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Nature looks fundamentally different depending on scale. This diversity is especially striking in the world of biology, where matter assembles itself in constantly renewing configurations, offering our eyes—aided by scientific instruments—limitless perspectives. Thus, we can find beauty in places we did not suspect—inside a flower from a roadside weed, in the anatomical details of a flea or under a mushroom growing on a dead tree. Some people explore microscopic worlds for scientific reasons; others, such as Laurie Knight, for the sheer adventure....

Marijuana–and its active ingredient, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)–has muddled memories for millennia. But how exactly the wacky weed interferes with remembrance of things past–as well as attention span and speech, among other things–has never been clear. Now neuroscientists have discovered that cannabinoids diminish the brain waves of rats–and disrupt the symphony of synchronous brain cell firing that may be essential for memory. Neuroscientist David Robbe of Rutgers University and his colleagues tested the impact of THC and a synthetic cannabinoid on rats that had their heads restrained....

I know from all the financial ads on TV that you like to plan your portfolio well in advance. Might I therefore suggest that you keep a vast stack of money for the vacation of several lifetimes in the early summer of 2032? You see, I don’t want to alarm you excessively, but the world might end in August 2032. Yes, the chances are small – perhaps 1 in 63,000. But, as they say in lottery ads, you never know....

Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility by Ellen J. Langer. Random House, 2009 When she was in her 20s, Harvard University psychologist Ellen J. Langer fainted occasionally, and doctors said she might have epilepsy. She decided to take the matter into her own hands, mentally “catching” herself sooner and sooner when she felt faint, until the fainting disappeared. That empowering experience set the tone for her remarkable 30-year career, much of which she has spent figuring out how to help people take almost miraculous control over their lives....

Dear EarthTalk: There seems to be a large selection of soy and other non-dairy milks out there today, even right in the dairy sections of major supermarkets. Why should I opt for soymilk over cow’s milk and how do I get the calcium I would lose? – Barbara Conant, Tacoma, Washington There is a lot of debate about whether or not cow’s milk is good—or appropriate—for people at all. On the plus side, it is a valuable source of protein, as well as calcium, necessary to help build bones and keep them strong....

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - An avalanche swept down a slope of Mount Everest on Friday killing 12 Nepali mountaineering guides at the beginning of the main climbing season, a Tourism Ministry official said. The avalanche, the deadliest in eight years, hit the most popular route to the mountain’s peak. Three Nepali guides were injured and up to five people were missing, said Dipendra Paudel at the Tourism Ministry’s mountaineering department....

Lead guitarists usually get to play the flashy solos while the bass player gets only to plod to the beat. But this seeming injustice could have been determined by the physiology of hearing. Research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that people’s perception of timing in music is more acute for lower-pitched notes. Psychologist Laurel Trainor of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and her colleagues say that their findings explain why in the music of many cultures the rhythm is carried by low-pitched instruments while the melody tends to be taken by the highest pitched....

Most journal editors know how much effort it takes to persuade busy researchers to review a paper. That is why the editor of The Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry was puzzled by the reviews for manuscripts by one author — Hyung-In Moon, a medicinal-plant researcher then at Dongguk University in Gyeongju, South Korea. The reviews themselves were not remarkable: mostly favourable, with some suggestions about how to improve the papers....

In an impossible figure, seemingly real objects—or parts of objects—form geometric relations that physically cannot happen. Dutch artist M. C. Escher, for instance, depicted reversible staircases and perpetually flowing streams. Mathematical physicist Roger Penrose drew his famously impossible triangle, and visual scientist Dejan Todorovi of the University of Belgrade in Serbia created a golden arch that won him third prize in the 2005 Best Illusion of the Year Contest. These effects challenge our hard-earned perception that the world around us follows certain, inviolable rules....

Picking the right mate is a formidable challenge for most humans, but baker’s yeast manages it without a brain or the ability to move around. A recent study found that when food is abundant, yeast spores mate with big partners that can take advantage of the feast, while in lean times, they prefer to mate with small spores that need less food. “This sort of parallels what you see in higher organisms....

This story is a supplement to the feature “Self-Cleaning Materials: Lotus Leaf-Inspired Nanotechnology” which was printed in the August 2008 issue of Scientific American. The lotus leaf’s remarkable ability to stay clean inspired development of self-cleaning materials. Water rolls across a leaf without sticking at all and carries away dirt (left). Microscopic bumps (a few microns in size) all across the leaf’s surface (right) hold the key to its water-repelling properties....

An international team of researchers has devised a way to embed tiny light emitters and light sensors into stretchable, bendable, twistable sheets. The flexible systems might someday find use as implanted sensors to keep tabs on biological processes. Many approaches to developing flexible electronics have targeted a class of light emitters known as organic LEDs, which can be assembled using electrically conductive polymers and deposited on bendable plastic substrates. Conventional, inorganic LEDs are a more mature technology, with their own distinct advantages, but they are generally tethered to semiconductor wafers that limit their elasticity....

After a failed attempt last month, NASA’s Perseverance rover has successfully drilled, extracted and stored a sample of Martian rock — the first ever Mars sample destined to be flown back to Earth for study. “This is a momentous achievement,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. When the rover first attempted the manoeuvre, on 6 August, the rock it was trying to sample crumbled into powder before making it into a sample tube....

In various conversations with reporters leading to the publication of my new book, Extraterrestrial, I encountered difficulties getting across one essential aspect of the scientific process. Science relies on reproducibility of results. In order to believe a phenomenon, it must be possible to reproduce it as an outcome of similar circumstances. Stories about one-time miracles are the foundation of myths and could be believed by the public, but they do not stand up to the standards of science....

By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to identify national monuments that can be rescinded or resized - part of a broader push to open up more federal lands to drilling, mining and other development. The move comes as part of Trump’s effort to reverse a slew of environmental protections ushered in by former President Barack Obama that he said were hobbling economic growth - an agenda that is cheering industry but enraging conservationists....

The number of U.S. measles cases has topped 700 already this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday, adding that nearly 70 children have been hospitalized. This year’s surge in measles cases—the worst year for the disease since 1994—has sent 66 children to the hospital, newly released data show. Twenty-four have developed pneumonia. Health and Human Resources Secretary Alex Azar said the department is very concerned about the rise in cases....

It’s not just the American West and British Columbia burning up. A fire has sparked in western Greenland, an odd occurrence for an island known more for ice than fire. A series of blazes is burning roughly in the vicinity of Kangerlussuaq, a small town that serves as a basecamp for researchers in the summer to access Greenland’s ice sheet and western glaciers. The largest fire has burned roughly 3,000 acres and sent smoke spiraling a mile into the sky, prompting hunting and hiking closures in the area, according to local news reports....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Autobiography of Saint Ignatius is the story of the life of Ignatius of Loyola (l. 1491-1556) dictated by him to the Jesuit priest Father Louis Gonzalez between 1553-1555, shortly before Loyola’s death in 1556. It is an account of his conversion, spiritual struggles, and the establishment of the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. For the ancient Egyptians, life on earth was only one part of an eternal journey which continued after death. One’s purpose in life was to live in balance with one’s self, family, community, and the gods. Any occupation in Egypt was considered worthwhile as long as one was performing one’s duties in accordance with harmony and balance....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Regolini-Galassi Tomb is located in the Etruscan town of Cerveteri (aka Cisra or Caere) near the western coast of central Italy, around 50 km north of Rome. Cerveteri flourished between the 7th and 4th century BCE and has hundreds of rock-cut tombs from that period. The Regolini-Galassi tomb dates to c....