ZME Science

6 days ago | zmescience.com | Mihai Andrei |Tibi Puiu

Most people enjoy music to some extent. But while some get goosebumps from their favorite song, others don’t really feel that much. A part of that is based on our culture. But according to one study, about half of it is written in our genes. In one of the largest twin studies on musical pleasure to date, researchers have found that up to 54% of the variation in how much people enjoy music may be inherited. We don’t fully know why we like music, but science is getting closer.

6 days ago | zmescience.com | Mihai Andrei |Tibi Puiu

Most ancient centers flexed their power with grand walls or temples. Tel Shiqmona did it with a stink. Perched on a rocky stretch of Israel’s Mediterranean coast, this unassuming outcrop was once steeped in the pungent scent of crushed mollusks—day in, day out. Though Tel Shiqmona rarely gets a mention in ancient texts, new research suggests it was once the beating heart of one of antiquity’s most exclusive industries: royal purple dye. A team of archaeologists led by Dr. Golan Shalvi and Prof.

6 days ago | zmescience.com | Tibi Puiu |Mihai Andrei

For years, the debate over cannabis and cancer has burned on—a haze of anecdotes, conflicting studies, and a stubborn federal classification that still ranks marijuana as dangerous and without medical use. But a new study, the largest of its kind, cuts through the smoke with surprising clarity. The analysis reviewed over 10,000 studies, finding “a shocking degree of consensus” that cannabis not only helps manage cancer symptoms like nausea and appetite loss, but may also fight the disease itself.

6 days ago | zmescience.com | Tibi Puiu |Zoe Gordon

The water trickled, and the lights blinked on. In a new study, researchers in Singapore describe a way to turn falling water into electricity using nothing more than droplets, a narrow plastic tube, and a surprising flow pattern called “plug flow.” The setup, they say, can turn something like rainfall into a source of clean, renewable energy — enough to light a dozen small bulbs.

6 days ago | zmescience.com | Mihai Andrei |Tibi Puiu

In 2023 and 2024, as AI text generators started to become mainstream, a curious trend emerged: the word “delve” began appearing in a suspicious number of science papers. It became a kind of calling card for AI-generated content — but it’s far from the weirdest one. Let us introduce you to: “vegetative electron microscopy.”If you know basic science, you’re already raising an eyebrow. “Vegetative electron microscopy” doesn’t make sense — and that’s because it isn’t a real thing.