For quite some time, climate scientists faced a conundrum: Even as the planet warmed, Antarctica's vast expanses of floating sea ice weren't shrinking. In fact, at times the ice was expanding, confounding common-sense and the predictions of sophisticated climate models.Meanwhile, sea ice in the Arctic far to the north was shriveling dramatically, more or less as models predicted, and just as you'd expect in a warming world. This stark discrepancy led climate change skeptics, and some media ...read more
Contrary to what you might believe, you aren't actually living in the 21st Century. Instead, you're in the 1700s, and the reason that most of you don't recognize this fact is that the elites of the early medieval period worked hard to deceive you. At least, that's what German historian Herbert Illig puts forward in his phantom time hypothesis.
"There's this outrageous claim that all historians have made a mistake and that we've all had the wool pulled over our eyes and that the chronology we a ...read more
When early humans first arrived in modern-day Spain, about a million and a half years ago, they immediately faced a quandary: what to eat?Scientists have long suspected that they borrowed from the still-fresh kills of saber-tooth cats, which would have only eaten a portion of their meal. In doing so, Homo erectus, or perhaps another early hominin, would have faced competition from the bone-crushing giant hyena, a long-extinct scavenger that would have weighed more than 200 pounds.But have no fea ...read more
Jamie Ellis has experienced thousands of bee stings in his lifetime. Ellis, a professor in the entomology and nematology department at the University of Florida, admits to experiencing between 400 and 450 stings in a single day while conducting research. Even after experiencing many stings, he says they are still painful. “You never really get immune to the pain,” Ellis says.Bees work hard to defend their hive, and causing pain to an organism they want to drive away as quickly as possible is ...read more
So many reasons to love fall — crisp air, colorful leaves, sweater weather and of course, Fat Bear Week! Each fall, the competition showcases chunky brown bears that are packing on pounds to prepare for winter hibernation. Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska houses a large population of these hefty bears where the competition takes place. Votes are cast online for the fattest bear in a March Madness-style bracket and the audience helps choose the ultimate victor.Fat Bear Week remains ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine