The Psychology of Cancel Culture

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Cancel culture is largely a product of social media because it allows huge numbers of people to come together to voice their dislike or disapproval of certain people. By “canceling” people, you’re taking away their voice, business and platform. In a sense, “you’re putting out the fuel of their fire,” especially in the public eye, says psychologist Audrey Tang.Cancel CultureIt’s not that cancel culture didn’t exist before social media — series and sitcoms could be canceled as ...read more

Mammoths Endured Musth, the Wild Process that Affects Bull Elephants

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

“Musth,” an annual ordeal which turns male elephants into oozing, aggressive pachyderms, appears to have also affected male mammoths that lived thousands of years ago, according to a new study.Researchers from the University of Michigan led a team that procured a male mammoth tusk first discovered by a diamond-mining company in Siberia in 2007. From this massive tooth, they would detect ancient testosterone levels using a novel method.[embedded content]How to Detect Mammoth TestosteroneFirst ...read more

How to Improve Your Sense of Smell and Taste

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Our sense of smell and taste has played a vital role in human evolution. To this day, we rely on these two senses to help us identify proper foods to eat and recognize potential dangers like fires or gas leaks. A deficit in these senses can negatively impact our lives. And while preventing the impairment or loss of these senses is not always possible, we can often use methods to improve them. The most common related disorders are: Ageusia: The loss of sense of taste.Anosmia: The loss of sens ...read more

How Your Internal Compass Works

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

In a lab mouse version of The Truman Show, researchers from Harvard Medical School constructed a little world for a new paper. An eight-inch-wide platform raised 20 inches off the ground stood at the center, covered in mouse bedding. All around curved a tall LED screen, blank until a white, disorienting stripe flashed to one side or the other.The researchers were looking for head direction cells in the mouse, which act as an inner compass in the brains of humans, insects, animals and fish. While ...read more

Why Do Small Dogs Live Longer Than Large Dogs?

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

In the animal kingdom, the general rule is the larger you are the longer you live. Elephants and whales are some of the longest living groups of animals on the planet, and they are respectively the largest organisms on land and in the ocean. Conversely, mice, and other rodents tend to experience much shorter lifespans. However, one strange counterexample is the contrast in lifespan among different sized dog breeds. It is well-known that large dogs don’t live as long as their smaller relatives. ...read more

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