This animation consists of false-color images of the Russian coast and adjoining East Siberian Sea acquired by NASA’s Aqua satellite. On June 18, the offshore waters were choked with sea ice. By July 6, 2017, a lot of it had broken up. In the false-color scheme, land is green, black is indicative of open water, and ice is a light turquoise. The darker blue prominent in the June 18th image probably is indicative of melting snow and ice that’s causing liq ...read more
Mount Sharp on Mars, as imaged by the Curiosity rover. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Life on Mars … does it exist? Depending on when you last checked in with news about the Red Planet, you could probably be convinced either way. As we discover more and more about the composition and planetary dynamics of Mars, there has been cause for both elation and disappointment regarding the likelihood that organic life could manage to eke out a living on the planet.
The pendulum swung back towar ...read more
An artist’s impression of Proxima b. (Credit: ESO)
Proxima Centauri b may not be alone out there.
The 2016 announcement of Proxima Centauri b was a watershed moment in exoplanet research. Not only had researchers found a potentially habitable Earth-mass planet, but it was at the nearest star to Earth. This means it could be one of the easiest systems to study using future telescopes.
But researchers are now looking into some promising signals suggesting there are more planets lurkin ...read more
(Credit: Innerfire BV)
Take a deep breath. Feel the wave of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide press against the bounds of your ribcage and swell your lungs. Exhale. Repeat.
Before consciously inhaling, you probably weren’t thinking about breathing at all. The respiratory system is somewhat unique to our bodies in that we are both its passenger and driver. We can leave it up to our autonomic nervous system, responsible for unconscious actions like our heartbeat and digestion, or we can ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Compared to the other generational tragedies of the late ’80s and early ’90s, the rise of memory repression cases is hardly remembered. But nevertheless, during that time hundreds of abuse cases in the courts hinged on unproven theories of Sigmund Freud, tearing hundreds of families asunder and solidifying memory repression in clinical lore. Harvard University psychologist Richard McNally famously called repressed memories “the worst catastrophe to befa ...read more
According to a new estimate, the impending iceberg could be the size of Delaware and extend more than 60 stories beneath the surface
Antarctica’s soon-to-be iceberg is visualized here in a graphic from the European Space Agency.
An ever-widening rift in an Antarctic ice shelf has grown from 70 miles long back in December 2016 to 124 miles long now. That means there’s just another three miles to go before the fissure reaches the ocean.
When that happens, t ...read more
(Credit: agsandrew/Shutterstock)
Menstruating women experience no changes in cognition, according to a new study from Swiss and German researchers.
It’s a pervasive stereotype: cognitive performance is different when women are on their periods. It’s an idea that has implications for women’s professional lives, extending even to the last presidential election. However, there isn’t reliable scientific research backing this ill-informed belief up, and what little exists is ...read more
It sure looks that way in this animation showing the Sun up close and personal. And there are two other ‘holes’ visible as well.
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A big dark area in the north polar region makes it appear as if the Sun has blown its top. And in a way, it has.
You can see what’s going on by watching the animation above. It’s based on data acquired by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft over 48 hours, starting on July 3rd and continuing into today ...read more
Guest post by Earlene Mulyawan
Yogurt is an ancient food that has been around for several millennia. One theory of the discovery of yogurt is that during 10,000 – 5,000 BC, when Herdsmen began the practice of milking their animals, they stored their milk in bags made of the intestinal gut of the animals. The intestines contain natural enzymes that cause the milk to curdle and sour. The herdsmen noticed that this method of storing milk extends its shelf life and preserves it. When they cons ...read more
