Spellements: Thursday, July 24, 2025
Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle!
The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain four letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display.
The dictionary we use for this game misses a lot of science words, such as apatite and coati. Let us know at games@sciam.com any extra science terms you found, along with your name and place of residence,
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Scientific American
4 hours ago
- Scientific American
Summer Meteor Showers, Short Summer Days and Ancient Arthropods
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. It's been a while, but we're finally back with our usual science news roundup. Let's catch up on some of the science news you might have missed in the last week or so. If last Tuesday seemed to fly right by, that's probably because it was a little shorter than usual. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service says that July 22 was around .8 milliseconds short of the standard 24 hours. That's slightly less dramatic than the almost 1.4 milliseconds that were missing from July 10, and scientists anticipate another ever-so-slightly truncated day on August 5. Now, while there were plenty of headlines about these missing fractions of a milliseconds, it's not actually news that the Earth's rotation varies in speed. The length of a single rotation—also known as a day—is impacted by factors such as the movements of our planet's liquid core, variations in the jet stream and the gravitational pull of the moon. One 2024 study even suggested that melting polar ice has decreased Earth's angular velocity enough to slow rotations down. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. In fact, earth's days have generally been trending longer if you look back at the last few billion years. Research suggests that at various points in the time before our species evolved, days were minutes and even hours shorter. But we always get our shortest days in the summer, and there have been some especially short ones over the last few years. Scientists aren't totally sure why that's been happening, but they expect the spike to flatten back down soon, according to reporting by The Guardian. Speaking of the movement of celestial heavenly bodies: two meteor showers are set to peak on the same evening this week. In the overnight from July 29 to 30 both the Southern delta Aquariids and the alpha Capricornids will be reaching the height of their activity. While the alpha Caricornids aren't known for dropping loads of visible objects, they do sometimes produce bright fireballs—plus they can be seen from anywhere on the planet. Meanwhile, folks in the Southern Hemisphere will also get a great view of the Southern delta Aquariids, and people farther north could catch some activity if they look southward. There will also be some scattered meteors from the Perseids, which will ramp up in activity next month. With the moon in a waxing crescent phase, conditions should be good for spotting meteors—as long as it's not too cloudy. So set an alarm for the predawn hours on Wednesday and go outside to take a peek. Now let's head back down to Earth. Last Monday the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue chief resigned. Ken Pagurek, who spent more than a decade with the FEMA branch and served as its chief for about a year, reportedly told colleagues that his decision was motivated in part by the delayed response to Texas's recent catastrophic flooding. The Department of Homeland Security recently implemented a policy that requires Secretary Kristi Noem to personally approve any spending over $100,000. CNN reports that Noem took more than 72 hours to provide authorization for Urban Search and Rescue teams to deploy in Texas. According to the New York Times, Noem also failed to renew agreements with call center companies whose contractors would have answered calls from disaster survivors. The contracts lapsed in the aftermath of the flood, when many people were still in need of help. The Times reported on July 5, FEMA received a bit more than 3,000 calls and answered about 99.7 percent of them. On July 6, with hundreds of the contractors responsible for answering phones suddenly fired, FEMA reportedly received 2,363 calls and answered about 35.8 percent of them. And according to the Times, those contracts weren't renewed until July 10. When asked for comment on Pagurek's resignation by ABC News, a DHS spokesperson doubled down on the new spending policy, defending the agency's decision not to 'hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight.' Let's pivot to some health news. According to a study of nearly 1,000 people published last Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, the COVID pandemic may have made our brains age more quickly—regardless of whether we got sick. First, the researchers analyzed imaging from more than 15,000 healthy individuals collected pre-pandemic to establish a baseline for normal brain aging. The team used this data to train machine-learning models to predict a person's brain age based on certain structural changes. The researchers then applied those models to brain scans from 996 other subjects, all of whom had received two brain scans at least a couple of years apart. About half of the participants had received both scans prior to the start of the pandemic, so they served as the control group. The scientists were then able to look at scans taken before and after the pandemic to assess the rate of brain aging. While only folks who got infected with COVID between their two scans showed a dip in some cognitive abilities, signs of brain aging, such as the shrinkage of gray matter, were accelerated across the board. The effects were most pronounced among men, older individuals and people from more socioeconomically deprived backgrounds. The study authors pointed to a number of aspects of the pandemic—including increases in stress, alcohol consumption and economic insecurity, along with decreases in physical activity and socialization—that they believe may have made our brains age more quickly. We don't yet know what the implications of these changes might be or whether they're reversible. Speaking of brains—and to end our show on a fun story because you know I love to do that—let's talk about ancient sea critters. A recent study focused on the extinct species Mollisonia symmetrica, which lived around half a billion years ago, suggests that the ancestors of spiders and other arachnids may have started out in the ocean. In studying fossilized remains of the tiny creature, scientists found that its brain was basically backwards—at least compared to other arthropods. The layout is more similar to the way modern arachnid noggins are arranged, which suggests that spider brains may have first evolved in the sea. That's all for this week's news roundup. We'll be back on Wednesday to talk about some of this summer's hottest topics in the world of weather. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
