Humans have loved exploration throughout history. Travel has endless opportunities for commerce, trade, culinary delights, cultural education, or even just a fresh start. The jet set lifestyle that is paraded on social media seems like pure bliss, from summering in Thailand one season and skiing in Switzerland the next. For many, this type of travel-fueled glamor appeals to the intrinsic human need for change, but for others, it could be a marker for mental health issues. Too much travel could e ...read more

Most adults require between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. Sleep needs decrease with age, starting with 14-17 hours at birth and decreasing to around seven to eight hours after age 65. But in addition to age, research also shows that there are differences in the sleep requirements of men versus women, with women requiring more sleep.According to neurologist and sleep medicine physician Jeffrey Durmer, women tend to sleep longer than men, go to sleep earlier, and experience more deep sl ...read more

The Earth's crust has a dual personality. On one hand, there are the continents. Many times, the crust that makes up the continents can be very old, upwards of 3 to 4 billion years old! Yet, the oceanic crust that makes up a majority of the planet's surface doesn't get anywhere near as well. In fact, the oldest oceanic crust is only about 220 million years ago, or ~5% of the age of the Earth. We know we've had oceans and oceanic crust for billions of years, so where has it all gone?That's where ...read more

They might not come when you call them, but recent research reveals that cats recognize the voices of their caretakers — not thanks to their domestication, but thanks, instead, to their proximity to people.Published in PeerJ Life & Environment, the research found that captive, undomesticated cats respond to the voices of their caretakers much more quickly and much more intensely when their caretakers are more familiar. Felines as ferocious as tigers, cougars, and cheetahs could tell people ...read more

In August 2023, a video of a mother bear and her two little cubs at Yellowstone National Park went viral. The clip didn’t circulate the web because of the precious baby bears. Instead, it went viral because of how the tourists reacted when they saw the bears.At first, people stopped their cars and stared at the bears in a field next to the roadway. The bears ignored the humans, even as some got out of their cars and stood at a distance in the road.Then, a van pulled up, and passengers quickly ...read more

It’s a well-known adage among archaeologists that the "deceased do not bury themselves." Burials are shared, meaningful moments where a community can represent and reinforce what it finds important. And for the Cenomani people, an ancient people from northern Italy, animals were important.According to a new article in PLOS ONE, a number of Cenomani individuals were buried beside animals and animal parts between the third and first centuries B.C.E. Interred in the necropolis of Seminario Vescov ...read more

Back in February 2023, the international law firm Allen & Overy gave its lawyers access to an AI chatbot to help them draft contracts. Almost immediately, this AI system began saving the company’s 3500 lawyers in the region of 2 hours per week. Later in the year, the company announced an AI system capable of contract negotiations, saving up to seven hours per negotiation. But what is less clear is just how significant these savings really are. In particular, how does the work of a Large La ...read more

If you’re familiar with the word “chimera,” it’s probably from Greek mythology, where it refers to a fire-breathing, three-in-one monster — lion-like overall, with a goat’s head protruding from its back and a snake’s head at the tip of its tail.The modern, scientific worldview leaves little room for these grotesque creatures, but it has replaced them with something just as strange and wonderful: human chimeras.Most of us are the product of a single genetic code. When our parents co ...read more

Anyone who spends their time in a messy office has likely heard it before: “I don’t know how you can work like this.” And in some ways, it seems to make sense. Piles of junk have a way of capturing our attention, whether it’s the half dozen sticky notes, the empty coffee cup or the collection of bobbleheads behind your laptop. Then again, others swear they can’t operate without the pile of business cards and scores of open browser tabs. Some of us thrive in chaos.But what does the scie ...read more

The heat signature from lava erupting on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula is seen in this image captured by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on Feb. 8, 2023, less than 10 hours after the event began. (Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery)Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula has cracked open again, creating a nearly 2-mile-long volcanic dyke that has allowed lava to shoot up as high as a 20-story building. The Feb. 8 eruption sent molten rock sluicing across a snow-covered lands ...read more