A new optical illusion has been discovered, and it’s really quite striking. The strange effect is called the ‘curvature blindness’ illusion, and it’s described in a new paper from psychologist Kohske Takahashi of Chukyo University, Japan.
Here’s an example of the illusion:
A series of wavy horizontal lines are shown. All of the lines have exactly the same shape – a sine curve. However, half of the lines appear to have a much more triangular, “zig-z ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Researchers found that thousands of potentially usable kidneys have gone to waste across the United States in recent years, leaving many patients waiting unnecessarily for transplants.
The study, published Thursday in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, highlights inefficiencies in the transplant system. According to data collected over the past 15 years, in roughly 7,600 unilateral kidney transplants—those in which one kidney was used and on ...read more
A meeting of minds between Dian Fossey and one of the mountain gorillas she was studying (or the other way around?). Credit: ROBERT I.M. CAMPBELL
What would happen if we found an intelligent alien civilization that was less advanced than our own? I posed this as a hypothetical question in a recent blog post. But really, it doesn’t need to be posed as a hypothetical. The answer is playing out right now in the forests of Africa, and it doesn’t reflect very well on us.
The gorillas of ...read more
There are a few different reasons why coffee makes people feel the urge to poop. (Credit: Shutterstock)
You may consume coffee to get your day started, as a pick-me-up, or to get you through a lengthy meeting. You may also drink it to, perhaps, get things moving along on schedule.
About 29 percent of people claim they felt the urge to poop after drinking coffee, according to a commonly cited study from 1990. But why? Discover reached out to a gastroenterology expert to see if we could get ...read more
The traditional story of human migration out of Africa has been on shaky ground for years. Researchers in a new Science paper are finally calling for a revision. (Archaic Homo sapiens photographed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, credit Ryan Somma/Wikimedia Commons)
The wealth of new paleoanthropological, archaeological and genetic evidence has passed the tipping point: In a review published today in the prestigious journal Science, researchers acknowledge that the co ...read more
(Credit: By EpicStockMedia/Shutterstock)
While the discussion of “nature versus nurture” dominates many areas of scientific research, the debate is particularly contentious when it comes to the origin of sexual preference.
However, multiple studies have found links between DNA and homosexuality. Building on this foundation, a new large-scale genetic study explores the roots of male sexual orientation, finding two regions of genetic variance in homosexual men.
The factors contributi ...read more
Evolutionary adaptation or simple coincidence? (Credit: tatyaby/Shutterstock)
Pruny fingers, they’re an unavoidable byproduct of a long bath or a turn washing the dishes. Though they may seem like little more than the puzzling cost of getting our hands wet, the phenomenon could actually be helping us keep a tight grip on those wine glasses.
If you’ve never thought about it, consider that fingers and toes are the only parts of our bodies that wrinkle up (as a result of constricting ...read more
Image: Flickr/rich_f28
Yup, you read that right: according to this study, the ice you make in your freezer is full of bacteria, and some of it is the bad kind. Store-bought ice isn’t too bad, but you might want to be suspicious about the ice from your local watering hole. The good news is that many drinks we pour over the ice can kill those bacteria, including “alcohol, CO2, pH and antibacterial ingredients of vodka, whisky, Martini, peach tea, tonic water and coke.” I g ...read more
