Watching Cat Videos Can Give You a Boost

You can hardly surf the Internet without stumbling across a cat video, and new research suggests those videos could actually be good for you.  Of all the categories of YouTube video content, videos of cats have had more views per video. It’s been suggested that there were more than 2 million cat videos on YouTube in 2014 garnering more than 26 billion views.  Now, Jessica Gall Myrick, an Indiana University Media School researcher, has found that these feline videos do more than merely entertain people.  She says her research shows that they can actually boost the viewer’s energy level, increase positive emotions and reduce negative feelings.

Acidification of Arctic Ocean Could Mean Difficulties for Shellfish

Within 15 years it’s possible that parts of the Arctic Ocean will become so acidic that at certain times of the year, marine animals such as Alaska king crabs will no longer be able to build and maintain the shells they need for survival.  Researchers from NOAA, University of Alaska, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found that the increasing acidification is dissolving the calcium carbonate in the Arctic waters.  The sea creature’s shells are mostly composed of this chemical compound.

Earth’s Core Contains 90% of Earth’s Sulfur Supply

A new study has provided evidence that the Earth’s core contains 90 percent of our planet’s sulfur.  The scientists believe that a sizable amount of sulfur-rich liquid formed in the Earth’s mantle – the huge middle layer that surrounds the core – as the result of a planet-sized object crashing into the Earth in the very distant past.  The sulfur eventually sank from the mantle into the core.  A popular theory suggests that the moon was formed as a result of this collision.

Dust Cloud Envelopes Moon

Speaking of the moon, a new study led by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder suggests that the moon is surrounded by a permanent cloud of dust that also intensifies from time to time.  Using data from NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, the scientists say that the lunar cloud is mostly composed of tiny grains of dust from the lunar surface that had been sent aloft by the impact of high-speed, interplanetary dust particles.

Clue to Possible Life on Mars Found in Meteorites

A group of scientists believes that samples of six meteorites made up of Martian volcanic rock have provided a possible clue in the search for life on Mars.  The scientists said that they found traces of methane after conducting laboratory analysis on the Martian meteorite samples.  Methane is a chemical compound that some microbes here on Earth use as a food source.  The scientists believe that their discovery suggests that the methane could also provide energy to basic life forms that could lie beneath the surface of Mars.  The scientists did not find traces of methane in two other meteorites that didn’t originate from the Red Planet