Crocodiles have been around for a long time and lived all over the world. A fossil representing a new species of crocodile-like ancestor is the first small predatory reptile of its kind to be found in Brazil and is described in a Scientific Reports paper.The fossil, which dates back about 237 million years, predates the rise of the dinosaurs, reinforces the wide geographical distribution of crocodile-like reptiles called pseudosuchians, and represents an evolutionary link to the modern crocodile ...read more
Your heart is pounding. You’re pouring sweat. You feel like you can’t breathe. Your stomach may get into the act, too, causing nausea and/or diarrhea. You might feel lightheaded and unable to think clearly. These are all possible symptoms of what people often call an anxiety attack. The clinical term is panic attack, but whatever you call it, it’s deeply unpleasant.Episodes like these — when fear or anxiety manifest as physical symptoms — are common. Krystal Lewis, clinical psychologis ...read more
Quantum computing is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: You never know what you’re gonna get. Quantum phenomena – the behavior of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic levels – are not definite, one thing or another. They are opaque clouds of possibility or, more precisely, probabilities. When someone observes a quantum system, it loses its quantum-ness and “collapses” into a definite state.Quantum phenomena are mysterious and often counterintuitive. This makes quantum co ...read more
In 1902, a Scottish novelist introduced a character who quickly became iconic. Peter Pan was a boy who could fly. He zipped between reality and an imaginary world, sometimes taking other children with him.Peter Pan was eternally a boy. He would never grow up, nor did he want to mature. Growing up would mean a loss of adventure and the burden of responsibility.Peter Pan Syndrome is now used to describe adults who struggle with accepting the responsibilities that come with adulthood. Although it ...read more
From coexisting with dinosaurs and surviving five mass extinctions, the Cuban manjuarí fish (Atractosteus tristoechus, or Cuban gar) today faces two threats that could finally break its historical resilience: the African Walking Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and humanity.Scientists have struggled to track its population for decades, nearly losing sight of this remarkable fish despite its notable characteristics: a cylindrical, elongated body up to 60 inches long, covered in stone-like plates.The ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine