(Credit: Master1305/Shutterstock)
Military missions can expose service members to horrible and life-threatening situations. As a result, 20 to 30 percent of combat veterans experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – ongoing feelings of guilt, anger, and shame that surface as outbursts, reckless behavior and intense flashbacks. But despite PTSD's prevalence among vets and other survivors of traumatic experiences, scientists know little about the condition’s biological roots ...read more
The internet could one day reach every corner of the Earth courtesy of satellite constellations. (Credit: sdecoret/Shutterstock)
For decades, the basic principles governing how the Internet works have remained pretty much unchanged. But with massive growth on the horizon — thanks to everything from AI to blockchain, and from the 5G rollout to the ubiquitous Internet of Things — the amount of data we produce could eventually outpace physical storage capacity.
The solution? Look ...read more
Reports of screen time's harms may have been greatly exaggerated. (Credit: aslysun/Shutterstock)
Today, our phones can seem less like friends and more like the other half of a toxic relationship. We rely on them for our daily activities, even as concerns over the effects of screen time on well-being mount. The phobia has even prompted the development of a new consulting gig: screen-free parenting coaches. But now researchers argue the terror surrounding screens lacks evidence and they sa ...read more
https://youtu.be/ML1fQ5I38Tk
While I was on a whale-watching trip out of Akureyri, Iceland in late June, a humpback whale approached our boat and began vigorously slapping its tail and pectoral fins on the water. The humpback was breathtakingly close to us, and the dramatic behavior lasted for more than five minutes.
Check it out in the video I shot above. (Please accept my apologies for the distracting wind noise — I was not equipped at the time with an external mic and windscreen ...read more
Wormholes could offer a path to the most distant places in the universe. (Credit: dimonika/Shutterstock)
Wormholes make the best shortcuts in the universe. That’s true in a literal sense, since the theoretical things can connect distant corners of the cosmos (or even different universes), allowing a traveler to go someplace without having to visit everywhere in between.
But wormholes also present the perfect way for writers to get around that pesky speed of light, the universe's spee ...read more
The documentary INVENTING TOMORROW follows several young scientists on their journey to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), a program of Society for Science & the Public, with projects that tackle complex environmental issues affecting water, air, and soil quality.
INVENTING TOMORROW Broadcast on July 29, 2019
You can catch this documentary tonight on POV Docs, television’s longest-running showcase for nonfiction films on PBS.
https://www.youtube. ...read more
The glow of fireflies on a summer night is actually a complex mating dance. (Credit: Shutterstock)
You might not really be sure you saw what you think you saw when the first one shows up. But you stare in the direction of the flicker of light and there it is again – the first firefly of the evening. If you are in good firefly habitat, soon there are dozens, or even hundreds, of the insects flying about, flashing their mysterious signals.
Fireflies – alternatively known as light ...read more
The Discovery Channel's popular Shark Week is July 28-August 4. Help scientists learn more about sharks through the projects we've tagged for you, below. This year, you can also help provide healthy ocean homes for sharks by joining the world’s largest volunteer effort for oceans: the International Coastal Cleanup.
The Shark Trust: Great Eggcase Hunt
Ever see a "mermaid's purse" while walking on the beach? These are the egg cases of sharks or skates, and they hel ...read more
Arrange your fingers like the image below, and then look at them closely.
From Bertamini (2019) i-Perception
Do you notice anything odd?
Psychologist Marco Bertamini of the University of Liverpool describes this test in a fun new paper. According to Bertamini, seven of the ten people he surveyed reported that their little fingers clearly appeared to be 'too far away', to the extent that they did not appear to be part of their hands.
Bertamini suggests that the illusion is caused by ...read more
Elevation changes also indicate where Mars may have once had a vast northern ocean. (Credit: Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Science Team/NASA)
Three and a half billion years ago, an asteroid slammed into Mars. The cataclysm wasn’t terribly unusual for this period in the solar system’s history, but the fallout would leave its mark. The asteroid carved out an enormous crater. It also sent a wall of water a thousand feet high hurtling around the young Red Planet, which was much more bl ...read more
