Weekly Science Picks

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It seems this first week in September brings us very interesting stories. The Northern Hemisphere is going to autumn and the Southern Hemisphere is going to spring, so let us see what we can offer for this editor’s choice. Quite exciting week, we must confirm. For instance, you may be wondering how the colour red warps the mind or why we have a boom in modern population. For this occasion, we would like to present all those and much more, so let’s begin.

How the colour red warps the mind

Today, shades of scarlet are linked with power, aggression, and sex – from the vermilion of the British Queen’s royal regalia to the gaudy neon of Amsterdam’s red–light district. And those associations may not be coincidence. A new branch of science called “colour psychology” has found that red can have a profound influence on our mood, perceptions and actions. Wearing red can even change your physiology and balance of hormones and alter your performance in a football match. So what is it about the shades of ruby, crimson, and scarlet that makes them so potent?

Neanderthal abstract art found in Gibraltar cave

The oldest known example of abstract art has been discovered in a cave in Gibraltar. The work, a series of criss-crossed lines cut into stone, was carried out 40,000 years ago. The work was created by Neanderthals, precursors of modern humans, who until now had been considered incapable of abstract thought and expression.

99.999% certainty humans are driving global warming: new study

There is less than 1 chance in 100,000 that global average temperature over the past 60 years would have been as high without human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, our new research shows.

Modern population boom traced to pre-industrial roots

The foundation of the human population explosion, commonly attributed to a sudden surge in industrialization and public health during the 18th and 19th centuries, was actually laid as far back as 2,000 years ago, suggests an extended model of detailed demographic and archeological data.

That’s all for now. Please stay thirsty and scientifically curious. The new updates are coming soon.