Wildfires have exploded across Canada, sending thick plumes of smoke across a vast territory. At least 525 lightning-sparked wildfires are burning in heat- and drought-plagued British Columbia, Alberta and the Northwest Territories — including this one, imaged by the Sentinel-2 satellite on July 17, 2024:A wildfire burns in Canada's Northwest Territories, as seen in this image acquired by the Sentinel-2 satellite on July 17, 2024. (Credit: Modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by Tom Yul ...read more
Shorter sleep and later bedtimes are linked to potentially harmful functional changes to parts of the brain important for coping with stress and controlling negative emotions, our recently published research found. And children in families with low economic resources are particularly at risk.We are neuroscientists who are passionate about reducing socioeconomic disparities in child development. To better understand how socioeconomic disadvantage affects sleep health and brain development in chil ...read more
Of the more than 74,000 known meteorites– rocks that fall to Earth from asteroids or planets colliding together – only 385 or so stones came from the planet Mars.It’s not that hard for scientists to work out that these meteorites come from Mars. Various landers and rovers have been exploring Mars’ surface for decades. Some of the early missions – the Viking landers– had the equipment to measure the composition of the planet’s atmosphere. Scientists have shown that you can see this ...read more
Mom knew what she was talking about after all: Scratching really does make the itch worse. Good as it feels, the burst of ecstasy you get from clawing your irritated skin only prolongs a vicious itch-scratch cycle, putting true relief farther out of reach. Our natural instinct betrays us.But why? Though itch has bedeviled our species (not to mention many other animals) for thousands of years, scientists have just begun to comprehend the physiological mechanisms behind it. Over the past couple of ...read more
Mount Vesuvius delivered a deadly one-two-three punch to Pompeii in A.D. 79. First, the volcano spewed stones high into the air, which rained down on the city. After that rock shower subsided, an earthquake shook the village. Finally, a swift river of lava, ash, and gasses — what vulcanologists call a pyroclastic flow — essentially finished off life in the village.A new study in Frontiers in Earth Science examines the significance of that second blow —perhaps the least-understood aspect of ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine