Consider this myth busted. You've likely heard that sun exposure helps humans get vitamin D, which is important for bone, muscle, brain, and immune health. But if you've also heard that sunscreen blocks our absorption of the nutrient, you can rest assured that the experts say otherwise. Dermatologists told Axios that since the body can make vitamin D from very little sunlight, and since sunscreen isn't usually applied evenly to every inch of skin, SPF is unlikely to cause a deficiency. So you can spend a day in the sun knowing you're protecting yourself from skin cancer and boosting your vitamin D.
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Science
"Revolutionary": World's Largest Digital Camera Debuts Its First Images of the Cosmos
RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/T. Matsopoulos
A groundbreaking observatory in Chile is off to a sparkling start, as evidenced by the debut images released yesterday. While the initial photos are all mesmerizing (you can check them out here), they're just a sliver of what's to come from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a massive U.S.-funded telescope perched at the summit of Cerro Pachón. "These images are fantastic. They're incredibly high-resolution. But they're just a tiny, tiny fraction of what's been captured," Kevin Reil, a staff scientist with the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, told NPR of the observatory, which is named after an astronomer who made essential contributions to the concept of dark matter. Using the world's largest digital camera, the observatory's main goal is to chart all changes in the sky over a decade, providing researchers an unprecedented amount of data and resulting in a high-def time-lapse of the cosmos. "It's a very special telescope," said Scott Sheppard, an astronomer with Carnegie Science. He added: "It's going to be revolutionary. Astronomers are going to change from observing little areas of the sky to basically data mining. It's going to be like a firehose of data coming in."
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Plastic Bag Bans and Fees Reduce Beach Litter, Study Finds
Brent Durand/Getty Images
Do plastic bag bans and fees actually make a difference? It's a question you may have wondered about as you pile up your trunk with reusable totes. And now a new study has an answer: Yes, these policies have a decidedly positive effect on the environment. In the paper, researchers analyzed more than 600 bag policies and the results from over 45,000 U.S. shoreline cleanups between 2016 to 2023 to see if bans or fees curbed the number of plastic bags ending up as litter on beaches. They found that the cleanups collected 25%-47% fewer plastic bags in places with bag bans or taxes compared to places without such policies. "Our findings make clear that plastic bag policies have been broadly effective in limiting — but not eliminating — shoreline plastic bag debris," the study authors wrote, noting that these results indicate that regulations on other single-use plastics would likely be effective as well. So if you needed a reminder to toss a few reusable totes in your bag or trunk, this is it.
Tech
Hoping to Prevent Pediatric Hot Car Deaths, College Students Create "Smart Car Seat"
Eddy Perez/LSU
There is no shortage of car seats on the market — but engineering students at Louisiana State University invented one that could be lifesaving even when the engine is turned off. Enter: the "smart car seat" designed to prevent kids from being left or trapped in hot cars. On average, about 37 kids die each year for this very reason, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. "After learning about the families affected by these incidents, we felt a deep responsibility to develop a solution that could help prevent such tragedies and protect vulnerable lives," Trevor Perrault, one of the three student inventors, said in a statement. The trio designed a smart alert system that can detect if a child is left alone in a car via weight and proximity sensors. "If the caregiver moves too far away while the child is still present, the system sounds an alarm and sends a Bluetooth alert to a separate fob device, with the option to expand into additional notifications," explained fellow inventor Victoria Irondi. The prototype was recently honored by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission and the Louisiana Passenger Safety Task Force. And now the students are hoping to improve their system and bring it to life to help caregivers in real-world scenarios. In the meantime, check out the new federal safety standards for car seats that'll go into effect in December 2026, as well as NHTSA's Find the Right Seat guide.
In Other News
A showstopper from the Paris Olympics is back this summer to illuminate the City of Light's skyline (read more)
For those seeking migraine relief, a study found a common diabetes drug could halve headache incidence (read more)
Building futuristic "space capsules" may help unhoused residents in Northern California (read more)
Long Island's new pro soccer team signed a local 16-year-old star to the squad (read more)
Rare ducklings hatched for the first time at a U.K. zoo, a boost for the endangered species (read more)
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Inspiring Story
Hats off to these veterans
Life's a journey, not a race — and there's perhaps no better example of that than the Vietnam War veterans who are getting their high school diplomas decades after sacrificing the milestone to serve their country. "When I got that diploma, I felt like a million dollars," said Dennis Snyder, a vet who would have been a member of the graduating class of 1963. He added: "I don't have a lot of years left … but I'm going to enjoy this diploma for the rest of my life."
Photo of the Day
Jory Mundy/Getty Images
On Sunday, 551 participants took a swim for a good cause in the U.K.: raising funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. The annual "Castle 2 Castle Swim" is a 1-mile open water swim in Falmouth, England, and from the looks of this photo, it was a beautiful day to give back, one stroke at a time.
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"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time."
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