Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
Exercising regularly is known to lower the risk of death, especially from heart problems. But scientists have discovered that that reduction in risk may differ between the gender, with some people reaping greater benefits in less workout time. It turns out that women may reap these survival benefits more easily than men do. Women gained these survival benefits much more quickly than men did, the study found. Women who exercised regularly had up to a 24% lower risk of death from any cause. For men who exercised regularly, however, the reduction in mortality risk reached only 15%. So, men need to perform more rigorous exercise to get similar benefits as women get.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is exploring a new region of interest the team is calling “Krokodillen” that may contain some of the oldest rocks on Mars. The area has been on the Perseverance science team’s wish list because it marks an important boundary between the oldest rocks of Jezero Crater’s rim and those of the plains beyond the crater. Krokodillen (means “the crocodile” in Norwegian) is a 73-acre (about 30-hectare) plateau of rocky outcrops located downslope to the west and south of Witch Hazel Hill. A quick earlier investigation into the region revealed the presence of clays in this ancient bedrock. Because clays require liquid water to form, they provide important clues about the environment and habitability of early Mars.
Challenges in visual and spatial processing and a deficit in training data have revealed a surprising lack of timekeeping ability in AI systems. AI may be able to write code, generate lifelike images, create human-sounding text and even pass exams (to varying degrees of success) yet it routinely misinterprets the position of hands on everyday clocks and fails at the basic arithmetic needed for calendar dates. These shortfalls must be addressed if AI systems are to be successfully integrated into time-sensitive, real-world applications, such as scheduling, automation and assistive technologies.
A study examining the influence of personality traits on the development and perpetuation of insomnia, found that there is a direct relationship between the two. The findings revealed: high levels of openness were associated with low levels of insomnia, while high levels of neuroticism (characterized by emotional instability) were very common in people with the sleep disorder. Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders in adults. It is estimated that around 30% of the world's population suffers from the problem, which is characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or returning to sleep after an unwanted awakening. According to the Big Five theory, we all have different levels of the five personality traits: Extroversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Openness to experience, and Conscientiousness.
