Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. Impressive as that is, there is plenty more to know about Everest. Think about this for a minute: The top of the mountain is covered with limestone that, a few hundred million years ago, was on the floor of the ocean. “It’s a remarkable example of how dynamic the planet is over geologic time,” says Sean Gallen, an Earth scientist at Colorado State University who studies, among other things, how mountains are formed.And then there’s the ...read more
We’ve all experienced this: You’re in the middle of a lovely dream. Perhaps you’re flying. As you’re soaring through the air, you meet an eagle. The eagle looks at you, opens its beak, and – BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!Your alarm goes off. Dream over, time to get up.Many people – kids and adults alike – notice that when they wake up naturally from sleep, they feel more alert than if an alarm or another person, like a parent, wakes them up. Why is that?I’m a neurologist who studies the brain ...read more
Economists have a game that reveals how deeply individuals reason. Known as the 11-20 money request game, it is played between two players who each request an amount of money between 11 and 20 shekels, knowing that both will receive the amount they ask for. But there's a twist: if one player asks for exactly one shekel less than the other, that player earns a bonus of 20 shekels. This tests each player’s ability to think about what their opponent might do — a classic challenge of strategic r ...read more
When Hongjun Lin from New York University revisited the Jurassic Park films, something didn’t sound quite right. Lin, a dinosaur aficionado since his youth, was pretty sure the calls the creatures made were inaccurate. He was particularly focused on Parasaurolophus, a creature with a crest on the back of its head.“What if I told you that the sound of Parasaurolophus in the film Jurassic Park is not true?” Lin addressed a virtual press conference before presenting a research report on how t ...read more
Our master chefs in the SciStarter kitchen have been working overtime to bring you this delectable Thanksgiving menu, featuring citizen science projects guaranteed to satisfy even the most insatiable curiosity.Hors d'oeuvres: Nature's NotebookCredit: Nature's NotebookAt Nature’s Notebook, nature is always in season; currently, the program features the spicy flavors of autumn! Deepen your connection with nature by making observations as fall turns to winter. It’s a giant smorgasbord of activi ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine