Sioux Chiefs, 1905

Edward Sheriff Curtis was born on a Wisconsin farm in 1868, and ended up a commercial photographer in Seattle. He is famous for photographing Princess Angeline, the daughter of the Duwamish chief Seattle, for whom the city was named.

That experience kindled a fascination with Native American culture within him that would remain for the rest of his life. He photographed tribal people during expeditions to Alaska and Montana, and was also approached by J.P. Morgan about funding a documentary project of American indigenous people. The result was a 20-volume series called The North American Indian.

Backed by Morgan, Curtis spent over 20 years traveling North America, capturing more than 40,000 pictures of over 80 different tribes. In addition, he made thousands of recordings of native songs and language, and wrote down their histories, legends, and biographies of their great people.

In an effort to capture what he saw as a swiftly disappearing tribal culture, Curtis at times posed his subjects in settings that more resembled their pre-Western settlement existences rather than their actual present lives. All stereotypes aside, Curtis’ exhaustive body of work is an impressive historical record of Native life at the beginning of the 20th century.

Navajo traveling through Canyon de Chelly, AZ, 1904

Apsaroke mother and child, 1908

Continue reading →

In the world of science we have an expectation of being able to explain the unexplained questions that regular common sense cannot. However, there are some certain circumstances in science that are entirely un-explainable even by the laws of physics. These five discoveries of science are those certain circumstances in which they mock the logic of physics.

1. A Particle That Reacts To Being Observed

This idea is essentially that a particle does not act until one is observing the actual particle itself. The particle remains in a neutral phase that only until it is being watched by a certain observer, then it decides on whether or not that it is going to become an action or stay neutral until further notice.

An example of this was found with scientists within Texas that found Uranium to be unstable and decays over time.

They had left the uranium alone to do it’s business and then when coming back they had found that the particles within the uranium had decided to not decay at all. Once they were being observed, the particles within the uranium had suddenly realized they were being watched by the scientists and decided not to go about natures course.

2. What Happens To Black Holes And The Things They Eat?

When it comes to creating and destroying matter, neither of these really exist in the eyes of science. You may have a form of matter to start with creation and upon destroying that creation, you have merely altered the matter in which it was first created. Continue reading →

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) argues that addiction is “a brain disease because drugs change the brain…These brain changes can be long lasting and can lead to many harmful, often self-destructive, behaviors.” However, this is just one point of view in an ongoing argument between scientists who seem confused about what addiction actually is.

Dr. Marc Lewis, in his recent book The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease weighs in on this argument from a unique perspective. Lewis is a former opiate addict turned neuroscientist and acclaimed author, a perspective he has already outline in his Memoirs of an Addicted Brain.

Lewis sees addiction differently than the NIDA stance, saying that to call addiction a disease is not a remarkable observation, as the argument is hinged on the fact that the brain changes in an addict.

He writes: “neuroscientists who study addiction seem to have missed the point. They put people through a number of brain scans, and when they notice changes after someone has taken a lot of cocaine or drunk a lot of booze they say, ‘Look! The brain has changed!’”

Continue reading →

Every human being has experienced the strong desire to cuddle with someone at least once in their life. That need can be caused either by affection, feeling comfortable with somebody or by loneliness. It’s a fact that cuddling strengthens our relationships and it is something we can strongly miss when we are single. Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe there is a scientific explanation for that? Well, there sure is.

The hormones in our bodies know what they are doing.

Cuddling stimulates the production of oxytocin. This hormone plays an important role in the neuroanatomy of intimacy. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the “bonding hormone.”  It gives us the feeling of empathy, trust, sexual desire and a whole bunch of other emotions that a healthy relationship triggers.

Read on to find out more on the benefits of cuddling and why it is simply amazing for your well-being:

1. It reinforces emotional bond and affection

Cuddling creates a comfortable environment for communication – something important that we tend to neglect. Communication is the foundation for building trust and trust is the key to a healthy relationship. ‘

Cuddling is simply a way to escape from the daily hustle and bustle, while hiding in the arms of our beloved one. It gives us the chance to focus on all of the positive sensations we can experience together. Continue reading →