With shades ranging from azure to cyan depending on which way the light hits it, the Xerces blue (Glaucopsyche xerces) is a beautiful butterfly. The tips of its wings, covered in soft down, are outlined in black with an intricate pattern of spots on their undersides. And the core of its body — the whole […]
One cold day in February 2015, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe brought an unusual prop to the Senate floor: a snowball. The point of the stunt was to demonstrate that the cold spell the nation’s northeast was then enduring was proof that global warming wasn’t happening. Most people had a good laugh at Inhofe’s expense. The […]
You’re lying back on the emerald lawn, staring up at the night sky with only your thoughts and a few trillion miles between you and the stars. It’s a gorgeous evening and you feel lucky to be alive. Then after a few minutes, you drift from excited daydreaming to more concerning thoughts and a mounting […]
This article contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s how to shop online. Online retailers experienced a boom in business over the past year. In fact, according to Digital Commerce 360, e-commerce grew by a staggering 44% from the previous year. […]
I have been told many stories by people who found it hard to let go of the everyday objects left behind by their loved ones after death. A woman whose mother had, just before she died, bought a large tub of malted milk drink powder called Horlicks, confided, “I could not throw this away. It […]
In 2018, Jennifer Culverson was at home in Charleston, South Carolina, when she was violently assaulted by her then-boyfriend. (Culverson’s name has been changed to protect her identity.) Her attacker overpowered her and battered her head against the floor with such force that it caused a traumatic brain injury. In the weeks and months that […]
Molecular motors are the workhorses of life. They open and shut valves in cell walls, force muscle tissue to contract and transport cargo. Every living cell is literally crawling with them. Cellular biologists have long been fascinated by these devices. Indeed, they have studied how this machinery works, worked out how to operate it outside […]
(Inside Science) — Winged microchips each about the size of a grain of sand may be the smallest-ever artificial flying structures, devices that could one day help monitor air pollution and airborne disease. The new chips, or “microfliers,” are not equipped with motors or engines. Instead, much like a maple tree’s propeller seed, they fly on […]
If eating was as simple as filling a car with gas, we would strictly nourish ourselves for energy purposes. In reality, we sometimes eat when we don’t need to. People snack when they’re stressed or sad. We may, for example, try to make the most of a breakfast buffet, or spot a lonely cookie in […]
This article contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. If you weigh more than 250 pounds, then you’ll likely find that most standard mattresses aren’t able to keep you comfortable and supported throughout the night. Unfortunately, many mattress manufacturers design their mattresses for individuals who weigh 250 pounds or less. An individual’s body weight can […]
As fall closes in, conversations about what the season might bring during the pandemic are ramping up — and include chatter about COVID-19 booster shots. Additional, delayed doses are a routine part of several vaccination schedules that most Americans have received. It’s not clear yet if extra COVID-19 shots are necessary for everyone. But experts […]
Autumn is here, and that means the risk of hitting deer on rural roads and highways is rising, especially around dusk and during a full moon. Deer cause over 1 million motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. each year, resulting in more than US$1 billion in property damage, about 200 human deaths and 29,000 serious injuries. Property […]
It’s been said that the dead can wait, but as a practical matter, they really can’t, not indefinitely. Yet cities like Los Angeles and Austin have had to rent refrigerated tractor trailers to store bodies. Why? Because medical examiner offices are understaffed and overloaded. The bodies in those trailers, and in places in other cities, […]
Our solar system is well behaved: The set of planets follows near-circular orbits around the sun that don’t cross paths or change much. Even the occasional asteroid collisions are relatively peaceful compared to the havoc that likely exists in some of the more than 3,000 planetary systems discovered in our galaxy to date. Somewhere in the […]
This article contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Many individuals find that sleeping on their side is the best way for them to get comfortable. In fact, this is the most common sleeping position. However, with the wrong mattress, sleeping on your side can bring the spine out of […]