When love is in the air, what’s happening in the brain? For many years, biologists would answer, “Oxytocin!” This small protein — just nine amino acids long — has sometimes been called “the love hormone” because it has been implicated in pair-bonding, maternal care and other positive, love-like social behaviors. But lately, neuroscientists have been revising their thinking about oxytocin. Experiments with mice and other lab animals suggest that instead of acting as a trigger for ...read more
Most of us won't go through life without the occasional episode of heartburn or acid reflux. And when acid does sting your throat or burn in your chest, you might find yourself wondering just how strong the stuff is. Read More: Stomachache? Your Gut Bacteria Might Be to Blame To find out, let’s turn to the pH scale, which measures how acidic or alkaline (basic) a solution is. The scale ranges from 0 to 14, with anything hovering around a value of 7 — like most drinking water — considered n ...read more
This story was originally published in our Mar/Apr 2023 issue. Click here to subscribe to read more stories like this one. In 1995, NASA was strapped for cash — and the search for life beyond Earth looked like it could be in trouble. Years of steep cuts had reduced the space agency’s five-year budget plan by just over 30 percent. Interest in exobiology — the study of the origins, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe — had been drying up for decades. After the 1976 Viking ...read more
It took almost 75 years for researchers to record the first footage of the remains of the Titanic, buried over 2 miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. It then took them nearly 40 years more to release the footage in its fuller form. This week, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) released 80 minutes of untrimmed footage from its first filmed voyage to the sunken ship. Captured only months after a team from the WHOI found the wreck in 1985, the footage features several shots ...read more
Unless you’re a fan of comic-book series (and Netflix film) The Old Guard, you may never have heard of the Scythians before now, but chances are you’ve seen some aspect of their influence, down through the long years of human history. They are believed to originate from ancient Iran around 900 B.C., spreading from Central Asia into what is now Ukraine and parts of Russia. They were a formidable force in this part of the world for nearly a thousand years. Although archaeologists and anthropol ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine