What Education Looked Like for These 5 Ancient Societies

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Today, kids are expected to spend much of their day in school. Learning is divided into grades and separated by age and aptitude. But it hasn’t always been this way. Education wasn't always required, and in fact, many kids carried on the jobs their parents had instead of learning how to read and write. What and how one learned depended on one's place in society.In ancient times, much like today, education was highly valued. Subjects could range from reading and writing to philosophy and ethics ...read more

No One Has Ever Found the Le Griffon Shipwreck, Despite the Many Claims

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

In September 1679, a French trader and explorer arrived near Green Bay, Wisconsin, with his new merchant ship, Le Griffon. The ship was loaded with furs and other commodities, and the captain was instructed to sail it back to a port in eastern Lake Erie.The trader, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, headed south in a canoe with a team of explorers. It was the last he saw of Le Griffon. The ship sank in a storm and has not been seen since.In the 345 years since the vessel sank, amateur rel ...read more

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Oscillates Like a Stress Ball

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

The biggest and strongest storms to hit Earth are around 1,000 miles across, with winds upwards of 200 mph. Hurricane Patricia, for example, is among the strongest ever recorded on Earth with sustained winds upwards of 215 mph, although it was reduced to a Category 4 before smashing into the coast of Mexico. But even these mega-storms are nothing compared to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS).Around the width of Earth, with winds of 400 mph, this giant system has been churning over Jupiter for hun ...read more

Be Careful What You Say — Your Cat May Be Listening

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Cats have a reputation for being distant and aloof, although people who share their homes with cats often disagree with that. But even the most devoted cat lovers might be surprised by the results of a new study. Saho Takagi, an animal behavior researcher at Azabu University in Kanagawa, Japan, and her colleagues adapted a method often used with human babies to test cats’ ability to learn words. The cats — 31 of them — aced the test. In fact, they learned the words faster than the average ...read more

How to Get Rid of Gnats Safely

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Bringing up the topic of gnats tends to conjure varying degrees of annoyance. Whether you’re an aspiring gardener, or simply taking a walk by the water during the right season, chances are you’ve noticed – or ran right into – clouds of these tiny flies that suspiciously resemble mosquitoes.Luckily for us, gnats don’t bite, nor do they transmit or carry diseases. They’re not harmful to humans, except when it comes to the nuisance spectrum. Fungus gnats, which are the most common speci ...read more

Page 161 of 2,231« First...102030...159160161162163...170180190...Last »