If you’re trying to figure out how to stay sharp as you age, I’m guessing you aren’t lacking advice. You’ve probably read dozens of articles telling you specific things you can do to reduce your risk of cognitive decline — work a sudoku every morning, learn Mandarin Chinese, eat seven servings of kale each week, join a book club, get up at 5 a.m. and meditate. There’s so much advice out there you may be confused. Or ready to just give up and let nature take its course.If that’s you ...read more

Within the next few decades, NASA aims to land humans on the Moon, set up a lunar colony and use the lessons learned to send people to Mars as part of its Artemis program.While researchers know that space travel can stress space crew members both physically and mentally and test their ability to work together in close quarters, missions to Mars will amplify these challenges. Mars is far away – millions of miles from Earth– and a mission to the red planet will take two to two and a half years ...read more

Approximately 1 in 26 people develop epilepsy, a condition in which someone experiences recurring and unprovoked seizures. But experiencing a seizure does not always mean a person has epilepsy. Seizures can be provoked by acute head injuries, alcohol withdrawal and high blood sugar, among other things. Approximately 1 in 10 people will experience a seizure during their lifetime.The Conversation asked Dr. Jacob Pellinen, a neurologist specializing in epilepsy, to walk us through how to recognize ...read more

Taking good eclipse photos is harder than it looks. The last Great American Eclipse, on Aug. 21, 2017, was photographed by hundreds of thousands of people — and many of them were probably disappointed in their results. Overexposure, blurriness, and camera malfunctions are all concerns if you aren’t prepared. Here are some tips you can follow that might help you take better pictures of eclipses this month and beyond.1.  Select Your EquipmentDecide what optics you’ll be shooting through. It ...read more

It’s a universal truth: If you have a skeleton, you absolutely need vitamin D. Without this critical vitamin, your body wouldn’t be able to absorb calcium, the primary ingredient we all require for strong, healthy bones.Of course, vitamin D’s value to your body is more than simply skeletal. It’s a crucial nutrient for your muscles, your nervous system, and even your immune system.  The sunshine vitamin is known to help with infections and inflammation and may also help inhibit the growt ...read more

One of the extraordinary scenarios dreamt up for AI is to will help governments make diplomatic and military decisions on the international stage. The thinking is that machines can process more information than humans on shorter time scales. And the possibility that geopolitical competitors might use AI to outmaneuver allies, increases the pressure to operate on the same terms.So an urgent and important goal is to understand the capability of AI systems in making these kinds of decisions.AI Warg ...read more

Alaskapox, a virus in the same family as smallpox, cowpox, and mpox, claimed its first fatality in January 2024 when an elderly Alaskan man died of the illness.The virus, which was discovered in 2015, had previously resulted in only relatively mild illnesses in the six other people infected by it. So why did the Alaskan man die?Raúl Rivas González, a microbiologist at the University of Salamanca in Spain, explains what we know about Alaskapox, what happened to the man in Alaska, and the threat ...read more

Sight is one of the most widespread senses in the animal kingdom. In fact, eyes have independently evolved among life on Earth an estimated 40 times. Where would the world be without its colors and shades?But, as delightful as the world appears through human eyes, it's but a shadow of the splendors seen by creatures with larger, more sophisticated visual faculties. Let's take a look at six optically exceptional animals, from wide-eyed owls to colossal giant squids. 1. Owls (Credit: Alan Tunnicl ...read more

After six years, seven months, and 18 days, a total eclipse of the Sun will once again cross North America.The total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, will dazzle tens of millions of people from Mazatlán, Mexico, to the shores of Newfoundland, Canada, just north of St. John’s. The U.S. states touched by totality are Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.Inside the path of totality, t ...read more

As the largest organ in the body, our skin protects us from UV radiation, chemical exposures, and pathogenic bacteria from the outside environment.The skin’s natural ability to make collagen slows down as we age. And the body needs various vitamins and healthy fats to keep functioning properly. While there’s no stopping natural aging completely, some supplements could help prolong and maintain skin health. Supplements can increase nutrients for the skin and sometimes do this from the insid ...read more