Perception of time is one of the characteristics of human consciousness, and past research has been exploring the factors that influence it. Traditionally, it was believed that organisms have an intrinsic “biological clock,” however, new findings indicate that external stimuli, particularly the images we are exposed to, may have a significant impact on our perception of the passage of time.
In a study published in Nature Human Behaviour, researchers invited 170 participants to observe different images in a series of experiments, asking them to tell the research team how long they thought they had been viewing the images. The results of the experiment showed that participants’ perception of time was noticeably affected by the nature of the images, such as the size of the scenes in the images, the level of disorder, and the intensity of the memory impression.
The study found that images with large scenes and memorable details made people feel as if time “expanded,” meaning the time felt longer than it actually was. Conversely, images with more cluttered scenes gave the impression that time “contracted,” with the viewing time feeling shorter than it actually was. Moreover, there is an interaction between memorability and time perception, where the viewing time of memorable images was estimated more accurately, and images that were perceived as longer in time were also more memorable.
These research findings help us better understand the complex relationship between human vision, memory, and time perception, while also challenging the traditional concept of the biological clock.
Through recent astronomical observations, the images captured by scientists suggest that flares may originate from two bright spots on an accretion disk, which rotate clockwise around a nearby black hole. Observations indicate that their rotational orbit radius is about half the distance from the Earth to the Sun, which is about 75 million kilometers. The revealed structure of the flares is similar to previous computer simulations, confirming our basic understanding of the extreme environment around black holes.
In the public health sector, a concerning discovery involves chimpanzees and other wild animals consuming bat guano. This behavior is thought to potentially spread deadly viruses carried by bats to humans. In a field study in Uganda’s Budongo Forest Conservation Area, researchers found chimpanzees digging out and eating dry bat guano from under hollow trees. Moreover, there is evidence that baboons and red duikers were also consuming bat guano. Analysis suggests that this may be behavior in response to destroying the pith of local palm trees, prompting a search for alternative mineral sources. Twenty-seven novel viruses, including unknown coronaviruses, were detected in bat guano, raising an alarm about the potential health risks posed by this behavior.
Additionally, in the study of ancient climates, recent scientific advancements have achieved breakthroughs. Scientists obtained the oldest continuous ice core samples to date from Antarctica. These samples are over 6 million years old, with the oldest parts providing direct records of changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Although some climate clues may have been damaged during interaction between ice and bedrock, the younger parts of the ice core provide valuable data for studying historical climate changes.
Previous scientific research has shown that during the Pliocene Epoch, the Earth’s temperature was a few degrees higher than it is today. This phenomenon is likely directly related to the higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at that time. Some scientific inferences suggest that the atmospheric carbon dioxide level during that period was about 425ppm. However, recent scientific findings reveal that the carbon dioxide levels measured in ice core samples from 3 million to 1 million years ago never exceeded 300ppm. Additionally, about 1.2 million years ago, the Earth experienced a significant shift in its climate cycle. Early studies had assumed that this transition was due to a dramatic decrease in carbon dioxide levels, but according to the ice core record, the concentration during that period remained between 220 and 250ppm and did not exhibit significant fluctuations. The research team cautions that the current results are preliminary, and they hope to further unravel the mysteries of the Earth’s ancient climate changes through these precious ancient ice core records.
In another breakthrough in the field of physics, as reported by Science and Technology Daily, Professor Yuan Ding and his research team from the Institute of Space Science and Applied Technology at Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) have captured the dynamic propagation process of electromagnetic waves (light waves) for the first time. They confirmed that special structures in the solar corona, as well as celestial bodies like planets, may amplify electromagnetic signals. Their discovery will show immense potential in the fields of interstellar communication or energy transmission. This achievement was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. The corona referred to in the study specifies regions that have lower temperatures, sparser plasma density, and weaker magnetic field strength, called coronal holes. The research team observed that a large-scale magnetohydrodynamic fluctuation was triggered by a solar flare eruption, spreading outward from the flare. As these fluctuations passed through a massive coronal hole, it was found that the coronal hole acted like a “convex lens,” focusing the dispersed fluctuations into a single point. Through this natural focusing effect, the magnetohydrodynamic fluctuations tripled in amplitude, and the energy flow increased sevenfold, displaying a significant concentration of energy.
