoning. Of course, it also helps you quickly figure out what to tip your server without touching a calculator. If you want to break free from math trauma and be better at math altogether, the Ultimate Learn to Master Mathematics Bundle is a great springboard....

Thus, with great pleasure, we round up ten of the past year’s best hard science studies that answer some of the world’s least pressing questions. Click to launch the photo gallery to see this year’s most obvious science