Melted 'megaberg' A68 dumped 1 trillion tons of water into the ocean over 3 years

Melted 'megaberg' A68 dumped 1 trillion tons of water into the ocean over 3 years | Will we need more COVID-19 boosters to end the pandemic? | COVID-19 may trigger diabetes by causing fat cells to go haywire Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( January 21, 2022 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [Melted 'megaberg' A68 dumped 1 trillion tons of water into the ocean over 3 years]( [Melted 'megaberg' A68 dumped 1 trillion tons of water into the ocean over 3 years]( (RAF) After the world's largest iceberg snapped off of the Antarctic Peninsula in July 2017, it drifted north on a three-year death march, shedding an unfathomable amount of meltwater into the sea. Now, a new study of the doomed iceberg (named A68a) reveals just how much water the infamous mega-berg actually lost — and how that could impact the local ecosystem for generations to come. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] COVID-19 [] [Will we need more COVID-19 boosters to end the pandemic?]( [Will we need more COVID-19 boosters to end the pandemic?]( (Ivan Pantic via Getty Images) Omicron's explosive surge in the U.S. is a painful reminder that the pandemic is far from over. It also raises some questions. Will the pandemic ever end? And will we need more boosters to enter the "endemic" phase of transmission, in which COVID-19 case counts don't break records and hospitals aren't strained? Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [COVID-19 may trigger diabetes by causing fat cells to go haywire]( [COVID-19 may trigger diabetes by causing fat cells to go haywire]( (Horacio Villalobos / Contributor via Getty Images) Scientists may be zeroing in on why catching COVID-19 raises people's risk of developing diabetes, Science News reported. Several studies have hinted that COVID-19 infections can trigger diabetes in some people, but exactly why remained a mystery, Live Science previously reported. The new diabetes cases linked to COVID-19 include both type 1 diabetes, in which the body attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, and type 2 diabetes, in which the body still produces some insulin, though often not enough, and its cells don't respond properly to the hormone. Insulin lowers the amount of glucose, or sugar, in the blood by telling cells to absorb that sugar and use it as fuel. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] History & Archaeology [] [World's oldest drinking straws are 3 feet long and made of gold and silver]( [World's oldest drinking straws are 3 feet long and made of gold and silver]( (Kelvin Wilson) Slender gold and silver tubes crafted during the Bronze Age are the world's oldest drinking straws, a new study finds. Archaeologists found the 3-foot-long (1 meter) metal tubes in 1897 while excavating a burial mound known as a kurgan from the ancient Maikop (also spelled Maykop) culture in the northwestern Caucasus, which primarily includes modern-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and parts of southern Russia. Until now, scientists couldn't decipher the tubes' purpose. The new research suggests that people would have used the tubes, some of which are attached to tiny bull figurines, to drink beer with buddies from a communal vessel. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Math & Physics [] [Astronomers propose building a neutrino detector out of the Pacific Ocean]( [Astronomers propose building a neutrino detector out of the Pacific Ocean]( (Nicolle R. Fuller/NSF/IceCube) Neutrinos are one of the most elusive particles in the cosmos, second only to ultra-mysterious dark matter. They are made in considerable quantity — they participate in the weak nuclear force and they're responsible for nuclear fusion and decay. So any time something nuclear is happening, neutrinos are involved. For example, the sun's core is a giant nuclear fusion reaction, so naturally, it's producing quite a few neutrinos. If you hold your thumb up to the sun, approximately 60 billion neutrinos will pass through your thumbnail every second, according to past studies. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Curious Creatures [] [Pod of orcas frees a humpback whale from certain death. Was it intentional?]( [Pod of orcas frees a humpback whale from certain death. Was it intentional?]( (by wildestanimal/Getty Images) In a strange encounter off the coast of western Australia, a pod of orcas seems to free a humpback whale from a rope entangling its tail. But were they really trying to rescue it? Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Spellbinding new 'selfie' video captures penguin feasting on giant sardine ball]( [Spellbinding new 'selfie' video captures penguin feasting on giant sardine ball]( (Sabrina Harris) A spellbinding new "selfie" video captures a Gentoo penguin feasting on a giant ball of sardines and soaring through the sea off Argentina. Gentoo penguins normally feed near the seabed, but this new footage from the Beagle Channel in southern Argentina proves they dine on shoals of sardines near the surface given the chance. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Biology [] [Bizarre knotted DNA structures linked to cancer in mice]( [Bizarre knotted DNA structures linked to cancer in mice]( (ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images) Oddly tangled and looped DNA structures could be linked to cancer, according to a new study in mice. DNA typically looks like a twisted ladder. But the loss of key enzymes in the body causes the genetic molecule to become tangled up in bizarre loops and knots, and at least in mice, these odd DNA structures may drive the development of cancer, The Scientist reported. Full Story: [Live Science]( (1/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] That’s Strange! [] [55-sided, 555-carat 'Enigma' black diamond (potentially from space) goes on sale]( [55-sided, 555-carat 'Enigma' black diamond (potentially from space) goes on sale]( (Sotheby's) One lucky millionaire, or billionaire, will soon be able to get their hands on a one-of-a-kind black diamond, known as the "Enigma," when the shadowy gem goes up for auction next month. But they might not be getting exactly what they paid for. The Enigma has been artificially cut to weigh exactly 555.55 carats (111 grams) and has 55 black facets. It is currently the largest cut black diamond in the world, according to Guinness World Records. 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