Mark Xavier
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Stories (52/0)
Can Experiencing Horror Help Your Brain?
Fear gets a bad rap. It’s a so-called negative emotion, one that supposedly stands between us and our dreams. It is certainly true that pure fear doesn’t feel good, but that is the whole point of the emotion. Fear tells us to get the hell out of Dodge because Dodge is a bad place. Fear evolved over millions of years to protect us from danger. So, yes, fear is a feel-bad emotion, but also, and perhaps paradoxically, the engine in a whole range of pleasurable activities and behaviors—which inspire what we can call recreational fear.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Horror
This 18-Year-Old Developed a Test to Find Out If Your Drink Has Been Spiked
It was the day after Christmas 2021, and Angie Fogarty sat in a dark room with an ultraviolet flashlight trained on a tiny, hole-punch-sized circle of paper in front of her. She carefully placed a few drops of liquid on the red paper, then cast a UV spotlight on the spot as she waited in anticipation. Almost instantly, it turned green.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Education
New York City Is Sinking Under the Weight of Its Skyscrapers, Study Finds
New York City is sinking—satellite data show that the metropolis is plunging 1 to 2 millimeters on average each year. Some of this is natural, such as residual effects of land settling after the last ice age, and some is caused by people withdrawing groundwater. But the immense weight of the Big Apple’s buildings is also playing a role, according to a study published this month in the journal Earth’s Future.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in 01
The World’s Most Grueling Race Journeys 1,000 Miles Down the Yukon
It’s not clear who first discovered the gold. Even that word “discovered” is a misnomer. The local Tlingit and Tagish tribes were both well aware of its presence along the river decades before Westerners started drawing it from the ground; they’d simply had no use for the stuff. Perhaps it’s better to say it’s not clear who first exploited the gold—who helped inspire some 100,000 prospectors to make the arduous trip to the Yukon Territory in northwest Canada, a migration that became known as the Klondike Gold Rush.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Earth
Early Apes Lived on Savannahs, Not in Forests
Apes were supposed to be tied to the trees. Around 21 million years ago, during a time paleontologists know as the Miocene, what’s now Uganda was thought to be a lush, humid forest where early apes clambered over canopy branches in search of fruit. But a pair of new studies have overturned the established view, changing the setting in which paleontologists think the first apes evolved.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Earth
A Brief History of Long Movies
Roger Ebert, the beloved film critic who died in 2013 having done more than anyone else in history to turn arguing about movies into a mainstream American sport, once observed that “No good movie is too long. No bad movie is short enough.”
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Motivation
Humanity’s First Recorded Kiss Was Earlier Than We Thought
“My upper lip becomes moist, while my lower lip trembles! I shall embrace him, I shall kiss him.” —1900-1595 B.C.E. tablet from Sippar, Mesopotamia; translation by Nathan Wasserman, Akkadian Love Literature of the Third and Second Millennium B.C.E.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Humans
‘Hard to be homeless in this heat’: India’s brutal summer is here
New Delhi, India- India has started experiencing what could be another extremely hot summer, similar to last year when the country saw a devastating heatwave that led to widespread human suffering and affected workplaces, informal workers, landless labourers, marginalised communities, agriculture, and the overall economy.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Earth
Yes, Your Water Can Go Bad
We all know that food and drinks can go bad. Your refrigerator likely has items right now that were once wholesome food and is now...not wholesome, and no longer food. But one basic component of our lives that might seem immune to that spoilage is water. It’s a pretty fundamental compound, after all, and doesn’t contain anything other than a bunch of hydrogen and oxygen, so there doesn’t seem to be anything in there that other organisms could defile. When your leftover mint chutney goes bad, it makes sense, but water seems so impervious that noticing an expiration date on a bottle of water seems kind of ludicrous. But it’s not completely wrong. Water doesn’t rot or spoil like many foods, but there’s definitely a shelf life.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Humans
Why America Is Struggling to Stop the Fentanyl Epidemic
the United States is suffering the deadliest drug epidemic in its history. Overdoses claimed the lives of more than 100,000 Americans between August 2021 and August 2022 alone. Over the span of just a few years, drug deaths have doubled. Most of these overdoses involve fentanyl, which now kills around 200 Americans every day.
By Mark Xavier4 months ago in Humans
Mastering time management: Tips for making every minute count at work
ndians spend an average of 53 hours working each week, exceeding the globally set work limit of 48 hours, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). With so many hours spent on work, it is essential to manage time effectively.
By Mark Xavier5 months ago in Motivation
Make This Easy, Creamy Four-Ingredient Lemon Dessert
If you saw “lemon curdled cream” listed on a dessert menu, you’d probably pass over it in favor of lava cake. Understandably: “Curdled” is an inherently unsexy word. But while not all curdling is desirable, there are many instances in which curdled dairy is a good thing. Cheese is a big one. This sweet, creamy, four-ingredient lemon posset is another.
By Mark Xavier5 months ago in Feast
