Category Archives: Magazine
A Brief History of Celebrating Thanksgiving in Space
Nothing puts the concept of “thanks” in perspective like floating in a tin can, high above the world. Not only do astronauts in orbiting space labs get to dine in zero gravity, they’re treated to an unrivaled view: the bright blue marble that supports and sustains us.
Celebrating in space comes with some limitations, of course. The food is all freeze-dried or thermo-regulated, and forget baking a turkey in the oven. Still, space residents do the best they can preparing a special menu, inv
When Humans Domesticated the Turkey
As Thanksgiving approaches we all try to remember to count our blessings, but we should also give thanks to the animal that sacrificed it all for our holiday meal — the noble turkey.
Bald eagles aside, turkeys are one of the most recognizable birds native to North America, and their meaty bulk has earned them a place on tables all around the world. Turkeys have been kept for food, and for other purposes, since well before the Pilgrims touched our shores. They were likely an important food
The Impossible' EmDrive Thruster Has Cleared Its First Credibility Hurdle
After years of unwarranted hype and dubious experimental claims, the EmDrive, an “impossible” propulsion device that claims to produce thrust while violating Newton’s Laws of Motion, has received its first published, peer-reviewed paper.
A team of researchers from the NASA-affiliated Eagleworks lab published a paper last week describing a series of tests on the EmDrive. They say their methodology accounted for nearly all possible errors and returned results indicating that the device prod
Something really crazy is happening in the Arctic
At a time when sea ice should be expanding, it’s actually shrinking
Sea ice in the Arctic has been trending at record low levels since the third week of October — and now, something really crazy is happening up there.
The Arctic is heading into the dead of winter, and across a vast swath of territory, the polar night has descended, with 24 hours of darkness each day. This is when temperatures should be plunging, and sea ice should be expanding rapidly.
Instead, temperatures are soarin
Genetic Basis of 'Uncombable Hair Syndrome' Discovered
The next time you have a bad hair day, at least you can fix it. Be glad you don’t suffer from “uncombable hair syndrome.”
The condition, which is usually present only in childhood, results in a tangled mess of frizzy hair that leaves the afflicted looking like they’re being perpetually shocked by static electricity. The condition seems to be correlated with light-blonde hair that has a characteristic sheen to it. There have only been around 100 cases reported in the medical literature, un
If You Want to Be Happy, Quit Facebook?
A remarkable paper claims that staying off Facebook for a week could make you happier: The Facebook Experiment, by Morten Tromholt of Denmark.
What makes this study so interesting is that it was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and so was able, at least in theory, to determine whether quitting Facebook actually causes changes in well-being. Previously, there has been lots of research reporting correlations between social network use and happiness, but correlation isn’t causation.
Microbes in Space Starve, Stew in Their Own Acid
Astronauts flying long-duration missions in space have been known to suffer substantial health effects: they grow nauseous, lose bone density, and watch their muscles atrophy. These large, human-scale changes are pretty easy to observe, as trillions of cells’ responses to microgravity are compiled into the physiological response of one organism. But what’s happening at the cellular scale? How do single-celled life forms respond when launched into space?
Gravity is an aspect of life that w
Lacking Funding and Data, Gun Policy Researchers Soldier On
Every year, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control allocate more than $35 billion to researchers to study diseases, treatments and public health. But there’s one public health concern that hasn’t received funding in nearly two decades: firearm regulations.
Firearms accounted for more than 30,000 deaths in 2014 — about the same number as died from motor vehicle accidents. With vanishingly few studies to investigate firearm deaths, however, researchers are una
Smoke from a siege of wildfires spreading across the southeastern U.S. is easily seen from orbit
Spurred on by intensifying drought, wildfires continue to spread across portions of the southern United States, sending up palls of smoke that are easily visible from orbit.
In the image above, acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite on November 12, the thickest plumes are rising from fires in the southern Appalachians within North Carolina and Georgia. But smoke from fires in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina is also visible.
The smoke has prompted authorities to urge
Ticklish Lab Rats Giggle for Science
For social animals, living and working together is all about building and shoring up the bonds that tie our lives together.
Animals that live and work in concert with one another rely on complex rituals to affirm their connections. Mutual grooming, acts of compassion, social play and other behaviors factor into building trust, but one of the oldest and most reliable methods of bringing species together is touch. And tickling various species of animals is one way scientists are learning mo