In the wake of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes, people are thinking about how much of their air travel is handled by software and automated systems – as opposed to the friendly pilots sitting in the cockpit.
Older commercial airliners, such as the Beechcraft 1900, which are still in service mostly as small commuter aircraft, often do not have any autopilot installed. By contrast, modern commercial airliners have automated systems that can augment or ev ...read more
The lair of an antlion looks like nothing more than a pit from above. To an ant walking on the surface, it probably looks like nothing at all. But one wrong step can send an unfortunate insect tumbling to the bottom of a clever trap in a shower of sand. There, a pair of merciless jaws await, held wide open to deliver a deadly embrace.
To those of us with even a bit of pop culture knowledge, the pits the insects dig look suspiciously familiar. If you're waiting for a forest of tentacle ...read more
Mental illness affects millions of Americans. Many people with bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia suffer hallucinations, the perception of something that is not present. From phantom smells to hearing voices and seeing things that are not there, hallucinations can take many forms and stem from many causes. It's not just mental illness, either. Strokes, migraines and inner ear diseases can also lead to hallucinations. And obviously, psychedelic drugs do as well.
Yet surprising ...read more
Carnitine, chromium, anabolic steroids: Athletes have experimented with a broad array of aids in pursuit of a performance edge. A popular — if unglamorous — one today that seems safe and backed by solid data: the juice of beets, for the nitrate it contains.
Inorganic nitrate (NO3-) is added to cured and processed meats to extend their shelf life and give them their distinctive pink color. It’s also naturally found in spinach, arugula and beets. In the past decade, new evidence ...read more
(Inside Science) -- By examining the literal dustbins of history, archaeologists have now shed light on how a 125-year "little ice age" might have wreaked havoc on the Byzantine Empire -- an example of how climate change might influence human civilization.
Although the Roman Empire is often said to have fallen in 476 A.D., that was only the end of its western part. Its richer, stronger eastern half continued as the Byzantine Empire for almost another thousand years until it fell to t ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine