WEIRD STUFF

Frequent phone usage linked to ADHD

Doctors have been attempting to figure out what has caused the steady increase in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a new study suggested that those who use their smartphones for two or more hours every day are 10 per cent more likely to develop the condition.

ADHD is mainly linked to young children, but researchers argue that smartphones provide people with frequent information, meaning that they take breaks from tasks to check their devices.

People who spend too much time on their phones don't let their brains focus on just a single task, and it can cause adults to develop shorter attention spans and get distracted easily.

John Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, told National Geographic: "It is legitimate to look at the possibility of acquired attention deficit."

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Clownfish can count

Researchers have found that the fish can identify members of their own species from the amount of stripes on their bodies.

The orange and white creatures are depicted as friendly in the film Finding Nemo, but they are actually aggressive and will fiercely defend their homes from rivals.

Experts found that common clownfish, with three stripes, pursued their own kind and those with two stripes, although they did not attack those with one stripe or none.

Dr Kina Hayashi, of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, said: "Common clownfish attacked their own species most frequently."

Common clownfish usually form two white stripes at 11 days old --with the third following three days later -- and Dr Hayashi is convinced that fish who grow up with two-striped youngsters see similar ones as competitors to be driven away.

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Small dogs with pointy noses live longer

An extensive study on canine life expectancy, in which the animals were grouped by size and shape, found that smaller dogs with long and pointy noses had a lifespan of 13.3 years.

However, their flat-faced counterparts only lived for an average of nine years.

The Dogs Trust study collated data from sources, including Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, RSPCA and The Kennel Club, and discovered that females were more likely to live longer than males.

Analysis revealed that the Lancashire heeler (15.4 years) had the longest lifespan on average, while, in contrast, the Caucasian shepherd was the shortest-lived breed of Caucasian shepherd at 5.4 years.

Dr Kristen McMillan, lead author and data manager at Dogs Trust, said: "We found life expectancy varies between breed, body size, face shape and sex -- this is the first study where all of these elements have been compared and contrasted alongside evolutionary history.

"Many of these factors interact to compound the issue, for example, medium-sized, flat-faced male dogs are nearly three times more likely to have shorter lives than small-sized, long-faced females."

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Humans already littering Mars

Despite never visiting the Red Planet, humans have already started to dump waste on Mars. Space junk has piled up on the surface of the planet, with debris from missions, including landing equipment, heat shields and parachutes all left behind.

There is thought to be over 15,000lb of human trash on Mars from human spacecraft that have landed over the past half a century -- including the lost British Beagle 2 spacecraft that touched down in 2003.

Dr James Blake, a researcher of space debris at the University of Warwick, has argued that future human missions to Mars should be "designed with sustainability in mind".

He said: "There's still an unfortunate balance that needs to be struck between scientific discovery and the impact of missions on the natural environment of these remote worlds."

Dr Blake proposes that missions to Mars could collect the space junk from the planet.

The scientist said: "It's likely that future colonies would go in search of these relics as historical artefacts.

"By that point, though, it's likely we'll be making a mess of the planet in other ways."