For many people, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee is the start of a great day. But caffeine can cause headaches and jittersin others. That’s why many people reach for a decaffeinated cup instead.I’m a chemistry professor who has taught lectures on why chemicals dissolve in some liquids but not in others. The processes of decaffeination offer great real-life examples of these chemistry concepts. Even the best decaffeination method, however, does not remove all of the caffeine – about 7 mi ...read more
Nikolai Kardashev, a Russian astrophysicist, was one of the founders of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). In 1964, Kardashev published a paper proposing a way to categorize a planet's energy use, a system that has come to be known as the Kardashev Scale. In 1964, when Kardashev published his paper, SETI was still a very young field. But now, a growing number of researchers are actively looking for technosignatures that indicate intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy.Pinchen ...read more
When Neil Armstrong took his first step upon the cratered, dusty surface of the moon, the only thing protecting him from battering rays of direct sunlight, space radiation, and shooting lunar particles was the meticulously designed spacesuit he’d donned.But before Armstrong stepped on the moon, the suit kept making rapid trips back and forth between Delaware and Houston. Experts took it down to Texas in a suitcase for testing before sending it back upstate for fixes – including swapping out ...read more
In July 2023, three military veterans testified before the U.S. Congress about their experiences with UFOs. A navy fighter pilot described seeing a dark, cube-like spacecraft near the coast of Virginia in 2014. The pilot was flying an F-18 in hurricane-force winds and was stunned to see the dark object hovering, unbothered by the gusts.Another navy pilot reported how he saw an aircraft near San Diego that resembled a Tic Tac. The apparent UFO was smooth, without wings or rotors. And when the nav ...read more
As a species, humans like to think that we are fully in control of our decisions and behavior. But just below the surface, forces beyond our conscious control influence how we think and behave: our genes.Since the 1950s, scientists have been studying the influences genes have on human health. This has led medical professionals, researchers and policymakers to advocate for the use of precision medicine to personalize diagnosis and treatment of diseases, leading to quicker improvements to patient ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine