The skip in the human footstep – the flexing of the arch with each step – does little to help carry the body forward, a new study has found. Instead, it serves to keep the ankle upright, so that we walk in the characteristic way of human beings and not like other apes.The finding overturns conventional wisdom and may help in the treatment of people whose arches have become rigid due to illness or injury.“We thought originally that the spring-like arch helped to lift the body into the next ...read more
The Paleozoic Museum in Central Park was sure to be spectacular. The 1868 plans for the museum imagined an immense and sophisticated space filled with fanciful dioramas of dinosaurs and other ancient animals, all intended to incite a passion for paleontology in its visitors.But in May 1871, the models that were made for the museum were destroyed by a band of sledgehammer-wielding workmen. The incident was one of the most strange and startling moments in the history of paleontology. And as the sm ...read more
The Moonrush has begun. Last year, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission flew to the Moon and back in a test of the technology that will take humans back to the surface in the next few years. The Artemis program will establish a space station called the Lunar Gateway in orbit and a base on the surface. There will be other visitors too — both Russia and China are planning crewed missions. And some 30 uncrewed missions are in various stages of completion by spacefaring nations and private companies.All tha ...read more
Imagine you're a leech in one of the lush rainforests of Southeast Asia (or Madagascar or mainland Africa) that you call home. Perhaps you're clinging to the underbelly of a low-lying plant or burrowed just below the surface in a patch of damp soil. Then, dozens of human tourists start marching through the terrain, providing countless opportunities for you and your companions to suction yourselves onto their boots, or drop down from the trees above. Surely, for the leeches, large groups of human ...read more
Snow leopards are so rare that many of the researchers who have studied them for decades have never even seen one in the flesh. These big cats may leave scat or even the occasional tuft of fur in a hair snare, but their passage is often ghostly — so much, in fact, that photographers are only just now capturing many aspects of their lives. In many areas, snow leopards still face conservation threats due to mining development, livestock herding and persecution from locals in their range.Snow Leo ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
