For thousands of years, people have been using fungi to bake bread and brew beer (yeasts), as nutritious foods (mushrooms and truffles), and, more recently, as a source of life-saving antibiotics (penicillin, neomycin and many more). And yet, an estimated 95% of all fungus species remain undiscovered. Fortunately, thousands of energetic citizen scientists like you can help explore this diverse and fascinating kingdom of organisms, thanks to projects like FUNDIS, Mushroom Observer and others feat ...read more
In my research focused on early farmers of Europe, I have often wondered about a curious pattern through time: Farmers lived in large, dense villages, then dispersed for centuries, then later formed cities again, only to abandon those as well. Why?Archaeologists often explain what we call urban collapse in terms of climate change, overpopulation, social pressures, or some combination of these. Each likely has been true at different points in time.But scientists have added a new hypothesis to the ...read more
A pair of recently uncovered brown dwarf twins, named Gliese 229ba and Gliese 229bb. Gliese 229b, discovered in 1995, was the first-ever confirmed brown dwarf, but until now astronomers thought they were observing a single body not two. New observations from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile revealed that the orb is two brown dwarfs tightly orbiting around each other every 12 days (as indicated by the orange and blue orbital lines), with a separation only 16 times ...read more
We’re told that we should eat the rainbow, choosing a diet filled with a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables. These nutrient-dense foods contain a range of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. But while we understand that phytochemicals keep us healthy, we might not understand why. Phytochemicals, also called phytonutrients, are substances found in fruits, vegetables, and grains that are part of a plant’s immune system, meant to keep it healthy and free of disease. And by keeping t ...read more
Earth is a pretty unique place. Thanks to its location in the habitable zone, life as we know it was able to grow and thrive on the planet. However, in our brief time exploring the surrounding cosmos for signs that we are not alone, we have consistently come up empty-handed. Astrobiologists are concerned with the origin and dispersion of life throughout the universe, and since Earth is the only place we know where life has emerged, the Blue Planet and its features have thus far guided our attem ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine