Just like people confronted with a sea of options at the grocery store, bees foraging in meadows encounter many different flowers at once. They must decide which ones to visit for food, but it isn’t always a straightforward choice.Flowers offer two types of food: nectar and pollen, which can vary in important ways. Nectar, for instance, can fluctuate in concentration, volume, refill rate, and accessibility. It also contains secondary metabolites, such as caffeine and nicotine, which can be eit ...read more
What is the first thing you do in the morning after you awaken? Many people immediately check their phones for notifications of messages, alerts and social media updates by their social ties.Ninety-seven percent of U.S. adults report owning a cellphone, with 90% reporting that they own a smartphone.While some researchers and media outlets portray phone use as detrimental, the reality is that the effects of technology use, including phones, vary depending on multiple factors. These include the am ...read more
Hurricane Helene has been rampaging through the southeastern United States today, causing catastrophic flooding and killing at least 40 people in four states. The death toll is likely to rise.The storm slammed ashore as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday evening with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. It also pushed up inundating storm surges. As I'm writing this on Friday afternoon, it has been downgraded to a tropical storm — but it still poses deadly dangers. "Historic, catastrophic and li ...read more
Archeologists have discovered what may be a missing link between agriculture that grew ancient civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia and more recent ones in the Mediterranean. Excavations in a northwestern African area known as the Maghreb reveal farming practices similar to those that sprouted civilizations on the Nile River and the Tigris and Euphrates. They also show evidence of trade that tracks how human developments expanded northward, according to a report in Antiquity.Spreading Civiliza ...read more
Life as a scribe in Ancient Egypt took its toll on the body. Researchers examining the bones of these ancient writers found them riddled with arthritis and other work-related wear and tear, offering fascinating insights into their lives. They detailed their findings in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.Researchers from the Czech Republic studied the remains of 69 individuals who were buried in the Abusir necropolis in Egypt over 4000 years ago, between 2700 and 2180 B.C.E. Th ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine