Now, a few tens of thousands of years ago, wolves and people started becoming friendly species. You can imagine a person tossing a bone to a friendly wolf from time to time. But friendly is the key. Nobody ever gets close to a hostile wolf. So over m...
In terms of evolution, there has to be a reason for barking, or it probably wouldnt be there. Is it to warn of predators? But dogs bark when there are no predators around. Is it play? Some dogs play without barking. In fact, people who study canine b...
The biggest reason its bad to lose too much water is that the actual volume of your blood goes down. When blood volume goes down, blood pressure goes down. As blood pressure goes down, body heat goes up, because your blood helps regulate your core bo...
There are different factors involved here. A human being isnt an automobile which needs a certain amount of gas. There are conditions under which a person could die of dehydration within a single day, and other conditions whereby a person might live...
Research shows that whether a person is an optimist or a pessimist is related to their quality of life, including their physical health. The subjects involved first personality tests in the 1960s and then thirty years later they completed a follow-up...
Weve discussed before how endangered species are at risk from the increased likelihood of inbreeding, which leads to unhealthy offspring. But theres another danger to letting the numbers of animals in a given species become too low. Its called geneti...
Notice, however, that you can be wrong sometimes without any ill effect. An example might be seeing animals in clouds. If it doesnt actually make any difference to your survival, then this predilection wont get weeded out. It may even be attached to...
Youve heard the stories: somebody in Texas is about to take a bite out of his burrito when he realizes that the face of Elvis is looking up at him from the wrinkly surface of the dough. This actually happens a lot. From religious figures to Princess...
Snoring can be pretty disturbing to people who sleep in the company of snorers, as well as to the snorer himself, though she may not realize it. For instance, some snorers have a condition called obstructive sleep apnea. Their airways become obstruct...
Until now it has not been known whether children who snore, but who do not have obstructive sleep apnea, are at risk, too, for these cognitive and behavioral problems. However, recent research shows that many children without this particular conditio...
From Botox to liposuction, people will go to great lengths to become beautiful. Some will even allow themselves to be electrocuted. As in electrolysis, the hair removal process involving mild doses of electrical current used to kill hair follicles. D...
A major reason why many cancers are so dangerous is that they metastasize. This means that instead of staying in one place, the cancer cells migrate from their original site to other parts of the body. Its no wonder scientists are busy studying the m...
His goal? Quote: More and more life support for everybody, with less and less resources. He was especially interested in developing more efficient housing; that is, a new way of constructing buildings so that they provide more housing space with the...
Ever heard of a man named Buckminster Fuller, or Bucky, as his friends called him? R. Buckminster Fuller was a twentieth century scientist, philosopher, inventor, and was also named a great architect. Part of what made Bucky so special was his concer...
Scientists have known for some time that many plants protect themselves from insect attacks by producing toxins that either ward off or kill insects when they attempt to have the plant for lunch. What scientists have only recently discovered, however...
