Earth’s First-Ever Hydrogen Metal

With pressure greater than the force within Earth’s core, two diamonds pressed upon liquid hydrogen and something happened for the first time ever on our planet: the lightest element in the periodic table turned into a small bit of metal. After years of research and experiments, this alchemical creation occurred under the direction of two Harvard physicists—whose paper was published in the journal Science. The …

Why We Owe Mary Tyler Moore

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” debuted in September 1970 and was the USA’s first-ever show that focused on a single, independent, working woman. With all kinds of timely issues (which, sadly are still relevant today) addressed in the show—from equal pay to sex and sex work, homophobia and more—it was a hugely important show. As Willa Paskin says on Slate, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s …

A Biologist Explains How Animals Feel Pain

We, of course, cannot read animals’ minds (even our pets) but that doesn’t mean we can’t intuit some of the ways they feel pain. According to evolutionary biologist Robyn J. Crook in a recent TED-Ed video, humans have two kinds of reaction to pain. First, nerves sense pain, communicate it and cause a jerking reaction. Second, there is conscious recognition—this is what we associate with …