Just Plain WEIRD #2
This Navy Seal method could be the key to overcoming panic. By Sarah Sloat – In moments of acute stress, it can be difficult to breath easy. When the “fight or flight” response is activated, the sympathetic nervous system activates rapid breathing. In the …
Five hundred years after coining the first dollar, a tiny mining town is coming to grips with the many ways it shaped the modern world. By Eliot Stein – The US dollar is the most widely used currency in the world. It is …
Tool of the devil, harmless family game—or fascinating glimpse into the non-conscious mind? The makers of the first talking board asked the board what they should call it; the name “Ouija” came through and, when they asked what that meant, the board replied, …
Some puzzling studies appear to show that tiny airborne particles may contribute to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Should we be concerned? By David Robson – Take a deep breath, and exhale. Depending on where you live, that life-giving lungful of air might …
The idea of ‘absolute time’ is an illusion. Physics and subjective experience reveal why. By Stephen Johnson – ESA. Since Einstein posited his theory of general relativity, we’ve understood that gravity has the power to warp space and time. This “time dilation” effect …
It’s almost an unthinkable practice in our modern era and one that may teach us a lot about generosity: giving to your community until you have little else to give. By Cat Perry – In remote fishing communities across southeast Alaska live the …
By Rich Haridy – A still from the winning video in the Nikon Small World In Motion competition showing a polyp emerging from staghorn coral. Philippe Laissue / Nikon Small World in Motion. – Zooming in on the motion of the microscopic, the winners …
By Rich Haridy – This year’s winning illusion presents a simple shape rotating around a horizontal and vertical axis at the same time. Frank Force / Youtube. – Austin-based game developer Frank Force has won the Best Illusion of the Year prize for …
It’s some spooky, slimy science. By Nina Pullano – What do you call something that’s neither a plant, nor animal, nor fungus? In this case, the answer is “The Blob” — or, seeing as it exists in Paris, France, “Le Blob,” to be …
Unalaska Island in the remote Aleutian archipelago was part of an epic, but now mostly forgotten, military campaign during World War II. By John Zada – A remote outpost Situated where the northern Pacific Ocean meets the Bering Sea, the remote US …
