Some of the most famous and best-preserved dinosaur fossils were thought to have been suspended in time due to a massive volcanic event like the Mt. Vesuvius eruption that literally froze Pompeii in stone.But the cause of those dinos’ demise was likely much more mundane — collapsing animal burrows, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Incredibly Preserved FossilsTwo perfectly articulated skeletons of the sheep-size dinosaur Psittacosaurus, found in Chin ...read more
Nothing ages worse than the Facebook post you made 16 years ago. While those posts or photos may have been trendy or show how you were feeling at the time, more often than not, you’re likely going to cringe or even feel shame when revisiting the memory.As it turns out, the twinge of shame from regretting a social media post is common. According to a 2015 YouGov survey, 57 percent of Americans report regret over a post or text they’ve made on social media, with 16 percent regretting a post as ...read more
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), often referred to as "zombie deer disease," has been steadily spreading through deer populations across North America for decades. This fatal neurological disease, a prion-based affliction similar to mad cow disease, causes infected animals to waste away, lose coordination, and display eerie, zombie-like symptoms. But could this deadly disease one day make the jump to humans? While no human cases of CWD have been confirmed to date, growing concerns over its spread ...read more
The annual dog costume contest was beginning at my block party. I popped out of my house without my hearing aids and cheered on the winners, a husky dressed as a bumble bee and a labradoodle in a wizard’s robe. Afterward, I chatted with a few friends until one admitted she could barely hear me. I live in a quiet world, and without my hearing aids in, I tend to be even more soft-spoken. It was a good reminder that I needed to wear my hearing aids.I’m not the only one who needs a reminder ...read more
It didn’t take long for Edward Chang to see the implications of what he was doing. The neuroscientist and brain surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, was studying the brain activity behind speech, that precise and delicate neural choreography by which lips, jaw, tongue, and larynx produce meaningful sounds. By implanting an array of electrodes between the outer and inner membranes of the brain, directly over the area of the brain that controls speech, he and his team were abl ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine