For most humans today, the threat of encountering a wild bear in daily life is quite slim. And yet, the likelihood of experiencing a stress response as if you are evading or defending yourself from a bear remains high. In our bodies, this stress reaction can play out the moment we’re called upon at work to give a presentation, or perhaps during a nerve-racking first date: sweaty palms, bowel discomfort, the sensation of pins and needles pricking the skin. This is the reality of living as socia ...read more

Sometimes, it seems like muscles have a mind of their own. Whether it’s a twitchy eyelid, a sudden spasm in your thigh or a muscle that seems to contract without cause, involuntary muscle movements are exceedingly common. (One might even be happening to you, right now, as you read this sentence.) Most muscle twitches fall under the category of fasciculations — small, involuntary movements that can occur at random to any muscle in the body, although they’re most common in the eyelids and l ...read more

Ancient DNA preserved in the icy climate of Siberia has revealed new insights about how ancient humans migrated five to seven millennia ago. The finding is important because it helps scientists fill in a big gap in their knowledge about ancient humans. We know, for example, that humans began to migrate out of Africa at least 50,000 years ago. But it took until roughly 10,000 years ago before they began to develop farming. The humans living in the intermittent period — as well as much more rece ...read more

The Science Near Me blog is a partnership between Discover magazine and ScienceNearMe.org. If you’re on the hunt for fun date night ideas, here's an option you may not have considered: a science center. What could be more romantic than nerding out with a loved one? Science centers can be part museum, part theater, part classroom and more all rolled into one. They’re filled with hands-on exhibits that demonstrate science concepts in fun and entertaining ways, and they often host events or put ...read more

Legends of setting foot in Qin Shi Huang’s tomb in Xi’an, China speak of booby traps — poison gases, trip-wire alarms and deadly crossbows. The crypt of the first emperor of China has been untouched for more than 2,000 years and has been a mysterious tomb for archeologists. But are those legends even true? Some say the booby traps of Qin Shi Huang’s tomb are real. Some say they’re just a bunch of fantasy. Let’s explore the proof we can find. Who Was Emperor Qin Shi Huang Himself? Emp ...read more

In my reporting for Discover, I regularly see studies that rely on laboratory rats to answer a variety of questions. One study, for example, considered whether garlic had protective properties against toxins. Another studied rats' hunger and impulse control. And in a study that no one in my family wanted to hear about at dinner time, researchers measured brain activity in decapitated rats. For me, these stories prompted a new question — why do rats show up so much in research? Why are t ...read more

This story was originally published in our Mar/Apr 2023 issue. Click here to subscribe to read more stories like this one. You live on this planet — and you’re of a certain age — there’s a decent chance you’ve seen the classic Star Trek episode “mirror, mirror,” in which Captain Kirk and several members of the enterprise find themselves in what appears to be a parallel universe. The trouble starts when they attempt to beam up from a planet during an ion storm. Something goes wron ...read more

When it comes to scientific, archaeological and paleontological discoveries, girls really DO get it done! If a casual Google search is anything to go by, it sometimes seems like girls are making astonishing finds every day, advancing our knowledge of science, nature, the ancient world and so much more. In honor of the upcoming International Day of Women and Girls in Science (Feb. 11), here are a few of our favorite discoveries, and the girls who made them. 1. Molly and the Megalodon The most rec ...read more

In 1798, Thomas Malthus, an English economist and demographer, published “An Essay on the Principle of Population,” in which he predicted that human population growth would eventually exceed the Earth’s ability to provide enough food for everyone. This would lead to famine, disease, war and other associated travails. So far, that hasn’t happened. In 1968, 170 years later, Paul Ehrlich published a book titled, The Population Bomb, another doomsaying work predicting that human fecun ...read more

The Neanderthals represent the richest, most robust and most studied species in the hominin record, other than our own. And thanks to the wealth of available specimens — including their remains, tools, trash, and many more traces of their activities — scientists are piecing together a picture of their basic behavior, bit by bit. From the unique diet of the Neanderthal to the advanced language ability and communication skill, the picture that they're producing is far from primitive. In fact, ...read more