Scientist Kris Helgen holds an Eastern long-beaked echidna in Indonesia's Foja Mountains (map) in a file picture. The elusive egg-laying species is one of the rarest and most genetically unique mammals on the planet, according to the Zoological Society of London's 2010 EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct, Globally Endangered) list, released November 19. (Take an endangered-animals quiz.)
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Okay, so NASA hasn't announced that it's discovered evidence of extra-terrestrial life, as was rumored/hoped for as soon as today's press conference was announced earlier this week. And while the discovery of an entirely new lifeform that redefines life as we know it is nothing to be sneezed at - Anything that actually deserves the sentence "Everything you knew about [Subject X] is wrong is more than alright with me - the idea of someone actually discovering alien life got me thinking... What fictional aliens do I wish we'd somehow manage to find first? Here are 10 suggestions for the extra-terrestrials that would make our first contact a pleasant experience.
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If you're acting stupid because you're a stoner, you might just be playing to type. That is, it may be your expectations about marijuana's long-term cognitive effects — rather than any real effect of the drug itself — that is to blame, particularly if you're male, according to new research. The study, which was published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, explored the effect of "stereotype threat" — the idea that performance is affected by conventional images of minorities — on marijuana smokers.
Earlier studies of stereotype threat have found that when African Americans are asked to identify themselves by race before being tested, they tend to score worse than blacks who weren't reminded of their race — in line with racist stereotypes about blacks doing poorly in school.
Explains study co-author Mitch Earleywine, professor of psychology at the University of Albany–SUNY: ...
A soldier returns from war unable to get the images of battle out of his head. An earthquake survivor rides out long, anxiety-filled nights. A young woman in a pretty floral dress walks her dog along the streets of Manhattan.
All three may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The woman walking her dog is Robin Hutchins, 25. She looks confident and self-assured, and few would guess that a year ago she discovered that she had the stress disorder.
“When I tell people I have P.T.S.D., it’s like I have to convince them it’s a real issue,” she said.
The disorder — in which a traumatic experience leaves the patient suffering from severe anxiety for months or years after the event — is often associated with battlefield combat and natural disasters. But as Dr. Frank Ochberg, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University, noted in an interview, the typical trigger is more mundane — most commonly, a traffic accident.
In Ms. Hutchins’s case, it was sexual violence. During her first year in college, ...
From Cloverfield to District 9, Monsters to Skyline - we stand in the midst of the biggest wave of alien invasion movies to hit cinemas in almost sixty years. The trend shows no sign of abating - the likes of Battle Los Angeles and Cowboys and Aliens are due before the end of the year, Area 51, The Darkest Hour and Simon Pegg's Paul follow in 2011.
But what does it all mean? And more importantly, how can you stay safe?
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