It was the early 1980s on the Hastings family's ranch in Uruguay. The land, called El Baron Ranch, is made up of nearly 3,000 acres of soft rolling hills, meandering streams, and indigenous trees, where today, the family raises free-range cattle. At the time, the family was building a 1,600-foot dam on the land to irrigate rice. And in order to construct the dam, workers sliced off part of a hill. Hidden within the hill, in an outcrop of rock, was a group of fossils nearly 280 million years in ...read more
There are more than 3,000 different species of snakes in the world. As members of the wilderness, they play a crucial role in ecosystems by keeping food webs in check and contributing to them. Snakes are natural predators that control pest populations like insects and small rodents but are also food for raptors and mammals.While many snakes have menacing features or are venomous, some are harmless, look goofy, make excellent pets, or become the subject of memes on the internet. Here are seven ...read more
You likely don’t get much more remote than the South Sandwich Islands. This chain of volcanic islands sits on the boundary of the Southern and Atlantic Oceans, closer to Antarctica or the southern tip of South America than pretty much any other landmass. They are one of the few island chains in the world that weren’t populated (to our knowledge) before European explorers and merchants found them starting in the mid 17th century. Yet, in our increasingly connected world, even remote volcanoes ...read more
Our pets' inability to communicate through words gives us the upper hand in the relationship. This includes assuming a caretaker position where we're responsible for everything from food, water, and shelter to caring for them when sick. While our pets deserve the best care, it can be hard to determine the severity of their injuries or ailments, especially if your pet is known to be a little dramatic. For example, some dogs have pretended to cough because they know they'll get attention for ...read more
One of the great “scientific” endeavors of the Middle Ages was the study of Chrysopoeia, the process of turning base metals such as lead into gold. Most practitioners were doomed to failure but one German alchemist named Sebalt Schwarzer made a single contribution that has stood the test of time. In his 1585 tome, Chrysopoeia Schwaertzeriana, he describes the synthesis of the world’s first high explosive, a substance known as fulminating gold. This crystalline substance turns almost instan ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine