Innehållsförteckning för May 2020 från Discover

I’ve been thinking about flow states lately. That’s when you’re so focused, so enveloped in a pursuit, that you forget about time, where you are, what day it is. You are completely in the zone, whether it’s improvising on piano, writing a short story or swimming a mile of laps at the local pool. But how do you achieve this state in the midst of intense digital distraction? The question’s been on my mind thanks to Contributing Editor Kenneth Miller’s feature on our society’s nonstop digital highway of details and its effect on our brains. As humans, we have evolved to seek out more and more information, to satisfy our curiosity. We’re also wired to want to belong and not miss out. We know software designers tap into these motivations…

Leading the challenge, Israel-based independent archaeologist David Eitam commends the team’s work identifying plant residues, but contends that it’s evidence for bread. He likens their focus on three artifacts to studying a tree, when “the idea is to understand the forest.” Eitam has cataloged more than 300 similar stone artifacts at regional Natufian sites and tested their possible uses. The results suggest the funnel-shaped vessels — too deep and narrow for storage — were designed for grinding barley into flour. At Raqefet, these “bread machines” were positioned over a burial, perhaps for “feeding the dead,” he says. And the starches? Spoiled food, fermented naturally and accidentally, Eitam proposes, also in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.…

A TIME-TRAVELING CYBORG on a murder mission may be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this word, but a terminator in astronomy is far less violent than one in the movies. Instead of destroying, it divides: specifically, the illuminated and unilluminated parts of a satellite or celestial body, like the moon. The word has its roots in division, originating from the name Terminus, the Roman god of boundaries. But like the moon, the word has a dark side as well — although it wasn’t until the 20th century that termination was used to describe acts like murder.…

IT MAY SEEM LIKE computer nerds already rule the world. But despite a growing interest in computer science among U.S. high schoolers, the demand for coders still far exceeds the number of students earning bachelor’s degrees in the field. Beyond that, many public schools simply don’t teach computer science for techies-in-training. Hadi Partovi, founder and CEO of Code.org, is working to change that. The nonprofit advocates for computer science education and offers coding courses for schools across the country. Partovi, 47, spoke to Discover’s Alex Orlando about growing up during the Iranian revolution, how Code.org took flight and the importance of providing students with a firm foundation in computer science. Q What was your childhood like, in terms of your interest in technology and computer science? A My childhood had…

Resisting the Siren Call These methods aim to improve our brains’ ability to ignore distractions and recover from interruptions. EDUCATION. Researchers are developing a variety of classroom curricula designed to strengthen cognitive control — the capacity to stay on task, even under challenging conditions. NEUROFEEDBACK. Introduced in the 1960s, this technique teaches practitioners to control their brainwaves with the help of a brain-computer interface. Used with some success to treat disorders such as ADHD and anxiety, a few small studies have linked the method to improvements in attention and working memory. NATURE. A growing body of research suggests that getting outside can help reset weary brains. COGNITIVE EXERCISES. Clinical trials indicate that some mental exercises, including specially designed video games, can improve focus and resistance to distraction. Evidence for the…

Here are a few tips from Hutton on helping kids navigate our increasingly wired world: REMEMBER TODDLERS ARE NOT SMALL GROWN-UPS. At different ages, children’s needs change along with their brains and emotional development. And while children under the age of 2 might be drawn in by flashing screens, they’re still not learning much from them at that age. GO SLOW. For preschoolers, gradually introduce different types of media that are slower-paced and encourage learning. (Think shows like Sesame Street, says Hutton.) From there, work your way up to more challenging — yet still age-appropriate — content. HELP CHILDREN CHOOSE THEIR OWN CONTENT. While it’s important to limit your child’s choices, give them some control over what they’re watching. For example, ask them if they’d rather watch Cinderella or Cars…

Another Woman on the Moon (“The Women in the Moon,” November 2019) I was disappointed that my distant relative, Mary Adela Blagg, was not included in your article, since she had a lot to do with the naming of lunar features. Blagg (1858-1944) was a British mathematician and astronomer who published two books on lunar features and suggested lunar nomenclature guidelines still in use today. She was one of the first five women named as Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society. And oh, by the way, Blagg Crater is named for her. Mike BlaggBrownwood, Texas Defining Failure (“10 Experiments That Changed Everything,” November 2019) Experiments don’t “fail” if they give negative results. Experiments fail only if they are not conducted properly or something goes wrong with the protocol. The purpose…

This colorized microscope image shows clusters of fibrous rat neurons — cells that send information throughout the brain and the body — growing on top of an electronic chip. Developed by Harvard University scientists, the chip can record extensive neuronal networks, picking up electrical signals inside thousands of neurons and mapping the hundreds of connections between them. (Previous methods could only record pockets of activity from about 10 cells at a time.) The scientists plan to use the chip to study how drugs affect brain activity in people with neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.…

Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice By Gillen D’Arcy Wood I had the privilege to work at McMurdo Station, on Antarctica’s Ross Island, for 22 months — including two winters. Though my job as a cook and baker kept me mostly in the galley, I never missed a chance to get outside and explore, where the drama playing out across the great white expanse was different every day. Sea ice groaned and cracked and piled itself into massive, ever-changing walls where it met the Ross Ice Shelf. Auroras snaked and shimmied overhead. And once, standing near the water’s edge in summer, I realized a leopard seal was watching me from a few feet away with the intent stare of a…

SELECTION FOR BELIEF-CONSISTENT INFORMATION. Also called confirmation bias, it inclines us to prefer data that align with what we already think. In prehistoric times, this might have led people to see a rainstorm as proof of a shaman’s power over the weather — an interpretation that strengthened social cohesion, even if it was wrong. Today, confirmation bias can lead to more consequential errors, such as seeing a cold snap as proof that climate change is a hoax. SELECTION FOR NEGATIVE INFORMATION. This tendency, also known as negativity bias, primed our ancestors’ brains to prioritize alertness for predators over other, less threatening types of attention. Today, it can lead us to privilege bad news over good — for example, by taking a single horrific crime by an out-group member more seriously…

Today, tree-planting campaigns green urban areas and promote healthy spaces. Nonprofit groups work with local governments from coast to coast to raise the profile of city forests, hoping to restore canopy cover and reduce urban heat islands. But imagine if greening campaigns had the urgency of national security: Planting trees is your patriotic duty. Imagine if greening campaigns had the urgency of national security: Planting trees is your patriotic duty. It actually did happen. Valuable natural resources like oil or iron often get government support, but during World War II, trees also fit the bill — specifically, cork oak trees. Cork had enjoyed commercial value for centuries, of course, in wine bottles and fishing equipment, among other uses. But during the first half of the 20th century, the spongy material…

1 I think that I shall never see an organism as vital as a tree. Without these woody, perennial members of the plant kingdom, we might still be squirming around the seafloor. 2 About 400 million years ago, early trees transformed terrestrial environments by reducing atmospheric carbon. The result: more hospitable ecosystems for marine animals experimenting with the landlubber life. 3 Researchers described one such inviting habitat in December in Current Biology: The find, the earliest forest in the fossil record, is roughly 385 million years old. The site included primitive, fernlike cladoxylopsids as well as species once thought to have evolved millions of years later. 4 Some of these more advanced varieties also had extensive root systems spreading out more than 30 feet across, suggesting trees got bigger earlier…

The beer hypothesis, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, comes from Raqefet excavators, based at Israel’s University of Haifa, and Stanford University scientists, who conducted microscopic analyses. In previous research, they made experimental brews the ancient way, to see how the process altered artifacts. Some telltale signs were then identified on Raqefet stones: A roughly 10-inch diameter mortar, carved directly into the cave floor, had micro-scratches — probably from a wooden pestle — and starch with damage indicative of mashing, heating and fermenting, all steps in alcohol production. Two funnel-shaped stones had traces of cereals, legumes and flax, interpreted as evidence that they were once lined with woven baskets and used to store grains and other beer ingredients. Lead author Li Liu thinks Natufians also made bread, but…

The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another By Ainissa Ramirez Sure, humans changed the world by coming up with film, computers and other tech, but how have those inventions changed us? Materials scientist Ramirez explores how eight innovations came into being and ultimately shaped how we communicate, travel and even sleep. Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life By Ozan Varol The scientific method of observing, developing a hypothesis, testing it and revising as needed has survived centuries for a reason: It works. And, as bona fide rocket scientist Varol shows, that approach — plus boundless curiosity — is handy whether you’re designing a Mars lander or figuring out what to have for dinner. On…