a neat survival trick once thought rare in Australian animals is actually widespread
Credit: Shutterstock Life is hard for small animals in the wild, but they have many solutions to the challenges of their environment. One of the most fascinating of these strategies is torpor. Not, to be confused with sleep or Sunday afternoon lethargy, torpor is a complex response to the costs of living. To enter torpor, […]
Stuck at home? Trick your brain into treating a staycation like the real thing.
Get outside your head without leaving your house. (Unsplash/) Taking a vacation has many benefits for your body and mind. A timely getaway can lower your stress and, with it, your risk of life-threatening issues like heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Even short vacations—four nights, according to one study—can significantly improve your feeling of well-being. […]
Rescue dried-out cheese with this simple trick
It’s just cheese, olive oil, and some herbs or spices. (Matt Taylor-Gross/) This story was originally featured on Saveur. When Pedro, my host father, offered me some cheese, I didn’t expect him to reach into the kitchen cupboard. The previous weeks as an American teenager in Castilla-La Mancha had felt like Spanish culinary hazing: I’d […]
Laser technology: New trick for infrared laser pulses
IMAGE: Gottfried Strasser, Benedikt Schwarz, Johannes Hillbrand and Nikola Opacak view more Credit: TU Wien Ordinary solid-state lasers, as used in laser pointers, generate light in the visible range. For many applications, however, such as the detection of molecules, radiation in the mid-infrared range is needed. Such infrared lasers are much more difficult to manufacture, especially […]
