Science

The skin consists of the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The upper layer, the epidermis, includes 5 other sub-layers. The stratum corneum, the uppermost layer, contains the oldest cells. At one time, it was thought that skin shrivels as the stratum corneum swells due to water.

Later, experts revealed that the wrinkling of the skin is due to the activity of blood vessels. While a person is in water, his nervous system sends a signal to the blood vessels and they constrict. This leads to a slight decrease in the volume of the fingertips and the formation of skin folds.

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As demonstrated by a study posted in Plos Genetics, some rodents have a ‘laziness gene’. Mice with a mutation in the gene encoding the protein SLC35D3, which is involved in the transmission of dopamine signalling, were characterised by lower activity. Such animals developed a condition resembling metabolic syndrome, which in humans causes hypertension and obesity.

But such a mutation was found in only two people out of 300. Which means that laziness and obesity are influenced not by heredity, but by environment.

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The University of Colorado (USA) spoke about a pioneering project to replace traditional batteries in gadgets with supercapacitors. Thanks to the discovery, the sphere of consumer electronic devices may change dramatically.

According to experts, supercapacitors will allow smartphones to be fully charged in just one minute, while only ten minutes will be enough for electric cars.

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Scientific research has proved that with the growth of positive temperature and humidity, water bodies expand, which threatens meadow and marsh ecosystems.

Experts’ forecasts say that by the year 2100, even with the most positive development of events, the mirror of lakes will expand by an additional 200 thousand square kilometres. At the same time, their volume will increase by 652 billion tonnes.

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To test their assumption, the scientists gave the volunteers orange juice with low sugar content. But they drank it in different environments.

First, the participants of the experiment were put in a ‘warm’ institution, where there was red décor and sounded noises with high frequencies. Then they went to a place with cold lighting with a predominance of green colours and low-frequency background noise.

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