Anyone who's ever considered why South America and Africa look like they could fit together knows about plate tectonics, the theory which explains the movement of the continents over long periods of time. Fewer people may fully grasp the importance of the theory to a variety of fields. Plate tectonics also helps explain why similar plants and animals can be found on different continents, and helps us determine why certain elements are more or less abundant in different geological eras.

While the theory has accomplished much, there is room for improvement. In particular, the focus on how continents move runs into limiting difficulties. For example, the seafloor recycles itself every two hundred million years, making it challenging to learn about events before that date if you're just looking at how certain parts of the crust move.

However, a new approach devised by an international team of researchers provides a new way of looking at plate tectonics, which may allow us to look as far back as a billion years. Their work also includes an animation showing that billion years of continental drift in 40 seconds.

So what does this new approach provide us?

Instead of looking at continents themselves, this approach focuses on how the boundaries between plates move over time. This avoids the limitations of other methods, as the records of where plate boundaries were located are quite enduring.

Louis Moresi, a geologist at the Australian National University who was not involved with this study, explained the concept, which he called "astonishing" to Cosmos Magazine:

"The plates are continually shoving the continents around and crashing them into each other. That means the geological record is full of evidence of old plate boundaries and the past actions of plates. We have billions of years of the continental record – for example, old mountain belts leave traces in the rock and sedimentary record even after being eroded – so we have evidence for plates from a billion years ago even though they are long gone into the mantle."

Understanding where the plates were at what times can shed light on the long distant past and explain why the world is the way it is today.

For example, the Snowball Earth hypothesis, the proposal that most of the Earth's surface was frozen over at one or a few points, is relatively dependent on where the continents were at various times. If the continents were not in the correct locations, the possibility of the Snowball occurrence lowers considerably. This new technique allows scientists to estimate where continents were at those times with more confidence than before.

This model may also be of use in figuring out how and when oxygen became such an important part of the atmosphere, which in turn made life like us possible.

This isn't the end-all solution to everything though, as the authors admit in their study, it doesn't consider things like "true polar wander," in which the Earth's rotation and how its magnetic field is situated shifts. Given how vital evidence of Earth's magnetic field and its changes are in geology, there is an entire field of study called Paleomagnetism; the next improvement on existing theory will have to account for it. Despite this issue, the focus on plate boundaries is a huge step forward.


Here's the animation showing how the plates have moved over the last billion years:

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

If you haven't noticed, life is absurd. We humans strive to find meaning in the world, and the world responds with cold indifference. This contrast, often made evident when senseless and meaningless tragedy occurs, is inherent to most people's relationship to the world.

While the idea that life has no inherent meaning can be jarring even to the point of despair, many philosophers who studied the problem think it doesn't have to be that way. Albert Camus event went further, arguing that "accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: it should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful."

But what does that mean? More importantly, how do we go about doing that?

How to turn existential dread into a fruitful life

Camus considered a variety of ways to deal with this absurdity throughout his writings. However, he noted that most of them didn't deal with the problem as much as they try to get around it.

He begins by proclaiming that "there is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide." However, trying to deal with the meaninglessness of the universe by quitting doesn't solve the problem at all; it just prevents us from having to deal with it.

He then considers turning to other, transcendental sources for meaning. However, he rejects this as a kind of "philosophical suicide," that also tries to sidestep the problem of dealing with an absurd universe by imposing a system on it, like that of Christianity or Communism, which will only end up running into the meaninglessness of the universe again and again while also keeping us from working things out for ourselves.

This leaves one option: to embrace the absurdity of the universe as a simple fact. The person who can do this without falling into despair becomes what Camus calls an "absurd hero."

He explains this in one of his most famous essays, "The Myth of Sisyphus," where he compares human existence to the Greek king condemned to roll a boulder uphill for eternity.

While this meaningless, unending, dreary task is intended as a punishment for the king, Camus suggests that Sisyphus can overcome it by accepting his effort's pointlessness while also grasping that he alone gets to decide how to live and feel within the confines of his punishment. He knows that the rock will roll back down again but pushes it up the hill anyway. By finding joy in the struggle, he embraces and overcomes the absurdity of the situation. For one moment during each cycle, he looks at the rock rolling back down and is free and happy. He is the absurd hero.

As Camus puts it:

"I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

So Sisyphus accepts the meaningless of his universe and carries on, so Camus thinks you can, and must, too. For, as he puts it, "The realization that life is absurd cannot be an end, but a beginning."

But what now? When do we start revolting?

Camus argues that awareness and acceptance of absurdity tends to drive people towards "revolt," a feeling of rage and defiance towards the situation we're in and a powerful drive to resist being broken by it. This encourages us to affirm a better existence. As he puts it:

"One of the only coherent philosophical positions is thus revolt. It is a constant confrontation between man and his own obscurity. It is an insistence upon an impossible transparency. It challenges the world anew every second… It is not aspiration, for it is devoid of hope. That revolt is the certainty of a crushing fate, without the resignation that ought to accompany it."

As James E. Caraway explains in his essay "Albert Camus and the Ethics of Rebellion," the person in revolt realizes the liberation this can bring:

"...man sees freedom in a new light. Freedom is no longer seen as coming from God or some transcendent being or idea, nor is it freedom to work toward some future goal. Rather, freedom is now seen as founded on the certainty of death and the absurd. With the realization that man has only this present life as a certainty and with the further realization that no transcendent beyond this life is admissible, comes the freedom and release to live the present life fully. This does not negate consideration for the future, but it does not allow the future to rob man of his present."

Camus suggests that revolt often leads to what he terms "rebellion," which inspires us to seek a unity beyond absurdity and realize that everybody faces the same difficulties in the face of it.

Done improperly, this can lead to horrible things. Camus considered Stalinism, Maoism, and Nazism to be "nihilistic" forms of rebellion, which ended with millions dead as ideologies tried to replace God, who they considered dead, with doctrines that offered meaning.

Instead, he encourages us to "genuine rebellion." This is a fruitful action, which requires us to recognize that everybody is in the same boat. He suggests that rebellion should foster in us a sense of solidarity and respect for the dignity of others as they grapple with absurdism.

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean you should spend all your time contemplating how to make the world embrace the situation of absurdity. Camus suggests that the rebel will embrace life for life's sake and live with passion. If you can't be sure of meaning or of an afterlife, then all that's left to put stock in is the life you're living. So why not do it passionately?

For his part, Camus enjoyed sports, going on dates, drama and literature, and other simple pleasures outside of his work.

What do other philosophers have to say?

The founder of Existentialism, Søren Kierkegaard, considered similar issues in the 19^th century. However, unlike Camus and nearly all of the later Existentialists, Kierkegaard was religious and thought that the solution to the problem of meaning involved a "leap of faith."

This leap is the rejection of reason in the battle against absurdity. It requires a person to admit that reason alone will not be able to provide an answer in this area and to embrace the faith. This, in theory, allows a person to undertake actions that reason cannot fully justify, which Kierkegaard argues is most things. While he thought this faith was "the only thing which masters the absurd," it is precisely what Camus dubbed "philosophical suicide."

While both Kierkegaard and Camus rejected the solution praised by the other, both of them require a similarly difficult set of actions. Either the rejection of reason in deciding how to endure the weight of existence or the acceptance that everything you do might end up meaningless and that God is long dead.

Dealing with the idea that the universe has no meaning and that our attempts to find any will be met with indifference can be difficult. In some cases, it can drive people to nihilism and despair. However, Albert Camus reminds us that it is possible to embrace our lives' absurdity and use that as the starting point for both a new connection with the rest of humanity and a bold experiment in living.

Nobody said it was easy, but the alternative may be more difficult in our increasingly absurd world.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

A new look at the Moon

The pictures were produced using radar imaging, a powerful if infrequently used tool in astronomy for creating detailed pictures of places from where visible light can't reach us.

According to a statement released by the NRAO, the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia had a powerful radio transmitter installed. This was used to transmit radio waves towards the Moon which then bounced back into the telescopes of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), which produced the images. The transmission occurred in November of last year.

The image depicts the Hadley–Apennine region of the Moon, most noteworthy for being the Apollo 15 mission's landing site. Highlights include the 6km crater known as Hadley C and the remains of a collapsed lava tube known as Hadley Rille, which winds across the picture like a dried-out river.

The resolution of this image is tremendous. Objects as small as 5 meters (16.4 ft) can easily be seen.

How does it work, exactly?

Using radio waves for astronomy has certain advantages. Visible light waves can have difficulty getting through the Earth's atmosphere. They can be drowned out by light pollution, and have to either be produced by or reflected off the object you want to look at. This can make things difficult for astronomers.

However, radio waves don't face these problems in the same way; waves emitted by extremely distant objects are picked up all the time. In radar astronomy, radio or microwaves are used to produce images of objects that visible light ways might struggle with. The first images of the surface of Venus, which is famously obscured by clouds, were captured this way.

For the most part, it works just like radar here on Earth. Radio waves are transmitted to the Moon, or whatever nearby cosmic object you want to see, and then bounce back to the Earth. Radio telescopes then record the returning waves. In this case, they were picked up by the telescopes of the VLBA, which stretch from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands. The vast distance between the receiving telescopes helps to improve their resolution.

The shape of things to come

This operation was just a proof of concept test. Having proven what the existing transmitter is capable of, efforts will now shift towards building a larger one that will be focused on other objects in the solar system.

Not only will this allow for extremely high-resolution images to be produced, but it may allow us to take closer looks than previously possible at objects which are too dark to show up in the visible light spectrum, such as certain asteroids.

Scientists involved with the project suggest it could be effective at viewing objects as far away as Neptune. Given that the strength of radar detection drops off exponentially with distance, this is quite the achievement.

Karen O'Neil, the Green Bank Observatory site director, explained how impressive this new system could be, "The planned system will be a leap forward in radar science, allowing access to never before seen features of the Solar System from right here on Earth."

Reports suggest the new system will come online no sooner than 2024 and cost millions of dollars if it is greenlit.

As many of you will know, despite the recent collapse of the Arecibo Observatory, it's been an exciting time in radio astronomy, with new discoveries being made on an almost regular basis. With new developments like this, the excitement can be expected to continue for some time.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

According to new research, there is a good reason why it seems that way. People with higher tolerances for risk-taking have less gray matter in certain parts of their brains than others do, hinting at potential genetic differences as well.

Risky business

Previous studies have reached similar conclusions but suffered from the "WEIRD" problem (Western, educated, and from industrialized, rich, and democratic countries); the college students involved in the studies were too different from the rest of the population to make the results widely applicable. For this study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, researchers were able to call upon more than 12,000 people from the UK Biobank dataset of medical information from a wide variety of backgrounds.

The researchers rated participants' levels of risk aversion using self-reported levels of smoking, drinking, instances of driving over the speed limit, and tendencies to sexual promiscuity. Those who claimed to be more willing to engage in these behaviors were deemed to be more inclined to take risks.

They then compared brain scan images from the participants to their scores in search of relationships, determining that the amount of gray matter in certain parts of the brain was inversely related to the level of risk-taking a person was comfortable with.

The more gray matter, the stuff in the brain where most neurons are, the less risk they claimed to be taking. This finding remained even after controlling for gender, age, overall brain size, alcohol consumption, and handedness.

Now, this gray matter wasn't just everywhere. It was found in the amygdala and ventral striatum regions of the brain. These areas are known to be involved in decision making and risk assessment.

However, the researchers also found correlations between risk-taking and the amount of matter in the hippocampus area, which is generally associated with memory. Parts of the cerebellum, an area that controls motor function but which is also thought to have some involvement in decision making, also appear to relate to risk-taking this way.

This suggests that the neural systems behind risk-taking are more complex than previously thought. A second review of an additional 13,000 people was conducted and it confirmed these findings.

Why these areas of the brain have the gray matter they have is a complex issue, but the researchers did investigate how much of it can be attributed to genetics. The relationships between genes and behavior are extremely complex. Still, by using a system that translated genetic variations in their test subjects into a "risk score," which was tied to risky behaviors, the researchers could estimate how large a role genetics played.

They found that 3 percent of this behavior seems to be related to genetics and that 2.2 percent seems to tie directly to the genes that control gray matter in the brain.

Study co-author Philipp Koellinger commented on the genetic factor to Penn Today:

"We know that most behavioral traits have a complex genetic architecture, with a lot of genes that have small effects. It appears that grey matter of these three regions is translating a genetic tendency into actual behavior."

What does this mean, exactly? Can I blame my life choices on genetics now?

Despite appearances, this study doesn't settle the "nature-vs-nurture" debate in this area. As study co-author Gideon Nave told Medical Xpress:

"You want to think about the fact that there are family, environment, and genetic effects, and there is also the correlation between all these factors. Genetics and environment, genetics and family—even what appears to be a genetic effect could actually be a nurture effect because you inherit your parents' genes."

He added that these findings also open up new areas for researchers looking into the questions of how genetics and brain structure interact to influence our behavior.

As with all studies about what parts of the brain are doing what, remember that we learn new things about the brain every day. While this study sheds new light on what areas are involved with risk calculations, it could turn out to only be part of a larger picture. You might not want to take this as the last word on the subject.

Though, some of you might find that a risk worth taking.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

A lot of people can be rather dismissive of ancient history, even using the term to refer to past events so remote as to be irreverent. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the events and decisions made in antiquity continue to influence us to this day. To explore this, we'll look at ten of the most legendary rulers of ancient history, what they did, and why their decisions still matter.

For our purposes, "legendary" means "awesome" rather than "potentially not real." A few kings and queens of old who may not have been real people, such as Gilgamesh, The Yellow Emperor, and the Queen of Sheba, are not included. Additionally, what passes for "ancient" varies based on what area you're talking about, so while all of the people on our list are long dead, a few of them were on the scene much more recently than others.

Hammurabi (1810– c. 1750 BCE)

Our first entry was the king of Babylon who both conquered all who opposed him and ruled with a code of laws assuring uniformity in justice. While his laws are not the oldest surviving ones nor particularly good ones, they are among the earliest examples of a constitution known to man with an influence that is difficult to overstate.

After spending the early part of his reign strengthening Babylon's walls and expanding the temples, Hammurabi took advantage of regional political intrigue and shifting alliances to conquer all of southern Mesopotamia, which came to be known as Babylonia, and force the other power in the area, Assyria, to pay tribute.

He is most famous for his code of laws. The code, famously preserved on a monolith shaped like an index finger, shows Hammurabi receiving the law from the God of Justice. It goes on to describe 282 situations and prescribes legal action for each. It includes clauses for the presumption of innocence, the opportunity for both parties in a case to present evidence, and is the first known example of the eternally famous dictum: "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Despite the attempts of the code to ensure equality, the harsh punishments are scaled based on who harms who. A property-owning man would be punished less harshly than a slave, for example.

Despite the disintegration of his empire after his death, his laws largely remained enforced at the local level and went on to influence the Romans- who wouldn't barrow the idea of making the law publicly available until much later.

Hatshepsut (1507–1458 BCE)

The second woman confirmed to rule as pharaoh, and by far the most consequential, Hatshepsut had to overcome laws and traditions technically barring a woman from ruling to become pharaoh at all.

The wife, daughter, and sister of a king, Hatsheput was also technically the wife of a God. Upon the death of her brother-husband, the pharaoh Thutmose II. Hatshepsut used her political cunning, regal background, and religious power to assume the title of pharaoh alongside her young son Thutmose III.

Like any good pharaoh, she embarked on a vast building campaign to legitimize her rule. No previous ruler, and perhaps only a few after, oversaw such an extensive series of building projects. Their vast scale suggests the country was particularly prosperous at this time.

Among these projects was her tomb, the extremely impressive Djeser-Djeseru.

Trade routes that had been disrupted prior to her reign were reestablished. This process included a vast expedition to the mysterious and wealthy Land of Punt. She also found the time to send military expositions to neighboring states. These ventures assured the prosperity which would define the 18^th dynasty.

As with many pharaohs, there were attempts to obliterate her memory and any trace of her from the historical record. While these failed, they did cause some trouble for archaeologists a few thousand years later, who struggled to determine why some hieroglyphs referred to a queen.

Ramses II (1303 BCE – 1213 BCE)

Known to the Greeks, lovers of romantic poetry, and Alan Moore fans as Ozymandias, Ramses was one of the greatest rulers of Egypt, a country with enough great rulers to make that quite the achievement.

Like other great Egyptian rulers, Ramses' reign featured monumental construction projects. Unlike most of his predecessors, his projects were on a scale not seen since the Pyramids went up.

He built the new capital of Pi-Ramesses, a dazzling city and military base with which he kept an eye on his holdings in Canaan. Several massive temple structures, including the famous Abu Simbel temples, were dedicated at this time and featured colossal images, often of himself. He also ordered his artists to carve words and images deeper into stone than had been done previously to make them easier to see and harder to remove.

On the whole, his reign is considered by many art historians to be the high point of Ancient Egyptian culture.

Known as a great military leader, Ramses personally led his armies in Libya, Nubia, and Canaan. While his war with the Hittites didn't go quite as well as his propaganda claimed, it did lead to the first peace treaty in human history.

During the Bronze Age Collapse, a period when most Mediterranean civilizations fell, Ramses was able to make Egypt one of two major civilizations to avoid failure and destruction at the hands of the mysterious "Sea Peoples" by defeating them in battle and securing the Egyptian borders. Without his leadership, Egypt may have suffered the same dark age as its neighbors and the world the poorer for it.

His reign was so long, he lived to be 96, that many Egyptians feared the end of the world at the time of this death. Nine later pharaohs would take his name in tribute to his legacy.

In addition to his impact in popular culture hinted at above, he is also frequently used as the pharaoh in film adaptions of the Exodus story, though there no archaeological or historical evidence confirming such an event or that he was in charge when it happened.

The Duke of Zhou (11th Century BCE)

One of the lower-ranking officials on our list is famous less for what he did and more so for how he did it. The Duke of Zhou (pronounced "Joe") was Confucius' hero and laid the foundations for the first ruling dynasty in Northern China. As a result of Qin Shi Huang burning the imperial records, we don't actually know much about the Duke, but his influence on Chinese history is difficult to overstate.

The brother of the first king of the Zhou dynasty, which ruled much of central China, the Duke became the regent for his young nephew after his brother's death. Unlike most royal uncles in such a position, the Duke is famous for having not acted improperly. When his nephew came of age, the Duke gave up his power and went home.

During his regency, he put down a number of rebellions, expanded eastwards, codified Feudalism, established the holy city of Chengzhou, and legitimized Zhou rule with the idea of the Mandate of Heaven.

The mandate is an idea suggesting that rulers should be virtuous. When they are, heaven favors them and grants the nation prosperity. When they are not, natural disasters and other catastrophes will plague the nation. These disasters are a sign that heaven has abandoned a particular set of rulers and that they can, and should, be swept away by new ones who will do a better job. The Duke suggested that the Zhou, a new dynasty, had come to power this way and enjoyed haven's favor.

Confucius, the most influential thinker in Chinese history, later praised the Duke and claimed that his entire political philosophy was based on his life. The Mandate of Heaven, which would be refined by other philosophers, remained an important element in Chinese history and is still occasionally invoked to this day.

Pericles (495 – 429 BCE)

The only member of our list to not rule as a king, Pericles was a general and the first citizen of Athens. While his command of the Assembly was firm enough that some commentators went so far as to declare Athens "in name a democracy but, in fact, governed by its first citizen."

While he was only ever elected as a general, Pericles was the leading member of the democratic faction of Athens for much of his life and dominated the political scene. After taking the reins of power, he oversaw the expansion of democratic rights, the issuing of salaries to those serving in government offices, the giving of land to the poor, and the creation of pensions for war widows.

This time span, known as the Age of Pericles, is considered the golden age of Athenian culture, when many playwrights, artists, sculptors, and philosophers were in Athens doing their finest work. It is this era that made Athens the leading city of ancient Greece.

His most famous act was technically one of embezzlement. He convinced the Athenians to use the treasury of the Delian League, a group of Greek city-states united for defense under Athenian guidance, to build a massive temple complex to replace an older temple for Athena. That complex, the Parthenon, remains a symbol of Ancient Greece and its golden era.

With his considerable oratorical skill, he was able to maintain majorities in the Assembly even in the face of organized opposition. His famous "Funeral Oration" remains a landmark speech in the history of democratic leadership.

Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BCE)

No discussion of great rulers of the ancient world is complete without a reference to Alexander. The son of the king of Macedonia, a Greek-speaking kingdom just north of what the Greeks considered the civilized world, Alexander took control of his father's kingdom and leadership of the Greek world after the old king was conveniently assassinated.

After becoming king and assuring the cooperation of the other Greek states, Alexander set out to conquer Persia, the neighboring empire which stretched from Egypt to India. After ten years of campaigning, in which he never lost a battle, Alexander conquered Persia, attempted to invade India, and laid out plans for a cosmopolitan empire blending eastern and western cultures together.

He died at age 33 of a mysterious illness before he could do so. His empire was then split up among his generals.

His conquests ushered in the Hellenistic period and made Athenian Greek the Lingua Franca of the eastern Mediterranean world. Greek ideas on art, culture, city planning, and education spread into new areas and fused with local ideas. This all but assured the primacy of Greek culture over all others in that part of the world and would guarantee its endurance even long after Rome conquered most of the Hellenistic kingdoms that sprung up after Alexander's death.

Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE– 210

The first emperor to unite China and the initiator of several ideas later rulers would emulate. Qin Shi Huang technically ended what is thought of as ancient Chinese history and ushered in the imperial era.

After becoming king of one of the seven warring kingdoms during the aptly named "warring states period," he united the seven under his rule through a brutal military conquest. Assuming the title of Emperor of China, he abolished feudalism, redrew the administrative maps, and replaced hereditary officials with ones selected for their merits.

He then began an extensive public works campaign, which included building the first iteration of the Great Wall and a canal linking the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers. His government also found the time to build extensive roadways, reform the coinage, and redistribute land to the peasants.

He also had a dark side. He famously burned the imperial library and all of its texts which made him or the legalistic philosophy his government followed look bad. The flourishing of ideas that defined warring states era philosophy ended during his rule, though the ideas he sought to suppress, including Confucianism, merely went underground.

Toward the end of his life, The emperor began a search for immortality elixirs. It is believed that some of these elixirs contained mercury, which may have hastened his death. His tomb is the home of the famous terracotta army in Xian.

Boudica (died in 60 or 61 CE)

The queen of the Celtic Iceni tribe famed for leading her people in revolt against the Romans. While she was defeated, her victories still inspire those fighting for freedom two thousand years later.

Her late husband had willed his petty kingdom to both Rome and his daughters in hopes that this arrangement would assure some form of independence. The Romans instead moved in and brutally suppressed the population. Appealed by this betrayal, Boudica led the Iceni and their neighbors in rebellion.

Their first stop was Colchester, which they systematically demolished. When the famous 9^th legion was sent to put down her rebellion, she led her troops in battle against them. The 9^th was almost completely annihilated, with only a few officers and horsemen escaping.

Her army advanced, burning Roman settlements in their wake. Roman officials fled as the city of Londinium, now known as London, was wiped off the map.

It was shortly after this that the Romans counterattacked with a large force somewhere outside of modern London. Boudica, having expressed her desire to win or die as a freewoman, led the rebels from her chariot and perished alongside them.

She is unique among the members of this list for being better known as a symbol of the fight against oppression than for the constructive elements of her reign. Her image returned to prominence during the English renaissance when England, led by Elizabeth I, faced invasion. The following centuries only added to her fame.

Today, statues of Boudica can be found in several prominent locations in London.

Trajan (53-117 CE)

The second of the "Five Good Emperors," Trajan expanded Roman territory to its greatest extent, stretching from Scotland to Kuwait. Between his military successes and domestic policies. The Roman Senate found it proper to declare Trajan Optimus Princeps- the greatest ruler.

Adopted by a childless emperor as an adult, Trajan was the first Roman emperor to not be born in Italy. Coming to power during an era of relative prosperity, Trajan spent much of his time on public works projects and warfare.

On the domestic front, he rebuilt the road system which Rome is so famous for, gave the city of Rome, now home to a million people, a new forum and lovely column, financed vast infrastructure projects, and granted pardons to those persecuted under the reign of Domitian a few years prior.

On the battlefield, he led the legions in three large wars. These ended in the conquest of modern Romania, Armenia, Iraq, and Kuwait. In celebration of the Romanian conquest, he put on a festival featuring 10,000 gladiators.

Pacal the Great (603 – 683 CE)

A Mayan king whose 68-year rule is the fifth-longest reign in history. Pacal turned a minor city-state into a powerhouse and built some of the great Mayan temples. Known as K'inich Janabb' Pakal in his own language, his rule was one of the high points of the Mayan civilization.

Coming to power at age 12 after a period of regency under his mother, who would later serve as his chief advisor, Pacal legitimized his rule with a series of massive building projects. These included the great Temple of the Inscriptions in his capital of Palenque, which would later serve as his tomb. He also forged alliances with other Mayan rulers that would bring Palenque to prominence.

His capital city, while a smaller Mayan urban center, features some of the finest artwork that civilization is known to have produced. The majority of the city has not been fully discovered, and what archaeological wonders lie waiting in the jungle is anyone's guess.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

The question of how to make your money work for you is a never-ending problem. While stocks, bonds, and currencies of all kinds are common choices, they aren't the only things you can put your money into. Various collectibles, household objects, and clothing articles have made headlines for being sources of income for people who can predict which ones will end up being valuable years after purchase and reaping the profits.

While the word "investment" is a strong one, some people really do buy these items in hopes of reselling them for higher amounts later, much as you might do with stocks or bonds. So, let's look at five alternative investing options with occasionally eye-popping returns.

Pokémon Cards

For those who weren't content to catch them all in a video game came a trading card game where you could collect them all. Some classic cards have gained tremendous stature among collectors and Pokéfanatics and sell for extremely high prices.

An older card featuring Charizard, a fire breathing dragon, regularly sells for thousands online. Given that the card could be purchased for a couple dollars in 1999, this is quite the return. A particular pack of Pokémon cards, which cost $5 in 2003, now sells for $650, 130 times the original asking price.

Of course, not every card will fetch these high prices. Buying cards as an investment is tricky. You have to essentially guess at which cards will be considered highly valuable at a later date and will be unable to collect dividends before selling them.

Furthermore, you have to presume that people will be collecting the cards years after buying them. While Pokémon has remained popular, it is a bit of an outlier in terms of enduring success.

Sneakers

People from all walks of life—from skateboarders to the First Lady of the Philippines—enjoy collecting shoes. An entire subculture exists for people interested in collecting sneakers, and some people make quite a profit in it.

The Nike SB Dunk Low Reese Forbes Denims, priced initially at $65 in 2002, are commonly valued in the thousands of dollars now. The Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro High x Off White "Chicago" shoe sold for $190 a mere four years ago, but now sells for $4000 a pair.

A Huffington Post article points out that most of these shoes offered better returns than gold over the same period. The same article quotes YouTube personality Mr. Foamer Simpson and his explanation of the difficulties of making money on shoes:

"There's a guessing game or element of unpredictability that makes it exciting for some collectors. With sneakers, you kind of never know. Sure, you know what sneakers are more limited or which ones were harder to get, but even with that, it fluctuates a lot. A sneaker that was very valuable two years ago might all of a sudden crash and no longer be valuable."

Toys of all kinds

If there's one thing everybody loves, it's what they loved when they were children. That often translates into old and rare toys fetching insane prices at auction.

Beanie Babies, those little stuffed animals from the 1990s, once sold for thousands of dollars online, not bad considering they originally cost $5. LEGO sets, particularly those featuring well-known franchises like Star Wars, can sell for hundreds online.

As with Pokémon cards, the success stories are dependent on what people are interested in collecting long after most people forgot the toy existed.While some collectors have ideas on how to gauge what might or might not end up being valuable later, there seems to be a considerable amount of luck involved.

Stamps

The hobby of kings has occasionally made some people as rich as one, with rare stamps and extensive collections fetching high prices at auction.

One of the famous "Inverted Jenny" stamps, a rare misprint showing an upside-down airplane, sold for $1,593,000 at auction. The most valuable stamp in the world, the British Guiana 1c magenta, last sold for $9,480,000, a billion times its face value. For those interested in a shorter-term investment, the USA Forever stamp has gained a face value of 75% since its introduction and can still be used to send a letter.

Coins

For those who want to invest in actual money but without having it do money-related things, collectible coins may be the ticket.

The misprinted Wisconsin State Quarter, featuring an extra leaf on an ear of corn, can sell for up to $2,800, though the price has declined in recent years. Older coins made of precious metals are also highly valued; a silver dollar from 1804 sold for nearly $2,000,000 at auction. Even old wheat pennies can sell for a couple of dollars today.

While these collectibles can provide high returns on your investment in them, they don't provide dividends, and their value is entirely dependent on how much collectors are willing to pay for the particular item you have. As a couple of the above examples show, tastes can change and leave your investment worthless. If you have some luck, an eye for trends, and the good fortune not to have thrown out your old stuff, you might be able to make a fair amount on it.

Of course, if you manage to get rich because you found an old coin in your desk after reading this article, be sure to remember who wrote it.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

An extremely active galaxy

Radio galaxies are galaxies with extremely active central regions, known as nuclei, which shine incredibly brightly in some part of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are known for emitting large jets of ionized matter into intergalactic space at speeds approaching that of light. They are related to quasars and blazars. It is thought that supermassive black holes are the energy source that make these galaxies shine so brightly.

What makes these two galaxies (known as MGTC J095959.63+024608.6 and MGTC J100016.84+015133.0) so interesting is their size. Only 831 similar, "giant radio galaxies" are known to exist. As study co-author Dr. Matthew Prescott explains, these are particularly large even for giants:

"These two galaxies are special because they are amongst the largest giants known, and in the top 10 percent of all giant radio galaxies. They are more than two mega-parsecs across, which is around 6.5 million light-years or about 62 times the size of the Milky Way. Yet they are fainter than others of the same size."

The smaller of the two is just over two megaparsecs across, roughly six and a half million light-years. The larger is almost another half megaparsec larger than that.

Exactly how these things get to be so massive remains a mystery. Some have proposed that they are ejecting matter into unusually empty space, allowing for the jet to expand further, though some evidence contradicts this. The most commonly suggested idea is that they are simply much, much older than the previously observed radio galaxies, allowing more time for expansion to occur.

How does this change our understanding of the universe?

While exciting and impressive on their own, the findings also suggest that there are very many more of these giant galaxies than previously supposed. If you were going off the previous estimates for how typical these galaxies are, then the odds of finding these two would be 1 in 2.7×10^6. This suggests that there must be more, given that the alternative is that the scientists were impossibly lucky.

In the study, the researchers also apply this reasoning to smaller versions of these galaxies, saying:

"While our analysis has considered only enormous (>2 Mpc) objects, if radio galaxies must grow to reach this size, then we may expect to similarly uncover in our data previously undetected GRGs with smaller sizes."

Exactly how common radio galaxies and turn out to be remains to be seen. Still, it will undoubtedly be an exciting time for radio astronomy as new telescopes are turned skywards to search for them.

How did they find them?

The new galaxies were discovered by the amusingly named MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa during the creation of a new radio map of the sky. The MeerKAT is the first of what will soon be the Square Kilometre Array of telescopes, which will span several countries in the southern hemisphere and make even more impressive discoveries in radio astronomy possible.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem, but one that seems to bother academics and specialists more than it worries members of the general public. Years of intemperate and often outright irresponsible antibiotic usage has given many formally treatable diseases more chances to evolve immunity to first-line drugs. In some cases, terrible diseases are increasingly resistant to a wide variety of medications.

These bacteria have evolved various techniques for surviving exposure to antibiotics, including growing stronger cell walls to keep drugs out, producing enzymes that neutralize them, and even little pumps that remove them when they do get in.

This is concerning, as not only are these diseases challenging to treat, but research into new antibiotics is limited. There aren't that many new drugs in development. However, a new study published in Nature suggests that a new line of synthetic drugs might be able to rev up the immune system and attack bacteria in a powerful new way.

The delicate art of carpet bombing bacteria

The trick with finding any antibiotic is to identify a substance that can damage bacterial cells without also harming the cells of the animal they are making sick. This is a relatively simple concept, but a difficult problem to get around.

Researchers at the Wistar Institute dealt with it by selecting something unique to bacteria, which was important in their functioning to focus on, and then finding chemicals that would disrupt it. They chose a metabolic pathway, known as the non-mevalonate pathway, which is used to create molecules necessary for the bacteria cell to survive. They then selected an enzyme in this pathway, the IspH enzyme, to target specifically.

Using computer models, the researchers screened several million existing compounds and substances to determine which ones would bind to IspH and then began experiments with the most promising candidates. A new, synthetic IspH inhibitor was created as a result of this.

How it works

The molecules that IspH helps to make are required in bacteria for respiration and repairing the cell wall. When this new antibiotic attaches to them and keeps them from doing their job, the cell either dies because it can't breathe or keep its insides in, or it stays alive but is unable to function normally. Both of these methods are commonly seen in other antibiotics. By either killing off the germs or slowing them down, they give the immune system time to step up and keep the infection under control.

The antibiotic was also found to amplify the response of the immune system. In tests involving mice, Gamma Delta T-cells, an important part of the immune system, activated at higher rates, often leading to better outcomes. This effect appears to be caused by the disruption to the bacteria; their impaired function caused them to signal themselves to the immune system.

This gives the new drug a dual function, which is hypothesized to not only make it quite effective but also may help prevent bacteria from developing resistance to it. It is thought that bacteria being hit from both directions are less likely to mutate responses to both.

IspH is a common enzyme in bacteria. Unlike some antibiotics, which are effective only against a narrow range of similar germs, this one may prove effective against a wide variety of microbes includes ones that are resistant to other drugs.

The researchers are, justly, proud of their discovery. Farokh Dotiwala, the study's lead author, suggested the finding may be more than just the discovery of a new drug in a press release:

"We believe this innovative DAIA strategy may represent a potential landmark in the world's fight against AMR, creating a synergy between the direct killing ability of antibiotics and the natural power of the immune system."

So, I presume I can get this tomorrow?

Not quite. This was an initial study conducted in mice, various kinds of plasma, and in test tubes.

While the results were promising, it will take some time before further studies are conducted and the drug becomes widely available. Additionally, while the study suggests the new drugs may be more effective against certain kinds of bacteria than existing antibiotics, exactly how well it works in humans remains to be seen.

Beyond that, if it is used as a front line drug or as a last resort is still to be determined. Future circumstances, dictated by what diseases we'll face, will likely answer that question.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

The loss of information about the history of peoples can occur by accident, caused by nothing more than environmental factors. It is particularly true for genetic information in certain climates. Warm, wet climes, like that of the Caribbean, can cause the genetic material in human remains to decay long before science can examine it.

Thanks to advances in technology, geneticists can gather more information on the Caribbean people before Europeans arrived than ever before. The findings, published in Nature, shed light on their origins, numbers, and their level of interaction with others.

How to recover DNA in a tropical environ

As mentioned above, the DNA in human remains breaks down fairly quickly in tropical environments. It is only now that we can use certain bones, those which protect the inner ear, to acquire enough material to learn about the original residents of the area.

An international team of researchers examined the remains of 174 people. The findings of a previous study that examined 93 other skeletons were also included in their analysis. Unlike many previous studies, this investigation was carried out with the knowing consent of the decedents of the island natives.

What does the DNA tell us?

The oldest remains indicate that the islands' original inhabitants arrived there around 6,000 years ago and were related to groups living in South and Central America at the time. These people are known as the "Archaic Age People," and who they are exactly remains unclear, as the genetic findings didn't match any particular group in South America.

Then, around 3,000 years ago, another group of people migrated north. These Arawak speaking, ceramic making farmers from South America displaced the Archaic Age People. While small groups of the latter appear to have held out in isolation until 900 C.E, they eventually disappear as a separate group of people. However, intermarriage between the two groups appears to have been rare.

The DNA also tells us that people were rather closely related across vast distances. In one case, dozens of individuals, including two men living 600 miles apart, shared as much DNA as first cousins. Such a high proportion of such cases suggests a low population with only limited levels of genetic diversity.

What does this mean for our understanding of the pre-contact Caribbean?

The findings upend ideas of multiple, large migrations of South American people into the region entirely. Archaeologists had previously associated different pottery styles with different eras caused by new groups of people moving in and bringing their ceramics with them. This study found no reason to suppose these migrations took place. Instead, these same people seem to have changed their style.

Additionally, the genetic similarities between the people across large swaths of time and space suggest that the populations were much smaller than previously reported. While Columbus reported millions of people living on the islands he landed on, these findings provide support estimates the population was in the tens of thousands at the time. This could have implications for our understanding of the history of post-contact interactions.

It also raises new questions about how the pre-contact peoples interacted. Genetic evidence suggests the archaic group was largely left alone, but why was that? We know that some trading was taking place between groups on different islands, but how much? Was this trade what prevented some smaller groups from suffering the adverse effects of inbreeding?

Such questions will have to be the subject of further research.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

Turn and face the not so strange

Researchers from UC Berkeley and Google Research used machine learning and YouTube videos to compare common facial expressions to the situations that prompt them. The study was published in Nature.

The researchers logged the facial expressions of six million videos using a machine learning algorithm. These videos were made by people from 144 different countries representing all corners of the Earth and featured various situations and subjects.

The algorithm searched the videos for 16 facial expressions commonly associated with amusement, anger, awe, concentration, confusion, contempt, contentment, desire, disappointment, doubt, elation, interest, pain, sadness, surprise, and triumph. After instances of these expressions were identified, the researchers tied the expressions to the contexts in the videos.

As some of you might suspect, the scientists reviewing the data found that people are alike all over. All sixteen facial expressions popped up in similar circumstances. Everybody tends to cheer, cry, concentrate, and celebrate in similar ways. No group of people smiles when startled, shrugs when surprised, or frowns with joy. The findings suggest that 70 percent of the expressions we use to show emotional reactions are shared across cultures.

Lead author Alan Cowen of UC Berkeley explained the findings by saying:

"We found that rich nuances in facial behavior — including subtle expressions we associate with awe, pain, triumph, and 13 other feelings — are used in similar social situations around the world."

Cowen used the data to create an interactive online map of the emotions which can be viewed here.

The findings support previous studies that reached similar conclusions. The debate over whether human emotional expression is universal or culturally defined has a long history. Even Charles Darwin weighed in on the subject, and studies supporting both sides of the debate continue to be published.

A recent study pointed to the faces of artwork made by the Mayans as evidence of universal expressions. Another had members of an isolated group in New Guinea name the emotions people in photographs expressed; their answers matched those of westerners in all but one case. The authors of that study argue that this is evidence that expressions are not entirely universal. A large study from a few years ago had test subjects try to guess the expressed emotions of computerized faces and found that interpretations changed with the test subject's culture.

The findings of this study, while firmly on the side of the universalists, will hardly be the last word on the topic.

The results may prove useful in helping those with difficulty reading facial expressions, such as people with autism, earn to identity individual emotional states in others. The extensive database of faces showing emotional responses will undoubtedly be of use in that venture.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

When people think about radio waves from space, the first thought is probably about aliens. However, lots of things can produce radio waves, pulsars are famous for doing so, and the entire field of radio astronomy is dedicated to looking at objects with equipment that sees what we cannot.

This provides the possibility of using radio telescopes to gather information that could never be acquired with visible light. An international team of researchers has done just that. They have identified the first-ever radio emission from a planet in another solar system and have used it to gather information about the planet.

It's not little green men, but it's a start.

Science has known for a while that planets emit radio emissions. Jupiter does it all the time due to the interaction of various kinds of radiation with its magnetic field. Previous studies achieved a fair understanding of what these emissions look like.

In this study, the authors used an estimate of what Jupiter's emissions would look like if they were much further away to determine if the radio emissions coming from the Tau Boötis system matched what would be expected if the system had a gas giant of its own closely orbiting its sun, commonly known as a "Hot Jupiter." The existence of a planet in that system has been known for some time.

The study utilized a top of the line, decentralized radio telescope network to collect these findings. The Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) is centered in the Netherlands and operated by the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. While the network includes telescopes all over Europe, this study only used the core group of telescopes.

After reviewing the massive collection of radio images, the subtle signs of a gas giant orbiting another star began to appear. Lead author Dr. Jake D. Turner, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, explained the findings:

"We present one of the first hints of detecting an exoplanet in the radio realm. The signal is from the Tau Boötes system, which contains a binary star and an exoplanet. We make the case for an emission by the planet itself. From the strength and polarization of the radio signal and the planet's magnetic field, it is compatible with theoretical predictions."

While the idea of looking for exoplanets with radio telescopes isn't new, this is the first time that researchers have picked up signals from an exoplanet. This is no small feat, and several other astronomers have expressed their excitement.

Study co-author Ray Jayawardhana explained that the findings could open up an entirely new area of space exploration:

"If confirmed through follow-up observations this radio detection opens up a new window on exoplanets, giving us a novel way to examine alien worlds that are tens of light-years away."

The study involved more than 100 hours of searching for radio signals in star systems up to 100 light-years away. The expected signals were only seen in Tau Boötes. The detected signal is relatively weak, and it remains possible that it wasn't from the exoplanet. Further research will focus on confirming the findings.

Dr. Turner also expressed his desire to continue searching for other exoplanets using a larger proportion of the telescopes in the LOFAR.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

When people think of the sources of greenhouse gas emissions, they often tend to picture urban sources. Images of coal-burning factories, giant sport utility vehicles backed up in endless traffic jams, and energy-guzzling McMansions immediately come to mind.

This conception is not entirely correct, as a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions come from rural areas and agricultural production. Globally, a quarter of all such emissions come from agriculture. In the United States, 10 percent of all emissions have an agricultural source, roughly equal to the amount that comes from commercial and residential sources.

A new study from Augsburg University in Germany published in Nature Communications considers the carbon cost of food. Its findings could have serious ramifications for the environment, your wallet, and your diet.

The real price of what you eat

Many times, the costs of a product aren't fully reflected in the price paid for it. This is the case for the carbon footprint of many foods, as the cost of putting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as part of their production isn't featured in the price at all, but is instead shifted onto the environment, society as a whole, or future generations. Suggestions that these external costs should be pushed back on the producers have been floating around for some time. In a way, this is done with various products, such as taxes on gasoline.

This study expands on previous efforts to find out what those external costs are when food is concerned.

Using life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools, the researchers determined when emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane occurred in the food production process. The effects of land use, including deforestation, related to food production were also incorporated.

The results were striking. Meat and dairy products are incredibly undervalued according to this measure. Pricing in the climate damage caused by their production would raise their prices by 146 percent and 91 percent, respectively. The prices of organic plant products would also rise, but by a mere 6 percent. Organic foods, in general, saw lower price increases than conventionally produced food products.

These findings are in agreement with (though larger) than the findings of previous studies. Study author Dr. Tobias Gaugler, an economist at Augsburg, expressed surprise at the magnitude of the results:

"We ourselves were surprised by the big difference between the food groups investigated and the resulting mispricing of animal-based food products in particular."

What would happen if the prices were corrected?

If adjusted, the prices of conventionally produced meat and animal products such as eggs and milk would skyrocket. Organic products would see their costs increase as well, though this would mostly result from having to ship more food around, as organic practices lead to lower crop yields per unit area. The cost difference between organic and non-organically produced food would narrow.

Study author Amelie Michalke of the University of Greifswald argued that more honest pricing would lead to changes in consumption habits:

"If these market mispricing errors were to cease to exist or at least be reduced, this would also have a major impact on the demand for food. A food that becomes significantly more expensive will also be much less in demand."

Particular food products are thought to be governed by the standard laws of supply and demand; if the price of one type of food rises, people will switch to another. If this is true, then a more accurate pricing of these products would presumably lead to significant changes in food consumption habits.

The authors have expressed their desire to continue investigating the environmental effects of agriculture, perhaps following this study with a dive into nitrogen emissions.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

Do you ever want to read more but find yourself unsure of what to read? Lots of people have the same problem. To help, we're adding to the collection of "books everyone should read" lists. For this one, we reviewed hundreds of suggestions on what book everybody should read from a post on our Facebook page and combined them with some of our staff's picks.

They span more than 2,000 years of literature, include fiction and non-fiction works, and will make you think, laugh, and cry. So without further ado, here are 13 books you should read when you get the chance.

If you prefer digital books but yet own an e-reader, we've included links to purchase one (at two price points) at the bottom of this list.

Republic (Hackett Classics) List Price: $12.61 New From: $12.61 in Stock Used From: $2.07 in Stock

"Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one…. cities will never have rest from their evils"

One of the most famous books of all time, Plato's "Republic" depicts Socrates debating the nature of justice. To do so, he appeals to the metaphysical theory of the forms, a vision of a Utopian city designed to exhibit perfect justice, the allegory of the cave, the Ring of Gyges, and the metaphor of the Ship of State.

To say that it has influenced and excited thinkers since it was written (around 375 BC) would be an understatement. The British philosopher Julian Baggini argued that while in this book Plato, "was wrong on almost every point, the questions it raises and the methods it uses are essential to the western tradition of philosophy. Without it we might not have philosophy as we know it."

Plato failed to take out a copyright on his book [it being written over 2,000 years ago likely played a role in this error] and several translations aren't copyrighted either. You can buy a copy at the link above, but it can also be read for free on Project Gutenberg.

A Fine Balance (Vintage International) List Price: $12.99 New From: $12.99 in Stock

"But rest assured: This tragedy is not a fiction. All is True."

Set in an unnamed Indian city during The Emergency, the story follows four people from very different walks of life as the country endures the struggle and changes of independence, a shifting economic picture, and social difficulties. Diving into one of the most controversial parts of India's modern history is no easy feat, but this book does it in a way that manages to keep the focus on the human side of the era.

Praised as one of the 10 greatest Asian novels by The Telegraph, the book won many awards upon release. The Wall Street Journal considered the book "A rich and varied spectacle, full of wisdom and laughter and the touches of the unexpectedly familiar through which literature illuminates life."

Tao Te Ching List Price: $7.99 New From: $7.99 in Stock Used From: $5.00 in Stock

"The Tao that can be expressed is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be defined is not the unchanging name."

Taoism's foundational text, and a philosophical work that influenced most Chinese philosophy that came after it. The book attempts to explain The Way (Tao) and the virtues which can express it. Nature and actions in accordance with it are praised. The unity or oneness that underlies the universe is also highlighted.

The oldest known copies of the text date back to 300 BCE. Despite ups and downs in Taoism's fortunes, the rise and fall of other philosophies, and occasional persecution, this book and its wisdom have endured all the while. Hundreds of Millions of people still adhere to some form of Taoism, and this book is the key to understanding their worldview.

Many thinkers have commented on the brilliance of the book. Chinese philosopher and writer Lin Yutang went so far as to say, "If there is one book in the whole of Oriental literature which one should read above all the others, it is, in my opinion, Laotse's Book of Tao."

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy List Price: $11.39 New From: $11.39 in Stock Used From: $5.85 in Stock

"Oh dear, you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you alright?"

While the various editions of the book differ, the basic plot remains the same. Arthur Dent, recently forced off Earth due to it being blown up so a freeway could be built, goes on hilarious adventures around the galaxy with President Zaphod Beeblebrox, joyfully existential writer Ix, and Marvin the Paranoid Android—yes, Radiohead got it from here.

Also, the answer is 42, but we don't know the question.

Deemed a "whimsical odyssey" by Publishers Weekly and "inspired lunacy" by the Washington Post, the book series has legions of dedicated fans and several well-known adaptations.

Bible List Price: $0.00 New From: $0.00 in Stock

The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." — Mark 12:31

As the holy text of Christianity and a collection of books with many focuses, there can be little wonder why the Bible is a frequently read, studied, criticized, and praised book. Featuring heroes like Sampson, teachers like Jesus, and epic tales like the Exodus, the Bible is a book with a large footprint on history and one to be counted among the great works of literature.

Even if you aren't a Christian, the Bible is worth a read. LearnReligions.com points out:

"If you're an avid reader, this is one bestseller you shouldn't miss. The Bible is an epic story of love, life, death, war, family, and more. It has its ups and downs, and it's pretty riveting. If you're not a reader, this may be the one book worth saying you read. If you're going to read anything, you can say you read the biggest bestseller of all time."

Plus, you know, understanding the belief system of the world's largest religion might come in handy sometime.

While some versions have copyrights, others don't, and most of them can be read online for free. Project Gutenberg has the very popular King James Edition here.

The Brothers Karamazov List Price: $14.99 New From: $12.89 in Stock Used From: $5.98 in Stock

"A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others."

A behemoth of a book centering around a murder, "The Brothers Karamazov" is part mystery, part love story, part court case, and part theological drama all wrapped up in a philosophical novel that has attracted the attention of the world's greatest minds since it came out.

It was declared "the most magnificent novel ever written" by Sigmund Freud. William Faulkner and Ludwig Wittgenstein claimed to have read it regularly. Both Franz Kafka and Martin Heidegger felt the book directly influenced their work. Anything a group like that can all agree on is likely worth reading.

A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes List Price: $5.07 New From: $17.50 in Stock Used From: $0.11 in Stock

"The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired."

For the person who wants to know how the universe and our understanding of it came to exist but also wants a side of extremely dry British wit, this is the book for you. Featuring only a single equation, E=MC², Hawking's book explores the history of astronomy, ideas of space and time, black holes, the universe, quantum mechanics, the theory of everything, and frontiers in science without jargon or the assumption that the reader has a degree in the hard sciences.

Widely praised on release, the book became a best seller and went through several editions, including "A Briefer History of Time" and an illustrated version.

1984 List Price: $17.00 New From: $10.71 in Stock Used From: $3.37 in Stock

"It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU the caption beneath it ran."

The magnum opus of George Orwell, this novel considers a then-future England under the boot of a totalitarian state known as Oceania. The plot follows mid-level bureaucrat Winston Smith as he tries to navigate the surveillance state in which he lives, works, loves, and secretly dreams of rebellion. All the while, Big Brother is watching.

As one of the most influential novels of the 20^th century, it should come as no surprise that the review from Victor Pritchett read: "I do not think I have ever read a novel more frightening and depressing; and yet, such are the originality, the suspense, the speed of writing and withering indignation that it is impossible to put the book down."

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values List Price: $14.59 New From: $11.48 in Stock Used From: $5.70 in Stock

"What follows is based on actual occurrences. Although much has been changed for rhetorical purposes, it must be regarded in its essence as fact. However, it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles, either."

The story of a road trip from Minnesota to California features discussions of life, philosophy, hang-ups, and the effect of altitude on how well a motorbike runs. The problems of living life from a Romantic point of view against a Classical stance are a crucial part of the novel, and the attempt to find a middle ground lasts long after the road trip ends. All the while, ghosts from the past stalk the characters and ask questions that even they weren't prepared to answer.

The original New York Times review called the book "intellectual entertainment of the highest order," and it has become the best-selling philosophy book of all time.

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes List Price: $69.99 New From: $69.99 in Stock Used From: $94.72 in Stock

"I haven't seen Calvin for about 15 minutes now. That probably means he's getting in trouble."

An anthology of comics by the great Bill Watterson depicting a young boy and his stuffed tiger, the series was the most popular comic strip in the United States for much of its run and continues to be loved by millions. While lacking an overarching plot, the series features several running gags and never loses its ability to touch on elements common to every childhood.

Praised as "vibrant, accessible, and beautiful" by mental floss and "one of the most beloved comic strips of all time" by the New York Post, this series is among the champions of comic strip fun.

Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition List Price: $14.38 New From: $9.82 in Stock Used From: $3.86 in Stock

"They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly. No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried. Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked. "They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone." "And what difference does that make?"

Our first staff pick is the hilarious, zany, and shell-shocking story of bomber pilots in WWII just trying to stay alive while they navigate the bureaucracy of the U.S. Army Air Corps. It follows the misadventures of John Yossarian as he and his squad mates try to get out of having to complete their ever-increasing quota of missions. The book also considers (anachronistically placed) elements of American society that began to emerge in the '50s and the absurdity of human existence.

The New York Herald Tribune called the book "A wild, moving, shocking, hilarious, raging, exhilarating, giant roller-coaster of a book." Despite the non-linear plot, surreal occurrences, and dense language, Harper Lee said it was the only war novel she ever read that made any sense.

Widely considered a cult-classic, the book, fittingly, didn't win any awards on release and has been deemed a significant work of the 20th century.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race List Price: $11.37 New From: $7.00 in Stock Used From: $6.32 in Stock

"It is important to understand that the system of advantage is perpetuated when we do not acknowledge its existence."

Our second staff pick is from psychologist and Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum. Written in 1996, the book returned to the New York Times' best-seller list in June of 2020.

A bold consideration on how we discuss, or fail to discuss, race in America and its effects on our psychology, the book has sparked endless conversations and advanced debate since it first hit shelves. Featuring personal stories, empirical data, and her previous work in this field, the book makes a strong case for the need to engage with issues of racial identity in ways that many people currently do not.

Kirkus Reviews concluded that it is:

"A remarkably jargon-free book that is as rigorously analytical as it is refreshingly practical and drives its points home with a range of telling anecdotes. Tatum illuminates 'why talking about racism is so hard'' and what we can do to make it easier, leaving her readers more confident about facing the difficult terrain on the road to a genuinely color-blind society."

Les Miserables: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) List Price: $18.99 New From: $17.71 in Stock Used From: $17.37 in Stock

"'That is all. With the exercise of a little care, the nettle could be made useful; it is neglected and it becomes hurtful. It is exterminated. How many men resemble the nettle!' He added, after a pause: 'Remember this, my friends: there are no such things as bad plants or bad men. There are only bad cultivators.'"

Our final staff pick is a masterpiece that tells the story of reformed criminal Jean Valjean, his adopted daughter Cosette, the people they met from all parts of French society, and the battle of the human spirit against the injustices of the world. Along the way, it takes the time to consider questions of life, death, God, evil, justice, convents, revolution, love, and French slang.

Described as "one of the half-dozen greatest novels of the world" by no less a writer than Upton Sinclair, and a frequently adapted favorite of audiences since its release, the book continues to speak to an essential part of our humanity in a way few others have.

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This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

Living in the desert isn't easy. Being defined by lacking water, the one thing everybody needs at least every couple of days, groups of people who live there are known for coming up with a wide variety of methods of maximizing the water they have and minimizing the amount they waste.

It should not surprise us then that the ancestors of the Pueblo people of the American Southwest had more than a few tricks up their sleeves. Starting nearly two thousand years ago, they were spelunking in caves so cold, winding, and deep that ice was available year-round, providing a safeguard in the event of drought. A recently released study in Nature sheds light on their methods and even provides us with these collection events' dates.

Ancient secrets hidden in a deep dark cave

Researchers led by Bogdan P. Onac of the University of South Florida investigated an ice core collected from a lava tube in a cave in El Malpais National Monument. Known as Cave 29, the cave is chilly and structured so that it doesn't allow warm air from the outside to reach the lowest recesses easily. This enables water ice that accumulates there to remain frozen year-round. It is of considerable size and likely held an ice deposit of roughly 1000 m³ at some point.

The team drilled a 59cm long ice core out of an ice deposit. Even a glance at it shows darkened areas where ash and charcoal buildup occurred from nearby wood burning. Radiocarbon dating allowed the scientists to place these burn dates roughly at the years AD 167, AD 368, AD 747, AD 829, and AD 933.

These years are known to have been years of drought in the Southwest, suggesting that ancient people ventured into the cave searching for ice to melt into drinking water on each occasion over a millennium. In the cave's lower depths, one can also find charred wood, old torches, charcoal, and other evidence of controlled burning.

The implications of the study have excited anthropologists. Barbara Mills, an anthropological archaeologist at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the study, explained to Science News:

"This study demonstrates the ingenuity of indigenous people who used the area. It also shows how knowledge about the trails, caves and harvesting practices was passed down over many centuries, even millennia."

While previous studies proved that pre-Columbian peoples in the Americas turned to melting ice from lava tubes for water, this study appears to have pushed back the earliest known occurrence.

How can we know what the weather was like that long ago?

Tree rings can be used to learn the meteorological history of an area. As trees grow outward, new rings appear inside their trunk, taking on differing appearances with changes in the environment. By looking at these rings, scientists can get an idea of what conditions were like in ages past.

By comparing the radiocarbon dating of the charcoal samples with the tree rings, a pattern emerges. The periods the samples date back to correspond to the same periods when droughts appear in the local tree ring record. This provides powerful evidence that the burning was taking place during droughts to collect water.

The scientists also note that some of these collection events match the time of the medieval warm period drought, which is known to have occurred during continuous periods of La Nina conditions and negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation; both of which are known to cause drought conditions in the Southwestern parts of the United States.

These events affect large areas of the world and are recorded by tree rings from many places, not just the American Southwest. Combining these records lends further credence to the idea that the burnings were tied to drought periods.

While the authors admit the possibility that the burned wood samples could be the result of wildfires, which were then blown or swept into the cave by natural forces, they point out that this is unlikely. The lack of air circulation nearly rules out anything being blown into the lower reaches of the cave, and that the concentration of ash in some areas combined with an utter lack of it in others points strongly towards human intervention- if the ashes blew in, you'd expect some of it to get everywhere.

Thus, they conclude that these findings are "unambiguous evidence" that this is evidence of people melting ice for their own purposes rather than a natural occurrence.

Precisely what the people of over a thousand years ago thought when they went to these caves is also the realm of speculation. While it is clear that people were collecting the water during drought periods, the water's ceremonial or medicinal use cannot be ruled out. Indeed, the archaeologist and member of the Ashiwi people of the Pueblo of Zuni Kenny Bowekaty explained to E&E news that the ice caves did serve a religious purpose in addition to the others they had.

The study focused on a single lava tube's contents, and further studies may find evidence of other collection events. They will have to take place soon, though. Increasing global temperatures are causing cave ice to melt and for records of ancient events to disappear forever.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

While there are insinuations that the flu is a mild disease not to be worried about, it is in fact a disease that kills hundreds of thousands a year and can cause a variety of complications. This is despite the existence of the yearly flu vaccine and the diseases' allegedly moderate symptoms.

One of the difficulties of preventing the flu lies in how diverse of a disease it is. Making matters worse, minor changes in the virus' genetic code, caused by random mutations, prevent long-term immunity. When a flu vaccine for the year is created, scientists have to predict which strains will be prominent that year. While they are often reasonably accurate, sometimes they miss. When they do, the flu shot is less protective than it could be, and infection rates climb.

This also means that when a pandemic occurs, a vaccine against that particular strain must be created from scratch. As we've all seen with the case of COVID-19, the time spent doing this is very expensive in terms of lives.

A new study published in Nature Medicine suggests that this problem may soon be one of the past, as a candidate for a universal flu shot, one effective against a wide variety of possible strains, has just passed its first clinical trials with flying colors.

How the flu shot normally works

The shot you received this year works by giving your body a weakened form of the flu virus and allowing your body to fight it off. A flu virion is a little ball with hemagglutinins (HA), stalks with rounded heads that latch on to cells, sticking out of them. A typical flu shot primes your body to recognize the head of this structure.

However, these heads change their form very frequently. Your body typically can't tell it's still the flu after these changes, and you need a new shot each year. This new vaccine candidate focuses on the HA's stalk, which changes far less often than the head. Since these stalks are similar for very many flu strains, it would also be quite effective against more than just the few which are currently included in a seasonal shot.

That seems like an obvious target for a vaccine. Why do we only have this now?

Our bodies tend to focus on the head when attacking a flu virus or learning about it from a vaccine. It can be challenging to make it focus on the stalk.

To get around this, the researchers in this study combined commonly seen stalks with bizarre heads taken from types of flu typically seen in birds. This odd flu strain, half-bird flu and half-human flu, would be like nothing the body has seen before. Notably, the immune system would notice the familiar stalk before it figured out the head was part of an invading virus.

As a result of this, the immune system attacked all parts of the virus and started making antibodies for attacking the stalk in the future. Blood was later taken from the test subjects who had the vaccine. The tests showed the vaccine had "induced remarkably high antistalk antibody titers." Mice injected with these antibodies and then infected with the flu showed better outcomes than those that merely got the flu, suggesting the antibodies continued effectiveness.

This is a very promising outcome. Dr. James Cherry, a vaccine expert and professor at the University of California, explained his appreciation of the study to NBC: "I think this is a great first step. And I think it will be really the future of flu vaccines."

How soon can I get one?

This study, while a very exciting success, was a small first-stage clinical trial. It will likely be another two years before larger scale, multiyear tests can be carried out to further demonstrate the vaccine's effectiveness. You're not going to be able to get this anytime soon. Issues of funding may also slow its development, as various groups are working on their own universal flu vaccines.

Additionally, the study focused on vaccines against viruses with a particular kind of HA stalk. More tests will be required to see if this works against flu strains with different stalks. However, lead author Florian Krammer argues that this is proof that "you can develop a vaccine strategy that produces stalk-reactive antibodies in humans."

While there is still a way to go, the possibility of a universal flu shot, effective against many flu strains that exist or may exist, is higher than ever.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

Various parts of the internet have earned stereotypes about how people use them. Some of these are warranted, and some are mere caricatures. Perhaps no section of the internet is less pleased with its stereotype than the Tor Network, which must contend with being blamed for every crime that originates on the internet.

However, a new study shows that the dark web isn't quite as dark as you might think. A group of researchers led by Eric Jardine of Virginia Tech suggest that only 6.7 percent of global Tor users are going to sites for what are likely malicious reasons.

What do half of those words mean?

For those who don't spend all of their time on the internet, a few of these terms might be new to you. We'll go over them first before we continue. If you do know all of these terms, you can skip ahead to the next section.

Surface Web: The regular internet that you can find with a search engine. You're on it right now; unless these articles are shared in places we don't know about.

Deep Web: The part of the internet not indexed by search engines. This includes things like your email inbox; you can't get there from Google or Bing, but instead have to enter a password to find it from another page. You've probably visited the deep web today, too.

Dark Web: A subsection of the deep web that requires special software to access. While not everything there is bad, there are social media sites, email services, hidden forums, and even puzzle games down there; this is also where you would find the places for illegal markets and other, extremely nefarious, things.

Tor: A kind of software that allows users to browse the internet in near-total anonymity. It does this by encrypting connection data and scrambling the route a computer takes to connect to a site, thus making it difficult, but not impossible, to find who is using a particular website. The potential value of this to criminals should be evident to you.

While it often gets bad press for how it can be used for illicit purposes, it should be said it was created and used by the United States government for often banal purposes. The leaders of the Tor Project often remind the public that "normal people" use Tor for everyday internet activities as well.

As a personal example, I once used it to get around the Great Firewall of China when I wanted to get to the regular, uncensored internet.

Back to the study

The study observed the final destination of a random selection of Tor users to determine if they went to surface websites or more hidden areas of the internet after connecting to the Tor network. This was done by monitoring the data from entry points in the Tor network, which would allow an observer to where someone was going, but not who.

Those going to surface websites were assumed just to be using Tor for anonymity and security, while those going into the dark web were presumed more likely to be using it for illegal reasons.

Despite the popular conception of Tor as a tool for criminals looking to cover their tracks, only 6.7 percent of these users went to sites defined as the dark web, which were themselves not necessarily devoted to illegal activity.

The results were further broken down by country, which revealed another layer of information. The authors noted that in countries deemed "not free" by Freedom House, the rate of possible malicious use goes down to 4.8 percent. In countries considered free, the percentage nearly doubles to 7.8 percent.

What does this mean for the internet?

The dark web might be a little lighter than previously suggested. While it is true that there is some horrible stuff down there, this study suggests the people getting to it using the Tor network are mostly using it for legal, and perhaps even banal, purposes. This interpretation is additionally supported by the difference in usage across countries judged free and not free. In those countries with censorship, where a variety of tools must be used to get to sites like Facebook or Wikipedia, the percentage of users going towards locations on the dark web was smaller.

The authors conclude:

"The Tor anonymity network can be used for both licit and illicit purposes. Our results provide a clear, if probabilistic, estimation of the extent to which users of Tor engage in either form of activity. Generally, users of Tor in politically 'free' countries are significantly more likely to be using the network in likely illicit ways."

Additionally, they mention that the Tor network's infrastructure is predominately in free countries, which then see higher rates of its use to reach places that could advance illegal activities. This find may be of interest to policymakers looking to balance the promotion of autonomy and the freedom of information with the goal of preventing crime.

What’s the catch?

It has been suggested that the internet is the first thing humanity ever created that we don't fully understand. If that is true, it should surprise no one that there are objections to the methods used to study it.

The executive director of the Tor Project, Isabela Bagueros, explained their objection to the study's methodology and assumptions to Ars Technica:

"The authors of this research paper have chosen to categorize all .onion sites and all traffic to these sites as "illicit" and all traffic on the "Clear Web" as 'licit.'

This assumption is flawed. Many popular websites, tools, and services use onion services to offer privacy and censorship-circumvention benefits to their users. For example, Facebook offers an onion service. Global news organizations, including The New York Times, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Mada Masr, and Buzzfeed, offer onion services.

Whistleblowing platforms, filesharing tools, messaging apps, VPNs, browsers, email services, and free software projects also use onion services to offer privacy protections to their users, including Riseup, OnionShare, SecureDrop, GlobaLeaks, ProtonMail, Debian, Mullvad VPN, Ricochet Refresh, Briar, and Qubes OS…...

Writing off traffic to these widely-used sites and services as "illicit" is a generalization that demonizes people and organizations who choose technology that allows them to protect their privacy and circumvent censorship. In a world of increasing surveillance capitalism and internet censorship, online privacy is necessary for many of us to exercise our human rights to freely access information, share our ideas, and communicate with one another. Incorrectly identifying all onion service traffic as "illicit" harms the fight to protect encryption and benefits the powers that be that are trying to weaken or entirely outlaw strong privacy technology."

The critique here is justified; there are legitimate websites hidden behind layers of security which were deemed "illicit" by this study's methods. Many people are just trying to protect their anonymity when using them. However, the study's authors based their assumption on previous studies that demonstrate that these hidden sites are used for illegal activities at a higher rate than other parts of the internet.

Until a more rigorous and ethically ambiguous method of determining what people using the network are doing on these dark websites is utilized, the findings of studies like this will be general and based on broad assumptions.

Despite all of this, we can take a few things from this study: most people using Tor to explore the internet aren't using it for evil, those using it in places with limited freedom of information are even less likely to use it for such purposes, and external factors can have significant impacts on how people use a tool such as the internet.

This story originally appeared on: Big Think - Author:Scotty Hendricks

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic started, an epidemic of loneliness existed. This is not only unpleasant for those involved but has measurably adverse effects on their mental and physical health. The current outbreak has only made an existing problem worse.

A new study undertaken by researchers at MIT and the Sulk Institute suggests that our need for socialization is as hardwired as our need for food and water. It finds that the same part of our brain that hungers for food after a day of fasting longs for other people after isolation.

People sometimes crave socialization, literally.

Forty participants underwent 10 hours of either social isolation or fasting before being placed in an MRI machine. Those who fasted had their brains imaged while viewing pictures of food; those emerging from isolation viewed photos of socializing people.

The areas of the brain related to hunger pains, reward, and movements, the substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA), are also associated with cravings for food or addictive substances. When those who fasted viewed images of food, these regions of their brains lit up. Most interestingly, the same brain regions lit up when those who had been isolated for 10 hours saw pictures of other people socializing.

Test subjects also filled out questionnaires during and after the fasting and isolation periods. Not only did this confirm that people felt cravings for what they had missed, but that the effect was similar in both cases.

They also showed that very hungry people were less responsive to images of socializing, suggesting that "hanger," the state of being irritable as a result of hunger, is a demonstrable state.

How can I use this information? I’m asking for a friend.

The obvious takeaway is that it is perfectly normal to feel a need for interaction with others after an extended bout of isolation. Our brains treat some form of interaction as a basic need that must be met. While not shown as clearly in humans, not getting these needs often drives mice to stress eat, a finding that makes a great deal of sense in light of these new findings.

Exactly how we can meet the need for socialization outside of just meeting up with people (a tricky proposition at the time of writing) remains up for debate. Anybody who has tried a Zoom party during the pandemic can attest to it just not being as nice as seeing friends in person.

The study's authors are aware of this issue and note that:

"A vital question is how much, and what kinds of, positive social interaction is sufficient to fulfill our social needs and thus eliminate the neural craving response. Technological advances offer incessant opportunities to be virtually connected with others, despite physical separations. Yet, some have argued that using social media only exacerbates subjective feelings of isolation.^"

Unfortunately, the study cannot offer us an answer to this question just yet.

Like always, there are limitations to this study.

This study involved 40 participants. While its essential finding is likely to be generally applicable, exactly how applicable it is to the broader population cannot be known with certainty from such a small group. The participants were also healthy, well-connected young adults who might react to various problems differently than other demographic groups.

Their tendency to do so while being the focus of endless studies on psychology is a well-recorded problem.

Likewise, the fact that the participants knew they would only be isolated for 10 hours may have impacted how they reacted to the isolation—it is often easier to endure something when you know precisely when it will end.

Getting around that in future experiments may prove impossible. From an ethical standpoint, it would be difficult to structure an experiment on humans predicated on the idea that they will be kept isolated from all social interaction indefinitely.

Lastly, while all of the participants were quite hungry after 10 hours, there were enough variations in how lonely people felt after isolation to suggest a more significant variance in need for socialization than in demand for food. While this seems obvious, we all know both introverts and extroverts; it does make it more challenging to determine how much social interaction counts as a "need" that the brain craves just as it craves food.

As usual, more research is needed.

The idea that humans are social animals existed long before modern neuroscience was possible. Now, we can see exactly what happens in the brain when we can't socialize. While the final word on the subject is still to be said, it might be time to give a friend a call.

Author:Scotty Hendricks - Source: Big Think

This year, with the Center for Disease Control advising Americans to stay home for Thanksgiving, many people will be faced with the prospect of preparing dinner for a smaller table or cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal by themselves for the first time. The latter of these two issues can seem particularly daunting.

The art of preparing a turkey can seem incredibly arcane to those who haven't done it before—foul it up enough and you'll give yourself salmonella.

Luckily, science is here to help. A quick review of thermodynamics provided by the Turkey Thawing Calculator at Omni Calculator will show you not only how to thaw your turkey correctly but how math and science are all around us.

How to thaw a turkey using science!

The Omni Calculator website is home to calculators that can determine many things, including how long you can be in the sun safely, to the odds of your town having a white Christmas. It now has a dedicated tool for finding how long it will take you to prep your turkey in time for a socially distanced holiday. The Turkey Thawing Calculator was created by Jagiellonian University cognitive science graduate Maria Kluziak with the help of Wojciech Sas, a Ph.D. candidate in molecular magnetism and nanostructures at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Poland.

The fundamental problem is that you need to add heat to the frozen bird to unfreeze it without also encouraging the growth of bacteria. To do this, you have to put the turkey somewhere where it will heat up slowly and evenly. There is a trick, though; this can take a long time because of the amount of energy involved. Exactly how long you need to spend on it can be hard to determine if you've never done it before.

This is where practical, day-to-day science comes in. The processes of heating something are well-studied areas of thermodynamics which we use every day.

As Kluziak tells Big Think:

"If you look closely, you'll notice how we're all surrounded by numbers. Yet most of the time people choose to go with their intuition while making day-to-day decisions. We, as scientists and experts in our own fields, are trying to build a world where people make better, more informed decisions backed by concrete science - Using physics to chill drinks, math to find out how much pizza to get, and even calculating how much groceries are enough to survive a quarantine. It works."

So, how do I thaw a turkey?

By slowly exposing the turkey to cool air or water, it heats up to a point where the bird is above freezing but not so warm that bacteria will start multiplying. Two of the safe ways to do this stand above all others; you can thaw it in the refrigerator or the sink.

Using a refrigerator can take days; the calculator creators suggest a day for every four pounds of bird. Doing it with cold water in the sink is faster, needing only two hours per pound, but requires that you drain and refill the sink with new, cold water every thirty minutes. The ideal temperature during thawing shouldn't exceed 39°F/4°C.

"In our thawing model, we use a scientific approach, which is based on the use of heat transfer equations," the scientists write. "Since these types of problems are, in general, very complicated, we use some approximations, which allow us to estimate the thawing time with reasonable accuracy. As a result, you can see how the average temperature of the turkey changes in time."

You can learn more about the equations and get tips on using the calculator here. You can also learn why you shouldn't use a hairdryer or a tub full of hot water to do the job.

One of the best parts of science is that its findings are often universally applicable. If you understand why something works in one case, you can use it everywhere else. Kluziak reminds us why this might be great for cooking:

"The rules that govern the process of thawing are roughly the same for every kind of food, what's different are the numbers that determine the more specific things like thawing time. The general ideas remain the same regardless of the food, and I would say they are pure common sense. For example, if you're defrosting food, don't do it at room temperature to avoid bacteria - this is true every time!"

Whoever said you'd never use the science you learned in high school at home didn't understand how often we use physics—this calculator remind us that it is everywhere. So fear not, ye first-time turkey chefs! Science can help you have your main course and eat it too.

Author:Scotty Hendricks - Source: Big Think