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What if I told you that all illnesses, things like the cold, the flu, strep throat, came from wandering clouds of poisonous vapor? You’d probably think that absurd, and, don’t worry, it’s completely wrong. Yet that’s actually what people thought caused diseases for several centuries. They called it miasma theory, and everyone from the public …

How a few scientists transformed the way we think about disease – Tien Nguyen 더 보기 »

Cramming for a test? Trying to get more done than you have time to do? Stress is a feeling we all experience when we are challenged or overwhelmed. But more than just an emotion, stress is a hardwired physical response that travels throughout your entire body. In the short term, stress can be advantageous, but …

How stress affects your body – Sharon Horesh Bergquist 더 보기 »

How is it that so many intergalactic species in movies and TV just happen to speak perfect English? The short answer is that no one wants to watch a starship crew spend years compiling an alien dictionary. But to keep things consistent, the creators of Star Trek and other science-fiction worlds have introduced the concept …

How computers translate human language – Ioannis Papachimonas 더 보기 »

Most people recognize his name and know that he is famous for having said something, but considering the long-lasting impact his teachings have had on the world, very few people know who Confucius really was, what he really said, and why. Amid the chaos of 6th Century BCE China, where warring states fought endlessly among …

Who was Confucius? – Bryan W. Van Norden 더 보기 »

Imagine an airplane flying one millimeter above the ground and circling the Earth once every 25 seconds while counting every blade of grass. Shrink all that down so that it fits in the palm of your hand, and you’d have something equivalent to a modern hard drive, an object that can likely hold more information …

How do hard drives work? – Kanawat Senanan 더 보기 »

How can you play a Rubik’s Cube? Not play with it, but play it like a piano? That question doesn’t make a lot of sense at first, but an abstract mathematical field called group theory holds the answer, if you’ll bear with me. In math, a group is a particular collection of elements. That might …

Group theory 101: How to play a Rubik’s Cube like a piano – Michael Staff 더 보기 »

Muscles. We have over 600 of them. They make up between 1/3 and 1/2 of our body weight, and along with connective tissue, they bind us together, hold us up, and help us move. And whether or not body building is your hobby, muscles need your constant attention because the way you treat them on …

What makes muscles grow? – Jeffrey Siegel 더 보기 »

If you’ve got a cold, mucus is hard to miss. But what is it, and what does it do besides making you miserable? Your body produces more than a liter of mucus every day, and all the wet surfaces of your body that are not covered by skin, like your eyes, nose, mouth, lungs, and …

How mucus keeps us healthy – Katharina Ribbeck 더 보기 »

Are you sleeping restlessly, feeling irritable or moody, forgetting little things, and feeling overwhelmed and isolated? Don’t worry. We’ve all been there. You’re probably just stressed out. Stress isn’t always a bad thing. It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you’re playing a competitive sport, or have to …

How stress affects your brain – Madhumita Murgia 더 보기 »

Homer’s “Odyssey”, one of the oldest works of Western literature, recounts the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his ten-year journey home from the Trojan War. Though some parts may be based on real events, the encounters with strange monsters, terrifying giants and powerful magicians are considered to be complete fiction. But might there …

The science behind the myth: Homer’s “Odyssey” – Matt Kaplan 더 보기 »