Cherenkov radiation glowing in the core of the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory. (Credit: Argonne National Laboratory)
When we hear the word “radiation,” we tend to think of atomic bombs (like the ones that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki), or environmental mishaps like the three-eyed fish living outside Springfield’s nuclear power plant on The Simpsons. But radiation – a term that refers to the transmission of energy through waves and particles – ...read more
On Twitter, I learned about a curious new paper in Scientific Reports: Long-Term Study of Heart Rate Variability Responses to Changes in the Solar and Geomagnetic Environment by Abdullah Alabdulgader and colleagues.
According to this article, the human heart “responds to changes in geomagnetic and solar activity”. This paper claims that things like solar flares, cosmic rays and sunspots affect the beating of our hearts.
Spoiler warning: I don’t think this is true. In fact, I t ...read more
An artist’s illustration of Scholz’s star. (Credit: Michael Osadciw/University of Rochester)
When ‘Oumuamua passed by our neck of the woods last fall, it got everyone talking. Sure, some of your Facebook friends were likely eager to speculate on the rock’s possibly extraterrestrial origins. But as the first known interstellar visitor, it got scientists curious too. Maybe there are other intergalactic interlopers among us?
Perhaps it would be possible to study the orbits ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Inside a dog’s furry head are millions of neurons firing away, passing chemicals to one another and generating thoughts. We may guess at what our canine pals are thinking about: food, a walk, their loving owners.
But for all the time humans spend interacting with dogs, their thoughts largely elude us, and it’s easy to see why: dogs can’t speak their minds (at least in any language we know). But we still are curious about our best bud’s mindset, an ...read more
Mischaracterized as the “Atacama Alien,” a mummified skeleton from Chile that’s only six inches long has inspired numerous theories. DNA-based research out today explains the appearance of this unfortunate — and very human — individual. (Credit Bhattacharya S et al. 2018)
Smaller than a Barbie doll, with an elongated skull and other anomalies, the mummified skeleton known as “Ata” was found in an abandoned mining town in Chile’s Atacama Desert in ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