Scientific American
10 hours ago
- Scientific American
Spellements: Monday, July 28, 2025
How to Play Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle! The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain three letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display. The dictionary we use for this game misses a lot of science words, such as apatite and coati. Let us know at games@ any extra science terms you found, along with your name and place of residence,
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Birth control pill for men that temporarily stops sperm — without hormones — passes safety trial
Men might finally get a chance to bench their swimmers. A first-of-its-kind male birth control pill just cleared its first human safety test, raising hopes that it could soon open the door to a new era of contraception. The drug, YCT-529, is currently enrolled in a larger clinical trial, with experts hoping it'll be ready to hit the shelves by the end of the decade. Here's everything you need to know about this potential pregnancy game-changer. Advertisement 4 The development comes as condom use among men is declining. TanyaJoy – What is YCT-529? Unlike traditional birth control pills that disrupt hormones, this experimental pill from YourChoice Therapeutics temporarily halts sperm production without affecting testosterone levels. It works by blocking a protein called retinoic acid receptor alpha, which plays a key role in the sperm making process. The best part: Early evidence suggests it's totally reversible. Advertisement Does the pill work? In tests on male mice, YCT-529 sharply reduced sperm production, causing reversible infertility within just four weeks. When treated males mated with females, the drug proved 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. Similar results were seen in male non-human primates, whose sperm counts dropped within two weeks of starting treatment. Advertisement 4 If approved, the pill could provide men with more control over their reproductive health. Christoph Burgstedt – Notably, both animals fully regained fertility after stopping the drug, with mice recovering within six weeks and primates within 10 to 15 weeks. No side effects were reported in either group. Is it safe for humans? Advertisement So far, so good. The first human trial testing the drug involved 16 healthy men between 32 and 59 — all of whom had previously undergone vasectomies, a surgical procedure that cuts and blocks the tubes that carry sperm from the testicles to prevent pregnancy. This extra precaution was necessary because no non-hormonal male contraceptive had ever been tested in humans before. Researchers wanted to avoid any risk of permanently affecting fertility, just in case participants wanted to father children later, Nadja Mannowetz, co-founder and chief science officer of YourChoice Therapeutics, told Scientific American. The goal wasn't to test effectiveness but to see if the drug was well tolerated and to measure how it built up in the body, she explained. 4 The contraceptive had no major side effects when tested in male animals and humans. InsideCreativeHouse – After testing multiple doses, researchers didn't find any concerning side effects, including no changes in heart rate, hormone levels, inflammation, sexual function or mood. That's notable, because hormonal contraceptives have previously been linked to side effects like mood swings, libido loss, weight gain and acne. Advertisement Across all doses, scientists also 'saw good and quick bioavailability,' meaning the drug stayed active in the body without breaking down too fast, Mannowetz noted. Why do we need a male birth control pill? 'Studies and surveys continue to show that men want to share the burden of pregnancy prevention with their partners,' Akash Bakshi, CEO of YourChoice Therapeutics, said in a statement. 'But they have just one non-permanent contraceptive option — condoms — and it's 170 years old.' Across the country, the rate of unintentional pregnancy is nearly 50%. While female contraception offers a variety of options — including pills, implants, injections and devices — vasectomies remain the only reversible male birth control method approved by federal regulators. 4 Currently, women bear the majority of the burden for contraception. luckybusiness – Advertisement However, the success of vasectomy reversal procedures varies widely from person to person, and the longer the time since the procedure, the lower the success rate tends to be. While condoms are available, studies show that men are increasingly not using them. Several promising reversible male birth control candidates are currently in development and undergoing clinical trials, but most rely on hormonal methods, which carry a higher risk of side effects. Advertisement 'A safe and effective male pill will provide more options to couples for birth control,' Gunda Georg, chemist and pharmacist at the University of Minnesota, which is collaborating on the drug with YourChoice Therapeutics, said earlier this year. 'It will allow a more equitable sharing of responsibility for family planning and provide reproductive autonomy for men,' he continued. What's next for YCT-529? The drug is now being tested in a larger trial with over 50 men who either had vasectomies or made the decision to opt out of fatherhood. Advertisement Participants will take the pill daily for 28 and 90 days at different doses, while researchers monitor safety and see how well it shuts down sperm production. The trial is expected to wrap up by mid-2026 — and if all goes well, the first male birth control pill could be just a few years away from hitting the medicine cabinet.
