Earth will end in a giant ball of flames
Q: As our sun dies, what will happen to the planets, especially our own?
A: In about five billion years, scientists estimate, the Earth will be engulfed and burned up in the expanding radius of the sun as it evolves.
This event will be about one million years after Venus and Mercury "have suffered the same fate," according to updated calculations published in 2008 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. It will also be long after the Earth becomes too hot to support life.
As the sun ages into a red giant, it will expand, losing mass and cooling somewhat, but remaining very hot.
"While solar-mass loss alone would allow the orbital radius of planet Earth to grow sufficiently to avoid this ‘doomsday’ scenario," the authors of the study conclude, the tidal interaction of the Sun and the closely orbiting planet "will lead to a fatal decrease" in the size of Earth’s orbit.
Weight and acne may be linked, researchers say
Q: Is there a connection between excess weight and acne?
A: Teenagers and young adults may be able to prevent acne by stepping on the bathroom scale.
Over the years, researchers have found that weight gain and moderate to severe acne go hand in hand, particularly among young women.
A study highlighting a link was published this month in The Archives of Dermatology and included roughly 3,600 teenagers. The researchers looked at their weight and its relation to their skin, factoring in several variables, including age, puberty and diet. High-sugar junk foods like candy and soda are not only linked to weight gain but are also known to worsen acne.
After adjusting for these and other factors that could affect acne risk, the researchers found that overweight or obese teenagers — particularly young women — were significantly more likely to develop acne than normal-weight adolescents.
Researchers have proposed several explanations for the link. One is that an excess of androgens caused by obesity provokes acne. As for why girls would be more greatly affected than boys, it is possible that having bad skin and being overweight cause them greater psychological strain, which in turn prompts the release of stress hormones that only worsen the problem, some researchers say.
