If you regularly ignored a playground’s monkey bars, seesaw and slide — and instead made a beeline straight to the merry-go-round — you’re likely familiar with the intoxicatingly dizzy feeling that accompanies a good spin session.The light-headedness may come with a touch of vertigo, causing the world to tilt around you, or even bring on feelings of sudden elation. Sufi whirling dervishes take advantage of these effects, in fact, as a form of meditation and to induce spiritual experience ...read more
Venus, our nearest planetary neighbor in the solar system, has for a long time remained shrouded in a cloud of mystery — literally. The planet is ensconced in a thick, dense carbon dioxide atmosphere that obstructs our direct view of its surface.Recently, however, planetary scientists have made new discoveries about the geography of Venus, which suggest the planet has at least 85,000 volcanoes on its surface (and potentially even more smaller volcanoes). The research is bringing us closer to u ...read more
In Liu Cixin’s famous science fiction series The Three Body Problem, human beings make first contact with the Trisolarans – an alien civilization incapable of deception or lying because they broadcast their thoughts. This ability creates a deep mistrust of human beings on behalf of the Trisolarans, as our thoughts and agendas are private to our own subjective reality. Human beings have no foolproof way to know if someone is telling the truth. Sometimes our intuition can give us clues; strang ...read more
People stop their cars simply because a little light turns from green to red. They crowd onto buses, trains and planes with complete strangers, yet fights seldom break out. Large, strong men routinely walk right past smaller, weaker ones without demanding their valuables. People pay their taxes and donate to food banks and other charities.Most of us give little thought to these everyday examples of cooperation. But to biologists, they’re remarkable — most animals don’t behave that way.“E ...read more
Bronze Age humans, 3,000 years ago, got high on hallucinogenic plant alkaloids so powerful and dangerous that even psychedelic users of today avoid them, according to a new study. The humans may have had out-of-body experiences or thought they were growing fur or feathers as a result of consuming the anticholinergic substances atropine or scopolamine. Symptoms would have started more mildly with dilated pupils, dry skin and a racing heart. As the trip set in, the user would have experienced full ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
