The Great Lakes hold the world’s largest collection of freshwater islands, but there is no single count accepted for every purpose. The U.S. Geological Survey describes about 30,000 islands, while the Great Lakes Islands Alliance uses 32,000. A current Canadian overview reports more than 35,000 across the Great Lakes. A separate government map assigns more…
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Why would highly trained pilots struggle with a familiar landing after months in orbit? A small simulator study found that experienced astronaut pilots made unusual control errors soon after returning from the International Space Station, even though they had practiced the same maneuver many times before launch. The research, published in Scientific Reports on October…
Deep inside the heart, two small muscles help keep blood moving in the right direction. After long missions aboard the International Space Station, those muscles were about 14 percent smaller in a group of cosmonauts, even though the heart continued to pump a normal amount of blood with each beat. The finding comes from a…
Astronauts can return from orbit with measurable changes in their brains and eyes and a study of NASA crewmembers suggests that age and sex may influence some of those changes. Researchers also found possible links involving body size and mission duration, although the small number of people who have flown in space leaves important questions…
