About 225 million years ago, at the very dawn of mammalian existence, the creatures that humans and all other extant mammals would descend from were diminutive creatures about the size of a shrew.This handicap on size placed them squarely on the dinner plate of dinosaurs, and many other larger creatures that lived on our planet at the time. It may also be the reason that their ancestors, including humans, don’t live longer than we do.“The hypothesis is that mammals spent 100 million years du ...read more

At one time, traveling to space seemed impossible. But now, hundreds of people have left Earth’s atmosphere and drifted in outer space. While there is still much to explore, thanks to researchers and astronauts, some cosmic mysteries have been uncovered. For example, we know that one of the many differences between Earth and outer space is the amount of gravity. According to NASA, there is only a small amount of gravity in space, unlike Earth, where the force consistently pulls us downward an ...read more

Dick Coffee attended 781 consecutive University of Alabama football games. Meg Roh surfed through illness, storms and nightfall to maintain a seven-year daily surfing streak. Jon Sutherland ran at least 1 mile every day for over 52 years.An activity streak has the power to compel behavior, and marketers have taken note. Marketing researchers Jackie Silverman and Alixandra Barasch recently documented 101 unique instances, including Snapchat, Candy Crush Saga, Wordle and the Duolingo lang ...read more

Mark Twain apocryphally said, “I’m in favor of progress; it’s change I don’t like.” This quote pithily underscores the human tendency to desire growth while also harboring strong resistance to the hard work that comes with it. I can certainly resonate with this sentiment.I was raised in a conservative evangelical home. Like many who grew up in a similar environment, I learned a set of religious beliefs that framed how I understood myself and the world around me. I was taught that God i ...read more

Long before conventional medicine, people used natural remedies to treat all types of ailments. Today, some people still use natural home remedies for many conditions. Some should be avoided, such as rubbing butter on burns, which can cause an infection. From natural anti-inflammatories to antioxidants, these home remedies can actually have some benefits.(Credit: Valentyn Volkov/Shutterstock) Chili peppers are rich in healthy bioactive plant compounds — including lutein, ferulic acid, capsant ...read more

Every dog owner knows that dogs can have some odd behaviors. These include turning in circles before lying down, eating grass, burying or hiding treats, and getting the zoomies. While these habits may seem quirky to us, there are reasons behind their actions. Nipping or biting people’s feet is another seemingly unusual habit. But there are explanations to help us understand why they do this. Here are some helpful things to know about this common dog behavior. Read More: Why Do Dogs Suddenly G ...read more

When you enter the gym, which way should you head first? Toward the treadmills and spin studio to get your sweat on with a cardio session? Or toward the free weights and strength-training machines to do some resistance training?The American College of Sports Medicine suggests doing both types of exercise to take advantage of their unique benefits for improving health and daily functioning and reducing chronic disease risk. But what is the optimal sequence to get the best results?The answer to ...read more

Most ecologists agree that the earth is currently experiencing a mass extinction event. All over the world, living organisms are looking down the barrel of climate change, habitat destruction and exploitation. The most conservative estimates place the number of species lost per year at 10 times the “background rate” (which is calculated from when life began to now). Most extinctions go undocumented, but some are caught on the pages of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (I ...read more

The year 2023 proved to be an important one for space missions, with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returning a sample from an asteroid and India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission exploring the lunar south pole, and 2024 is shaping up to be another exciting year for space exploration.Several new missions under NASA’s Artemis plan and Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative will target the Moon.The latter half of the year will feature several exciting launches, with the launch of the Martian M ...read more

In the hit dystopian TV series Severance, employees at biotech corporation Lumon Industries find it easy to separate work and home life. A computer chip is inserted in their brains to act as a “mindwipe”. They leave all thoughts of home behind while at work, and completely forget about their work when at home.While the show explores the pitfalls of such a split in consciousness, there’s no denying it’s a tantalising prospect to be able to “flick the off switch” and forget about work ...read more