Jacob Silverman is a staff writer at The New Republic, covering technology and foreign policy. He also wrote over 100 articles for HowStuffWorks, mainly on science and health topics. He holds a bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Emory University and a master's in humanities and social thought from New York University.
Recent Contributions
Officials at a nursing home in Rhode Island claim a cat named Oscar knows when patients are going to die. Can a cat predict death? What about animals that allegedly predict earthquakes or natural disasters? Learn whether your pet has a "sixth sense."
Hand sanitizers can only get you so far in preventing a viral infection. Scientists are discovering how visible light can be used to destroy viruses. Learn about the laser technique and what it means for the future.
The thrilling roar of fighter jets performing a military flyover is now a common experience at many big events. In fact, the military approves most of the 850 or so flyover requests submitted annually. What does it take to arrange a flyover?
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More than 50 years have passed since Watson and Crick untangled the structure of DNA and five years have elapsed since scientists finished sequencing the entire human genome. What have we figured out about our genetic material?
With the evolution of the internet, the big kid in class who used to steal your lunch money now hacks your e-mail, sends you threatening messages, and sabotages your computer. If you're wondering how to stop cyberbullying, read on!
For Jack and his beanstalk, the sky was the limit, but nature's giants hit a point at which they can't grow any taller. What prevents lofty trees like sequoias from soaring any higher?
Unfortunately for drivers, we often see the highest gas prices during the summer, starting around Memorial Day. In May 2022, U.S. consumers paid an average of $1.50 per gallon more than they were at the same time in 2021, according to AAA.
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Imagine finishing off a nice cup of morning coffee and then, instead of throwing the grounds into the trash, pouring them into a cartridge where they become printer ink.
Whether we're trying to save a sinking city or dig a massive tunnel, our appetite for construction knows no bounds. But if designers had known the actual cost of these 10 projects, they might have gone back to the drawing board.
For more than 40 years, scientists have tried to figure out what's causing large parts of Canada to be "missing" gravity. The force of gravity around Hudson Bay is lower than surrounding areas. Learn about two theories that may explain the phenomenon.
Some news organizations have reported that redheads will disappear by the year 2060. But this fiery breed isn't taking the news lying down, and there are rumors that blonds are on the way out, too.
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The dead zone, caused by massive amounts of algae growth, is a vast area off the Gulf of Mexico that is deadly to marine life. How is human activity making the dead zone worse?
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are most often associated with sick or injured people, but scientists recently produced these experiences in healthy people. Learn how virtual reality can scramble your point of view.
We tend to think of the ground beneath our feet as terra firma, but sometimes it's as stable as a house of cards. What happens when the Earth opens up to swallow homes, cars and people?
A man in Cornwall, England, went 11 consecutive days without a wink of sleep. Find out how he did it, why he did it and why you shouldn't give it a try.
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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the world's largest landfill, and it can be found in the middle of the Pacific. Millions of pounds of trash collect here.
Collective hysteria can spread when a fear exists of exposure to a disease, combined with a contained environment. Learn more about collective hysteria works.
Are you the first to complain when it's too hot or too cold at work? Extremophiles have news for you: Suck it up. These hardy microbes make most of us humans seem like whimpering Goldilocks, and studying them may tell us more than you might imagine.
Vertical farming is a method of large-scale farming in an urban environment. Learn about the benefits of a vertical farm and vertical farming technology.
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What's the difference between summer-grade fuel and winter-grade fuel? If summer-grade fuel is so great, why don't we use it year-round?
The hunt for exoplanets, planets orbiting sun-like stars, is on! Thanks to new equipment, NASA has spotted thousands of them. But which ones might be able to handle life?
If your car persistently pulls you to the side of the road, it may be trying to tell you something. Relax. This simple service shouldn't cost you that much.
Even if you don't operate a scanning electron microscope all that frequently, you might want to brush up on these 10 scientific laws and theories. After all, they're some of our best tools for describing how the universe works.
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You may have thought militaries stopped using napalm after the Vietnam War thanks to the United Nations, but this incendiary weapon lives on in modern warfare. Has it also been used in Iraq?
Environmentalists agree that beaver dams help the environment by creating wetlands but why are some landowners and farm owners getting riled up? How could these dams be hazardous to roads, bridges and levees?