Sex appeals in advertising have a long history, but for good reason? (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Chiseled abs and bikinis can sell just about anything, right? According to the minds behind those Carl’s Jr. ads—and countless others—you’d think that’d be true.
This idea that “sex sells” has hung around for more than a century, and by this point it’s almost accepted as a doctrine. And those are exactly the types of claims researchers love putting to ...read more
This is a guest post by Jake Buehler, who just so happens to be an AAUS certified scientific diver as well as a science writer based in the Seattle area. He blogs over at Sh*t You Didn’t Know About Biology, which is full of his “unrepentantly celebratory insights into life on Earth’s under-appreciated, under-acknowledged, and utterly amazing stories.”
Summer is finally here in the Northern Hemisphere. The days are long, the weather is warm, and t ...read more
This artist’s concept shows the Milky Way and MACS 2129-1 side by side. MACS 2129-1 is only half the Milky Way’s size, but it’s three times as massive as our home galaxy. (Credit: NASA/ESA/Z.Levy/STScl)
Objects in the distant universe appear small and difficult to see – unless they’re sitting behind a cosmic magnifying glass.
That’s exactly the case for MACS 2129-1, a galaxy lensed by a massive foreground galaxy cluster. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, ast ...read more
Photo: flickr/Dallas Krentzel
Is there such a thing as an ugly penis? How about a pretty one? These researchers set out to determine what features are most important for a “good-looking” dong (with a specific application to men who had surgery to correct a penile birth defect). To do so, they had over 100 women rate photos of normal and surgically corrected penises, as well as complete a survey about which features of penile appearance were most important to them. The res ...read more
Various bird eggs on display at Natura Docet Wonderryck Twente in The Netherlands. (Rudmer Zwerver/Shutterstock)
When something is described as egg-shaped, the ubiquitous hen’s egg typically comes to mind. But for birds, eggs come in myriad shapes: owl eggs look like ping-pong balls, hummingbird eggs are shaped like jelly beans, swift eggs are pointed at one end like a pear.
So what’s the reason?
Biologists have been asking that question for quite some time, and their hypotheses ar ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
