Many runners know the feeling well — miles of training can feel sluggish and uninspiring. Then, on race day, the course is filled with other runners as well as spectators. The steps seem to come easier and faster. Scientists have long understood that people can perform better on certain tasks when others are watching. But after COVID-19 hit, spectators disappeared from sidelines and stadiums. When events resumed without fans, scientists had an opportunity to further study the relationship bet ...read more
The total solar eclipse set to occur April 8, 2024, will dazzle everyone who views it. However, potential observers might have some questions.Where exactly in Mexico and the U.S. will totality be visible? That’s easy to answer with a detailed map, such as the one below. But which locations are the best spots to view the event? That answer is less straightforward.You’ll surely want to set up shop near the center line of the eclipse, where totality will last the longest. But what else makes fo ...read more
Vitamin and mineral supplements can be helpful for people who don’t get enough necessary micronutrients in their diets, says a 2018 position statement by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This includes some people with chronic health conditions, people who have problems absorbing nutrients, older people, and pregnant people. And almost three-quarters of Americans take nutritional supplements, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade organization representing supplement ...read more
After months of summer, the sea ice fringing Antarctica has shriveled to its annual minimum. And for the third year running, scientists are shocked by just how much ice has gone missing.The annual minimum likely occurred on Feb. 20, tying with 2022 for second lowest in the 46-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The all-time record low occurred last year.This year’s minimum is 328,000 square miles below the 1981 to 2010 average summer minimum extent in Ant ...read more
Giant hornets, Burmese pythons and, perhaps less obviously, fig buttercups all pose threats to North American ecosystems. (Images public domain, via Flickr Creative Commons. Python: NPS, R. Cammauf; Giant Hornet: USDA, Lance Cheung; Fig Buttercup: John K. Thorne)Burmese Pythons! Northern Giant Hornets! Fig Buttercups! Okay, not all invasive species sound frightening. But all of them destabilize ecosystems, threaten native species, and/or spread pathogens. That’s why, in honor of Invasive Speci ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine