Scientific news in small doses

A few milligrams of all the scientific news of the week.


More exercise, less diabetes

Children who exercise more and spend less time in front of a screen have a lower risk of childhood diabetes, according to a new study from Montreal. Researchers from the University of Montreal followed more than 600 children with an accelerometer for seven years and published their results in mid-March in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. Each additional daily hour of inactivity or screen time increased their risk of diabetes by 5%, and each additional 10 minutes of physical activity reduced that risk by 5%.

Quiz

What have oceanographers from Texas discovered about the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico?


PHOTO FROM THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION WEBSITE

Satellite view of the Gulf of Mexico

They circulate more slowly because of the weakening of the Gulf Stream, probably caused by climate change. This means that the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico are warming and getting older, renewing themselves every 110 to 130 years instead of a frequency of 100 years at the end of the 19th century.e century. In Science, in mid-March, Texas A&M University researchers and Mexican colleagues are hypothesizing that this stronger-than-expected link between the Gulf Stream and the Gulf of Mexico will compound the impact of warming seawater. area, already twice as large as the world average.

The number


PHOTO FROM US NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE SITE

Rivers in Noatak National Park, Alaska

20%

This is the decrease in the lateral migration of Arctic rivers for half a century, according to researchers from Laval University. Rather, they expected to see an acceleration in the displacement of the course of the rivers, because of the melting of the permafrost linked to climate change. This more malleable soil has been made more resistant to the onslaught of rivers by the increase in vegetation, also linked to global warming. Quebec geographers, who studied satellite images of Alaska, published their work in early March in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The Squid Pirates


PHOTO WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Argentine squid is one of the most prized species for pirates.

Illegal squid fishing increased by 68% between 2017 and 2020, according to a new US-Chilean study. These fishing boats, often Chinese, turn off their satellite beacons and use lights at night to attract squid. Researchers from the Universities of California at Santa Cruz and Catholic University of Valparaiso used satellite images to reach their conclusions. They identify the worst affected areas as being along both South American coasts and in the northern Indian Ocean.

Recognize AI text


PHOTO WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Humans do not easily recognize texts written by artificial intelligence.

Humans are not very good at recognizing text written by artificial intelligence (AI) software like ChatGPT. Psychologists at Cornell University found in 4,600 test subjects that they generally believed that texts written in the first person and which told stories of families could not be written by AI. Published in early March in PNASthe study focused on texts written by ChatGPT.


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