“Snakes,” swashbuckling archeologist Indiana Jones famously groans in Raiders of the Lost Ark. “Why’d it have to be snakes?” If, like Indy, the mere thought of a serpent makes you shiver, you’re not alone — a fear of snakes is among the most common phobias, even for people who have never seen one in person. In fact, humans may have evolved to be born with an innate fear of snakes and spiders, according to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2017. But even if yo ...read more
When a male humpback whale sings, it hangs its 40-foot-long, 40-ton body upside down in the water and emits some of the most distinctive sounds in the world. According to a 2018 study that analyzed the songs of Australian humpbacks, the whales share an ever-evolving language, like a local dialect, composed of “phrases” joined together to form “themes” that are then arranged to make songs. The squeaks and moans grow more complex as humpbacks add their own embellishments, akin to a folk si ...read more
Every four months, pathologist Aaron LeBeau scoops into a net one of the five nurse sharks he keeps in his University of Wisconsin lab. Then he carefully administers a shot to the animal, much like a pediatrician giving a kid a vaccine. The shot will immunize the shark against a human cancer, perhaps, or an infectious disease, such as Covid-19. A couple of weeks later, after the animal’s immune system has had time to react, LeBeau collects a small vial of shark blood. Halfway across the countr ...read more
The first living beings on this planet were bacteria. And they haven't gone anywhere. Experts from microbiome labs and all life evolved in the presence of bacteria, and bacteria are still a part of all living things. Or as microbial ecologist María Gloria Domínguez-Bello puts it, "Bacteria are the center of all life." That means that you and I are walking communities of bacteria. We tend to think of bacteria as harmful, and some certainly are, but most are either neutral or beneficial, and man ...read more
For those struggling with alcohol use disorder, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is often touted as the go-to option for support. With more than 123,000 groups across 180 countries worldwide, the AA model — free and open to the public — has guided people through addiction since it began in 1935. And in recent decades, a growing body of research has shown that it can be incredibly effective. “I think it is the power of peers,” says John Kelly, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine