Astonishing New Ice Age Cave System Discovered Beneath The Streets Of Major City

Cavers in Montréal have discovered an incredible system of caverns and tunnels beneath the city, created when sabre-toothed cats were still hunting ground sloths and mammoths were migrating across the steppes.

The Pie-XII Park in central Montréal is already well-known for a subterranean secret, with an entrance way for the St. Léonard cave that people can go down and explore. But it was what lay hidden beyond this section that stunned speleologists. Two cavers discovered an entirely new network of shafts and tunnels that reached almost 213 meters (700 feet) deep into the rock.

The two who made the remarkable find, Daniel Caron and Luc Le Blanc, finally entered the new system this October, but their hunch for the new caves occurred way back in 2014. After a year of exploring the already mapped sections of St. Léonard’s caverns, they came across a narrow opening in the rock at the back of one of the cavities. Too small for a person to slide through, a camera revealed it to open out into a new chamber beyond.

It was not until this year that they have been able to chisel away enough rock to allow them to slip into the system and start exploring. From the large hollow they passed into, the cavers then dropped down into a narrow hallway perhaps 6 meters (20 feet) high. “The walls are perfectly smooth and the ceiling is perfectly horizontal,” Le Blanc told National Geographic.

The cave systems in this part of the world are thought to have been formed when the great ice sheet that once stretched across much of North America eventually retreated around 12,000 years ago. As the glaciers receded over the land, fissures were formed in the ground beneath, leading to the system that is now seen hidden under Montréal.

One of the most incredible parts of this recent discovery is that even though St. Léonard cave was first found in 1812, and utility pipes and basements have been built since then as the city continued to expand, this latest system still somehow remained undetected until now. They think this is probably because the caves are too deep underground for anyone to have noticed before.

The tunnels likely extend right down to the water table underneath the city. However, the team have halted exploring it further due to the large amounts of water filling the lower sections of the cave. They plan to return next year to see if they can go any deeper.

What Is The Most Dangerous Drug In The World?

AsapSCIENCE and In A Nutshell (Kurzgesagt), two of the coolest nerds on YouTube, have collaborated on a new animation that aims to reveal the most dangerous drug in the world. Here's a clue, it isn't heroin or cocaine.

First off, there are a few things you need to consider. If we are just talking about lethal substances, the deadliest known drug is botulinum toxin, better known as Botox or the stuff people inject into faces for cosmetic purposes. Just 0.00000007 grams of this is enough to kill an average-sized human – there’s something to think about next time you get worried about a wrinkle.

However, lethality is not necessarily a good measure of danger. As explained in the video, a team of UK scientists carried out an investigation to discover how much harm is caused by 25 different recreational drugs using 16 new parameters. These parameters also considered wider forms of physical, psychological, and social harm, including the risk of dependency, impairment of mental functioning, and its association with criminal activities. This multi-criteria analysis allowed them to gauge the harm to the individual user and the harm to others, something other analyses have not looked at.

At the bottom of the ranks, causing the least harm to both users and others, were magic mushrooms, LSD, and ecstasy. These three recreational drugs had a relatively low rate of harm to the user, while the harm to others was practically non-existent. Although these drugs are not exactly harmless, they’re not innately addictive nor widely associated with crime.

In terms of harm to an individual, heroin is the most dangerous. It’s easy to develop a physical dependency, it has terrible withdrawal symptoms, it directly causes numerous health complications, and it's associated with all kinds of social problems. Crack cocaine was not too far behind heroin, also posing a high risk to the user and others. After this pair, there was methamphetamine, cocaine, tobacco, then amphetamines. 

However, none of these drugs were the most dangerous overall. In regards to overall harm, alcohol takes the top spot by a long shot. Check out the video below to see why this socially acceptable and perfectly legal drug is so very dangerous.

Study Finds No Evidence That Consuming Part Of Your Own Body Can Reduce Postpartum Depression

Whether it's popping pills like Kim and Kourtney or consuming it raw in a smoothie like actor Gaby Hoffman, eating placenta has been the latest alternative maternity trend to hit the mainstream. But in case you were wondering whether or not it's a good idea to follow suit, the latest research suggests it's best to sit this one out.

Not only does it put your child at risk (the CDC issued a health warning this summer), it appears the health benefits have been over-exaggerated. According to a study recently published in Women and Birth, new mothers who take placenta capsules show no significant improvement in maternal mood, mother-infant bonding, or fatigue.

The placenta develops during pregnancy to supply the fetus with nutrition and discard its waste. The theory goes that post-labor, the nutrients that have been passed from mother to fetus during pregnancy persist in the placenta and eating it raw helps the mother recover from childbirth. The practice has been gaining increasing popularity in recent years with proponents claiming that placenta pills can ease fatigue, prevent post-natal depression, and improve milk production.

Advocates also point out that humans are one of the relatively few species of mammal that don't partake in placentophagy (the scientific name for eating the placenta). While this might be true, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we should do the same. As Rebecca Baergen, a professor and Chief of Perinatal and Obstetric Pathology at Weill Cornell Medicine, pointed out in an interview with Scientific American, “there are a lot of other things that animals do that we don't do.”

Still, until now, there has been relatively little science that has looked into the effects – beneficial or not – of eating your placenta.

Researchers from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, monitored maternal mood, mother-infant bonding, and fatigue levels in 27 new mothers. Twelve volunteers were given placenta pills to take. The remaining 15 were given placebo pills.

Ultimately, there was no significant improvement in any of the categories measured, though the researchers did note very slight decreases in depressive symptoms in the placenta pill group, which could be investigated further. There were also small but noticeable changes in hormone concentrations.

“What we have uncovered are interesting areas for future exploration, such as small impacts on hormone levels for women taking placenta capsules, and small improvements in mood and fatigue in the placenta group,” Sharon Young, lead author of the study, explained in a statement.

It was a small study so it would be interesting to see whether these findings can be replicated on a larger scale, but while experts advise against the practice, and with pills costing upwards of $200, for now, it might be a trend to skip.

CT Scans Show A Bullet Lodged In A Man's Eye Socket

These CT scans show the remarkable story of a man who was shot in the face and lived to talk about it.

As explained in a case report published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology this week, a 45-year old man was rushed to the ER at the University of California in San Francisco after being shot with a .22-caliber pistol. The bullet was fired through a wooden door and ended up becoming lodged in the back of his right eye socket. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the man’s head was used to locate the position of the bullet and the level of damage to his soft tissues.

A nasty entry wound was created in the corner of the man’s eye near the tear duct. Remarkably, the bullet did not fracture his skull at all. The CT scan did reveal, however, that the bullet was lodged against his inferior rectus muscle, one of six muscles that control the movements of the eye. The trauma had also caused his eyeball to bulge out by 3 millimeters, a phenomenon known as proptosis.

During a relatively smooth operation, a team of surgeons removed the bullet and repaired the damage to his soft tissue. Although he was involved in a very unfortunate accident, this man was actually very lucky in the end. Granted, he was reportedly in severe pain for a number hours, but he managed to leave the hospital with his vision still intact.

“Postoperatively, the patient’s pain rapidly resolved and his visual acuity remained unchanged,” the study concludes.

It’s believed the only reason the bullet did not lead to more serious injuries was that it had passed through the wooden door and lost some of its velocity.

Back in 2010, there were news reports of a woman whose breast implant saved her life after she was shot in the chest. A few years later, scientists carried out an experiment to see if there was any truth to this claim. They discovered that a breast implant could “significantly [decrease] ballistics gel penetration” by up to 20.6 percent decreased penetration distance, enough to save your life and dramatically reduce the damage caused.

What's Causing The Mysterious "Ghost Disease" Near North Korea's Nuclear Test Site?

There’s no doubt that parts of North Korea feature hellish humanitarian disasters. The Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site near Mount Mantap has made headlines several times in this regard in the last few months, with reports of deformed babies, corpses floating down rivers, and more being linked to the subterranean detonations.

Now, as reported by NBC News, North Korean defectors fleeing the area have spoken of something they’re colloquially referring to as a “ghost disease”. According to their accounts, leaking radiation is having a dreadful effect on their health, causing weakness, sores, and worse.

One middle-aged escapee explained that people were dying all around her back in Kilju County, which features the underground test site.

“We thought we were dying because we were poor and we ate badly. Now we know it was the radiation,” defector Lee Jeong Hwa told the human rights activists based in Seoul.

Reports of sick and dying North Koreans have steadily emerged from those that used to live near Punggye-ri over the last few months. Although the nuclear tests occur deep below the surface, the increasingly weak geology there makes it a distinct possibility that some of the radiation is effusing up toward the surface.

Some have suspected that the site suffers from Tired Mountain Syndrome, wherein repeated massive explosions cause the surrounding rock to become increasingly permeable. This has been corroborated with the accounts of other defectors who have spoken of disappearing water within wells, a phenomenon that could be down to a lowering of the water table as the underlying geology collapses after each test.

However, at this stage, you can’t conclusively blame the awful health of the North Korean defectors on radiation. Without any researchers being allowed onto the site, it’s difficult to tell how much radioactive contamination at the surface there actually is.

Malnutrition – something that is rife in North Korea – poor sanitation, and hygiene, as well as waterborne diseases, could also be to blame. Unlike radioactive contamination, these are known to be prevalent throughout the country.

Incidentally, South Korean officials have tested Lee and 29 other defectors hailing from Kilju County for signs of radioactive contamination. So far, they’ve not found any.

This doesn’t mean that the defectors are fabricating these stories, though. It’s more likely that being aware of the underground nuclear tests, they associate the accompanying radiation with their poor health. Even with other factors taken into account, these colossal blasts are so frightening that they find it difficult to not make the association.

There’s no doubt that the living conditions in Kilju are unfathomably awful. Still, at this stage, the degree to which any radioactive contamination at the surface is occurring – if at all – remains uncertain.

[H/T: NBC News]

New Cancer Vaccine Moves On To Human Trials

A novel cancer vaccine has moved into clinical trials on humans this week. The new treatment uses engineered mRNA to target solid tumors, and is a big step forward not only for cancer treatment, but also for personalized medicine as each vaccine is tailored to each patient and their tumor.

The trial is being carried out by Moderna Therapeutics, with the first Phase 1 trial looking primarily at the safety of the vaccine in humans, while also examining “tolerability” and whether or not the treatment sparks an immune response in patients. It will first involve patients who have had solid tumors that have been removed. Following on from this, they will use patients who have solid tumors that cannot be removed, and see how the vaccine fares.

Each vaccine will be specified to each patient’s cancer. The cells from the tumors are analyzed, and genetic sequencing is used to identify particular mutations in the cells known as neoepitopes. These mutations can help the immune system distinguish between which cells are cancerous and which are healthy, allowing the body itself to fight the disease.

These mutations are then transcribed onto a single piece of mRNA, which is then injected into the body in the form of a vaccine. This in turn helps the patient’s own immune system to better identify the cancerous cells and destroy them.

“An individualized medicine designed to help each patient’s immune system better recognize cancer as foreign and attack it would be a critical addition to oncologists’ treatment arsenal, potentially helping many more patients respond more effectively to treatment,” explains Howard A. Burris III, one of the principle investigators for the new vaccine, called mRNA-4157.

This is not the first cancer vaccine that has been trialled. Last year, there were reports of a “universal” cancer vaccine, with the results from early trials in humans apparently positive. The vaccine seems to work in a similar vein to this latest example.

Personalized medicine is a growing field within research, and aims to develope drugs tailored precisely to the each and every patient. This decreases the chances of negative side effects, as it is based entirely on each person, but comes with some downsides. The main one right now is that of cost. The very nature of personalized medicine means that it cannot be mass produced, and therefore comes with quite a hefty price tag.

It seems, however, that this is likely the direction that many avenues of treatment will take. We’ll just have to wait and see what develops over the next year ahead to determine how successful his latest trial will be.

What Caused That Weird Earthquake In Delaware?

Something rather strange happened in Delaware yesterday: the ground shook.

At around 4.47pm local time (9.47pm GMT), an earthquake registering as a 4.1M hit within the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, at a relatively shallow depth of 8.1 kilometers (5 miles). The tremors were felt in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington DC.

Earthquakes do happen in this part of the world, but ones this powerful are exceedingly rare. The last time Delaware experienced anything comparable was way back in 1871 when another 4.1M quake shook the state.

As plenty of you know, earthquakes are most commonly associated with fault lines, particularly those along tectonic plate boundaries. Plates sliding across each other (e.g. the San Andreas Fault) and plates subducting beneath another one (e.g. the Cascadia Subduction Zone) are where most major earthquakes occur, as their movements permit the most extreme build ups of stress.

The section of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, however, doesn’t have any tectonic boundaries – so what caused the Delaware earthquake?

Technically, it’s known as an intraplate earthquake, one that occurs in the middle of a tectonic plate. A region famous for such quakes is the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), one that’s centered on southeast Missouri. Again, there are no tectonic boundaries here, but there are ancient faults that some have referred to as “mantle scars”.

The NMSZ’s origins can be traced back to the attempted split of the continental landmass we now see as the contiguous United States. Although this severance never succeeded, old faults remained, and every now and then, they slip. Between 1811 and 1812, for example, several earthquakes struck the region, with one possibly as powerful as a 7.7M event.

Ancient fault networks streak through the area east of the Rocky Mountains too, and although they aren’t as hazardous as those in the NMSZ, they can slip from time to time. The North American Plate experiences external forces from surrounding plates all the time, and this can sometimes get transferred to these quiet faults, causing them to become temporarily active.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), in a statement, explained that “most earthquakes in North America east of the Rockies occur as faulting within bedrock, usually miles deep.”

They point out, however, that few of the region’s faults “are known to have been active in the current geologic era,” adding that “few earthquakes east of the Rockies… have been definitely linked to mapped geologic faults.”

It's possible, of course, that it was caused by a fault that we have yet to discover.

“There are faults in the subsurface in a lot of places, and they’re not necessarily known,” geophysicist Randy Baldwin of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Denver, told IFLScience.

“These old basement faults can reactive from time to time; they get stressed and they can create periodic earthquakes,” he added.

One tantalizing additional possibility resides in a study published back in 2016. Seismic imaging techniques revealed that pieces of the underside of the North American Plate are breaking off from time to time and sinking into the lower mantle. This leaves the remaining plate thinner than it was before, which makes it less rigid and more prone to slipping.

This was touted as a possible explanation for the 5.8M earthquake that shook Virginia back in August 2011, a region that hasn’t been seismically active for a very long time. Could the same effect have caused the Delaware quake?

The USGS also mentions “induced earthquakes”, those caused by human activity. Fracking, and primarily wastewater disposal, are the reasons why there has been a huge uptick in induced tremors in the US recently. It’s hinted that this could be behind the recent Delaware quake, but there’s no evidence for this just yet.

View image on Twitter