Human-driven climate change is increasingly shaping the Earth’s living environments. Rising temperatures, rapid shifts in rainfall and seasonality, and ocean acidification are presenting altered environments to many animal species. How do animals adjust to these new, often extreme, conditions?Animal nervous systems play a central role in both enabling and limiting how they respond to changing climates. Two of my main research interests as a biologist and neuroscientist involve understanding ...read more
If you live in the United States, chances are that cashiers often ask whether you want to donate to a cause their employer is currently supporting. Organizations like Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America or relief efforts in Ukraine were among the causes retailers championed in 2022.You may be asked if you’d like to round up your total to the nearest dollar, to add on a small amount or to “buy” a shamrock, heart or some other token that will be dis ...read more
The sun, at 4.6 billion years old, predates all the other bodies in our solar system. But it turns out that much of the water we swim in and drink here on Earth is even older. Up to half the water now on Earth was inherited from an abundant supply of interstellar ice as our sun formed. That means our solar system’s moisture wasn’t the result of local conditions in the proto-planetary disk, but rather a regular feature of planetary formation — raising hopes that life could indeed exist else ...read more
High-profile sports like football and soccer have brought greater attention in recent years to concussions – the mildest form of traumatic brain injury.Yet people often do not realize how common concussions are in everyday life, and seldom does the public hear about what happens in the aftermath of concussions – how long the road to recovery can be and what supports healing. Concussions are important to understand, not only for recovery, but also for the insights that the science of recov ...read more
This story was originally published in our Nov/Dec 2023 issue as "Science Sleuth" Click here to subscribe to read more stories like this one.Science has a problem: It’s conducted by humans. Many of these humans follow the rules and procedures outlined by the scientific method and conduct themselves with integrity. But as with any sector of society, there are bad actors who cheat to get ahead.In 1912, an archaeologist named Charles Dawson combined and altered pieces of human and ape skulls, ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine