A paralyzed Superman rose from a wheelchair and walked, during a 2000 Super Bowl commercial. The advertisement drew criticism, because, to some, it promised false hope. The ad’s star, Christopher Reeve — famous for playing the caped superhero in a series of movies — was rendered quadriplegic in a 1995 horse-riding accident. The actor turned activist pushed for more research funding in general, and an end to a ban on embryonic stem cell research in particular.Reeve, who died in 2004, would ...read more

Imagine an ancient mammal that looks like a blend of a pig and an anteater but is more closely related to horses and rhinos. This is the tapir, a fascinating creator that has roamed Earth for tens of millions of years. With their strange prehensile snouts, sturdy bodies, and curious behaviors, tapirs have long intrigued scientists and nature enthusiasts alike. Here, we’ll explore what makes tapirs so unique, their habitats, their diets, and the critical conservation efforts needed to protect t ...read more

Every year, the Plastic Free July campaign asks us to refuse single-use plastic. The idea is that making a small change in our daily lives will collectively make a big difference. And hopefully, better behaviour will stick and become a habit.The intent is good, but consumers shouldn’t have to bear full responsibility for plastic pollution. Individual sacrifices – particularly temporary ones – won’t make a significant difference.Governments, manufacturers and retailers need to get serious ...read more

Hurricane Beryl was the latest Atlantic storm to rapidly intensify, growing quickly from a tropical storm into the strongest June hurricane on record in the Atlantic. It hit the Grenadine Islands with 150 mph winds and a destructive storm surge on July 1, 2024, then continued to intensify into the basin’s earliest Category 5 storm on record.The damage Beryl caused, particularly on Carriacou and Petite Martinique, was extensive, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a news briefing. “In ...read more

Civilizations rise and fall, and sometimes, they fall on top of each other. Part of the reason that civilizations are born is their location, and over time, that location largely remains the same even though the city it hosts changes.These archeological sites are layered on top of each other, telling the story of one society, its rise, and then the next that came in its place. 1. Pompeii(Credit: Ivo Antonie de Rooij/Shutterstock) Pompeii is well known as a city that was decimated by the eruptio ...read more

Picture an amphibian over 6 feet long, with a suction-cup mouth containing 4-inch fangs in a 2-foot-long skull that holds a ring of smaller, but equally sharp teeth. Such a creature dominated the waters 40 million years before dinosaurs usurped it as a top predator and comes from a lineage once thought to be extinct millions of years before its aquatic reign. This creature, Gaiasia jennyae — which could aptly be named “salamander from hell” — is described in a new report in Nature.“Gai ...read more

Electroencephalography, or EEG, was invented 100 years ago. In the years since the invention of this device to monitor brain electricity, it has had an incredible impact on how scientists study the human brain.Since its first use, the EEG has shaped researchers’ understanding of cognition, from perception to memory. It has also been important for diagnosing and guiding treatment of multiple brain disorders, including epilepsy.I am a cognitive neuroscientist who uses EEG to study how people rem ...read more

Personality is a fascinating and complex aspect of human nature. It's what makes each of us unique, influencing how we think, feel, and interact with the world around us. But have you ever wondered why sometimes you enjoy being the life of the party, and other times you crave solitude? If so, you might be tapping into both introverted and extroverted traits, making you an ambivert.In this article, we’ll briefly explore what it means to be an ambivert, as well as how to recognize if you possess ...read more

Since the dawn of time, humans have depended on the light of day and the darkness of night to regulate sleep cycles and keep our circadian rhythms in check. But now with the advent of electrical lighting as well as screen time, we have to tend to unnatural lighting and the impact it has on our sleep cycles.Humans have robust rhythms that regulate nearly every aspect of our lives, from our cognition to memory to things like liver function and how the pancreas secretes insulin in response to a mea ...read more

Every season has its own unique sights, sounds and other sensations. In this episode of the SciStarter podcast, we look at fireflies, listen to cicadas, feel the ocean waves and extend our senses beyond the bounds of our planet.Sensations of Summer Audio PodcastSensations of Summer Video PodcastPodcast TranscriptSciStarter S5E6 Sensations of SummerBob Hirshon Welcome to Citizen Science: Stories of Science We Can Do Together, also known as the SciStarter podcast. In this episode a summer sensory ...read more