Human beings have evolved to thrive in the conditions of our planet. Often though, people thrust themselves into extreme environments: scientists studying Antarctic weather patterns, divers recovering wreckage from the deep sea, or explorers mapping sprawling cave systems.What we know is that people are resilient, and the human psyche can adapt to deal with a range of scenarios. But what about being marooned on another planet, with only a thin barrier separating you and your peers from the vacuu ...read more
In its 3.7-billion-year history on Earth, life has had a few setbacks.As far as we know, there have been five major extinction events where a significant percentage of species were wiped out of existence. Several things can cause such a dramatic destabilization of Earth’s life cycles, including super-volcanic eruptions, ice ages and pandemics.However, another mechanism by which life faces existential threat is, of course, gigantic asteroid impacts. And when it comes to these rocks plunging int ...read more
We’ve all occasionally wished that our pets could speak, but their mouths, tongues and vocal cords just aren’t built for it. However, cats do sometimes use their tongues to communicate with us; they just employ a form of nonverbal communication — licking. This simple act sends a message that we, being only human, may not always understand — or appreciate.Anyone who has ever been licked by a cat knows to expect one thing: the sudden sensation of a patch of skin being lightly sanded — ov ...read more
A study led by researchers at the University of Maine spearheaded a new approach to finding where ticks love to lurk. The Maine Forest Tick Survey trained hundreds of woodland owners in Maine to systematically comb their properties for disease-toting ticks to discern how forest management may influence the pest’s prevalence.Ticks pose a growing public health burden. Lyme disease, which can be transmitted by deer ticks, is the second most common infectious disease reported in Maine. Each year, ...read more
Imagine someone chopping vegetables on a cutting board. No, really. Before reading on, take a moment to truly visualize the scene as vividly as possible.Try as you might, odds are your mental image will omit some basic features. Was the picture thorough enough to specify the size of the knife or the material of the cutting board? The kind of vegetables? The person’s gender? The color of their hair and clothes?A recent study published in Cognition found that most people respond “yes” to som ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
