Einstein’s special theory of relativity governs our understanding of both the flow of time and the speed at which objects can move. In special relativity, the speed of light is the ultimate speed limit to the universe. Nothing can travel faster than it. Every single moving object in the universe is constrained by that fundamental limit. Speed and Mass This isn’t something like the speed of sound. Early scientists wondered if we could ever go faster than that speed, not because of some fundam ...read more

From jewelry to tattoos, the picture of a snake that bites its tail is engrained in many of our minds. But experts argue this is just symbolism we've inherited from ancient mythology and not actually a concern of herpetologists and snake scientists alike — with a couple of exceptions.  Rooted in Myth: Ouroboros and Hoop Snakes The visualization of a snake biting its own tail is deeply rooted in myth. In ancient mythology, a tail-eating snake is called an ouroboros, from the Greek word that ...read more

Drinking alcohol grew into a socially acceptable activity in multiple societies, starting in the Neolithic period. From the earliest traces of brewing, which happened about 10,000 years ago, to former trade negotiations and family celebrations – the use of alcohol intertwined with people’s everyday life. In the U.S., data from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) shows that over 85 percent of adults aged 18 and older admitted to drinking alcohol at some point in their lif ...read more

“Snakes,” swashbuckling archeologist Indiana Jones famously groans in Raiders of the Lost Ark. “Why’d it have to be snakes?” If, like Indy, the mere thought of a serpent makes you shiver, you’re not alone — a fear of snakes is among the most common phobias, even for people who have never seen one in person. In fact, humans may have evolved to be born with an innate fear of snakes and spiders, according to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2017.  But even if yo ...read more

When a male humpback whale sings, it hangs its 40-foot-long, 40-ton body upside down in the water and emits some of the most distinctive sounds in the world. According to a 2018 study that analyzed the songs of Australian humpbacks, the whales share an ever-evolving language, like a local dialect, composed of “phrases” joined together to form “themes” that are then arranged to make songs. The squeaks and moans grow more complex as humpbacks add their own embellishments, akin to a folk si ...read more

Every four months, pathologist Aaron LeBeau scoops into a net one of the five nurse sharks he keeps in his University of Wisconsin lab. Then he carefully administers a shot to the animal, much like a pediatrician giving a kid a vaccine. The shot will immunize the shark against a human cancer, perhaps, or an infectious disease, such as Covid-19. A couple of weeks later, after the animal’s immune system has had time to react, LeBeau collects a small vial of shark blood. Halfway across the countr ...read more

The first living beings on this planet were bacteria. And they haven't gone anywhere. Experts from microbiome labs and all life evolved in the presence of bacteria, and bacteria are still a part of all living things. Or as microbial ecologist María Gloria Domínguez-Bello puts it, "Bacteria are the center of all life." That means that you and I are walking communities of bacteria. We tend to think of bacteria as harmful, and some certainly are, but most are either neutral or beneficial, and man ...read more

For those struggling with alcohol use disorder, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is often touted as the go-to option for support. With more than 123,000 groups across 180 countries worldwide, the AA model — free and open to the public — has guided people through addiction since it began in 1935. And in recent decades, a growing body of research has shown that it can be incredibly effective.     “I think it is the power of peers,” says John Kelly, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical ...read more

Our universe began with a puzzle. For 100 million years after the big bang, it expanded. Then something strange happened — this expansion suddenly accelerated and has continued to accelerate ever since. Today cosmologists think some kind of pressure must have forced this acceleration, all powered by huge amounts of energy from an unknown source. Cosmologists call it dark energy. But why this accelerating expansion occurred, and why it happened at that time, is one of the great unsolved myster ...read more

In general terms, scientists have a clear idea about what snakes eat, according to Bryan Maritz, senior lecturer at the Department of Biodiversity & Conservation Biology at the University of the Western Cape. For example, one rule of thumb is that there are no vegetarian snakes, since no species of snake eat any plant material at all, and every snake on the planet is a predator of other animals. What other animals they’re eating, though, ranges enormously depending on species, geography, t ...read more