Some fish, like the bluefin tune pictured here, are accumulating higher levels of mercury due to human activities. (Credit: Guido Montaldo/Shutterstock)
The USDA recommends Americans eat at least two servings of seafood every week. Most of us turn to tuna – canned or otherwise – and cod. Fish tacos and fish and chips? Yes, please!
But now researchers find mercury levels in these popular seafood options are on the rise thanks to overfishing and climate change. Scientists say the ...read more
Frances "Poppy" Northcutt at work in the Mission Planning and Analysis room at NASA's Mission Control (Houston) during the Apollo program, circa 1968.
The 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 came and went in a blaze of nostalgia for the moment when humans made their first awkward footfall on another world--a moment when (for the true believers, at least) it seemed like humans might keep going and start exploring the whole solar system in person. But Apollo was about much more than Apollo 11, and ...read more
Many older people and their families worry about a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. (Credit: Nadya Chetah/Shutterstock)
Many people who have problems with their memory, especially if they are elderly, worry that they have Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicts at least 5.5 million people in the U.S. and brings tremendous burdens to families as well. This concern is paramount among those who have seen a family member, friend or colleague develop this insidious progressive disease.
...read more
The galaxies are clear to ALMA’s radio vision, but disappear in Hubble’s visible light coverage. (Credit: Image (c) 2019 Wang et al.)
The universe is 13.8 billion years old, but scientists have trouble seeing back to its earliest days. This cosmic dawn has been obscured by time, distance, and the rest of the universe. Part of the problem is that light gets stretched as it travels across the cosmos. The longer the journey, the more stretched out its wavelengths become.
So our e ...read more
A computer model of Earth's magnetic field. (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy)
North, I was once surprised to learn, is not always north. There’s geographic north, “up” on maps toward the North Pole, and then there’s magnetic north, which is where compass needles point. Right now the two kind of line up, but that isn’t always the case. Earth’s magnetic field — which guides compasses, animals and auroras — likes to wander, and it’s reverse ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine