El Niño’s return
El Niño, the Pacific Ocean weather phenomenon that affects temperatures and rainfall all over the world, could make a reappearance this winter, reports BBC .com. Scientists at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) say there is a 70 percent chance of the weather event happening by year’s end, while Japan’s weather bureau puts the likelihood of it happening from September to November at 60 percent. The last El Niño, in 2015–16, was one of the strongest ever recorded. It led to soaring temperatures—2016 was the warmest year on record—widespread drought in Africa, and floods across South America. WMO researchers say this year’s El Niño, if it develops, won’t be as powerful. The phenomenon, which involves fluctuating ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific, usually takes place only once every five to seven years. WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas says a recurrence so soon would suggest that “climate change is influencing the traditional dynamics of El Niño and La Niña,” its sister event.
were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia. After controlling for several factors, the researchers found that the less the men smoked, the less likely they were to develop the disease. Compared with continuous smokers, those who’d quit for up to four years had a 13 percent lower risk—a gap that grew to 14 percent for those who quit for four or more years, and to 19 percent for those who didn’t smoke at all. “Smoking cessation was clearly linked with a reduced dementia risk in the long term,” senior author Sang Min Park, from Seoul National University, tells FoxNews .com. Scientists say that smokers may face a heightened chance of developing dementia because the toxins in cigarettes can damage blood vessels, which in turn restricts blood flow—killing off brain cells used for memory, thinking, and reasoning.
former cosmonaut Maxim Suraev said it was possible that a homesick crew member had drilled the hole to force an early return to Earth. Station commander Drew Feustel dismissed such theories, stating, “I can unequivocally say that the crew had nothing to do with this.” The most likely explanation, experts say, is that the hole was made by mistake during the craft’s construction in Russia, and that the perpetrator applied a temporary patch that later failed.