For the past several years, we’ve heard a lot about post-traumatic stress and how it has ruined many lives, especially service people who have been through combat. But have you ever heard of post-traumatic growth (PTG)? Yes, there is such a thing. Psychologists Richard G. Tedeschi and Lawrence G. Calhoun at the University of North
Do you have a dog? If so, do you care about its ancestry? Actually, I don’t have any pets, but I do love dogs. So a blurb entitled “King of the Canines” recently caught my eye. It’s in the “Explore” section of the February 2016 National Geographic magazine and it lists the 10 most popular
I suppose everyone knows about vaccination, but what I didn’t realize is that other species can practice a form of vaccination too. In the February 2016 issue of National Geographic, an “Explore Science” entry is entitled “Immunity For Insects”. Apparently vaccinations can also be passed from mother to young. We knew higher animals could do
No, I have not been drinking. But I’ve run across something so wild that I had to being it to your attention. Could our limbs have evolved from the paired fins of fish? And before that, from fishes’ gills? That was originally suggested in 1878 by German anatomist Karl Gegenbaur. But there was no evidence
I run as a sport, and have been since 1980. One of the byproducts I have noticed is I always seem to get my best ideas while running. I am happy (relieved?) to read recently that it’s not just me. In fact, it may go a lot farther than that. In an article on the
You’re not gonna believe this one. What if you could boost your brain by recharging it with electricity? According to the May 2016 issue of Smithsonian magazine, this could someday be a real possibility. And some of the research is being done locally at Wright-Patterson AFB. The military application should be obvious. For example, imagine
Earlier this month I wrote about the best place to find alien civilizations, and how we might be able to hide from them. Well, according to EarthSky News, there is a potential candidate for a possible alien civilization. It seems the star KIC 8462852 has been exhibiting some strange behavior. Its brightness has been varying,
We all know dolphins are smart, right? The latest research claims they love to talk about their problems. As reported on the website New Scientist, dolphins have a special type of language they use to tackle problems together. According to the Dolphin Communication Project, a research and conservation organization in Port St. Lucie, Florida, dolphins
I imagine we all take kissing for granted in our romantic lives, but according to a recent report in the February, 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine, kissing is a fairly recent development in human history. This conclusion is based on a study from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University and the University of Nevada,
One of my favorite authors in Edgar Allan Poe, not because I like horror, but because he wrote my favorite poem, “The Raven”. So it caught my eye when I read that April 20, 1841, was considered the first appearance of the modern detective story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by… Edgar Allan Poe.