Scientists say DNA tests on a skeleton found in a lavish Viking warrior's grave in Sweden show the remains are those of a woman in her 30s. Swedish researchers used new methods to analyze genetic material from the 1,000-year-old bones at a Viking-era site known as Birka, near Stockholm. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson of Uppsala University said the tests show "it is definitely a woman." Writing in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, the researchers say it's the first confirmed remains of a high-ranking female Viking warrior.

Chemical reaction makes us cry when we cut onions

Why does chopping onions make us teary? A reaction in the onion releases a chemical called lachrymatory factor, or LF, that irritates our eyes. When we cut or smash an onion, its cells break open, allowing two normally separated substances to combine. Linked together like pieces of a puzzle, they become a potent chemical weapon. "It turns into a gas. It hits your eyes, and then it hits your sensory nerves in your eyes and causes them to tear up," said Josie Silvaroli, who wrote about the phenomenon in the journal ACS Chemical Biology. "It's similar to tear gas."

Asian glaciers face massive melt from global warming

Scientists say one-third of the ice stored in Asia's glaciers will be lost by the end of the century even if the world manages to meet its ambitious goal of keeping global warming below 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, affecting water supplies for millions of people on the continent. In a paper in the journal Nature, researchers from the Netherlands also examined what would happen if average global temperatures rise beyond 2.7 degrees by the end of the century. They concluded that almost two-thirds of the ice in Asia's glaciers could vanish.

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