Just 2.5 times the size of the full moon, a patch of sky has just shown off something amazing. This is the first detailed indication of an invisible structure that is hidden behind the light of 800,000 galaxies. We saw it because we saw light bend around it, not because we saw it. Dark matter, that unseen existence, has been more accurately mapped than ever before and is literally present everywhere. This was made possible by 255 hours of observation by the James Webb Space Telescope, which collected remarkably precise infrared light from the COSMOS field. No planets or stars…
Author: errica
Usually, it begins with a click. You’re pressed for time, you believe the reviews, the brand is well-known, and the price is reasonable. You open the bottle a few days later, expecting to discover capsules, but instead you find shattered fragments or worse, a gritty powder that sticks to the interior like leftovers from a botched science experiment. This is not uncommon. The Amazon “dust” problem has become so prevalent among wary shoppers that it has earned its own moniker. There is more to this “dust” than just an aesthetic annoyance. It’s a subliminal indication that something went seriously wrong…
The Ozempic story has been nothing short of prophetic. It is the “miracle shot” that promises a new life of effortless slenderness, calms the mind, and melts the pounds. However, the miracle has a terrible expiration date for an increasing number of patients who have stopped taking the medication. Patients can end up bigger than before since the weight doesn’t just gradually return; it frequently roars back. The “Ozempic Rebound,” as this occurrence is called, is exposing a harsh biological reality: obesity is a chronic illness that cannot be cured with a 12-month prescription. We must examine the actual effects…
There is no denying the primordial appeal of the carnivore diet. Reducing one’s diet to the bare necessities—meat, salt, and water—feels like a reset button in a world of complicated nutritional labels, processed chemicals, and conflicting health advice. Influencers bombard social media feeds with claims that cutting out plants has improved their mental clarity, corrected their autoimmune conditions, and reduced their body fat. A restoration to an ancestral state of health is promised in this gripping story. But underneath this viral fad is a physiological reality that is much less photogenic, especially when it comes to the complex filtering system…
The lighting is industrial fluorescent, the concrete floors are harsh, and finding the peanut butter requires navigating a maze of pallets. Millions of Americans, however, willingly pay for the right to shop in a warehouse on any given Saturday. Costco is more than just a store; it’s a subscription to an abundant lifestyle, where rotisserie chickens are still notoriously, boldly $4.99 and toilet paper comes in 30-roll boxes. However, the cost of admission increased recently. The price of a Gold Star membership increased to $65, and the coveted Executive tier reached $130, for the first time in seven years. The…
When I first heard a 12-year-old call Ross Geller “walking red flag energy,” I did not find it funny. We all knew deep down that Ross was a petulant, possessive, and possibly the worst Friend, and it felt like a humorous, contemporary translation of that knowledge. However, the criticism didn’t end there. Friends is more than just a dated comedy with awful hair for Generation Alpha, the group born after 2013 who are currently navigating middle school with smartphones in hand. It’s a cultural relic that seems essentially “off,” a holdover from a world people don’t particularly like or recognize.…
One sound that lingers in a community is the quiet of a nursery that ought to be filled with a newborn’s cries. That quiet has turned into a scathing critique of a wellness movement that has gone horribly wrong in New Mexico. A newborn baby’s death from a listeria infection was recently confirmed by state health officials, who believe the mother’s consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk during pregnancy is directly responsible for the tragedy. For a movement that has cloaked itself in the sultry aesthetics of cottagecore and the rebellious vocabulary of “food freedom,” it is a harsh, harsh reality…
The café menu board promises redemption in a cup and is written in that omnipresent looping chalk language. Nestled between the matcha and the flat whites is the “Golden Milk Latte,” which costs only $7 and is advertised as a mood enhancer, detoxifier, and anti-inflammatory elixir. When it is delivered, it appears to be sunlight preserved in pottery, with a dash of cinnamon added for visual appeal. You sip. It is reassuring, earthy, warm, and faintly spicy. A question remains, though, as the yellow liquid makes its way into your stomach: am I genuinely benefiting from this, or have I…
The register terminal’s digital display blinks with a number that seems off, a software bug that undoubtedly needs a manager’s override. It doesn’t. A carton of eggs that feels lighter than it used to be the last item the cashier scans, and the total comes to a sum that ten years ago in the Midwest would have paid for a mortgage. The grocery run is a monthly ritual in modern America, yet the customer standing in the aisle rarely understands the math. The receipt in your palm tells a different, far more costly story than the government press releases and…
A shutter that can snap shut and pull back thousands of times a day without losing its shape, the human eyelid is an engineering marvel of tension and release. We never consider our face’s structural integrity until it breaks in a way that doesn’t seem imaginable from a biological standpoint. That was a visceral and horrifying failure for a 39-year-old Brooklyn woman. She went into an ophthalmology clinic and said that her eyes had been wet and gritty for six weeks. This is a fairly frequent complaint in a city full of screens and dry air. Then she showed the…