Hi and welcome back to the office for another episode of SciShow News
where today I'm gonna bust some recent myths about AIDS,
reveal two celestial events that you probably didn't know about,
and explain some new insights in to how and why we have sexy times.
You ready?
[Intro music]
This time, I want to get your mind right about chagas,
a disease, that has been getting some pretty hysterical media attention in the past couple of weeks.
All because of a recent study that likened it to the AIDS epidemic.
So then, immediately, cable news and morning talk show types
started calling chagas "the new AIDS!"
And some online media have been describing it as an AIDS-like disease,
but here are the facts.
Chagas is nothing at all like AIDS and it's not an epidemic.
It's caused by tiny parasites transmitted by tiny insects called triatomines
that are most common in Central and South America.
Many who are infected with the parasites don't notice symptoms for years, even decades,
but once the parasites enter the bloodstream, they can infect vital organs, including the heart, brain, and intestines.
This happens to about 30% of patients.
There's no cure, and there are only two drugs that can treat the infection
but the side effects are so severe that neither of them has been approved
for sale in the United States.
The CDC estimates that about 300,000 of people in the US may carry the chagas parasite,
but the vast majority of them contracted it in Latin America,
where the vector insects mostly live.
So, how the frick did the media manage to turn chagas,
a parasitic disease that targets vital organs, into AIDS,
a sexually transmitted viral disease that compromises the immune system?
Well... they're idiots, first of all.
But we found out that the misinformation stems from a perfectly reasonable report
published in the journal, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
A publication that I'm adding to the things that I'm glad exists.
The study merely said that the chagas today resembles the early decades of the HIV epidemic
because both are chronic conditions that disproportionally affect poor people
who don't have access to treatments.
There are some pathological similarities, like both diseases can be transmitted by
blood transfusions or by a pregnant woman to her fetus.
But the comparisons ends there.
So, hey! Reporters! Next time you wanna write about science, do what SciShow does
and read the fricking research.
And you, dear viewer, can read it yourself in the links below.
Another thing you might have heard about was an ominous sounding press conference
that NASA astronomers held concerning, quote, "the future of our galaxy."
And, hey! I have good news!
Turns out that the Milky Way is on a collision course with the Andromeda Galaxy.
You heard me! In a mere four billion years, Andromeda, also known as M-31,
is going to slam into us like Mel Gibson in a Maserati,
resulting in a merger of the two galaxies.
Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope led astronomers to recognize the impending collision,
which is being caused by the gravitational pull of the two galaxies and the dark matter surrounding them.
Based on NASA simulations, the galaxies may actually pass through one another first,
and then over the course of a couple billion years, be drawn back together by gravitation,
forming a new elliptical galaxy.
Now because celestial bodies within galaxies are so incredibly far apart,
galactic collisions don't impact individual planets or stars.
So even though it sounds like it doesn't make sense, NASA says that the Earth and the sun
won't be effected by this intergalactic merger.
Will the-- will the sun even exist then anymore?
So, you know, whatever, big deal! What I'm concerned about is that we only have four billion years
to figure out what to call this new super galaxy!
Milky-31?
Andromeda Way?
Spokhan?
I would like to see your nominations in the comments below!
Now here's another space even that you probably didn't know about:
astronomers just revealed that on May 17th, my wife's birthday, actually,
a solar flare sent a jet of material toward the Earth with so much energy
that it caused a cascade of particles to shower down over the planet,
actually raising radiation levels on the Earth's surface.
This is the first time such an event, called the ground-level enhancement,
has happened since 2006. And experts say that it signals that we're near the peak of the sun's eleven-year solar cycle.
But don't let the boring name fool you, ground-level enhancements are actually really cool!
Charged particles from the sun strike the atmosphere with so much energy
that they break apart molecules in the air.
Those energized fragments go on to split other molecules and the reactions continue
until a torrent of high-speed protons and neutrons rain down on the Earth.
Scientists are puzzled though as to why a relatively minor flare
would cause this kind of radioactive cascade.
But really, once again, ground-level enhancement?
Scientists, you are SO bad at naming things!
I have a vote! My proposition is NEUTRON STORM!
Finally, you've probably seen our latest infusion on the social, biological, and evolutionary
advantages of monogamy. And, as it happens, new research and the journal's science
adds to our understanding to monogamy's origins.
Biologists at the University of Texas have found that the brain circuitry that we use to perform
complex social behaviors, especially those related to the sexy times,
is the same in all vertebrates and it dates back some 450 million years.
Studying eighty-eight species of fish, birds, reptiles, and mammals, including humans,
the scientists looked at twelve regions of the brain responsible for things like
mating displays, parenting, and monogamist behavior.
They found that they were basically the same across all of them, even in really
simple animals that don't practice all of these behaviors.
Now, this doesn't mean that monogamy is genetic. I mean, look at John Edwards, for example...
But it does suggest that the ability that some animals have to do tricky things,
like be faithful to their mates, evolved with that same ancient set of circuitry.
Now, you probably also saw a recent dose on why sex.. is a thing at all.
Well, a new study claims to prove that sexual reproduction makes healthier organisms.
And, no, I'm not talking about burning calories.
Instead, biologists from the US and Canada studied primrose flowers,
some of which produce asexually, while others do it the sexy way.
All primrose produce an enzyme that fights dangerous mildew
and the study found that the gene responsible for making that enzyme had changed in what's called
the sexual plants from what the asexual plants had.
Since sexual plants swap genetic information when they reproduced, that gene had adapted over
time, and it turns out that the beneficial gene was expressed more in the sexual plants,
so they were healthier, produced more fruits, and had more offspring.
Totally makes sense when you think about it...
But hooray for sexual reproduction!
And also I got to use the phrase 'sexual plants!'
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow News. If you have questions or comments or ideas
please leave them in the comments below! Or get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter.
And we'll see you next time.