Happy leap year! Feb. 29, 2024, is leap day and marks an ongoing, longstanding correction to the calendar we use.In most years, our calendar contains 365 days. But Earth actually takes 365.2422 days (let’s call it 365¼ days) to orbit the Sun. As you might imagine, if we let these quarter days add up, we’d quickly be celebrating the 4th of July in America when it’s snowing.So, we add a full day every four years … almost. A year that’s 365¼ days long actually is 11 minutes longer than ...read more
You might not think much about the origins of your favorite coffee mug or beaded necklace. Yet, taken together, pottery and beads hold a special place in human history. Researchers have long studied ancient pottery and beads to unearth buried secrets about our collective past. These items, often found in archaeological sites, can offer a wealth of insights into ancient cultures — for a variety of different reasons. The Origins of Pottery Beginning with pottery, this humble craft may have a sta ...read more
Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) is a rare autoimmune neurological condition that has puzzled the medical community for years. Affecting a small percentage of the population, SPS leads to a variety of symptoms, primarily muscle stiffness and spasms, which cause significant discomfort and challenges.In this article, we’ll dive into what SPS is, its symptoms, causes, how it’s diagnosed, and treatment options, giving you an in depth understanding of this highly complex condition.Remember, be sure to ...read more
Controversial findings at Gunung Padang — a massive Indonesian pyramid sitting on top of an ancient volcano — could flip everything we thought we knew about prehistory on its head. If the findings are true, Gunung Padang shows that Ice Age humans possessed advanced technology, unlike anything we could have imagined.Nevertheless, mainstream archeologists are skeptical of these conclusions, and many have tried to discredit the geologist at the center of them. That geologist is Caltech research ...read more
No one looks forward to getting old; in fact, it can seem pretty scary. But you might be surprised to learn that aging brings some benefits. All things being equal — given reasonably good health and a secure economic situation — older people tend to be happier than younger people, according to a growing body of research. A widely cited study published in 2016 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry looked at more than 1,500 people from 21 to 100 years old and found that mental health increas ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine