If you’ve ever watched dogs or cats sleep, you’ve probably wondered if they’re dreaming. Was that ear twitch or snuffling sound just a reflex? Or is Fluffy dreaming of the hunt? Maybe the sound of the can opener? Since we can’t ask, we may never know for sure. But there are good reasons to think […]
Citizen Science Salon is a partnership between Discover and SciStarter.org. The future of individualized medicine may depend on an army of one million volunteers. And scientists want you to get involved. Researchers with the National Institutes of Health are recruiting citizen scientists to enlist in a study of unprecedented scope and depth. The program, called […]
Your digestive system plays host to a mind-boggling 100 trillion microbes — microscopic pinch-hitters that allow you to absorb energy from your food and churn out compounds like serotonin, which affect your mental well-being. While some of these microbes take up residence in your gut from birth, others emerge or wane depending on the lifestyle […]
Standing more than 200 feet tall, the Pyramid of the Sun, located in central Mexico about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, is one of the largest such structures in the world. The building, roughly 1,800 years old, likely contains about 1 million cubic yards of volcanic stone and other materials. It was the grand […]
Chances are it has happened to you or someone you know: dreaming that your teeth are falling out. Not quite a terrifying nightmare, but definitely not pleasant. Could it be that you were frightened of the tooth fairy as child and your brain is processing unpleasant thoughts? Or do you need to visit your dentist? […]
On April 29, 2019, the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia began listing to the radio signals from the Sun’s nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, just over 4 lightyears away. The telescope was looking for evidence of solar flares and so listened for 30 minutes before retraining on a distant quasar to recalibrate and then pointing back. […]
You may be tempted to take terpenes lightly, because these fragrant compounds are among the favorite chemicals of marijuana mega-fans and aromatherapy advocates. But their turn in the scientific and medical spotlight may have arrived. After decades of strong, but inconclusive, evidence of the role of terpenes in the therapeutic effects of medical cannabis, the […]
Some mass extinctions unfold like a sloppy murder, leaving clear fingerprints for the keen investigator to uncover. (Asteroids are no masters of subtlety.) The Late Ordovician mass extinction, the oldest of all and the second most lethal, isn’t one of them. Though there is a standard explanation for this granddaddy of death involving an ancient […]
You may have heard the word “OM” during a yoga class. It’s sometimes chanted three times at the beginning or end of a yoga or meditation practice. Though it may appear to be a small word, OM is said to have roots that trace back to the origin of the world and can be found […]
Humans live in a right-handed world. Estimates vary, but some 75 to 90 percent of us use our right hands as our “write hands.” If our species has dominant sides, it begs the question: How common is this trait across the animal kingdom? Are our near-cousins, like chimpanzees, right-handed or left-handed? And what about animals […]
Toward the finish line, our planet’s rush toward a record-warm year was slowed a bit by the cooling impact of La Niña. Even so, 2020 has entered the books as rivaling, or even tying, the warmest year on record, 2016. That year got a significant warming boost from La Niña’s opposite twin, El Niño. The […]
Arthritis is a common problem in older and larger dogs caused by the deterioration of joint cartilage. The resulting inflammation can be painful for dogs, but experts have begun to notice the natural anti-inflammatory properties of CBD may help. With that in mind, we looked into the best CBD oils for dogs with arthritis on […]
Searching for the best joint supplement for dogs, but don’t know where to start? We don’t blame you – there’s A LOT to consider when making choices about your pet’s health, and we’re here to help! As dogs get older, they may need extra care to maintain their quality of life. Ailments such as arthritis, […]
There’s a joke that goes like this: Roman numerals. What are they good IV? It’s a nice little number pun, but honestly, Roman numerals aren’t good for much — just try doing your taxes with them. By the sixth century A.D. (and possibly even earlier) a much better system, now called the Hindu-Arabic number system, […]
Come summer every year, a large swath of the country braces for hail. Known as Hail Alley, the region stretching from Wyoming to Texas receives more hailstorms, and more severe ones, compared to other parts of the country. Features on land and in the atmosphere make perfect hail conditions for this part of the U.S. […]