General science thread

Quote: odiousgambit

For some reason some in the media have decided to scare-monger about a comet. Google 12P/Pons-Brooks and you'll see what I mean.... a lot of "exploding and heading to Earth" headlines

Should be interesting, though, "cryovolcanic" for one thing. And for the solar eclipse, something to look for, and then not so much later, should be a bright comet to see coming around

From the wikipedia page, "There will be a solar eclipse on 8 April 2024 with the comet 25 degrees from the Sun... The closest approach to Earth will be 42 days later on 2 June 2024 when it will be 1.55 AU (232 million km) from Earth. Near perihelion passage the comet is expected to brighten to about magnitude 4.5 "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12P/Pons%E2%80%93Brooks

Quote:

The skull is longer than most humans are tall, which gives you a sense of how big the creature must have been overall. 130 teeth..

Quote: odiousgambit

For some reason some in the media have decided to scare-monger about a comet. Google 12P/Pons-Brooks and you'll see what I mean.... a lot of "exploding and heading to Earth" headlines

Should be interesting, though, "cryovolcanic" for one thing. And for the solar eclipse, something to look for, and then not so much later, should be a bright comet to see coming around

From the wikipedia page, "There will be a solar eclipse on 8 April 2024 with the comet 25 degrees from the Sun... The closest approach to Earth will be 42 days later on 2 June 2024 when it will be 1.55 AU (232 million km) from Earth. Near perihelion passage the comet is expected to brighten to about magnitude 4.5 "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12P/Pons%E2%80%93Brooks

Quote:

The science behind Ozempic, a medication used to manage blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, was initially thought to be solid. However, recent studies have raised doubts about its efficacy. When scientists first created the class of drugs that includes Ozempic, they believed these medications would work by mimicking a hormone called GLP-1 released by the gut. The idea was that these drugs could signal fullness, helping people eat less and lose weight. But here’s where it gets interesting: the original science that underpinned their development has fallen apart.
Serendipity played a role. The drugs indeed work as powerful modulators of appetite, but the mechanism isn’t quite what was initially thought. Recent research has revealed that GLP-1 from the gut breaks down quickly and has little effect on our appetites. However, GLP-1 receptors are naturally present in many parts of the brain. These brain receptors likely explain why Ozempic and similar drugs can curb the desire to eat—but also, anecdotally, curb other desires as well. In essence, these weight-loss drugs are ultimately drugs for the brain.
Here’s the twist: Ozempic and its successors differ significantly from the natural GLP-1 molecule they’re meant to mimic. They last much longer in the body. While natural GLP-1 released in the gut has a half-life of just minutes in the bloodstream, Ozempic (semaglutide) and similar drugs have half-lives measured in days. These engineered drugs resist degradation, allowing them to be injected only once a week. By flooding the body with long-lasting molecules, these injections likely penetrate parts of the brain that the natural gut hormone cannot reach. The result? Ozempic’s effectiveness in curbing appetite and aiding weight loss is far greater than originally anticipated12.

So, while the initial science behind Ozempic was a tidy story, the reality turned out to be more complex and fascinating. Sometimes, even in science, serendipity leads us down unexpected paths.