You’ve likely been hearing it in the media for weeks now: A giant mass of seaweed, some 5,000 miles wide, is headed for Florida, where it will engulf beaches with tons of icky and decaying seaweed, emitting a noxious gas all the while.Inevitably, stories about this massive swath of seaweed tend to call it a blob, stirring up images of some 1950s B-movie monster coming to absorb the Sunshine State, beaches, tourists, retirees and all. In reality, the so-called blob, while big, is well-known to ...read more
Whether it’s fascination, fear or a mixture of both, sharks capture our imagination. Hollywood hysteria aside, there are a lot of things they do to keep our attention. Sharks can be bulls or tigers. They can be hammers or cookie cutters. Some of the stranger ones can even be bioluminescent ghosts, while others that even can reproduce asexually.But were sharks always this diverse? What were the earliest sharks like, and when did some sharks come to dominate the marine food chain?Ancient SharksI ...read more
Type the question “is LASIK dangerous?” into a search engine, and the top results are from medical providers and eye clinics that assure the procedure is safe.LASIK, which stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, is an in-office procedure meant to correct vision so a person no longer has to wear glasses or contacts. It’s a popular procedure, and about 600,000 people undergo it yearly.But last July, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began drafting guidance for practition ...read more
As March was drawing to a close, a powerful solar flare exploded from the Sun, causing X-rays and ultraviolet radiation to rocket toward Earth. Peaking at 10:33 p.m. Eastern Time on March 28, 2023, the flare was of the strongest kind — an X-class flare, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. Traveling at the speed of light, the radiation reached Earth almost immediately, causing ionization in parts of the upper atmosphere on the sunlit side. This, in turn, triggered a blackout of ...read more
Shortly after eating or drinking, you might find yourself with a burning sensation in your chest, otherwise known as heartburn. Maybe you feel something rising from your stomach to the back of your throat, or even find yourself having to swallow it or spit it out.Any of these symptoms may point to gastroesophageal reflux disease, also known as GERD, says David Estores, a gastroenterologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine. What Are the Symptoms of GERD?Heartburn and acid regurgit ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
