Zombies strike fear into our hearts – and if they’re persistent, eventually, they get inside our heads. Animals taken over by zombies no longer control their own bodies or behaviors. Instead, they serve the interests of a master, whether it’s a virus, fungus or some other harmful agent.The term “zombi” comes from Vodou, a religion that evolved in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. But the idea of armies of undead, brain-eating human zombies comes from movies, such as “Night of the Living ...read more
Bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay in Florida and Barataria Bay in Louisiana are exhaling microplastic fibers, according to our new research published in the journal PLOS One.Tiny plastic pieces have spread all over the planet – on land, in the air, and even in clouds. An estimated 170 trillion bits of microplastic are estimated to be in the oceans alone. Across the globe, research has found people and wildlife are exposed to microplastics mainly through eating and drinking but also through b ...read more
Fusion energy has the potential to be an effective clean energy source, as its reactions generate incredibly large amounts of energy. Fusion reactors aim to reproduce on Earth what happens in the core of the Sun, where very light elements merge and release energy in the process. Engineers can harness this energy to heat water and generate electricity through a steam turbine, but the path to fusion isn’t completely straightforward.Controlled nuclear fusion has several advantages over other powe ...read more
It can be startling to look at a world population counter. There are eight billion (and counting — fast) humans on Earth. That’s a lot. And humans, of course, have an enormous impact. However, we are far from the most abundant animal on the planet. In fact, mammals are at the bottom of the list, with only about 5,500 or so named species. On the other hand, scientists have identified about a million species of insects, and there are many insects that haven’t yet been identified, explains S ...read more
Scientists corroborated an 800-year-old story about the literal poisoning of a well, according to a report in iScience.The Norse Sverris Saga, which recounts tales about King Sverre Sigurdsson, describes an 1197 raid in which a body was thrown into a well at Sverresborg Castle, ostensibly to poison the area’s main water source. Researchers analyzed the DNA of a skeleton found in a well outside Trondheim in central Norway. This study of “Well Man” matched the events the saga recounted. “T ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine