Tag: life
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Society. The forest. The river.
People with social anxiety avoid situations in which they are exposed to judgment by others. Those affected also lead a withdrawn life. Researchers have now found evidence for a gene that is believed to be linked to the illness. It encodes a serotonin transporter in the brain. Interestingly, this messenger suppresses feelings of anxiety and…
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Single-event upset… Aeschylus… The meaning of life and death…
Under Earth’s protective magnetic field, we don’t usually need to worry too much about the health effects of cosmic radiation – although it’s something that’s known to impact astronauts in space, and even passengers travelling in airplanes. But the same can’t be said for our technological systems – fierce solar storms can wreak havoc on…
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Tripping on acid. Finding significance where none is. Finding meaning. Via senses. Where no meaning is there…
An enhanced sense of meaning is one of the hallmarks of the psychedelic experience. People who have been under the influence of drugs like LSD, mescaline or hallucinogenic mushrooms often describe finding profound significance in even the most prosaic objects and sensations. LSD dramatically changes the way people perceive the environment and themselves, often blurring…
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Superconductivity. Intrinsic abilities. Alchemy. Being.
Scientists activated the intrinsic ability of graphene to superconduct (carry an electrical current with no resistance). Before that, superconductivity in graphene has only been achieved by doping it with, or by placing it on, a superconducting material - a process which can compromise some of its other properties. But in the study (published on January),…
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Tickle yourself. Laugh.
Of all physical sensations, ticklishness is perhaps the most mysterious. Why do we laugh in response to tickling? Why are certain body parts more ticklish? Why can we not tickle ourselves? Indeed, the mystery of ticklish perception has been discussed for more than two millennia by great intellectuals including Aristotle and Charles Darwin. Despite such…
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