Chandrayaan-3: India makes historic landing near Moon’s south pole
Source: BBC
India recently made history by landing the Pragyaan rover on the surface of the moon. Learn more about the scientific and historical significance of this Moon mission.
Science & Nature
Scientists have solved a classic optical illusion–and the answer’s in your neurons
Source: BBC: Science Focus
There is a famous optical illusion with two gray lines inside a number of black and white bars. The gray bars are the same color, but they appear lighter or darker depending on which bars are around them. Science was never sure why, but it seems the answer lies in you brain’s neurons and how fast they can fire.
Rare Brain Disorder Prevents All Fear
Source: Wired Magazine
A middle-aged woman—known as SM—blithely reaches for poisonous snakes, giggles in haunted houses, and once, upon escaping the clutches of a knife-wielding man, didn’t run but calmly walked away. All because a rare kind of brain damage precludes her from experiencing fear of any sort.
What is the Future of Communication?
Source: How Stuff Works
There was a time when there was no written language and almost all communication was spoken. Even when language evolved, it was often written on stone and not very portable until the invention of paper. History is full of such advances. Even the now ubiquitous smartphone was thought to be science fiction just a couple of decades ago. But have you ever asked yourself what advances may come next?
Harvard Professor Believes He’s Found Fragments of Alien Technology
Source: CBS Boston
Small objects sometimes lead to big discoveries. Learn how tiny, metallic spheres might point to alien technology in this short video clip.
Why Popcorn Tastes Better When You Eat It with Chopsticks
Source: The Irish News
How do you make something old and familiar feel fresh and new? Science suggests the trick is to interact with it in new ways. Something as simple as eating popcorn–but doing so with chopsticks–can result in people rating the popcorn as tastier and more enjoyable than eating the same popcorn with their hands. Read the article and think of ways you may make things you already own feel new again.
Can You Trust Your Ears?
Source: ASAP Science
When most people think of an illusion, they think of an image or video–but there are audio illusions that trick your hearing, too. After you watch this video, you’ll have to ask yourself “Can I trust my own ears?”
NASA announces crew for first trip back to the moon in over 50 years
Source: CBS
It’s been over half a century since NASA last sent astronauts to the moon, and this crew of brave men and women is the first of its kind.
Great Accidental Discoveries
Source: Goethe Institut
While hard work is a good path to success, there is another route that some people have followed: the simple accident. Some of the world’s biggest discoveries and inventions have happened by accident. And yet, to see a mistake and not think of it as a failure, but rather as a new and unexpected form of success, takes a special kind of industrious mindset.
How To Make Eyewitness Testimony More Reliable
Source: SciShow Psych (YouTube)
Eyewitness testimony can be really important when investigating crimes, but how can we make them more reliable? SciShow looks at the scientific and psychological evidence around several ways in which your memory can fail–and how we may be able to minimize these effects.