There’s a lot that can be done with a blank slab of stone. It can be scored, splattered with paint, or plastered with clay. Transformed with a smattering of scrapes or scratches or a smear of red ochre, its surface can become a swirl of abstract shapes or a field of frolicking antelopes. Ancient rock artists tried it all, becoming remarkably skilled at representing themselves and their surroundings in stone.In the Later Stone Age of southern Africa between around 5,000 years and 1,000 years ag ...read more
A single bite from a tick can cause a permanent allergy to pork, beef and other kinds of red meat. This condition is increasing in the United States, with a jump in positive test cases from 2017 to 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC, as many as 450,000 people in the U.S. have been estimated to have been infected with alpha-gal syndrome, which can cause an assortment of symptoms when they eat red meat.The connection between a tick b ...read more
In 1993, cave explorers entered a long, narrow tunnel at the Lamalunga Cave near the town of Altamura in southern Italy. At the far end, they found an upside-down human skull fused into the rock alongside a large collection of other human bones.The skull’s jutting brow was covered in a layer of pearl-like coralloid, calcium deposits otherwise known as cave popcorn. Much of the remains were covered in some form of the mineral that had leached down from the surrounding limestone.Today, scientist ...read more
This article contains affiliate links to products. Discover may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.Is your body too hot to sleep? You’re not alone. In fact, studies have shown that up to 41% of all people are hot sleepers. Turns out that the brain can’t regulate body temperature during REM sleep, and allowing the sleeping environment to become too warm (or cold) can disturb slumber during that stage. And while according to research, it helps to set the thermos ...read more
Much of the coverage of the wildfire that destroyed the Maui city of Lahaina on Aug. 8 labels it the deadliest wildfire “in modern American history” or “in America in over a century.” With 115 people known dead and dozens still missing, it’s hard to grasp what a worse fire could look like.But on the evening of Oct. 8, 1871, the deadliest wildfire in recorded world history burned through 1.5 million acres of northern Wisconsin. By the next day, the booming town of Peshtigo had been anni ...read more