When people think about evolution and human beings, the assumption is often made that we have stopped evolving. Once upon a time, we had to evade predators, compete with other hominid species and fight off disease. And thanks to modern society, agriculture, medicine, and technology, we've largely alleviated these physical selection pressures on our species. Are Humans Still Evolving? Perhaps we haven't stopped after all. Broadly speaking, evolution simply means the gradual change in the gene ...read more
NASA recently announced the discovery of a new, Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a nearby star called TOI-700. We are two of the astronomers who led the discovery of this planet, called TOI-700 e. TOI-700 e is just over 100 light years from Earth – too far away for humans to visit – but we do know that it is similar in size to the Earth, likely rocky in composition and could potentially support life. You've probably heard about some of the many other exoplanet discoveries ...read more
During the 1992 NBA Championship finals, Michael Jordan hit six 3-pointers in 18 minutes then turned to the crowd with an iconic shrug. Later, he said he was so “in the zone” he literally didn’t know how he did it. He was talking about, of course, that thrilling feeling of flow. A term coined by the late positive psychology expert Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, flow is the state of being hyper-focused, fully absorbed and energized by the task at hand. “Flow is the feeling of being immersed ...read more
In 1846, a Japanese policeman drew a legendary mermaid with scales like a coat of mail and flowing hair that ran all the way down to three mer-fins. He’d come across the creature while investigating a report of a greenish glow in the water and had listened as the fish-person forecasted a good harvest and added, almost as an aside: “Should an epidemic come,” the beaked Amabie said, “draw me and show me to the people.” An early Japanese newspaper re-printed the drawing using wooden block ...read more
St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is best known for bringing Christianity to the Emerald Isle, but his story is chock-full of other legends and miracles, too. It’s been said that the missionary raised dozens of people from the dead, for example, and even banished all of Ireland’s snakes into the sea following a 40-day fast. Unfortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the science doesn’t quite back up this latter claim. While it’s true that the Irish don’t have any snakes to deal wit ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine