In the modern age, the search for extraterrestrial life requires a unique mind. A researcher must have the openness and creativity to imagine something beyond our current knowledge of the universe. At the same time, the researcher, if they are to be taken seriously, must also be skilled enough to analyze high-powered astronomical imagery through supercomputing, artificial intelligence, or other means.The researchers behind project Hephaistos, a Swedish-based effort to identify traces of alien li ...read more

Having a gluten-free diet has become a well-established dietary trend. But not everyone suffers from the genetic autoimmune disease called celiac disease. It’s estimated that around 1 percent of Americans suffer from celiac disease, which is commonly known for its gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation. Recent studies have also shown that beyond stomach issues, there is a connection between mental health issues and celiac disease and gluten intolerance.  ...read more

In the 1920s and ‘30s, a British botanist named Arthur Ernest Watkins collected over 1,000 varieties of bread wheat from 32 countries all around the globe. In a recent study, scientists propose that his seed collection – which has been painstakingly maintained for over a century – could hold the key to fortifying modern wheat agriculture and feeding the world’s ever-increasing population. Their findings were published in the journal Nature in June 2024. The Green RevolutionUpon Watkin’ ...read more

There are two kinds of tickles. Knismesis is a soft, gentle kind of tickling, such as when an insect crawls across your skin, or someone strokes you with a feather. But here we’re talking about the other kind. It’s called gargalesis and is the full-on, go-for-the-ribs or armpits tickling that makes you laugh out loud and wiggle and squirm.Stop and think about it for a minute, and you’ll notice something very odd about tickling. When you’re being tickled, you laugh, sometimes a lot. That� ...read more

Ready or not, back-to-school season is here, and kids will be bringing home more than homework. They’ll be carrying germs, too.These viruses and bacteria will be agents that cause the common cold, influenza, norovirus, COVID-19, strep throat, and more. There’s a reason why boxes of tissues and sanitizing wipes show up on most school supply lists.As a nursing professor with experience in public health promotion, I have spent the past several years helping the public understand how to prevent ...read more

Nearly half of all dementia cases could be delayed or prevented altogether by addressing 14 possible risk factors, including vision loss and high cholesterol.That is the key finding of a new study that we and our colleagues published in the journal The Lancet.Dementia, a rapidly increasing global challenge, affects an estimated 57 million worldwide, and this number is expected to increase to 153 million by 2050 worldwide. Although the prevalence of dementia is on the decline in high-income count ...read more

Around the turn of the twentieth century, there wasn’t much space in academia for female scholars. Certain disciplines, like psychology, were almost exclusively male. Graduate programs didn’t permit women to enroll, and there were few opportunities for women to study psychology and impact the field with their ideas.Margaret Floy Washburn was one of the few women who was able to fight her way into the field. Many psychologists now consider her one of the founding scholars of comparative psych ...read more

Drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics announced on Aug. 9, 2024, that the Food and Drug Administration declined to approve the company’s application for the use of MDMA-assisted therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is the first such decision issued on a psychedelic drug application.Many investors and researchers have been predicting a psychedelics boom, with MDMA being just the first of a number of psychedelics in the drug development pipeline.The FDA’s decision has disappoi ...read more

And since natural selection shares so many features with play, we may, with some justification, maintain that life, in a most fundamental sense, is playful. At Cambridge University Library, along with all the books, maps, and manuscripts, there’s a child’s drawing that curators have titled “The Battle of the Fruit and Vegetable Soldiers.”The drawing depicts a turbaned cavalry soldier facing off against an English dragoon. It’s a bit trippy: The British soldier sits astride a carrot, an ...read more

The years between 662 million years and 700 million years ago — just before and after glaciers left a half-mile thick rock layer — were mysterious. There is little information about the planet's conditions just before the period of the deep freeze, which covered the planet in ice and is sometimes referred to as Snowball Earth.Now, researchers have examined a rock feature showing what life on the planet was like — both before the freeze and after the subsequent thaw. The report in the Journ ...read more