In February 2025, the seven planets joining Earth in our solar system will be visible all at once in the night sky as they get arranged in an extraordinary pattern called a “great planetary alignment," or in a more celebratory expression, a "planet parade." Eager astronomers will have their telescopes ready around the evening of February 28, when Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune will all begin to show up in the sky. This event has piqued the interest of people across ...read more
In the summer of 1925, journalists, lawyers, and gawkers alike descended upon Dayton, Tennessee, population 1,800, to witness the unfolding of what was to become one of the most famous episodes in the ongoing conflict between science and religion. It was oppressively hot and muggy, but that didn’t hamper the carnival atmosphere. Street vendors hawked lemonade, iced tea, and cheap souvenirs. Christian groups held open-air prayer meetings while a circus chimpanzee strolled the streets wearing a ...read more
When your dog perks up at the sight of their leash or the rustle of their treat bag, it’s easy to wonder — what’s going on in their mind? Do they store memories of those sights and sounds, or are their reactions purely instinctive? While much of a dog’s behavior is undoubtedly shaped by instinct and training, recent research reveals that some special dogs can recall the names of specific objects for years, adding yet another layer to our understanding of canine cognition.How Dogs Remembe ...read more
During their prime, the Vikings mastered the seas and went on to make wide-spanning voyages by boat. But how exactly did they know where they were going? A recent study, focused on a set of medieval stone disks found in Ukraine, supports the belief that Viking sailors used solar compasses to navigate and may have passed on this knowledge to other populations in Europe. The appraisal of the eight stone disks was featured in a December 2024 paper published in Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, a Polish ...read more
A new study published in Nature Medicine, suggests that the risk of developing dementia in the U.S. is more than double than described in previous studies, sitting at around 42 percent for adults above age 55.If accurate, that risk will result in a rise in annual cases, which will increase from a half million new cases in 2025 to a million new cases in 2060. According to the study authors, this anticipated increase in cases is a product of the age of the population in the U.S., where around 58 m ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine