Everything Worth Knowing About … Auroras

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

The full text of this article is available to Discover Magazine subscribers only. Subscribe and get 10 issues packed with: The latest news, theories and developments in the world of science Compelling stories and breakthroughs in health, medicine and the mind Environmental issues and their relevance to daily life Cutting-edge technology and its impact on our future ...read more

20 Things You Didn't Know About … Yoga

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

1. Yoga today is a mainstream fitness activity; 1 in 5 American adults participates in what most people believe is an ancient practice. Surprise: The yoga you’re going to the mat for isn’t that old. 2. What we generally think of as yoga began in late 19th century India, when leaders of an anti-colonialism movement sought to rally their countrymen to their cause. 3. Some of these men saw yoga, then more of a philosophy, as a non-sectarian, indigenous symbol of India that transcended d ...read more

Visual Face-preference in the Human Fetus?

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Even before we’re born, human beings are sensitive to face-like shapes, according to a paper just published in Current Biology. British researchers Vincent M. Reid and colleagues of the University of Lancaster used lasers to project a pattern of three red dots onto the abdomen of pregnant women. The lasers were bright enough to be visible from inside the womb. The dots were arranged to be either “face-like”, i.e. with two “eyes” above one “mouth”, or in ...read more

Data, Truth and Null Results

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Have you heard of the idea that smiling actually makes you joyful? Perhaps you know of the experiment where researchers got people to hold a pen in their mouth, so they had to smile, and it made them find cartoons funnier. If you’re familiar with this idea, then you’re familar with the work of German psychologist Fritz Strack, who carried out the famous pen-based grinning study, back in 1988. Now, Strack has just published a new piece, called From Data to Truth in Psychological Sci ...read more