Europe is home to prime areas for growing aromatic hops, a flower used in brewing beer. But, as conditions get hotter and drier, hop yields have declined in the continent’s hop-growing heartland, according to a study recently published in Nature Communications. Not only that, but soaring temperatures are also reducing hops’ alpha acid content, the source of beer’s bitter flavor.Though the findings seem to spell an uncertain future for hoppy beer, some experts have cautioned that changing ...read more
Although whales are mammals that breathe air, they spend most of their time roaming the depths of the oceans. There, sound travels faster underwater and farther than it does on the world’s surface, at about 1500 meters per second compared to just 340 meters per second in air. So, a whale’s world is replete with sound — it’s a key element to its survival, touching everything from socializing and breeding to navigation and feeding. But if whales don’t have any sign of external ears, how ...read more
In 2011, my husband and I moved into our first home, a small beach shack atop wooden stilts a few blocks off the beach in South Carolina. The house was a dream aside from the overstuffed marsh rats that scurried across the basement floor morning, noon, and night. When their whiskers twitched, they revealed razor-sharp front teeth, and their furless tails dangled behind them like a wedding train. Memories of those rats still send shivers up my spine.It doesn’t matter how laid back you are when ...read more
In the 1984 film Iceman, a prehistoric man who has been frozen in a glacier for 40,000 years is revived by a team of curious scientists. It’s a fascinating premise. Scientists have spent their entire careers deliberating over the life history of ancient mummies like Ötzi the Iceman, who was found frozen in the Alps around 5,000 years after his death. But what if we could just wake him up and ask him? Unfortunately, the prospect of reviving a frozen mummy like Ötzi from an ice-induced slumber ...read more
They go by many names – pigs, hogs, swine, razorbacks – but whatever you call them, wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the most damaging invasive species in North America. They cause millions of dollars in crop damage yearly and harbor dozens of pathogens that threaten humans and pets, as well as meat production systems.Although wild pigs have been present in North America for centuries, their populations have rapidly expanded over the past several decades. Recent studies estimate that s ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine