(Credit: Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock)
If you see someone in need, would you help them out even if you might get hurt in the process?
Psychology experiments have often shown that people are unlikely to help others in need when another person is close by. This dismal human reaction is called the “bystander effect,” named for the people who stand by and do nothing. But most of the research on the bystander effect comes from carefully controlled lab settings, not from the real worl ...read more
The growing ash plume from Ulawun in PNG, captured just after the eruption started in June 26, 2019. Image: Himawari-8, JMA.
For the second time in a week, a blast from a new eruption has topped the 10 kilometers. However, unlike Raikoke in Russia, this one came from a volcano that has a well-known history of big explosions.
Ulawun, on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, unleashed an eruption this morning (local time) that reached at least 13.5 kilometers (45,000 feet) accordin ...read more
Researchers at Harvard Medical have found that elite athletes like marathon runners have more of a gut microbe, Veillonella, that gives them an endurance boost. They're working on turning it into a probiotic so us slowpokes can get a boost, too. (Credit: lzf/Shutterstock)
More and more, researchers have been studying how your gut microbes might be making you sick. Scientists have linked these vital bugs to everything from schizophrenia, to autism, allergies and obesity. But what do the micro ...read more
(Credit: ElROi/Shutterstock)
CBD, or cannabidiol, is growing in popularity as a stress-relieving wonder drug that may help ease anxiety, inflammation and pain. Many enthusiasts also say it can cure a smorgasbord of other conditions. CBD is a non-active ingredient in cannabis -- it doesn't get you high. And that's helped retailers avoid legal problems while plopping the substance into all manner of products.
But does the CBD chemical craze carry any weight? There's one surprising new way ...read more
The dark streaks seen on Martian slopes might be an indication of where water sometimes flows, especially since orbiters have also observed salts in the same locations. (Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
Mars’ surface is dry and dusty. But researchers know there’s water there. It's locked up in the polar ice caps, and occasionally it probably seeps to the surface as liquid. And at night, the Red Planet’s plummeting temperatures raise the humidity drastically, possibly ...read more
If large impacts ceased early in Mars’ history, that would leave plenty of time for life to have formed in its ancient oceans. (Credit: NASA/GSFC)
When the solar system was young, some scientists suspect it was too wild and raucous a place for life to develop. Earth, Mars, and the other planets were all being pelted by massive asteroids and rocky debris. Some of those rocks might have delivered the very water that later made life possible. But the unrelenting impacts may have made the s ...read more
