While taking a road trip, looking for that hot new restaurant or looking for your new office building, what tool has come in handy more than a Global Positioning System (GPS)? Maybe a car, but that's beside the point. Having a GPS on our phones makes getting around more efficient. And while we may not give our GPS a second thought once we've reached our destination, there is a fascinating story behind it. The prominent hidden figure, Dr. Gladys West, was a true pioneer who pushed past racial ba ...read more
For most humans today, the threat of encountering a wild bear in daily life is quite slim. And yet, the likelihood of experiencing a stress response as if you are evading or defending yourself from a bear remains high. In our bodies, this stress reaction can play out the moment we’re called upon at work to give a presentation, or perhaps during a nerve-racking first date: sweaty palms, bowel discomfort, the sensation of pins and needles pricking the skin. This is the reality of living as socia ...read more
Sometimes, it seems like muscles have a mind of their own. Whether it’s a twitchy eyelid, a sudden spasm in your thigh or a muscle that seems to contract without cause, involuntary muscle movements are exceedingly common. (One might even be happening to you, right now, as you read this sentence.) Most muscle twitches fall under the category of fasciculations — small, involuntary movements that can occur at random to any muscle in the body, although they’re most common in the eyelids and l ...read more
Ancient DNA preserved in the icy climate of Siberia has revealed new insights about how ancient humans migrated five to seven millennia ago. The finding is important because it helps scientists fill in a big gap in their knowledge about ancient humans. We know, for example, that humans began to migrate out of Africa at least 50,000 years ago. But it took until roughly 10,000 years ago before they began to develop farming. The humans living in the intermittent period — as well as much more rece ...read more
The Science Near Me blog is a partnership between Discover magazine and ScienceNearMe.org. If you’re on the hunt for fun date night ideas, here's an option you may not have considered: a science center. What could be more romantic than nerding out with a loved one? Science centers can be part museum, part theater, part classroom and more all rolled into one. They’re filled with hands-on exhibits that demonstrate science concepts in fun and entertaining ways, and they often host events or put ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine