Our body hosts many rhythms. While they are downplayed by Western medicine, Eastern medicine utilizes them as tools. A serendipitous observation by researchers links the breathing during mantras with that of prayer.
Other Science News
Here's the lineup: Our immune system has lots of moving parts and they do not always make sense, at least on the first read. ... While the truth may set you free, learning the truth is often hampered by paywalls. ... And a beautiful interactive on a woodblock print that shows: (1) How a picture is worth a thousand words and (2) How culturally interconnected we have been for a lot longer than the past few years.
A meme posted by "Patriotic Millionaires" on Facebook claims that the federal minimum wage of $7.25 in 2009 is worth $6.11 in today's dollars. That is mathematically incorrect and economically illiterate.
Here's what we have for you this time around: Can you really separate mental health calls from police work? ... Nature is the master of scaling, so why would she choose stability over efficiency? ... And, an introduction to a non-conforming economist with Marxist roots and a conservative vibe.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek is often credited with designing the earliest of microscopes. With literally a new view of the world, he examined many objects including human sperm described, as you will remember from high school health, as having a "tail, which, when swimming, lashes with a snakelike movement, like eels in water." Turns out he wasn't thinking in all three dimensions.
How does GrubHub continue to grow despite losing money every quarter? Birds are not are the only air travelers, high altitude mass transit is used by insects, and dare I say bacteria and viruses. Finally, McDonald's gets a lot of coverage about the harms of fast food and low paying jobs, but as always, there is a back story that portrays a corporation that embraced corporate social responsibility before it was a business term.
23andMe brings its special skill set of analyzing genetic ancestry to the history of transatlantic slavery, the Middle Passage. While there are few surprises, it does make a convincing case that our genes and culture are deeply intertwined.
What exactly do we mean, scientifically, when we talk about individuals? ... Can a model of surgical care costing a small fraction of care in the U.S. teach us anything? ... Nassim Taleb writes about the use of masks. Some habits are hard to break, especially when we see them as the norm and not a habit at all.
The effect of "Factory" farms on farmers and animals, catching up with John Ioannidis and the controversy over evidence-based care, the intimate connections of mind and body, and a look at gene drives - CRISPR on steroids?
The flight of birds involves both the flapping of wings and soaring on currents of air. But the act of moving their wings is equivalent -- energetically speaking -- to humans sprinting. So what’s a bird, especially a large bird, like the condor, supposed to do?
Police-involved shootings, the cultural impact upon the "hard" sciences, urban planning gone awry, and stealthy enemies.
The world desperately awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, one that will stop the spread of this potentially deadly infection and hopefully allow us all to return to our pre-coronavirus lives. But there's no telling when a vaccine will be found -- if it will at all. With that, ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom, who has decades of experience in drug discovery, believes that the best way forward for now involves use of antiviral drugs, a position he details as co-author of recent piece in the Baltimore Sun. His Op-Ed leads off our June media roundup, a compendium of news sources where ACSH has appeared over the last month.