http://discovermagazine.com/rss/master-feeds/top-storiesThe best content on DISCOVERmagazine.com.http://backend.userland.com/rssTue, 21 May 2013 00:10:48 GMThttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/VFuWajILThQ/ Mate choice is one of the most well-studied aspects of evolution. To prove that they're worth the effort, animals will do just about anything. They dance, prance, sing, bellow, and fight for attention. When you look around the animal kingdom, the wild results of mate choice boldly stand out, from the impractically beautiful tails of peacocks to the ostentatious antlers of elk and deer. With so much focus placed on quality, you might assume that every species has their own complex way of convTue, 21 May 2013 00:10:48 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/?p=2904http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/files/2013/05/800px-Dendrobates_pumilio-300x212.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/files/2013/05/800px-Dendrobates_pumilio-300x212.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/?p=2904http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/Wg14MvNkLJQ/You may not know this, but there is a celebrity data geek who isn't named Nate Silver. This other famous statistician is a rock star in the global health and development world. He captivates audiences with innovative presentations that illuminate abstract facts and figures. Last year, Time magazine called Hans Rosling one of the 100 most influential people in the world, writing: His 2006 TED talk, in which he animated statistics to tell the story of socio-economic development, has been viewed oMon, 20 May 2013 19:43:01 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11220http://images.ted.com/images/ted/181970_389x292.jpghttp://images.ted.com/images/ted/181970_389x292.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11220http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/g3vqzuqvRQ4/ Mathematically, the Greco-Roman-Etruscan number system is an endlessly repetitive number system that is inefficient and cumbersome. To write 3333, which we do by repeating the sign 3 four times, a Roman would have had to scribble down MMMCCCXXXIII---three times as many characters. And I challenge anyone to multiply this number by MMDCCCLXXIX---using only the Roman system (meaning without translating these numbers into what they would be in our base-10 number system and then back into Roman numMon, 20 May 2013 18:31:16 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/?p=3045http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/files/2013/05/zero.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/files/2013/05/zero.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/?p=3045http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/eXxwVRbraP0/ It’s rare for a decision involving a genetic predisposition to seem so clearcut -- an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer before you die. Those were the odds Angelina Jolie was given after she was found to have inherited a defective gene called BRCA1. There was also the matter of BRCA-related ovarian cancer, with her lifetime odds put at 50 percent. With no other effective remedies in sight, she decided on a double mastectomy with plans to follow that with an oophorectomy, the removalMon, 20 May 2013 15:21:26 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fire-in-the-mind/?p=456http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fire-in-the-mind/files/2013/05/Protein_BRCA1_PDB_1jm7-300x203.pnghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fire-in-the-mind/files/2013/05/Protein_BRCA1_PDB_1jm7-300x203.pnghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fire-in-the-mind/?p=456http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/A6r81NhmxFw/In a recent report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) lamented: The picture is as clear as it is disturbing: the carbon intensity of the global energy supply has barely changed in 20 years, despite successful efforts in deploying renewable energy. Another fact, noted in the IEA's report, will disturb anyone concerned about climate change: The unremitting rise in global coal demand for power generation continued in 2012. Global coal-fired power generation is estimated to have increased by Mon, 20 May 2013 13:25:28 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11227http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/iea1.jpg?w=1000&h=671http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/iea1.jpg?w=1000&h=671http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11227http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/la-EjRGTouA/ A new paper in the journal European Neurology reports on a remarkable case of perceptual distortion that'll please any connoisseur of neurogothic: A 48-year-old woman woke up one morning without knowing where she was. She recognized her husband and finally realized that she was at home, but reported that she felt that all surroundings appeared ‘strange’ to her. She did not report any changes in the shape of furniture, rooms and people, but complained that voices and noises were ‘dinosaurs sSun, 19 May 2013 13:29:11 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/?p=3961http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/files/2013/05/distort.pnghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/files/2013/05/distort.pnghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/?p=3961http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/0Gqx7clM9-8/Mark Bittman, the popular food writer for the New York Times, has written a column that is almost beyond parody for its unintentional irony. The only way to fully appreciate his lack of self-awareness is to stop and marvel at numerous passages. Let's start at the top: Things are bad enough in the food world that we don’t need to resort to hyperbole to be worried or even alarmed. This is some chutzpah. Here's Bittman from September 15, 2012: It's not an exaggeration to say that almost everyoneFri, 17 May 2013 18:29:36 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11211http://cdn.yougov.com/today_uk_import/scaremongering-Wordle.jpghttp://cdn.yougov.com/today_uk_import/scaremongering-Wordle.