NASA report says February has broken global temperature records by stunning margin

Global temperatures have been smashing many old records for the past many months, and now a new NASA report adds February 2016 in the list of record-breaker months. According to the report, the shortest month of the year has broken century-old temperature record with a huge margin.

In February, the average surface temperature across the globe was about 1.35 degrees Celsius warmer than the average global surface temperature in February from 1951 to 1980, as per data collected by NASA. The margin was stunning as previous record was set by January 2016 when the average temperature was 1.15 degree Celsius warmer than long-term average for the month.

Rising sea level could affect 13.1 million people by 2100

In the present era of global climate change, steady rise in sea levels and storm surges have become frequent phenomenon, something that has been threatening massive population living in the coastal regions. A team of demographers has forecast that millions of Americans living along the nation’s coasts will be forced to move inland by the end of the century as the climate change worsens.

A study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change says that America’s coastal areas, where around 13.1 million people live, could be prone to flooding by 2100. In Bay Area alone, 250,000 people in low-lying parts of San Mateo County would be affected while some 33,000 would be forced to move to San Francisco.

NASA successfully test-fires updated RS-25 main engine for the first time

A team of scientists at NASA has been working hard in testing and developing Space Launch System (SLS). Things seem to be sorting out for the next-generation manned launch vehicle of NASA, the Space Launch System (SLS).

The US space agency has now for the first time test-fired the updated RS-25 main engine, which went off successfully without any delay, burning at 109% thrust for 500 seconds.
The space agency has been dependent on Russian Soyuz capsules for reaching low-Earth orbit since the retirement of the Space Shuttle some years back.

Microsoft won’t accept Bitcoins on its store

Microsoft has recently announced it will no longer accept bitcoin as a mode of payment at Microsoft Store, where the users can online buy software and devices. Bitcoin is also used at the Xbox, music, and video stores of Microsoft.

Users will not be allowed to redeem Bitcoins to their Microsoft account. Existing balances in the account will still be available for purchases from Microsoft Store, but can't be refunded, according to the company update on Reddit.

The company is withdrawing bitcoin option only for its Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile stores. The bitcoin option was launched by the company in December 2014. The option involved allowing the buyers to use the third-party bitcoin payment processor, BitPay, to trade in the cryptocurrency at the current market value.

Blueberries may offer protection against Alzheimer's

In a research to find effectiveness of blueberries against Alzheimer's, researchers found that the fruit could be used as a protection against the decline in cognitive function. Subjects as a part of an experiment were given blueberries in powdered form. The effectiveness of blueberry was checked against a placebo which was found ineffective in altering symptoms that can be associated with cognitive decline.

Blueberry is already recognized for its health benefits. Now these benefits seem to help brain in maintaining long term good health. The researchers took help of the 47 adults aged 68 and older. They had mild cognitive impairment. The participants were found to have increased level of thinking performance after consuming blueberry powder.

Mental illness: HHS lists major myths, vital signs

According to a report that appeared in the US News & World Report, mental health disorders affect 1 in 5 adults in the United States. The same report indicated that 45.6 million people were badly affected by a mental illness in last one year and just 38% of the individuals got treatment.

The centers meant for mental health treatment help adults and adolescents suffering with these severe health conditions, which are quite severe than merely going through a bad day.

Major mental illness myths have been listed by the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). One usually heard misconception is that the ones suffering from mental health problems can easily come out of it in case they put in sufficient effort. But, the reality is quite the opposite.

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