Modern medicine has extended human life expectancies, and that’s certainly a good thing. But as people live longer, age problems multiply. According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, a nonprofit federation of Alzheimer and dementia associations, there were about 35 million people living with dementia around the world circa 2009. Unfortunately, today that number is over 55
The dictionary definition of color is “the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way the object reflects or emits light.” Color is important in our lives because it helps our brains digest information and it also facilitates memory. But it isn’t easy; comprehending an entire scene requires seeing an object’s
Have you ever felt exhausted at the end of a day when all you did was sit at a desk? It could be that you thought too hard. In a recent study, researchers from Pitie-Salpetriere University Hospital in Paris organized two groups of people. One group was given easy cognitive assignments, while the other group
You’ve heard of “never smile at a crocodile”? You may not want to cry around one either. A new study of Nile crocodiles has found they respond to the sound of human babies crying, as well as infant chimpanzees and bonobos. Researchers played cries from human, chimpanzee and bonobo infants to a group of Nile
Our bodies are pretty complicated mechanisms, and they’re complex in ways we don’t fully understand. For example, why do some people have naturally curly hair? According to new research, there may have been a good evolutionary reason. A recently published research article by Tina Lasisi and her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University examined how hair regulates scalp
Beavers are nature’s master builders. Their dams can change a landscape, creating wetlands and enriching the habitats of other species. They’re also cute, with fur that’s been highly prized in other eras. But frequently they get in our way. Our developments don’t utilize dams made of trees and saplings. We like our land dry and
It’s probably pink. The success of the new movie Barbie has created a wave interest in the color most associated with girls (and yes, Barbie Pink is a Pantone color), but like so much in life, its complicated. According to a 2018 research article, bright-pink pigments have been found in 1.1 billion-year-old rocks, the result of
I remember when the height of horticultural wisdom was to talk to your houseplants to supposedly help them thrive. I used to joke with friends about taking this advice to heart. Then when my plants started answering me, I knew I needed to take a break and get out of the house. But according to
During one of my substitute-teaching assignments, at the last minute I was asked to cover a class in the vocational area of the high school. All I was given was a room number, so I was surprised to find a classroom with a hospital bed, examination table, and other medical equipment. It was a pre-nursing
The Möhne dam the day following the attacks. Wikipedia Sometimes the wildest ideas turn out not to be so wild after all. Like designing an aerial bomb that skips across the water like a flat stone and blows up dams. That would be World War II’s Operation Chastise. On the night of May 16-17 1943,