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11211http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/5s5AZKrcX5E/ One month down. On Wednesday we had a party to celebrate. We listened to a retro playlist of The Who, Missy Elliott, Alanis Morissette, and the Monkees. We made spam musubi and chocolate cake. We drank lemonade spiked with dehydrated raspberries, mangos, pineapple and papaya. (Alas, alcohol is not allowed on the mission.) And at sunset, we unveiled a window installed earlier that day, a porthole to lava fields, distant volcanoes and a glorious orange globe. We toasted to the window, to thFri, 17 May 2013 16:54:48 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fieldnotes/?p=106http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fieldnotes/files/2013/05/window-hiseas2.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fieldnotes/files/2013/05/window-hiseas2.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/fieldnotes/?p=106http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/FJyaZp8c1is/by Richard Schiffman The recent boom in fracking has turned America into the Saudi Arabia of natural gas, almost overnight. Proponents say that this burgeoning industry has ensured U.S. energy independence for years to come, and created a more climate-friendly alternative to dirtier-burning fuels like coal and gas. It has arguably also hastened the demise of the coal industry, as power plants switch in large numbers to the cheaper gas, resulting in U.S. CO2 emissions sinking to their lFri, 17 May 2013 16:01:58 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/?p=3031http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/files/2013/05/pipe-draining.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/files/2013/05/pipe-draining.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/?p=3031http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/q-AXUZ2mtyw/After more than four years in space, restlessly searching for planets orbiting other stars, NASA's Kepler space telescope may have met its demise. The Kepler project is typically described in terms of raw numbers. As of the last official announcement, it had found 2,740 likely new planets--including 1,200 Neptune-size planets, 350 Earth-size planets, and at least 4 planets that orbit within the "habitable zone" where liquid water can exist. All of those numbers are sure to increase, as moFri, 17 May 2013 16:00:00 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/outthere/?p=501http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/outthere/files/2013/05/ManyWorlds-300x240.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/outthere/files/2013/05/ManyWorlds-300x240.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/outthere/?p=501http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/rl9bRs6rmMo/A paper published this week in Science reviews what we know about the water quality impacts of shale gas development and hydraulic fracturing. And the conclusion is… still not that much. This despite the fact that “fracking,” as it is commonly called, has been in play since the 1940s – for nearly 80 years – to extract hard-to-reach natural gas deposits. In their paper, Radisav Vidic, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, and his colleagues Fri, 17 May 2013 14:32:06 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/water-works/?p=51http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/water-works/files/2013/05/vidic1HR-300x200.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/water-works/files/2013/05/vidic1HR-300x200.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/water-works/?p=51http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/JrtPMAZ9RsA/Is it always good thing to know your limitations? Over at Scientific American, Samuel McNerney writes about the dangers of learning about common human cognitive biases. The problem is that it's easy to find out about, say, confirmation bias, and think "Well, it affects other people, but now I know about it, I am immune to it" - and then proceed exactly as you did before, suffering the bias but now with misplaced confidence in your abilities. I fear that a similar thing is at work in scThu, 16 May 2013 21:09:54 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/?p=3950http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/files/2013/05/limitations_science.pnghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/files/2013/05/limitations_science.pnghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/?p=3950http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/SBZhAEhfbmI/Ever imagine what it would be like to stare down the mouth of a grizzly bear? Well, thanks to Brad Joseph and his GoPro, you can find out. Just look at those teeth and claws! Plus, bonus footage of grizzlies catching fish!Thu, 16 May 2013 20:52:28 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/?p=2897http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/?p=2897http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/W0oxsYG-nIM/This week, I was honored with a Best Life-In-Science Award from ScienceSeeker for my article on the earliest known cases of HIV/AIDS, "The Sea Has Neither Sense Nor Pity: the Earliest Known Cases of AIDS in the Pre-AIDS Era." There were some serious heavyweight contenders in this inaugural contest and I am beyond delighted that this fascinating story was recognized. It's nice to be acknowledged (and rewarded!) for work that is largely spent in loud cafes while drinking bitter espresso long gone Thu, 16 May 2013 19:57:48 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/?p=1311http://blog.scienceseeker.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/WinnerBadgeMedium.pnghttp://blog.scienceseeker.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/WinnerBadgeMedium.pnghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/?p=1311http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/Lo5yswe7Kpk/Sometimes I think the climate debate remains stalled because those who are most concerned refuse to ask the pertinent questions. Instead, they keep refighting old battles that are no longer relevant to a constructive discourse. The latest example is this survey by John Cook et al that is getting a lot of undeserved attention in the mainstream media. I say that because, questionable methodology aside, the survey tells us nothing new and is, as science journalist David Appell noted, "a meaninglessThu, 16 May 2013 17:50:28 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11198http://images0.cpcache.com/product/546368920v0_480x480_Front_Color-White.jpghttp://images0.cpcache.com/product/546368920v0_480x480_Front_Color-White.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/?p=11198http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/i1RtSGX-wmg/ I launched the ImaGeo blog here at Discover back in February, and ever since I've been focusing on spectacular visuals related to the science of our planet. Starting Thursday, May 16, I'll be slowing down a bit on my posts as I head off to China and Cambodia for a few weeks. I plan on continuing to blog here at ImaGeo while I'm gone. Just not every day. I'm particularly interested in the phenomenon of megacities. Along those lines, check out the image above. It's a screenshot of a timelapThu, 16 May 2013 04:18:42 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/?p=2208http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/files/2013/05/Shanghai-Landsat-1024x558.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/files/2013/05/Shanghai-Landsat-1024x558.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/?p=2208http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/glduhPQC0PE/ By the time you realize what has happened, it's too late. An Anopheles gambiae mosquito can land on your skin completely unnoticed. While you continue unaware, she stealthily walks over your exposed flesh, searching, probing the surface of your skin with her proboscis until she finds a blood vessel. She then situates her body perfectly at just the right angle, hunches down, and plunges her needle-like mouthparts into your skin. Tiny pumps pull the warm, protein-rich blood into her mouth. Wed, 15 May 2013 21:00:17 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/?p=2880http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/files/2013/05/5659_lores-300x198.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/files/2013/05/5659_lores-300x198.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/?p=2880http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/j7yNLdvboos/ Watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis is enough to evoke wonder even from the most world-weary of souls. But rarely do we get to see behind the scenes of the pupa's transformation. Current methods rely on dissection of the chrysalis, or at best, staining the critter (thereby killing it) and using X-rays to look inside. Now scientists have worked out how to use a CT scanner, used in medical settings for high-powered X-rays, to look inside a living chrysalis. And they've produced tWed, 15 May 2013 18:38:14 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/?p=1253http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/files/2013/05/chrysalis.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/files/2013/05/chrysalis.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/?p=1253http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/bWHjtnqWpOY/The year 2018 has recently been declared our new target year for eliminating polio from the world by the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and Rotary International. It is clear that the next five years will pose no small challenge; we have spent over 60 years vaccinating millions of children and adults since Salk and Sabin's discovery of viable polio vaccines, and we have long struggled in particular with three countries where the virus is endemic: Afghanistan, Pakistan and NigeriaWed, 15 May 2013 18:34:22 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/?p=1289http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/files/2013/05/1985_lores.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/files/2013/05/1985_lores.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/?p=1289http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoverTopStories/~3/IgZdkzO82dw/ Newly discovered water trapped more than a mile below ground in Canada could be billions of years old — and could hold clues both to Earth’s past climate and possible habitats for life on Mars. A research team reporting today in Nature has found pockets of subterranean water that could be as old as 2.64 billion years. The fluids are located 1.5 miles underground in a mine near Timmins, Ontario, in rock that is part of Canada’s Precambrian Shield, the oldest part of North America’s crust. Wed, 15 May 2013 17:39:27 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/?p=1257http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/files/2013/05/precambrian-rocky-outcrop.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/files/2013/05/precambrian-rocky-outcrop.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/?p=1257