Do you believe in psychics, ghosts, or communication with the dead? If so, you may be experiencing a high level of stress or feel a loss of control over your life, according to a study in PLOS ONE.While the study’s authors took great pains to emphasize that the beliefs in paranormal phenomena are not necessarily caused by stress or feelings of having no control, they point out that the relationship between the two are strong. “Findings support the notion that traditional paranormal belief is ...read more
After the Second World War, 1940s America was awash with radar equipment and experienced technicians who could make it work. That set the scene for the birth of a new field of science – radio astronomy. In 1944, the Dutch astronomer Hendrick van de Hulst predicted that interstellar hydrogen ought to emit electromagnetic radiation with a specific wavelength. He noted that a hydrogen atom contains only a proton and an electron that both have a property known as spin. These particles can spin in ...read more
A keeper at the Oklahoma City Zoo one day noticed that Eko, a Sumatran tiger, kept rubbing his face on the side of the fence, breaking all his whiskers. A team started treating the tiger with antihistamines, but he continued to rub his face. Eventually, the staff partnered with a veterinary dermatologist who came out and performed skin allergy testing to see what Eko was reacting to. While allergies in domesticated animals like dogs, cats, horses, and some birds are common, experts say there are ...read more
Around 700 million years ago, the Earth cooled so much that scientists believe massive ice sheets encased the entire planet like a giant snowball. This global deep freeze, known as Snowball Earth, endured for tens of millions of years.Yet, miraculously, early life not only held on but thrived. When the ice melted and the ground thawed, complex multicellular life emerged, eventually leading to the life forms we recognize today.The Snowball Earth hypothesis has been largely based on evidence from ...read more
We crafted our first rodent car from a plastic cereal container. After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat.As expected, rats housed in enriched environments – complete with toys, space, and companions – learned to drive faster than those in standard cages. This finding supported the idea that complex environm ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine