The universe has endless scenery and moments that would leave us in awe. Experiencing the beauty of nature as it unfolds is something not all of us have the opportunity to do but with the help of photos, we might get a sense of what it's like.

Looking at photos is different from the real thing but it does capture much of its essence. It leaves us wanting more of it, to know and see it with our own eyes. Photography has given us a gateway toward seeing the universe in a new light.

There are probably millions of stills from nature that would give us an idea of how wonderful it is. But for Marvin Heiferman, he is able to do that with 224 photos collated from various science photographers and photojournalists.

In his new book "Seeing Science: How Photography Reveals the Universe", he consolidates all past work and curates a lot of stories, images, and essays that show us how nature and the universe move, change, and grow. It gives us a concise picture of the state of our world.

The 70 themed chapters (corralled into parts called ‘Knowledge’, ‘Culture’ and ‘Imagination’) reveal a range of approaches to framing photographic projects. Some chapters feature analysis by five or so panellists: photographers, historians, cultural theorists. These were developed as conversations that took place online, with a virtual audience. They feel guarded at times — often too broad, and therefore less engaging. 

What works better are the chapters featuring photographers’ own words, or Heiferman’s distilled biographies of the images’ creators alongside descriptions of the science of the time. Here, we recall that we’re seeing science through that artist’s particular lens.

You may take a look at some photos from the book which have been featured on Nature Magazine online.

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

One of the most stunning places to visit in the world is Barcelona, Spain. There is so much history and culture coming from it that it would take more than one visit to experience it all.

But if you think Barcelona is beautiful, you haven't seen it yet from above. Marton Mogyorosy gives us that chance to glimpse at Barcelona's wonderful geometric cityscape by taking drone photos. Look through the gallery here on New Atlas.

(Image credit: Ralf Roletschek/Wikimedia Commons)

From the deep recesses of the universe, astrophysicists and astronomers alike look for remnants of the Big Bang after which all things came to be. The search for the origins of life continues.

And in this search, scientists have found that stars contain a molecule that leads to the formation of adenine, a DNA nucleobase.

Stars, of course, not only sustain life, by showering planet Earth in photons, but also can contain, in their protostellar (or very young) form, a precursor material of life: a molecule called glycolonitrile. It is “one of the key precursors towards adenine formation,” scientists reported in January, in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

(Image credit: Moaz Aqeel Chishti/Wikimedia Commons)

Magic is a very mystifying art but magicians know that it is as much a science as it is art.

Johnny Thompson known for his stage name The Great Tomsoni has recently passed away. And in memory of his wonderful craft and his contribution to neuroscience, we get to peek a bit into his world through the lens of scientific inquiry.

He died on March 9, 2019 of complications from respiratory failure. He was 84.

(Image credit: Mervyn Chan/Unsplash)

Researchers from Denison University, Ohio led by Kristina L. Steiner have conducted a survey and a study on how people could benefit from writing about chapters of their lives.

This is in connection with previous work which suggest that when people introspect and share their life stories, they get some kind of psychological benefit from it. Although most of these have only been tested on older people and those with depression or chronic physical illnesses.

Steiner’s team tested three groups of healthy American participants across three studies. The participants were asked to complete various questionnaires measuring their mood, self-esteem and self-concept clarity, among other things. Then half of them were allocated to write about four chapters in their lives, spending 10 minutes on each.

The other half of the participants, who acted as a control group, spent the same time writing about four famous Americans of their choosing (to make this task more intellectually comparable, they were also instructed to reflect on the links between the individuals they chose, how they became famous, and other similar questions).

The participants who wrote about chapters in their lives displayed small, but statistically significant, increases to their self-esteem, whereas the control-group participants did not.

In my experience, I find that keeping a journal can also be therapeutic in a way. I've had to deal with certain stress-induced episodes of anxiety, fear, and confusion before. Writing helped me process and deal with what was going on within and around me.

There is still much to be explored with regard to self-introspection and its effects on our confidence, self-concept, and meaning. But it has done wonders for me and nothing would be lost by trying. -via Aeon

(Image credit: Brad Neathery/Unsplash)

To live fully, one must live free. The concept of freedom is a fundamental subject in philosophy especially in the political aspect of it. What is freedom? When can we say we are free?

There are two possible definitions that Isaiah Berlin offered in his 'Two Concepts of Liberty', that of positive and negative liberty.

Essentially, negative liberty is what we think of when we hear the word freedom. It pertains to the kind of liberty wherein we are not impeded by external forces like the law.

On the other hand, positive liberty is having the capacity to exercise your autonomy and do what you seek to accomplish or pursue. But in the course of choosing to do what you want, there are other variables that might influence your freedom.

The matter of self-mastery crosses over into the topics of autonomy and the self. The modern version of this idea links the self to higher-order desires: desires about desires, such as a desire to wean oneself off a craving for caffeine or social media. A self that is successfully identified with these (literally) more elevated desires is now often said to be autonomous. Autonomy, then – like positive liberty – involves having one’s ‘baser’ wishes and urges well in hand.

Not to mention the influence of social institutions that shape our perspective on what is and is not accepted by society. These forces help shape false consciousness according to Michel Foucault and they work to maintain the status quo.

In this case, the concept requires then for a person to have a variety of options or alternatives since then, you will have a choice as to do what you would consider is best given the context.

Philosophers have branded this simple idea with a grand title: the principle of alternative possibilities, or PAP. The problem with PAP, however, is that it struggles to explain why having more options often fails to enhance freedom.

Why is it then that having more options to choose from doesn't necessarily make us more or less free?

Mariam Thalos presents us with a thesis about the concept of freedom as regards self-creation and self-conception that would give us another perspective to illuminate the concept of freedom.

And in this nuance of freedom, one might be considered free when s/he resists how society expects them to act, speak, or behave based on the labels that they have been categorized.

(Image credit: jill111/Pixabay)

As you sit in class, a seminar, a workshop, or a TED talk, one of the most effective ways of retaining the information you hear from the lecture is to take notes. 

We should never overestimate our own memory because more often than not, the moment we step out from the room, our brains will have forgotten the bulk of what we saw and heard during the lecture.

But even if we do take notes, are we doing it properly? Have you ever had the experience of simply copying what your professor's slides say word for word? If you don't know by now, that's not necessarily the most efficient way of taking notes.

In order to find out what is the most effective and efficient way of taking notes, a research team conducted a study asking students what their methods and preferences were in terms of taking notes. Led by Kayla Morehead, these are the results from their survey:

According to Morehead’s team, the evidence, though complex and mixed, suggests overall that it is better to take notes with pen and paper rather than typing on a laptop (laptops can distract the note-taker and those sat near them, and note-book notes tend to be more varied and less verbatim).

Another key finding in the psychology literature is that it’s better to use your notes to organise the information you’re learning about, rather than to simply record what you hear verbatim. Nearly 60 per cent of the sample said they organised their notes, meaning a sizeable minority were following a sub-optimal strategy.

When it comes to learning from one’s notes, passively re-reading is an extremely popular strategy, even though it’s more effective to use the notes to test yourself. Over 90 per cent of the current sample said they spent time re-reading while about half tested themselves.

(Image credit: Miguel Henriques/Unsplash)

Cygnus A is one of the most powerful radio galaxies in the universe and scientists have been able to confirm a theory that has been proposed nearly four decades ago regarding its structure.

Black hole-powered “central engines” producing bright emission at various wavelengths, and jets extending far beyond the galaxy are common to many galaxies, but show different properties when observed. Those differences led to a variety of names, such as quasars, blazars, or Seyfert galaxies. To explain the differences, theorists constructed a “unified model” with a common set of features that would show different properties depending on the angle from which they are viewed.

Based on the unified model, an artist produced an illustration of what Cygnus A looks like shown above. The black hole is at the center while a black mass orbits around it and jets of light are being emitted from the core.

(Image credit: Bill Saxton/NRAO/AUI/NSF)

Though we know of the existence of black holes and what their properties are, we haven't actually seen one. That's all going to change as the first data from the Event Horizon Telescope will be revealed. And it could show us a picture of an actual black hole.

Of all the forces or objects in the Universe that we cannot see—including dark energy and dark matter—none has frustrated human curiosity so much as the invisible maws that shred and swallow stars like so many specks of dust.

Astronomers began speculating about these omnivorous "dark stars" in the 1700s, and since then indirect evidence has slowly accumulated.

"More than 50 years ago, scientists saw that there was something very bright at the centre of our galaxy," Paul McNamara, an astrophysicist at the European Space Agency and an expert on black holes, told AFP.

Most of the illustrations we have of black holes are only rendered by artists based on descriptions. But it is quite difficult to actually get close to a black hole to capture what it looks like. With the EHT, scientists say that we may have taken a photo of one and they will unveil it in six major press conferences.

(Image credit: NASA/Wikimedia Commons)

Gene editing may be one of the most useful developments in genetics in recent memory but it is also somewhat controversial. When it comes to animals, they are useful for experimental research.

Recently, scientists from the University of Georgia were able to successfully produce the first gene-edited reptiles in the form of pink lizards.

Although they're commonly known as brown anoles, there are now four Anolis sagrei lizards at a University of Georgia lab that are actually a pale pink color. They're albinos, and are the result of what is reportedly the world's first successful attempt at producing a genetically modified reptile.

(Image credit: University of Georgia)

Superman's laser vision, Cyclops' optic blasts, and the basilisk's killer gaze, all of these may be fictional powers where they emit light, heat, or some other type of energy through their eyes. But there was a theory that dates way back saying our eyes actually do emit "eye beams".

According to the extramission theory, which was developed by such thinkers as Plato, Galen, Euclid, and Ptolemy, our eyes are more than the passive recipients of images. Rather, they send out eye-beams—feelers made of elemental fire that spread, nerve-like, to create our field of vision. These luminous tendrils stream out from our eyes into the world, apprehending objects in their path and relaying back to us their qualities.

(Image credit: Wenceslaus Hollar/Wikimedia Commons)

Nobody likes pain. We tend to avoid painful experiences because it touches a very sensitive part of us that we find difficult to deal with. But imagine if you don't feel pain at all like the woman who feels no pain, would it be better that way?

Technically, it doesn't eliminate the effects, only the feeling of pain. For example, even if the woman were to get accidentally burned from touching something very hot, she wouldn't feel the pain but her body will sustain the damage.

That's why it's such a paradox that we live in a world full of painful things and yet without it, we might find ourselves in even more danger.

People with rare genetic conditions can be born entirely insensitive to pain. They often self-injure when young, and the collective weight of injury and micro-traumas means they rarely live to adulthood.

Cameron presents a striking challenge to this view. But detailed testing of Cameron’s pain thresholds suggests that, outside of heat pain, she has some normal pain perception.

The key to her unusual experience may have to do with another striking fact about her experience: her lack of anxiety or fear. Even a recent car crash appears to have left her unmoved.

(Image credit: Toa Heftiba/Unsplash)

Stories have been part and parcel of the human experience. It is the way we record history and pass it on to the next generation. In ancient times, people used storytelling to remember their past and reinforce their identity. It is innate for us to try to derive meaning in life through the stories we tell.

In the opening moments of an epic dialogue between Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, Moyers mentions the means by which mythology provides guidance. Storytelling is an art; narrative provides instruction.

Though we don't always think that all stories from the past were exactly as they say but they do include parts based on the truth. At some point, perhaps, in our telling of facts, embellishments are added and such they become fiction or myths.

Campbell replies to Moyers: the mythologist doesn't believe we're seeking a meaning of life, but rather "an experience of being alive." Our life experiences need to resonate beyond the physical plane to align with our "innermost being and reality," for then we can "feel the rapture of being alive." Mythologies provide such sustenance, as "clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human life."

Things we don't understand can be baffling at times and so we try to process such things by telling stories that would serve as explanations to them.

Recitation of stories is an ancient inheritance. Across the planet, students learn and pass along their traditions through epics. Retelling your culture's narrative is pivotal in the construction and dissemination of your heritage. Identity relies on the transmission of the story of your people.

Even today, recitation remains an integral aspect of Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, even if it is predominantly scholars studying the extant literature. The underpinnings of culture relies on these stories.

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We acquire a lot of knowledge at school and generally, formal education should ease the process of learning and teaching concepts to the next generation by giving them the necessary skills and knowhow that would help them develop into fine adults who could contribute to society.

But out of all the things that children learn from school, there are certain things that should be taught. These five skills, which include communication and financial literacy, are pretty basic life skills that anyone should know before they go out into the world.

Why is it then that many adults today are able to coast in life without having knowledge of these basic life skills?

Education too frequently focuses on preparing people for the workforce. While we will always need well-trained and knowledgeable mathematicians, engineers, teachers, and therapists, work is just one part of our lives. For a truly competent, intelligent, and healthy population, more attention needs to be paid to the skills that everyone needs on a daily basis.

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Not only will it be the first private lunar mission, but the Beresheet lander will also be the lightest spacecraft to be launched to the moon.

Once it makes it to the lunar surface, Beresheet will return images, videos and data gathered by a magnetometer, to explore the possibility of a magnetic field on the Moon in the past, and a small laser retroreflector, which will be tested as a potential navigation tool.

But there's room for sentimentality, too, with a digital time capsule also packed aboard containing an Israeli flag, a holocaust survivor memorial and the Israeli Declaration of Independence, along with other bits and pieces.

(Image credit: SpaceIL)