Homo floresiensis, popularly called the "hobbits," may have interacted with the ancestors of modern humans. (Credit: daderot/Wikimedia Commons)
60,000 years ago, diminutive beings dwelled on the Indonesian island of Flores, alongside komodo dragons, pygmy stegodons and real-life rodents of unusual size. The now-extinct humans — known scientifically as Homo floresiensis, and popularly as the hobbits — stood less than 4 feet tall, with brains one third the size of living people. Yet ...read more
Since 2000, I’ve been an avid scuba diver in Southern California.
When the Yukon, a 366 ft. long Canadian warship, sunk off the coast of San Diego in July of 2000, it became an artificial reef for divers to explore, piquing my interest in and igniting a lifelong passion for diving.
In late 2006, my dive buddy, Barbara Lloyd, and I found ourselves at a crossroads. Both of us had earned various diving certifications, up to and including Rescue Diver and Master Diver. We had logged over ...read more
An unexpected asteroid named 2019 OK just flew between Earth and the moon, hammering home the need for continued improvements in both finding and tracking potentially hazardous asteroids. (Credit: Illustration via Pixabay)
Earth had a close encounter Thursday morning when Asteroid 2019 OK sped by at 1:22 GMT, at a speed of nearly 55,000 miles (88,500 kilometers) per hour. The closest it came to Earth was just under 45,000 miles (72,500 km), a safe distance, but still much less than ...read more
The forecast for maximum temperatures shows brutal heat across large parts of Western Europe. (Source: Climate Reanalyzer)
Here we go again — another Western European heat wave, except this one is even more intense than the one back in June and early July.
With a "heat dome" strengthening over the continent, high temperature records have tumbled in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. In fact, Germany may have just seen the highest temperature ever recorded in the country: 104.9 d ...read more
Much of dreaming remains a mystery, but scientists have some ideas as to why some people are better than others at remembering their dreams. (Credit: Shutterstock)
Soaring with the birds. Teeth falling out. A crazy psychopath is chasing you.
For many of us, our dreams transport us to a surreal world where logic and reason have no reign. Some of us may even look forward to sleep – and the adventures we’ll go on in our dreams.
But does everyone take a nightly trip to dreaml ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine