This Week In Science

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.  It’s National Mushroom Day.  A new study out of Penn State this week found people who eat a lot of them have a lower risk for depression.  (We’re talking regular mushrooms)

2.  In space news:  A simulation found that diverting an asteroid by hitting it with a nuke might actually work.  Researchers in Switzerland say Venus probably never had life, because it never had oceans.  And astronomers in Australia found some “unusual” radio signals coming from the center of our galaxy, but have no idea what they are.

3.  In coronavirus news:  A study found more than half of people who get covid end up with “long covid.”  Meaning certain symptoms persist for weeks or months.

4.  In animal news:  The World Wildlife Fund is looking for volunteers to track walruses from space using satellite images.

5.  And finally:  Researchers at Arizona State think they’ve figured out why our wisdom teeth come in so late.  They’re not a leftover byproduct of evolution, like some people think.  They still serve a purpose, and show how we’re CONTINUING to evolve.

Basically, our body knows our mouth isn’t big enough to hold all those teeth when we’re young.  So unlike apes, we’re evolving so that our back teeth arrive later in life, when our jaw is HOPEFULLY big enough to fit them all.