A lot is happening in the science and research world all the time. Some of it is only on the fringes of pop-sci though, and will largely be forgotten due to not having a click-worthy title. So we’ll be rounding up the most recent news, as well as link backs to the journals and papers so if you’re really into that sort of thing you can pry further.

2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Given to Some Guy

This years lauriete is Yoshinori Ohsumi who’s discovered and pulled apart the mechanics of autophagy (self eating) in cells. Scientists in the 60s noticed that cells were enclosing and recycling themselves, but the process remained a mystery till the 90s when Ohsumi figured the whole thing out. Don’t worry, we now understand some fundamental cellular mechanics. So you can sleep easy now.

Shit Transplant Gets the Green Light

In a German retrospective study everyone has decided that people suffering from particular bowel infections can be cured safely by putting healthy shit from a donor inside them. “There were no severe adverse effects or deaths within 30 days of the treatment.” which sounds like a win to me. “How did he die?” “He had a strangers shit pushed inside him and then he died 31 days later.”

Hang Out With Ugly People To Look More Attractive

A study has proven unequivocally that the Cheerleader Effect famously put forward by Barney Stinson is in fact true. Well sort of.

“The presence of a less attractive face does not just increase the attractiveness of a single person, but in a crowd could actually make us even more choosey! We found that the presence of a ‘distractor’ face makes differences between attractive people more obvious and that observers start to pull apart these differences, making them even more particular in their judgement.” read the study here.

Contrary to Popular Belief, Working Night Shifts Does Not Give You Breast Cancer

New research, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute followed 1.4 million women and found out whether they got breast cancer due to working at night. It doesn’t.

Getting a Snail Drunk is the Humane Way to Prepare Them for Death

Finally in the news is the fact that giving an invertebrate such as a snail a few ounces of beer is enough of a hit to make euthanization humane. If they don’t want to euthanise the snail a bit of beer is good for numbing them up and stop them from retracting into their shells, giving a good opportunity to stick a needle in or taking a sample.