Last month, I blogged about the famous Libet experiment and how this 1983 study, which was once heralded as undermining the concept of free conscious will, has now been reinterpreted in a less radical way.
Libet et al. found an electrical potential, the Readiness Potential (RP), that emerged in the brain about 1 second before the onset of voluntary movement. The key finding was that the RP also preceded the conscious intention to move. This seemed to suggest that the brain was 'deciding to m ...read more
A new design for lithium-ion batteries could dramatically reduce charging times. (Credit: buffaloboy/Shutterstock)
Forget the 10 hours it can take to charge your Tesla Model X. A new battery, created by researchers at Penn State, can complete a charge in as little as 10 minutes.
Described in a report published today in Joule, the new lithium-ion battery could top up electric vehicles with 200 miles of charge in a time comparable to filling up a gas-powered vehicle. The technique involves ...read more
Exposing children to small amounts of peanuts helps treat the symptoms of allergic reactions, but doesn't cure them. (Credit: PR Image Factory/Shutterstock)
New research points to a potential wrinkle in a promising treatment for severe peanut allergies: Reactions can return if the treatments stop.
Roughly 1.25 million children in the U.S. have peanut allergies. Their immune systems go into overdrive when they encounter peanuts, producing antibodies that kickstart a process of inflammation ...read more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqS87SQRy4
Animated map of ~10,000 years of volcanic activity on Earth. ESRI, used by permission.
We live on a geologically-active planet. This, of course, isn't a shock to anyone but sometimes seeing just now active it is can be fascinating. ESRI put together a dynamic map (above) that captures worldwide volcanic activity over the past 10,000 years in just over 90 seconds. The planet lights up like a Christmas tree with all the eruptions of all sizes!
Wh ...read more
NASA astronaut Christina Koch shot this image of moonrise at sunrise from the International Space Station. (Source: Christina Koch/NASA via Twitter)
I spotted this serenely beautiful photo of the crescent moon rising above the limb of the Earth at sunrise on Twitter. I was so taken with it that I just had to share it.
It's undated, but this stunning moonrise at sunrise photo was photographed recently by NASA astronaut Christina Koch from the International Space Station.
On Oct. 18, K ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine