On April 8, 2024, when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, the resulting solar eclipse will darken skies to a dim twilight for 5 minutes across a wide swath of North America. Most necks will be craned toward the celestial spectacle, but if you look around you may witness something just as captivating: a bunch of baffled creatures trying to make sense of the unexpected gloom. For many of them, life revolves around solar patterns. As the daily cycles of light and dark change with the season ...read more
Your identity is ingrained in your face, infused in your features. Unless you’re a twin, your perception of yourself is probably so tied to your appearance that it’s tough to imagine a world where your looks aren’t altogether your own. But ‘tough to imagine’ isn’t the same as ‘impossible.’ Despite what you assume about yourself and your description, there’s a small possibility that there’s someone out there who looks a lot like you: someone we would deem your ‘doppelgänger ...read more
Feeling stressed lately? If so, you’re not alone. A 2022 American Psychological Association poll found that the COVID-19 pandemic, in conjunction with other cultural problems, has increased stress levels in the United States, especially among young adults. Stress is not a minor irritation. It can cause serious health problems. Three-quarters of adults in the APA survey said they’ve experienced headaches, fatigue, or felt nervous or anxious because of stress. Stress can have adverse effects ...read more
It’s Women’s History Month AND we’re just two short weeks from Citizen Science Month. And that’s why we have Rosie the Robot urging everyone to roll up their sleeves and do their part by signing up for the One Million Acts of Science Challenge! If we all work together We Can Do It!Portrait of Maria Mitchell, ca. 1851, painted four years after Mitchell achieved fame for discovering what came to be known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet." (Credit: Public Domain, from The Archives and Special Coll ...read more
Magnesium is an essential mineral that’s integral to our health. The human body doesn’t produce magnesium, so we must get it from food or supplements. Found naturally in seawater, salt lake brines, crustal rocks, and deposits, magnesium makes up 13 percent of Earth’s mass and is the eighth most abundant element in the planet’s crust. There are varying estimates of how much of the American population is magnesium deficient — with a wide range spanning from 12 percent to more than 50 per ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine