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Johnson & Johnson Vaccine: Blood Clotting Cases Cause Calls for Pause in US
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The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control will stop using the vaccine at federal sites and urge states to do so as well while they examine the safety issues.
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NASA chooses SpaceX to take humans back to Moon
2dNASA has selected SpaceX to land the first astronauts on the surface of the Moon since 1972, the agency said Friday, in a huge victory for Elon Musk's company.
For First Time Ever, Scientists Create Part-Human, Part-Monkey Embryos
4dFor the first time ever, NPR reports , an international team of scientists have created chimera embryos that are made up of both human and monkey cells. The research, as detailed in a paper published in the journal Cell today, is meant to help scientists find new ways to grow organs intended for human transplants. Finding organs available for transplant is becoming increasingly difficult in the U
Welcome to the New Progressive Era
5dW ashington in the first days of the Biden administration is a place for double takes: A president associated with the politics of austerity is spending money with focused gusto, a crisis isn’t going to waste, and Senator Bernie Sanders is happy. People like to tell you they saw things coming. But as I talked to many of the campers in Joe Biden’s big tent, particularly those who, like me, were sk
Rapid Covid testing in England may be scaled back over false positives
4dExclusive: In leaked emails, Matt Hancock’s adviser says there is ‘urgent need for decisions’ on asymptomatic testing Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Senior government officials have raised “urgent” concerns about the mass expansion of rapid coronavirus testing, estimating that as few as 2% to 10% of positive results may be accurate in places with low Covid rates, su
Whitest-ever paint could help cool heating Earth, study shows
3dNew paint reflects 98% of sunlight as well as radiating infrared heat into space, reducing need for air conditioning The whitest-ever paint has been produced by academic researchers, with the aim of boosting the cooling of buildings and tackling the climate crisis. The new paint reflects 98% of sunlight as well as radiating infrared heat through the atmosphere into space. In tests, it cooled surf
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Success! NASA's Ingenuity Makes 1st Powered Flight On Mars
6hThe tiny helicopter took off and hovered briefly — the first such flight on another planet. The Perseverance rover kept tabs on the mission from a viewing point about 60 yards away. (Image credit: NASA via AP)
Scientists Develop New Blood Test That Could Diagnose Your Level of Depression
2dWelcome to the future.
New NASA visualization probes the light-bending dance of binary black holes
3dA pair of orbiting black holes millions of times the Sun's mass perform a hypnotic pas de deux in a new NASA visualization. The movie traces how the black holes distort and redirect light emanating from the maelstrom of hot gas—called an accretion disk—that surrounds each one.
The mRNA Vaccines Are Looking Better and Better
5dA year ago, when the United States decided to go big on vaccines, it bet on nearly every horse, investing in a spectrum of technologies. The safest bets, in a way, repurposed the technology behind existing vaccines, such as protein-based ones for tetanus or hepatitis B. The medium bets were on vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which use adenovirus vectors, a technology that had
SETI Research Director Warns of “Malevolent” Alien Civilizations
3dUnfriendly Skies While many scientists are trying their hardest to make first contact, or at least find evidence of an extraterrestrial civilization, others are asking a crucial question: Are we sure we would really want aliens to find us? “We have no reason to believe that technological advancement and altruism or morality are somehow linked,” SETI researcher Andrew Siemion told Inverse . “There
What Ever Happened to Donald Trump?
4dThe president was insistent as he left office: “We’re not going anywhere.” It had been a turbulent end of the presidency—impeachment, appalling pardons, and a lengthy dispute over the outcome of the presidential election—but he knew that he had a devoted following, and he had every intention to remain a force in politics. And not just him: His family was eager to cash in on his electoral success,
Prehistoric cannibal victim found in death cave ID'ed as a young girl
3d"The Boy of Gran Dolina," a young individual in the extinct Homo antecessor species found at a site in Spain, is actually female, according to new analysis of dental remains.
The obscure maths theorem that governs the reliability of Covid testing
1dThere’s been much debate about lateral flow tests – their accuracy depends on context and the theories of a 18th-century cleric Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Maths quiz. If you take a Covid test that only gives a false positive one time in every 1,000, what’s the chance that you’ve actually got Covid? Surely it’s 99.9%, right? No! The correct answer is: you have no
Weed Absolutely Wrecks Your Vision, According to New Research
3dIt turns out that smoking weed can utterly mess with your vision, according to a new study by University of Granada scientists. Maybe that’s not a surprise to the average drug-doer , but it still might come as shock to many who think they’re still operating at 100 percent. While smoking impaired volunteers’ visual acuity, depth perception, and ability to focus, a surprisingly high percentage of v
Multi-wavelength observations reveal impact of black hole on M87 galaxy
5dIn 2019, a worldwide collaboration of scientists used a global collection of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to make the first-ever image of a black hole—the supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy M87, some 55 million light-years from Earth. This long-sought achievement was an important scientific landmark. However, any image at a single wavelength can give onl
First Flight of NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Is Delayed
5dThe interplanetary aircraft will launch no earlier than next week because of glitches in its flight-control software — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
100,000-year-old Neanderthal footprints show children playing in the sand
6dFossilized footprints on a beach in Spain were made about 100,000 years ago by a family of Neanderthals, including children who jumped about as if playing in the sand.
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'Godzilla' shark discovered in New Mexico gets formal name
2dThe 300-million-year-old shark's teeth were the first sign that it might be a distinct species.
The Blood-Clot Problem Is Multiplying
2dFor weeks, Americans looked on as other countries grappled with case reports of rare, sometimes fatal blood abnormalities among those who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19. That vaccine has not yet been authorized by the FDA, so restrictions on its use throughout Europe did not get that much attention in the United States. But Americans experienced a rude awakening this week w
Plastic Is Falling From the Sky. But Where’s It Coming From?
6dAt any given time, 1,100 tons of microplastic are floating over the western US. New modeling shows the surprising sources of the nefarious pollutant.
The frequencies of a vibrating spider web have been made into music
2dA virtual reality experience converts the vibrations spiders feel on their webs into sound, giving us a sense of how spiders experience the world
Archaeologists Unearth a ‘Lost Golden City’ in Egypt
3dThe Luxor finding has been called "the second most important archaeological discovery" since King Tut's tomb.
3,500-year-old honeypot is the oldest direct evidence for honey collecting in Africa
4dHoney is humankind's oldest sweetener—and for thousands of years it was also the only one. Indirect clues about the significance of bees and bee products are provided by prehistoric petroglyphs on various continents, created between 8,000 and 40,000 years ago. Ancient Egyptian reliefs indicate the practice of beekeeping as early as 2600 year BCE. But for sub-Saharan Africa, direct archaeological e
Parents Are Sacrificing Their Social Lives on the Altar of Intensive Parenting
1dOver the past few decades, American parents have been pressured into making a costly wager: If they sacrifice their hobbies, interests, and friendships to devote as much time and as many resources as possible to parenting, they might be able to launch their children into a stable adulthood. While this gamble sometimes pays off , parents who give themselves over to this intensive form of child-rea
NASA has selected SpaceX’s Starship as the lander to take astronauts to the moon
2dLater this decade, NASA astronauts are expected to touch down on the lunar surface for the first time in decades. When they do, according to an announcement made by the agency, they’ll be riding inside SpaceX’s Starship vehicle. NASA’s award of a $2.9 billion contract to build Starship, first reported by the Washington Post on April 16 and later confirmed by NASA, is a huge achievement for the sp
Bitcoin mining emissions in China will hit 130 million tonnes by 2024
2dThe carbon emissions associated with mining bitcoin in China alone will soon outstrip the total annual emissions of mid-sized European countries
What Octopus Dreams Tell Us About the Evolution of Sleep
3dUnderstanding how other animals dream could help us figure out why it’s so important to the human brain, and why it may have been preserved throughout history.
SpaceX, NASA give 'go' for astronaut launch, 3rd for Dragon
3dSpaceX is gearing up for its third astronaut launch in under a year, after getting the green light from NASA a week ahead of next Thursday's planned flight.
NASA spacecraft leaves mess after grabbing asteroid samples
3dA NASA spacecraft left a mess at an asteroid when it grabbed a load of rubble last year for return to Earth, new pictures revealed Thursday.
Motion minskar risken för att drabbas svårt av covid-19
5dCovid-patienter som varit fysiskt inaktiva löper betydligt högre risk att bli inlagda på sjukhus, få intensivvård och riskera att avlida, enligt en ny studie.
Two Die in Fiery Tesla Wreck, Seemingly in Self-Driving Mode
3hA Tesla Model S crashed into a tree and burst into flames on Saturday evening in Spring, Texas, not far from Houston — but investigators of the wreck found neither of its occupants in the driver’s seat. Following the fatal crash, two bodies were removed from the wreck, neither of which was actually behind the wheel. One person was in the front passenger seat, while the other body was found in the
Mathematicians Settle the Erdős Coloring Conjecture
1dFifty years ago, three mathematicians came up with a graph theory problem that they thought they might solve on the spot. A team has finally settled it.
New kind of blue found in cabbage could replace synthetic food dye
2dScientists have come up with a natural cabbage-based alternative to artificial blue food colouring and used it to make blue ice cream and other foods
The Humble Shrub That’s Predicting a Terrible Fire Season
4dChamise may not look (or smell) like much, but it's actually a kind of crystal ball for understanding how badly California might burn.
A Firmware Issue Threatens to Make PS4 Games Unplayable
3hWithout a fix to older PlayStations, it’s only a matter of time before older games are rendered obsolete.
Hubble watches cosmic light bend
1dThis extraordinary image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxy cluster Abell 2813 (also known as ACO 2813) has an almost delicate beauty, which also illustrates the remarkable physics at work within it. The image spectacularly demonstrates the concept of gravitational lensing.
Parker Solar Probe sees Venus orbital dust ring in first complete view
1dNASA's Parker Solar Probe mission has given scientists the first complete look at Venus' orbital dust ring, a collection of microscopic dust particles that circulates around the Sun along Venus' orbit. Though earlier missions have made some observations of Venus' orbital dust ring, Parker Solar Probe's images are the first to show the planet's dust ring for nearly its entire 360-degree span around
Turns Out, Spock Is Kinda Bad at Logic
3dFor her new book, Julia Galef cataloged the Vulcan's predictions and found events he describes as "impossible" actually happened 83 percent of the time.
AstraZeneca vaccine elicits stronger T-cell response in elderly than Pfizer jab
5dStudy adds to evidence in favour of spacing out doses to fight Covid
NASA’s Mars Helicopter Achieves Flight on Red Planet
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4hNASA Ingenuity Mars
NASA’s Mars helicopter has made history. Ingenuity , a small, four-pound rotorcraft that was dropped off by the agency’s Perseverance rover earlier this year, became the first manmade object to achieve powered, controlled flight on the surface of another planet earlier this morning. It’s a feat that could revolutionize the way we explore the surface of other planets, including Mars, in the medium
Forskare: Plasten vi använder i vardagen gör oss mer infertila
1dUngefär var tionde kvinna i världen kämpar nu med infertilitet i minst 12 månader samtidigt som mängden och kvaliteten på spermier drastiskt minskat de senaste årtiondena. Enligt forskare är en av bovarna bakom våra fertilitetsproblem hormonstörande tillsatser i den plast som vi använder i vardagen. – All plast innehåller tillsatsämnen och all plast är ett problem, säger Pauliina Damdimopoulou, se
Pfizer chief says people will probably need yearly Covid booster
3dAlbert Bourla proposes ‘annual revaccination’ programme to keep virus under control
Absolute abundance and preservation rate of Tyrannosaurus rex
3dAlthough much can be deduced from fossils alone, estimating abundance and preservation rates of extinct species requires data from living species. Here, we use the relationship between population density and body mass among living species combined with our substantial knowledge of Tyrannosaurus rex to calculate population variables and preservation rates for postjuvenile T. rex . We estimate that
The Interior Lives of Hoarders
5hTomas Schuler / EyeEm / Getty I cannot remember whether I knew what compulsive hoarding was before 2009. Likely not. That year, the TV network A&E put the disorder on the cultural radar in an unparalleled way with its show Hoarders. The series introduced a public audience to a sometimes-private struggle—the obsessive need to acquire objects, coupled with the fear of letting them go—and offered it
Are Outdoor Mask Mandates Still Necessary?
6hLast week, I covered my nose and mouth with close-fitting fabric like a good citizen and walked to a restaurant in Washington, D.C., where I de-masked at a patio table to greet a friend. I sat with my chair facing the entrance and watched dozens of people perform the same ritual, removing a mask they’d worn outside and alone. It seemed like the most normal thing in the world. Until, suddenly, it
Autism develops differently in girls than boys, new research suggests
3dNew research sheds light on how autism-spectrum disorder manifests in the brains of girls, prompting the scientists to warn that conclusions drawn from studies conducted primarily in boys should not be assumed to hold true for girls.
Blood Clot Risk from COVID-19 Higher than After Vaccines: Study
3dThe chance of developing cerebral venous sinus thrombosis was nearly 10 times higher in the two weeks following a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection than after receiving an mRNA vaccine, a data analysis finds.
Giant planet at large distance from sun-like star puzzles astronomers
4hA team of astronomers led by Dutch scientists has directly imaged a giant planet orbiting at a large distance around a sun-like star. Why this planet is so massive and how it got to be there is a mystery. The researchers will publish their findings in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
NASA Lands Ingenuity, the First Ever Mars Helicopter
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5hNASA Ingenuity Mars
The copter safely whirled its way up and back down, demonstrating the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
Ugens debat: Skal hvert bilmærke have sine egne ladestandere?
2dEfter samme model som Tesla er Porsche nu på vej til at rulle et netværk af ladestandere ud, forbeholdt producentens egne biler. Læserne på ing.dk havde delte meninger om, hvorvidt det er vejen at å for elbilbranchen.
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Materials challenges and opportunities for quantum computing hardware
3dQuantum computing hardware technologies have advanced during the past two decades, with the goal of building systems that can solve problems that are intractable on classical computers. The ability to realize large-scale systems depends on major advances in materials science, materials engineering, and new fabrication techniques. We identify key materials challenges that currently limit progress
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Pollinators Are in Trouble. Here's How Transforming Your Lawn Into a Native Wildflower Habitat Can Help
4dBiologists are recruiting everyday gardeners to save pollinators, with a little help from a smartphone app.
Forskere fra USA’s forsvar vil implantere microchips for at opdage corona
5dKonspirationsteoretikere mener at have fået ret, efter at forskere fra det amerikanske forsvarsministerium hævder at have udviklet en implanterbar mikrochip til at detektere coronavirus, før symptomerne opstår.
Comprehensive omic characterization of breast cancer in Mexican-Hispanic women
5dNature Communications, Published online: 14 April 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22478-5 Cancers in different populations have been shown to be genetically distinct. Here, the authors sequence breast cancers from Mexican-Hispanic patients and find that these patients have a higher percentage of Akt1 mutations compared to Caucasian and Asian populations, suggesting these are clinically actionable.
Constraining the atmospheric limb of the plastic cycle [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
5dPlastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental and social issues of the 21st century. Recent work has highlighted the atmosphere’s role in transporting microplastics to remote locations [S. Allen et al., Nat. Geosci. 12, 339 (2019) and J. Brahney, M. Hallerud, E. Heim, M. Hahnenberger, S. Sukumaran, Science…
Research investigates radio galaxy 3C 84
4hAn international team of astronomers has conducted a detailed kinematic study of a radio galaxy known as 3C 84. The research sheds more light on the properties of this source and its connection to gamma-ray emission. The study was detailed in a paper published April 7 on the arXiv pre-print repository.
NASA's New Horizons reaches a rare space milestone
4hIn the weeks following its launch in early 2006, when NASA's New Horizons was still close to home, it took just minutes to transmit a command to the spacecraft, and hear back that the onboard computer received and was ready to carry out the instructions.
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Kina skal lukke 600 kulkraftværker i en fart for at nå klimamål
4dEn omlægning til vedvarende energi kan give landet en økonomisk gevinst på 1,6 trillioner dollars, viser analysen.
University in Japan revokes doctorate for plagiarism of text, image
5dA researcher in Japan has been stripped of his doctorate after a university investigation found that his thesis contained seven lines of plagiarized text and an image pulled from the internet without attribution. Takuma Hara received his PhD in medical sciences from Tsukuba University in March 2019, writing a thesis about a genetic mutation’s role … Continue reading
With impressive accuracy, dogs can sniff out coronavirus
2dIn a proof-of-concept study, dogs identified positive samples with 96 percent accuracy.
Scientists generate human-monkey chimeric embryos
3dResearchers have injected human stem cells into primate embryos and were able to grow chimeric embryos for a significant period of time — up to 20 days. The research, despite its ethical concerns, has the potential to provide new insights into developmental biology and evolution. It also has implications for developing new models of human biology and disease.
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Ministre og topembedsfolk i kæmpe Facebook-læk: Se her, om du er ramt
4dEkspert kalder lækket "en perfekt pakke for svindlere". Udfyld dit navn i artiklen og få afklaring.
Chemical modification of RNA could play key role in polycystic kidney disease
5dA chemical modification of RNA that can be influenced by diet appears to play a key role in polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disorder that is the fourth leading cause of kidney failure in the US, UT Southwestern researchers report in a new study. The findings, published online today in Cell Metabolism, suggest new ways to treat this incurable condition.
Winners of $20M contest make concrete to trap carbon dioxide
2hOrganizers of a $20 million contest to develop products from greenhouse gas that flows from power plants announced two winners Monday ahead of launching a similar but much bigger competition backed by Elon Musk.
Activity-regulated synaptic targeting of lncRNA ADEPTR mediates structural plasticity by localizing Sptn1 and AnkB in dendrites
2dActivity-dependent structural plasticity at the synapse requires specific changes in the neuronal transcriptome. While much is known about the role of coding elements in this process, the role of the long noncoding transcriptome remains elusive. Here, we report the discovery of an intronic long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)—termed ADEPTR—that is up-regulated and synaptically transported in a cAMP/PKA-de
Punctuated ecological equilibrium in mammal communities over evolutionary time scales
3dThe study of deep-time ecological dynamics has the ability to inform conservation decisions by anticipating the behavior of ecosystems millions of years into the future. Using network analysis and an exceptional fossil dataset spanning the past 21 million years, we show that mammalian ecological assemblages undergo long periods of functional stasis, notwithstanding high taxonomic volatility due t
Mindfulness can make you selfish
4dA new article demonstrates the surprising downsides of mindfulness, while offering easy ways to minimize those consequences — both of which have practical implications for mindfulness training.
Lower COVID-19 rates seen in U.S. states with higher adherence to mask wearing
4dA new state-by-state analysis shows a statistical association between high adherence to mask wearing and reduced rates of COVID-19 in the United States.
Dietary cocoa improves health of obese mice; likely has implications for humans
4dSupplementation of cocoa powder in the diet of high-fat-fed mice with liver disease markedly reduced the severity of their condition, according to a new study. The researchers suggest the results have implications for people.
Physical inactivity linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and death
4dPhysical inactivity is linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and a heightened risk of dying from the disease, finds a large U.S. study.
Physical activity may reduce risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes
5dA Kaiser Permanente study of nearly 50,000 people with COVID-19 suggested that regular physical activity provided strong protection from hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and death. Even exercising inconsistently lowered the odds for severe COVID-19 outcomes when compared to people who were not active at all.
Harnessing psilocybin: antidepressant-like behavioral and synaptic actions of psilocybin are independent of 5-HT2R activation in mice [Neuroscience]
5dDepression is a widespread and devastating mental illness and the search for rapid-acting antidepressants remains critical. There is now exciting evidence that the psychedelic compound psilocybin produces not only powerful alterations of consciousness, but also rapid and persistent antidepressant effects. How psilocybin exerts its therapeutic actions is not known, but…
A translational riboswitch coordinates nascent transcription-translation coupling [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
5dBacterial messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis by RNA polymerase (RNAP) and first-round translation by the ribosome are often coupled to regulate gene expression, yet how coupling is established and maintained is ill understood. Here, we develop biochemical and single-molecule fluorescence approaches to probe the dynamics of RNAP–ribosome interactions on an mRNA…
Female protective effect: Researchers find clues to sex differences in autism
2dResearchers have found that autism may develop in different regions of the brain in girls than boys and that girls with autism have a larger number of genetic mutations than boys, suggesting that they require a larger 'genetic hit' to develop the disorder.
The SARS-CoV-2 Spike variant D614G favors an open conformational state
2dThe COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic underwent a rapid transition with the emergence of a dominant viral variant (from the "D-form" to the "G-form") that carried an amino acid substitution D614G in its "Spike" protein. The G-form is more infectious in vitro and is associated with increased viral loads in the upper airways. To gain insight into the molecular-level underpinnings of thes
Frankrig: Brug bilens skrotpræmie til at købe en elcykel
3dEt fransk lovforslag vil belønne borgere for at udskifte benzin- eller dieselbiler med en elcykel. Andre lande har tidligere forsøgt sig med lignende ordninger
Industri og eksperter: Anlæg af ny infrastruktur skal med i klimaregnskabet
3dPLUS. Regeringens infrastrukturudspil er mere end klimaneutralt fra 2035. Men kun hvis man ignorerer udledningen fra anlægsfasen.
Efforts to stop spread of COVID-19 should focus on preventing airborne transmission, experts say
3dAny future attempts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 should be focused on tackling close airborne transmission of the virus which is considered to be the primary route for its circulation, say experts in a new editorial.
Good dental health may help prevent heart infection from mouth bacteria
4dGood oral hygiene and regular dental care are the most important ways to reduce risk of a heart infection called infective endocarditis caused by bacteria in the mouth. There are four categories of heart patients considered to be at highest risk for adverse outcomes from infective endocarditis, and only these patients are recommended to receive preventive antibiotic treatment prior to invasive den
Telescopes unite in unprecedented observations of famous black hole
4dIn April 2019, scientists released the first image of a black hole in galaxy M87 using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). However, that remarkable achievement was just the beginning of the science story to be told.
Australian researchers find new way to target deadly childhood cancer
5dResearch by Australian scientists could pave the way to a new treatment for a currently incurable brain cancer in children called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG.
Engineer cautions pregnant women about speed bumps
5dSlow down. Baby on board. Future baby on board. New research determines that accelerating over speed bumps poses a danger for pregnant women and their fetuses.
Early, intensive marine resource exploitation by Middle Stone Age humans at Ysterfontein 1 rockshelter, South Africa [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
5dModern human behavioral innovations from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) include the earliest indicators of full coastal adaptation evidenced by shell middens, yet many MSA middens remain poorly dated. We apply 230Th/U burial dating to ostrich eggshells (OES) from Ysterfontein 1 (YFT1, Western Cape, South Africa), a stratified MSA shell…
Women are taking a 'rain check' on babies, and it could change the shape of the economy – A decline in birth rates has sparked worries that the US may be headed for what's known as a "demographic time bomb," in which an aging population isn't replaced by enough young workers.
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A Massive New Gene Editing Project Is Out to Crush Alzheimer’s
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Researchers have detected the building blocks of superbugs—bacteria resistant to the antibiotics used to fight them—in the environment near large factory farms in the United States.
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SpaceX Wins NASA $2.9 Billion Contract to Build Moon Lander
2dElon Musk’s company bested Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and others in the contest to carry American astronauts to the lunar surface.
Vaccines Won’t Protect Millions of Patients With Weakened Immune Systems
3dMany cannot produce enough infection-fighting cells to fend off the coronavirus. But researchers are testing one therapy that may help: monoclonal antibodies.
Magic mushrooms show promise in treatment for depression, study says
4dTrial suggests psilocybin combined with psychological therapy is as effective as antidepressant drug Magic mushrooms have a long and rich history. Now scientists say they could play an important role in the future, with their active ingredient a promising treatment for depression. The results from a small, phase two clinical trial have revealed that two doses of psilocybin appears to be as effect
Single Pfizer or AstraZeneca dose produces strong antibody response
5dScientists say AstraZeneca vaccine has greater effect when it comes to cellular response Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A single dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine generates a big protective antibody response against the coronavirus in people 80 and over, researchers have found. The first study to look at the comparative performance
Nasa chooses SpaceX to build Moon lander
2dSpaceX will build a lander that the US space agency will use to return humans to the Moon this decade.
NASA Mars Helicopter Achieves First Flight on Red Planet
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13hNASA Ingenuity Mars
The brief test of the experimental vehicle called Ingenuity shows how explorers can study the red planet from the sky as well as the ground.
Human cells grown in monkey embryos spark ethical debate
3dScientists confirm they have made "chimera" embryos from long-tailed macaques and humans.
Roman site uncovered in Scarborough hailed as first of its kind in UK
5dRemains of buildings near Yorkshire town said to be ‘most important Roman discovery of last decade’ When developers broke ground on the outskirts of Scarborough, they were hoping to build a housing estate ideal for first-time buyers, families and professionals, with en suites, off-street parking and integrated kitchens galore. But before shovels had even hit earth, they found someone else had got
Controversial 'Chimera' Embryos Made by Scientists Are Part Human, Part Monkey
4dWe are headed into strange places.
Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine research ‘was 97% publicly funded’
4dAnalysis rebuts claim by Boris Johnson that jab was developed ‘because of greed’ Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage At least 97% of the funding for the development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has been identified as coming from taxpayers or charitable trusts, according to the first attempt to reconstruct who paid for the decades of research that led to the
How UK doctor linked rare blood-clotting to AstraZeneca Covid jab
6dProf Marie Scully developed a diagnostic test at University College London hospital after seeing rare side-effect in patient Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Marie Scully was alarmed and puzzled. “It didn’t make sense,” she said. The consultant haematologist at University College London hospital (UCLH) had seen patients with blood clots in the brain and low platelets
J&J Vaccine and Blood Clots: A Risk, if It Exists, Is Tiny
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6dJ&J & Johnson
Out of an “abundance of caution,” the F.D.A. is advising doctors to pause the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while it investigates extremely rare blood clots.
Microplastics Are Now Spiralling Around The Globe in The Air We Breathe
2dWe've really trashed the place.
Apparently just by talking about it, I’m super-spreading long Covid | George Monbiot
5dA professor has suggested that press coverage could make people believe they have the condition Rejoice! A mystery has been solved. We now have an explanation for long Covid, a condition afflicting many thousands of people . A super-spreader has been identified. Important as this finding is, I’m reluctant to call for the vector to be eradicated. Why? Because it’s me. In a presentation to the rein
Hundreds Of Companies Call For U.S. To Slash Carbon Emissions
5dIn a move to curb climate change, an open letter from companies including Apple and Walmart calls on the Biden administration to cut U.S. emissions to at least half of 2005 levels by 2030. (Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Darius, ‘World’s Longest Rabbit,’ Is Missing
6dMeasuring more than four feet, the furry giant should be easy to spot. But he vanished from an English garden last weekend, and the police are treating his disappearance as an abduction.
How Bhutan Out-Vaccinated Most of the World
1dThe Himalayan nation has given more than 60 percent of its people a shot. Some villages were reached by helicopter, and health workers hiked through ice and snow.
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The Nation's Corn Belt Has Lost a Third of Its Topsoil
5dResearchers used satellite imaging and surface soil color to find out how much of the nutrient-rich earth has eroded away
America Has Pandemic Senioritis
3dOn February 25, I got my first shot of the Pfizer vaccine bright and early, picked up a breakfast burrito on the walk home, and spent the rest of the day sitting in my desk chair, doing what can only be described as vibing. I felt a little bit stoned, like I had taken a low-grade edible instead of being shot up with cutting-edge technology that would help end a year-long global disaster. This acu
Taylor Swift Knew Everything When She Was Young
5dAt 18, Taylor Swift had some regrets. Across her smash second album, Fearless , Swift sang about moments she wanted to relive and, in some cases, rewrite. “Wish you could go back / And tell yourself what you know now,” she said on “15,” a reminiscence about her freshman year of high school. On “White Horse,” she chided, “Stupid girl, I should’ve known,” as she thought back to a breakup. The album
Tinnitus helpline reports a surge in calls since start of the coronavirus pandemic
2dScientists are concerned virus or medication used for treating Covid-19 is causing ear damage Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage More people are complaining of developing tinnitus for the first time or have found their symptoms have worsened since the start of the pandemic, according to scientists and other leading experts who specialise in the condition. The British Ti
Our Pandemic Trash Is Killing Wildlife on a Devastating Scale, Scientists Warn
2dStop littering your PPE.
A Lawsuit Over Frozen Embryos
3dElaine Meyer and Barry Prizant had given up on having more than one child. Then, in their 60s, they got a letter from the hospital where they’d long ago had IVF treatment.
'Whitest ever' paint reflects 98% of sunlight
3dResearchers hope their "ultra-white" paint can save energy by reflecting sunlight from buildings.
Man's energy drink habit lands him in the hospital with heart failure
3dThe findings add to a growing body of evidence linking energy drink consumption with heart problems.
COVID-19 Vaccines Are Entering Uncharted Immune Territory
4dIn early March 2020, Rick Phillips, 63, and his wife, Sheryl Phillips, quietly cloistered themselves in their Indianapolis home. They swore off markets, movie theaters, the gym, and, hardest of all, visits with their three young grandchildren. This April, three weeks after receiving her second shot of Pfizer’s vaccine, Sheryl broke her social fast and walked into a grocery store for the first tim
The Blue States That Make It Hardest to Vote
4dI f President Joe Biden wants to vote by mail next year in Delaware, he’ll have to provide a valid reason for why he can’t make the two-hour drive from the White House back to his polling place in Wilmington. Luckily for him, Biden’s line of work allows him to cast an absentee ballot: Being president counts as “public service” under state law. Most Delaware residents, however, won’t have such a c
New Zealand Just Passed a Climate Change Law No Other Country's Dared to Tackle
4dThey're taking on the banks.
UK woodlands 'at crisis point' amid wildlife decline
5dA review of the state of Britain's native woods and trees finds only 7% are in good condition.
Outcry as Video Shows Robodog Patrolling With NYPD
5dA new video going viral on Twitter shows a robot police dog patrolling with cops from the New York City police department. The unit, a Spot robodog built by Boston Dynamics, can be seen going for a walk around a public sidewalk, surrounded by several police staff. Nah they really got these robot police dogs in NYC. This is wild pic.twitter.com/iG7CTPFevH — THEE DON (@1800SPOILED) April 12, 2021 T
The New Face of Trumpism in Texas
2dI n 2015, in the Dallas suburb of Irving, the fates of two very different Texans collided. One was 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, a precocious kid in a NASA T-shirt who had built a clock out of spare parts and brought it to school in a pencil case. His English teacher decided it might be a bomb, and the school called the police, who arrested Mohamed for bringing in a “ hoax bomb .” Because Mohamed’s
This Theory Could Explain Many Military UFO Sightings
3dA fascinating clip of what appeared to be triangular or “pyramid” shaped UFOs flying over a US Navy warship circulated online earlier this month. The footage, obtained by filmmaker Jeremy Corbell, shows the mysterious objects caught on a night vision camera aimed at the skies over the warship. “I can confirm that the referenced photos and videos were taken by Navy personnel,” Department of Defens
Birds by the Billions: A Guide to Spring’s Avian Parade
4dFor birders across the United States, it’s a rite of spring: heading out to woodlands and waterways to track down a favorite warbler, vireo, tanager or other bird, many of them migratory.
The Rural Pandemic Isn’t Ending
5dAmericans will soon begin to fall back into the rhythms of pre-pandemic life—attending sunny summer weddings, squishing into booths at chain restaurants, laughing together at movies on the big screen—and it will feel like a victory over the coronavirus. But the virus might not actually be gone. In pockets of the country, vaccination rates could stay low, creating little islands where the coronavi
MIT Researchers Release Music Made by Spiders
5dGreat Acoustics Scientists from MIT just dropped an incredible piece of a brand-new music genre that we think could really take off: spider music. They created 3D scans of spider webs that they then imported into a virtual environment, allowing them to manipulate webs in different ways and convert the resulting structures and their acoustic qualities into music, according to a press release about
Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine to be paused in US over rare blood clots
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6d& Johnson Vaccine
FDA and CDC release statement recommending pause Six reported US cases of ‘rare and severe problem’ US health agencies have recommended states pause the administration of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, after reports of rare and severe blood clots emerged in six women. More than 6.8m doses have been administered nationally. Related: Coronavirus live news: US agencies call for pause of
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Add India to UK travel ban list to stop Covid variant, urges scientist
2dIndian coronavirus variant has potential to ‘scupper’ lockdown easing, says professor of immunology Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage India should be placed on the UK’s “red list” for travel after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant, according to a leading scientist. Prof Danny Altmann, from Imperial College London, said it was “mystifying” and “confounding” tha
Japanese Prime Minister Challenged to Drink Radioactive Water Before Dumping It Into the Ocean
2dShots Shots Shots Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that the government could no longer delay its plan to dump radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean. The Japanese government has repeatedly insisted that the plan won’t put biodiversity or people in the area at risk, but plenty of residents of Japan and neighboring countr
Dogecoin Is Spiking and People Are Losing Their Minds
2dAt first, it was meant to be a joke. But now the market capitalization of Dogecoin, a popular altcoin, has spiked to $40 billion, CNBC reports , after values skyrocketed and added $20 billion in value in just 24 hours. The shiba inu-emblazoned token was created as a “fun” alternative to Bitcoin back in 2013. But thanks to a massive surge in interest, led by communities on Reddit — and some promin
Artist Sells NFT of Single Pixel for $1.7 Million
3dThe Pixel The NFT isn’t dead. A single pixel, a part of an NFT by digital artist Pak, sold for $1.36 million worth of Ether, Reuters reports , at the famed auction house Sotheby’s. The work was part of a larger series of digital artworks that sold for a whopping $16.8 million combined. Most notable among them was “The Pixel,” which as its name suggests, was an image of a single grey block. Three
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Cannabis And Psychosis Are Linked, And We're a Step Closer to Understanding How
3dGenes could play a role.
What Should We Do if Extraterrestrials Show Up?
4dIt’s hard to say at this point, but a crucial first step is to establish whether they exist so any future arrival won’t come as a complete surprise — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Small, Landmark Trial Sees Magic Mushroom Compound Perform as Well as Antidepressants
4dThis is promising.
NASA Takes Emergency Action to Save Dying Mars Lander
5dBattery Saver NASA’s InSight lander is in trouble. InSight, which has been conducting important research on the surface of Mars since it landed in 2018, is caked in so much dust that its solar panels can’t harness enough energy to stay operational, Insider reports . NASA has been gradually powering down InSight’s instruments and putting the lander into hibernation mode to save energy, and the age
The United States Says It’s Finally Cracking Down on Robocalls
5dWhen was the last time you answered a call from an unknown number? Robocalls have gotten incredibly bad in the US with untold millions of people plagued constantly by pesky calls from scammers. So far, the Federal Communications Commission has arguably done little to make a dent in the number of automated calls Americans receive. According to the latest numbers, Americans were hit by almost 46 bi
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Hundreds capture spectacular fireball pass uncomfortably close to Earth
6dMore than 200 people submitted reports and videos of a fiery trail and apparent space-rock explosion To the American Meteor Society it was simply Event 2281-2021 , an unremarkable name for a spectacular fireball that made an uncomfortably close pass to Earth on Monday. A fiery trail and apparent space-rock explosion was captured on doorbell cameras and dashcams and was visible to stargazers from
Strange blue structures glow on Mars in new NASA image
6dA lovely new image of the Martian north pole shows the Red Planet streaked with blue.
Nasa's Ingenuity Mars helicopter set for first flight
21hThe US space agency is ready to attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
A third of Antarctic ice shelves risk collapsing due to climate change
2dAround a third of the ice shelves holding back huge glaciers in Antarctica are at risk of collapse if the world fails to take sufficient action on climate change
Here's What You Should Know About Biden's New Rules For Fetal Tissue Research
2dHealth and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is reversing restrictions on the use of fetal tissue in medical research implemented under former President Trump. (Image credit: Ed Reschke/Getty Images)
NASA Reportedly Chooses SpaceX to Develop Moon Lander
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2dSpaceX NASA Moon Artemis
NASA Leak NASA officially announced that it’s going to announce who it will choose to build a rocket capable of bringing the first astronauts to the Moon’s surface since the Apollo missions. But news of the decision may have just leaked to The Washington Post a little early. According to documents obtained by the newspaper, NASA has officially chosen Elon Musk’s SpaceX to to build a lunar lander
Trained dogs can smell coronavirus in your pee
3dDogs can sniff out SARS-CoV-2 in urine samples with 96% accuracy, according to a proof-of-concept study.
Restoring the ‘Soul of the Nation’ Means Taking in Refugees
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3dBiden Refugee Trump
One of the Trump administration’s early priorities was engineering a whiter America through immigration restrictions. We know this because it told us so. “U.S. demographics have been changing rapidly—and undesirably in the eyes of top Trump aides, including his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, and domestic policy advisor Stephen Miller,” the Los Angeles Times reported in February 2017. The tr
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Only 0.008% of Vaccinated People in The US Have Caught COVID-19, New Data Reveal
3dWorking as intended.
Psilocybin Therapy May Work as Well as Common Antidepressant
3dFor the first time, a randomized controlled trial shows the psychedelic offers potent, if short-term, relief in comparison with an SSRI — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
A Buried Chunk of Alien World Could Be Behind a Weak Spot in Earth's Magnetic Field
4dThe South Atlantic Anomaly is growing.
NASA's Insight Mars Lander Is 'in Crisis', And Has Entered Emergency Hibernation
4dIt's at risk of becoming a zombie spacecraft.
World's largest rabbit missing, presumed stolen
4dA Flemish Giant rabbit named Darius is missing. He is the largest rabbit on Earth.
Mobile Weapon System Kills Entire Drone Swarms Using Microwaves
4dMicrowave Blast Los Angeles-based startup Epirus has an idea to take out enemy drone swarms: a weapon that blasts out beams of high-power microwaves. The weapon, dubbed Leonidas, is small enough to fit on the back of a pickup truck and can emit powerful microwaves that force target drones out of the sky, New Scientist reports . “Our systems allow us the capability to widen or narrow the beam and
Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' close to tipping point, unmanned sub reveals
4dThwaites Glacier has lost 595 billion tons of ice since the 1980s. If it collapses completely it could take the rest of the West Antarctic Ice sheet with it, causing a ten-foot rise in global sea levels.
Millions of tons of nuclear wastewater from Fukushima will be dumped into the sea
5dThe Japanese government announced plans to dump more than 1 million tons of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, beginning in two years.
The science of hugging, and why we’re missing it so much during the pandemic | Susannah Walker
5dTo understand why so many are craving human touch we can look to our evolutionary history – and the secrets of our skin Dr Susannah Walker is a reader in behavioural neuroscience at Liverpool John Moores University “What I miss,” said one colleague last spring, during one of our weekly online team meetings, “are hugs, great big man-hugs, like I share with my dad and close male friends.” The sense
Atom interferometry demonstrated in space for the first time
6dExtremely precise measurements are possible using atom interferometers that employ the wave character of atoms for this purpose. They can thus be used, for example, to measure the gravitational field of the Earth or to detect gravitational waves. A team of scientists from Germany has now managed to successfully perform atom interferometry in space for the first time—on board a sounding rocket. "We
Not Very Surprisingly, NFT Prices Are Now Crashing
6dThey were meant to revolutionize the art collection market — but just as many predicted , as Bloomberg reports , the prices of non-fungible tokens or NFTs are now crashing. According to a recent report by NonFungible.com , an NFT marketplaces tracker, the value of NFTs has collapsed by almost 70 percent from its peak in February. Earlier this year, the blockchain-based digital certificates that g
Students Who Gesture during Learning 'Grasp' Concepts Better
6dHand movement appears to help in teaching about statistical models — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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‘Like hunting for unicorns’: Australians on the search for adequate, affordable mental healthcare
23hCountless inquiries have found the same problems afflicting the mental health system, but cost and access barriers still leave those seeking and providing care in despair ‘The worst it’s ever been’: Guardian readers tell us about Australia’s mental health system Many Australians experience the country’s mental health system as inadequate, dangerous and financially punishing, saying they often fee
China and US pledge climate change commitment
1dThe US and China announced actions to tackle climate change following meetings in Shanghai last week.
SpaceX Wins $2.9 Billion Contract For Next Lunar Lander
1dThe company beat out two others in its bid to develop a lunar lander that will bring Americans back to the moon in the coming years. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Two Russian cosmonauts, NASA astronaut return from ISS
2dTwo Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut touched down Saturday on the steppe of Kazakhstan following a half-year mission on the International Space Station, footage broadcast by the Russian space agency showed.
Earthquakes in Taiwan are linked to seasonal changes in water levels
2dSeismic activity in Taiwan happens more often during the dry season when the groundwater built up during monsoon season is depleted, leaving Earth’s crust more likely to rebound under stress
Microwave weapon could disable a swarm of military attack drones
2dMilitary drones can resist radio-jamming anti-drone devices, but a microwave weapon could take down a whole swarm at once, or disable just one with sniper-like precision
Strange muon behaviour hints at mysterious new particles and forces
2dParticles called muons spin slightly faster than our best models of physics predict, which may mean that there are more particles and forces that we haven't yet discovered
Wilhelm Reich: the strange, prescient sexologist who sought to set us free
2dHe believed orgasms could be a healing force and coined the term ‘sexual revolution’. Reich’s understanding of the body is vital in our age of protests and patriarchy, writes Olivia Laing There are certain people who speak directly into their moment, and others who leave a message for history to decipher, whose work gains in relevance or whose life becomes uncannily meaningful decades after their
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Study: Humanity Has Ravaged All But 3 Percent of The Land on Earth
2dGlobal Domination New research shows that humanity’s influence has already altered about 97 percent of the land on the planet. Very little of the land surface on the Earth — just 2.8 percent — can still be considered “functionally intact,” according to a study published Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change . Therefore, the study’s authors, who hail from a long list of un
Oldest piece of writing ever found in Israel identified on ancient shard of pottery
3dA team of researchers from the Austrian Academy of Science's, Austrian Archaeological Institute, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archeology, has identified a piece of writing on a shard of pottery unearthed in 2018 at the Lachish archaeological site as the oldest piece of writing ever found in Israel. In their paper published in Cambridge University Press's, Antiquity, the gr
India Covid variant found in UK specimens taken in February
3dResearchers worry that ‘variant under investigation’ contains mutations that could help it evade immune response Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The first of the 77 cases of the India variant of coronavirus found in the UK were detected in specimens dating back to February, the Guardian has learned. On Thursday Public Health England (PHE) revealed that 77 cases of a
‘That’s a lot of teeth’: 2.5 billion T rex walked the earth, researchers find
3dExperts calculate the total number of the dinosaurs that lived over 127,000 generations One Tyrannosaurus rex seems scary enough. Now picture 2.5 billion of them. That’s how many of the fierce dinosaur king probably roamed Earth over the course of a couple of million years, a new study finds. Using calculations based on body size, sexual maturity and the creatures’ energy needs, a team at the Uni
Camilla drikker sit eget tis i vildmarken: Men er det overhovedet en god idé?
3dDer er ikke den store fidus i at drikke urin, vurderer forskere.
Researchers establish the first entanglement-based quantum network
3dA team of researchers from QuTech in the Netherlands reports realization of the first multi-node quantum network, connecting three quantum processors. In addition, they achieved a proof-of-principle demonstration of key quantum network protocols. Their findings mark an important milestone toward the future quantum internet and have now been published in Science.
Nuclear DNA from sediments helps unlock ancient human history
3dThe field of ancient DNA has revealed important aspects of human evolutionary past, including relationships with Denisovans and Neandertals. These studies have relied on DNA from bones and teeth, which store DNA and protect it from the environment. But such skeletal remains are exceedingly rare, leaving large parts of human history inaccessible to genetic analysis.
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What to Expect When the Cicadas Emerge This Spring
4dA trillion cicadas expected to invade the Washington metropolitan region when the ground warms to 64 degrees
Researchers identify five double star systems potentially suitable for life
4dAlmost half a century ago the creators of Star Wars imagined a life-sustaining planet, Tatooine, orbiting a pair of stars. Now, 44 years later, scientists have found new evidence that that five known systems with multiple stars, Kepler-34, -35, -38, -64 and -413, are possible candidates for supporting life. A newly developed mathematical framework allowed researchers at New York University Abu Dha
Sir David Attenborough's new doc: 'Humans are intruders'
4dSir David Attenborough fronts a new documentary on lockdown's effect on the natural world.
Climate Research Station Abandoned Because It’s Falling Into the Sea
5dCruel Fate Scientists recently abandoned a climate research outpost in Cape Cod Massachusetts — because climate change struck back. Rising sea levels and an eroding coastline could engulf the National Weather Service station in a matter of months, The Guardian reports , so the station is being demolished before it falls into the sea. It’s a bit ironic, but the research station’s demolition serves
Will Covid vaccines protect us against new variants? | Julian Tang
5dOutbreaks such as the South African variant that’s emerged in south London will require constant vigilance as lockdown eases All viruses mutate. They do this to adapt and survive better in their specific host. The virus that causes Covid-19 is no different: it has moved from the animal realm, where it most likely originated in bats , to the human world. Since then, scientists have been locked in
Space Junk Removal Is Not Going Smoothly
5dDespite promising technology demonstrations, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the growing problem of taking out the orbital trash — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Carbon Emissions Could Plummet. The Atmosphere Will Lag Behind
5dThe U.S. plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically in the next decade. Scientists say it's crucial that the U.S. succeed. Still, many of the positive effects won't arrive for decades. (Image credit: Expedition 28 Crew/International Space Station/NASA)
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These Ants Shrink Their Brains for a Chance to Become Queen
5dIf their bids at motherhood fail, they can then regrow their brains.
3 Different Futures for the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
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5dJ&J & Johnson
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has entered regulatory purgatory. This morning, the CDC and FDA jointly recommended, “out of an abundance of caution,” a nationwide halt to the single shot’s rollout. The two agencies are investigating a rare blood-clotting disorder: In the six cases reported so far , all in the United States, women ages 18 to 48 developed an unusual type of blood clot within about t
Using Amber-Filtered Bulbs Instead of White Light Attracts Fewer Bugs
5dIn a tropical rainforest study, 60 percent fewer insects visited traps illuminated in a golden glow. Researchers say the results may be widely applicable
Snow chaos in Europe caused by melting sea-ice in the Arctic
6dThey are diligently stoking thousands of bonfires on the ground close to their crops, but the French winemakers are fighting a losing battle. An above-average warm spell at the end of March has been followed by days of extreme frost, destroying the vines with losses amounting to 90 percent above average. The image of the struggle may well be the most depressingly beautiful illustration of the comp
Amber Light Could Save Bugs in the Rainforest—and Your Backyard, Too
6dScientists studying insects in tropical environments find ways to reduce insect die-offs caused by artificial light
NASA Says Oops, Mars Helicopter Needs Software Update to Fly
6dSoftware Update NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity was meant to take flight in the early morning hours of Monday , marking the first time a spacecraft has lifted off the surface of another planet. But now it sounds like we’ll have to be a little more patient. Over the weekend, Ingenuity’s team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory had to delay the mini-chopper’s maiden voyage thanks to a software iss
Student's physics homework picked up by Amazon quantum researchers
6dA simple yet elegant change to code studied for more than 20 years could shorten timeline to achieve scalable quantum computation and has attracted the attention of quantum computing programs at Amazon Web Services and Yale University.
Special Ops Soldier With Jetpack Boards Ship in Amazing Video
2hSpecial Jet Suit Ops In a new video released by jetpack maker Gravity Industries, a jetsuit-wearing special ops soldier from the Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Force can be seen boarding a ship — by flying there from a nearby pursuit vessel. It’s a spectacular demonstration of Gravity Industries’ flying technology. Rather than having to pursue and approach the ship in the tailing vessel,
Nasa’s Mars helicopter in first powered, controlled flight on another planet
5hIngenuity successfully takes flight, hovering at height of about 3 metres before touching back down Nasa is celebrating the first powered, controlled flight on another planet after its Ingenuity helicopter rose into the Martian sky, hovered for a moment, and then gently returned to the dusty surface. The robotic craft climbed to an altitude of about 3 metres on its maiden flight on Monday morning
Photos: The Culture Of Whales
5hBelugas play, a sperm whale nurses, and orcas teach their pups to hunt in a series of photographs from National Geographic photographer and explorer Brian Skerry. (Image credit: Brian Skerry/National Geographic)
FAQ: America's New Promise On Climate
7hThe U.S. is planning to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is America's return to the international climate stage. We break it down for you. (Image credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
UK Covid news: Boris Johnson cancels trip to India as pressure grows for it to be added to travel red list
8hLatest updates: PM’s forthcoming trip to India cancelled as country’s total cases reach 15m ‘If we catch Covid, we die’: UK shielders reflect on still feeling unsafe Oxford trial to study effect of immune system on reinfection Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage 10.29am BST Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is making a statement to MPs on coronavirus at 3.30pm. Two maj
Tarantulas Are Basically All Over The Planet, And Scientists Can Finally Explain Why
10hEverywhere you look.
Mars helicopter Ingenuity: Nasa about to try historic flight
14hIf all goes to plan, craft will ascend to 10 feet above the surface of Mars, hover for 30 seconds, then rotate before descending Nasa on Monday will attempt to fly a miniature helicopter above the surface of Mars in what would be the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. If all goes to plan, the 1.8kg helicopter will slowly ascend to an altitude of three metres above
Ingenuity Is About to Try Its First Flight on Mars, And NASA Is Feeling 'Optimistic'
16h"We take risks that other missions cannot."
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The Pandemic Proved That Our Toilets Are Crap
1dThe core technologies for sewage systems were developed over a hundred years ago. It's time to get better, healthier updates in the pipeline.
The Incredible Shrinking And Growing Brains Of Indian Jumping Ants
1dA new study of Indian jumping ants shows they have the ability to shrink and expand their brains — a first for any insect. (Image credit: Clint Penick)
OPINION: Doctors Should Be More Candid With Their Patients
1dAs a doctor, I was eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in December, but I also was pregnant, and there wasn't yet much data to inform my decision. What I needed was a different kind of information. (Image credit: DrAfter123/Getty Images)
A Distinctly American Problem Needs Systematic Investigation
1dAviation deaths once looked like an intractable problem. Then the federal government began probing every plane crash with an eye toward preventing future loss of life. Our skies got much safer as a result. A similar approach could reduce police killings. A federal agency should investigate every single killing and significant injury caused by American police officers, who have long killed people
Så minskar du riskerna med plast i ditt hem
1dHormonstörande tillsatser i plast har flera negativa effekter för vår hälsa. Men genom att dra ned på mängden plast som kommer i kontakt med din mat, använda oparfymerade hygienprodukter och vädra dina nya möbler kan du dra ned på din exponering för kemikalierna.
The Brain's Pleasure System Wastes Away in Early-Onset Dementia, Study Finds
1dThe changes are distinct from depression.
Forskare: Massplantering av träd kan fånga upp nära 70 procent av tidigare utsläpp
1dUppskattningsvis växer tre biljoner träd på jorden idag. Men det finns plats för 1,2 biljoner till, enligt forskare som menar att storskaliga planteringar effektivt skulle minska koldioxidutsläppen. – Det är ett underskattat vapen i kampen mot klimatförändringar, säger Thomas Crowther, forskare i ekologi.
Så kyler trädens gaser ner planeten
1dAtt träd binder koldioxid är välkänt. Men träd håller även ner temperaturen på fler sätt än många tidigare har trott. Träd släpper ifrån sig gaser och de gaserna har en nedkylande effekt på atmosfären. – Den ljuvliga doften av en tallskog är just sådana gaser, säger klimatforskaren Catherine Scott vid Leeds universitet.
Technology Really Is Changing Human Circadian Rhythms, Scientists Say
1dThe impact on sleep is unclear.
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Feeling Hungry All The Time? Scientists Have a New Explanation For What's Going On
1dBlood sugar, but complicated.
The Mystery Deepens Over Why The Lost City of Cahokia Was Abandoned
2dAnother hypothesis is ruled out.
Who Wants to Watch Black Pain?
2dUpdated at 6:40 p.m. ET on April 17, 2021. In the trailer for Amazon’s new horror series, Them , Diana Ross’s “Home” soundtracks a tender scene: A Black husband and wife in the 1950s survey their new house in wonder and dance in the living room with their two daughters. “When I think of home / I think of a place where there’s love overflowing,” Ross sings. But, as in the song, the tenor of the tr
Walking or running in nature with a therapist is helping people heal
2dOutdoor therapy can help people to become reflective and their body language while moving gives clues to their feelings Covid has transformed the way many of us work and that includes the people who look after our mental health. For much of lockdown, psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists have all had to venture into the world of online therapy, tackling their clients’ iss
AI ethicist Kate Darling: ‘Robots can be our partners’
2dThe MIT researcher says that for humans to flourish we must move beyond thinking of robots as potential future competitors Dr Kate Darling is a research specialist in human-robot interaction, robot ethics and intellectual property theory and policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab . In her new book, The New Breed , she argues that we would be better prepared for the fu
The Covid-19 Plasma Boom Is Over. What Did We Learn From It?
2dThe U.S. government invested $800 million in plasma when the country was desperate for Covid-19 treatments. A year later, the program has fizzled.
We’re Starting to See How Covid PPE Litter Affects Wildlife
2dMore than a year into the pandemic, scientists and environmentalists have the first data on where disposable gloves and masks are turning up in ecosystems.
Graffiti can now be removed in minutes without damaging underlying art
2dA cleaning system that uses a hydrogel can remove graffiti from street art within minutes, without any alteration to the artwork underneath
The US plans to put a nuclear-powered rocket in orbit by 2025
2dThe US is taking steps to put a rocket propelled using nuclear energy into orbit by 2025, paving the way for navigation in space to become much easier
Female monkeys call to males when they see a predator approaching
2dFemale putty-nosed monkeys of West Africa will use calls to enlist the help of males when they see a leopard approach
Basic income trial is testing how money affects child development
2dA pioneering trial is giving mothers in poverty either a large or small cash gift each month for several years to find out whether a basic income changes a baby's brain and development
Artificial nervous system senses light and learns to catch like humans
2dA simple artificial nervous system is able to mimic the way humans respond to light and learn to perform basic tasks. The principle could extend to creating more useful robots and prostheses
Why the UK changed covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine advice for under-30s
2dGuidance in the UK now says healthy people under 30 should be offered a different vaccine – here's everything you need to know
Dead eagles found across the US had rat poison in their blood
2dTests on 133 dead bald eagles and golden eagles from across the US show that 80 per cent of them had rat poison in their body, which could affect their reproduction or lead to death
Covid-19 vaccine passports tested in UK as lockdown restrictions ease
2dThe UK government says covid-19 vaccine passports are likely to become a “feature of our lives,” despite mounting political opposition
Most alien civilisations risk fuelling global warming on their planets
2dHumans have influenced Earth’s climate so much that we have triggered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. Now physicists say that around 60 per cent of alien civilisations could do the same on their home planets
Pandemic made 2020 ‘the year of the quiet ocean’, say scientists
2dHuman-generated sounds faded substantially at height of Covid lockdown, studies show Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The Covid-19 lockdown has produced the quietest year for the world’s oceans in recent memory, according to a group of scientists working on a global map of underwater soundscapes. Noise pollution from ship engines, trawling activities, oil platforms, s
Nasa picks Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build spacecraft to return humans to moon
2dSpace agency breaks with tradition by awarding $2.9bn contract to single company in ‘big step’ for moon-to-Mars strategy Nasa has chosen SpaceX to build the next-generation spacecraft that will return humans to the moon, further strengthening Elon Musk’s grip on the burgeoning public-private space industry. The $2.9bn contract to build the lunar lander that will spearhead the Artemis program , Na
Svettarmband mäter om du riskerar att bli allvarligt sjuk i covid-19
2dForskare har utvecklat ett armband som mäter om det finns en inflammation i kroppen – via svetten. Svettarmbandet kan även larma om det finns risk för så kallade cytokinstormar som kan leda till svår sjukdom och död.
‘We Were Flying Blind’: A Dr.’s Account of a Woman’s J.&J. Vaccine-Related Blood Clot Case
2dThe disorder is rare, but so severe that the vaccine is on hold while experts weigh the risks and alert doctors and patients about symptoms and treatment.
What are the new Covid variants and what do they mean for the pandemic?
2dFrom Doug to Nelly and Eeek, we look at how mutations are affecting the battle against the virus Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage From the moment public health officials started to track new variants of coronavirus, it became clear that the same mutations were cropping up time and again and making the virus more troublesome. What are these mutations, what do they do,
Pfizer CEO Says You’ll “Likely” Need a Third Dose of COVID Vaccine
3dGetting both shots of the Pfizer vaccine may not be enough to permanently protect you against the coronavirus. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC yesterday that we may eventually need a third injection of the vaccine to serve as a booster when its protective benefits start to wane, or if the company reworks its formula to better protect against new variants of the coronavirus. “A likely scenario
87 Neanderthal footprints found on an ancient Iberian shoreline
3dA team of researchers from Spain, Argentina and France has identified 87 Neanderthal footprints found on an ancient shoreline on the Iberian Peninsula. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group describes their study of the footprints and what they learned about them.
The Fast Lane for COVID Testing Has Opened Up in the U.S.
3dRecently approved rapid antigen tests are likely to help mitigate the chain of transmission and put the U.S. on par with other countries that have them — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
A rich marine algal ecosystem existed 600 million years earlier than previously thought
3dThe first photosynthetic oxygen-producing organisms on Earth were cyanobacteria. Their evolution dramatically changed the Earth allowing oxygen to accumulate into the atmosphere for the first time and further allowing the evolution of oxygen-utilizing organisms including eukaryotes. Eukaryotes include animals, but also algae, a broad group of photosynthetic oxygen-producing organisms that now domi
A Huge New Kroger Warehouse Is Staffed by 1,000 Grocery-Picking Robots
3dWith the pandemic at long last starting to wind down, many of us are beyond eager to get back to “the way things used to be,” that is, being able to interact with other humans, spending time in public places, and getting some measure of joy out of life. But some of our habits may be permanently changed , like doing meetings over Zoom, working from home, and shopping online. One grocery store chai
How The U.S. Could Halve Climate Emissions By 2030
3dEnvironmental groups and business leaders are pushing President Biden to cut U.S. emissions 50% by 2030. The question is: what kind of climate policies will work that fast? (Image credit: Dennis Schroeder/NREL)
Women in England almost twice as likely as men to be prescribed opiate painkillers
3dExperts worried about high use of drugs such as codeine and tramadol after prescriptions rose during Covid pandemic ‘I was told to live with it’: women tell of doctors dismissing their pain Women in England are almost twice as likely as men to be prescribed powerful and potentially addictive opiate painkillers, prompting experts to warn that female pain is overly medicated and not properly invest
Adverse Events Linked to Pediatric “Alternative Medicine” in the Netherlands
3dA study out of the Netherlands documented pediatric adverse events associated with complementary and alternative medicine over three years. Thankfully there weren't a lot of kids harmed, but when there is no potential benefit from an intervention, even one is way too many. The post first appeared on Science-Based Medicine .
The universe is expanding – but what is it expanding into?
3dThe long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts Scientists and astronomers tell us that the universe is expanding. But what is it expanding into, ie what’s beyond the universe? Phil Town, Lisbon Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com
La Soufrière Volcano: A Growing Humanitarian Crisis
3dBetween 16,000 and 20,000 people were evacuated from the area around the volcano on St. Vincent. Some evacuees are with family and friends; others are fleeing the island entirely. (Image credit: Orvil Samuel/AP)
US Spies Warn That China Is Building Space Weapons
3dWeaponizing Space The US intelligence community issued a dire warning that China, perceived to be “the top threat” to America’s dominance in space, is taking steps to weaponize space. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a new Global Risk Assessment report last week in which it details an upswing in China’s military and commercial activity in Earth’s orbit. Chief am
Winners of the 2021 World Press Photo Contest
3dThe winning entries of the annual World Press Photo Contest have just been announced. This year, according to organizers, 74,470 images were submitted for judging, made by 4,315 photographers from 130 different countries. Winners in eight categories were announced, including Contemporary Issues, Environment, General News, Long-Term Projects, Nature, Portraits, Sports, and Spot News. World Press
While species come and go, their ecosystems persist over millions of years
3dMammal communities underwent long periods of so-called functional stability despite the waxing and waning of their constituent species over tens of millions of years, even persisting through several environmental crises. This is the main conclusion of a new study published in the journal Science by an interdisciplinary team from Spain and Germany.
How Many Tyrannosaurus Rexes Ever Lived on Earth? Here’s a New Clue.
3dAn estimation of the iconic predator’s total population can teach us things about dinosaurs that fossils cannot.
Human cells grown in monkey embryos reignite ethics debate
4dScientists confirm they have produced ‘chimera’ embryos from long-tailed macaques and humans Monkey embryos containing human cells have been produced in a laboratory, a study has confirmed, spurring fresh debate into the ethics of such experiments. The embryos are known as chimeras, organisms whose cells come from two or more “individuals” , and in this case, different species: a long-tailed maca
Researchers have created embryos that are part-human and part-monkey
4dThey could one day provide organs for transplant
The Brain ‘Rotates’ Memories to Save Them From New Sensations
4dDuring every waking moment, we humans and other animals have to balance on the edge of our awareness of past and present. We must absorb new sensory information about the world around us while holding on to short-term memories of earlier observations or events. Our ability to make sense of our surroundings, to learn, to act and to think all depend on constant, nimble interactions between percepti
SpaceX COO: “We Will Fly Large Numbers of People on Starship in Five Years”
4dStarship Transporter During a conference hosted by MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, SpaceX COO and president Gwynne Shotwell reiterated the space company’s desires to get its Mars-bound spacecraft Starship off the ground. “Starship is an amazing machine,” she said, as quoted by SpaceNews . “I could not be more excited about a vehicle than I am about Starship,” she added. “That is
China 'can save $1.6 trillion by scrapping coal', report says
4dBeijing must close 588 coal-fired power plants in a decade to meet climate pledges, experts say.
Google Earth Now Shows You Our Planet’s Slow Deterioration
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4dGoogle Earth Timelapse
A new time-lapse video feature in Google Earth lets users see how humans have reshaped the globe over the decades.
U.S. Suicides Declined Over All in 2020 but May Have Risen Among People of Color
4dDespite dire predictions, the number of suicides fell by 5 percent over all. Still, smaller studies suggested the trends were much worse among nonwhite Americans.
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C.D.C. Panel Keeps Pause on Use of J&J Vaccine, Weighing Risks
4dAn advisory committee debated the very few cases of a rare blood disorder and worried about the suspension’s effect on global needs for a one-shot, easy-to-ship vaccine.
The FBI Takes a Drastic Step to Fight China’s Hacking Spree
4dThe agency's approach to protecting vulnerable victims of the recent Hafnium attack manages to be at once controversial and refreshingly restrained.
Harvard/MIT Researcher: COVID Definitely Could Have Leaked From a Lab
4dDespite a team of World Health Organization (WHO) investigators ruling that it was “ extremely unlikely ” that the coronavirus was accidentally released from a research lab in China, the idea continues to persist. Most notably, the head of the WHO said last month that he remained unconvinced by the investigation, especially because it was difficult for the investigators to access any raw data, an
New Report Identifies 4 Techniques That Help Women Experience More Pleasure
4dThey're called Angling, Rocking, Shallowing, and Pairing.
Expert: Neuralink Could Sell Your Private Thoughts to the “Highest Bidder”
4dLast week, Elon Musk’s neural implant company Neuralink released a video of a primate, who’d been implanted with its technology, playing the game “Pong” with its thoughts. The technologically flashy but otherwise disappointing demo — neuroscientists first developed and demonstrated mind-control tech in primates decades ago — represented Neuralink’s growing prominence in the public sphere, and rai
Johnson & Johnson Halt Isn't Just A U.S. Problem
5dSoon after U.S. regulators paused the use of the J&J single-dose vaccine, health authorities in many European countries and in South Africa announced that they were also putting it on hold. (Image credit: Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images)
Finally, 3D-printed graphene aerogels for water treatment
5dGraphene excels at removing contaminants from water, but it's not yet a commercially viable use of the wonder material.
Little swirling mysteries: New research uncovers dynamics of ultrasmall, ultrafast groups of atoms
5dOur high-speed, high-bandwidth world constantly requires new ways to process and store information. Semiconductors and magnetic materials have made up the bulk of data storage devices for decades. In recent years, however, researchers and engineers have turned to ferroelectric materials, a type of crystal that can be manipulated with electricity.
How the Largest Animals That Could Ever Fly Supported Giraffe-Like Necks
5dThese pterosaurs had wingspans as long as 33 feet, and scans of fossilized remains reveal a surprise in their anatomy.
The J&J Vaccine Is Not a Tainted Cantaloupe
5dI am one of the nearly 7 million Americans with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine percolating through my tissue at this very moment. It feels good. The sensation of rising immunity to COVID-19 would almost certainly still feel good if I were a woman between the ages of 18 and 48, like all six of the vaccine recipients who later suffered from blood clots. The clots, which might or might not be related
The New Historian of the Smash That Made the Himalayas
5dEarth is unique in plenty of ways. But Lucía Pérez-Díaz , a geologist at the University of Oxford, reckons that one of its most stunning novelties is its ability to constantly change its face. Our planet’s ever-metamorphosing veneer is made up of colossal slabs of rock named tectonic plates: wafers of crust stuck atop Earth’s upper mantle. They drift around at roughly the rate your nails grow, cr
Flying giant pterosaurs had longer neck than a giraffe, say experts
5dIntact remains, discovered in Morocco, may help engineers create stronger lightweight structures Pterosaurs, one of the first and largest vertebrates to learn to fly, have often been seen as the cool cousins of the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex. Now scientists have discovered the 100m-year-old secret to the success of the flying pterosaur: a neck longer than a giraffe. Continue reading…
Ancient people may have created cave art while hallucinating
5dStone age people may have deliberately ventured into oxygen-depleted caves to paint while having out-of-body experiences and hallucinations, researchers say.
Experts worried after 4 dead gray whales wash up around San Francisco
5dFour dead gray whales have washed up in San Francisco Bay in eight days, prompting fears that the species is under threat in the area.
What I Learned Biking the 10,000-Mile Migration Route of Monarch Butterflies
5dI set off to be the first person to cycle alongside the butterflies to raise awareness of their alarming decline
EU bets big on BioNTech/Pfizer jab as Danes end use of AstraZeneca
5dBrussels puts focus on mRNA vaccines amid concern over rare blood clots linked to other shots
Study explores extremely luminous infrared galaxy WISEJ0909+0002
5dAn international team of astronomers has investigated an extremely luminous infrared galaxy known as WISEJ090924.01+000211.1 (or WISEJ0909+0002 for short) as part of the eROSITA final equatorial depth survey (eFEDS). Results of this study, published April 6 on the arXiv pre-print server, provide important insights into the properties of this galaxy.
Pet dog buried 6,000 years ago is earliest evidence of its domestication in Arabia
5dArchaeologists in Saudi Arabia have uncovered bones at a burial site that reveal the domestication of dogs in the area happened much earlier than previously believed.
Leopards from Africa and Asia are genetically distinct, reveals DNA analysis of museum specimens
5dA small group of leopards migrated to Asia about half a million years ago following their evolution in Africa, a new study suggests.
Did This Scorching-Hot Planet Lose—and Regain—an Atmosphere?
5dA veritable hellscape of an exoplanet is challenging researchers’ assumptions about what types of worlds host atmospheres.
What Was America Doing in Afghanistan?
5dT he soldiers living in the concrete maze of Combat Outpost (COP) Michigan treated the Taliban fire that poured in from the mountains as though it were weather: Bursts of machine-gun bullets were akin to drizzle, volleys of rocket-propelled grenades more like heavy rain. “It might not be worth going out into that,” a tall, blond soldier remarked to a colleague, after the thump of an explosion on
In world first, New Zealand to make banks report climate impact
5dNew Zealand will force banks to reveal the impact their investments have on climate change under world-first legislation intended to make the financial sector's environmental record transparent, officials said.
UK study on mixing Covid vaccines between jabs to be expanded
5dResearchers to examine whether mixing vaccines may give longer-lasting immunity against virus Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A major UK study examining whether Covid vaccines can be safely mixed with different types of jabs for the first and second doses is to be expanded. Researchers running the Com-Cov study , launched in February to investigate alternating doses
4,300 Years of Bat Poop From The Depths of a Jamaican Cave Have Revealed Earth's Past
5dThe pile is taller than a human.
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Cascading effects of noise on plants persist over long periods and after noise is removed
5dThough noise may change moment by moment for humans, it has a more lasting effect on trees and plants.
Biden Wants World Leaders to Make Climate Change Commitments
5dThe administration is closing in on deals with some close allies, but agreements with powers like China, Brazil and India are proving difficult.
Exit Strategy
5dIn important aspects of foreign and national-security policy, the Biden administration is really the Trump administration but with civilized manners. In no respect is that more true than in the president’s announcement of a complete military withdrawal from Afghanistan by September 11 of this year, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that brought the United States to that country’s star
Watch This Breathtaking Time-Lapse Taken From Inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon
5dCrew Dragon Time Lapse NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, one of the ten crew members currently residing on board the International Space Station, shared a gorgeous time lapse taken by crew mate and Japanese space agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi. The stunning time lapse was taken from inside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule nicknamed Resilience, which will soon be joined by a second capsule on April
Biden Wants Leaders to Make Climate Commitments for Earth Day
5dThe administration is closing in on deals with some close allies, but agreements with powers like China, Brazil and India are proving difficult.
After 48-year search, physicists discover ultra-rare 'triple glueball' particle
5dA never-before-seen particle known as the odderon has revealed itself in the hot guts of two particle colliders, confirming a 48-year-old theory.
Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakomoto Is Now One of the World’s Wealthiest People
5dHigh Score Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous figure who created Bitcoin back in 2009, is now one of the richest people alive — assuming the unidentified coder is still alive in the first place. Based on Bitcoin.com’ s calculations , the roughly 1 million Bitcoin in Nakamoto’s account is worth around $59 billion today. With additional funds like various Bitcoin caches, that would make Nakamoto th
Study cements age and location of hotly debated skull from early human Homo erectus
6dA new study verifies the age and origin of one of the oldest specimens of Homo erectus—a very successful early human who roamed the world for nearly 2 million years. In doing so, the researchers also found two new specimens at the site—likely the earliest pieces of the Homo erectus skeleton yet discovered. Details are published today in the journal Nature Communications.
Novel theory addresses centuries-old physics problem
6dThe 'three-body problem,' the term coined for predicting the motion of three gravitating bodies in space, is essential for understanding a variety of astrophysical processes as well as a large class of mechanical problems, and has occupied some of the world's best physicists, astronomers and mathematicians for over three centuries. Their attempts have led to the discovery of several important fiel
Domino’s Starts Autonomous Robot Pizza Deliveries
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6dDomino Nuro Houston
R2-D(omino’s)-2 Pizza giant Domino’s is partnering with robotics company Nuro to bring autonomous robot pizza deliveries to Houston, Texas. Customers in the area can now have their pizza delivered by an adorable robot called R2, built by Nuro. The four-wheeled vehicle was first introduced back in February 2020 and became the first fully autonomous on-road delivery vehicle to be approved by the De
Sensitive qubit-based technique to accelerate search for dark matter
6dScientists at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Chicago have demonstrated a new technique based on quantum technology that will advance the search for dark matter, the invisible stuff that accounts for 85% of all matter in the universe.
J&J delays vaccine rollout in Europe after US health agencies call for pause
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6dJ&J & Johnson
CDC and FDA recommendation comes after reports of ‘rare and severe’ blood clots
Under-30s less compliant with Covid rules, UK data shows
5hWhile most followed restrictions, one in seven admitted to decreasing levels of compliance Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage People under 30 were less compliant with Covid rules over the past year, according to survey data from more than 50,000 adults in the UK. While the still to be peer-reviewed analysis suggests most people followed lockdown and social distancing ru
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Microbes are ‘unknown unknowns’ despite being vital to all life, says study
12hUnderstanding these tiny organisms could be crucial to tackling threats such as coronavirus, but new research shows how little we know A new study has highlighted how little is known about microbes – the hidden majority of life on Earth. Life on the planet relies on an enormous quantity of bacteria, fungi and other tiny organisms. They generate oxygen, keep soils healthy and regulate the climate.
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The best climate solution you've never heard of
17hMeet the teams who track down and destroy hidden sources of greenhouse gases.
Covid: trial to study effect of immune system on reinfection
17hOxford scientists will track whether participants are reinfected when re-exposed to coronavirus Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The immune response needed to protect people against reinfection with the coronavirus will be explored in a new human challenge trial, researchers have revealed. Human challenge trials involve deliberately exposing healthy people to a diseas
New Warp Drive Research Dashes Faster-Than-Light Travel Dreams—but Reveals Stranger Possibilities
1dIn 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a radical technology that would allow faster-than-light travel: the warp drive , a hypothetical way to skirt around the universe’s ultimate speed limit by bending the fabric of reality. It was an intriguing idea—even NASA has been researching it at the Eagleworks laboratory—but Alcubierre’s proposal contained problems that seemed insurmountable. Now,
Readers reply: the universe is expanding – but what is it expanding into?
1dThe long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts Scientists and astronomers tell us that the universe is expanding. But what is it expanding into, ie what’s beyond the universe? Phil Town, Lisbon Please email new questions to nq@theguardian.com Continue reading…
How the Smart Remote Lost Its Way
1dOnce, we dreamed of one controller to rule them all. But when Logitech killed off the Harmony line, it ended an era.
Vodka, toothpaste, yoga mats … the new technology making items out of thin air
1dAn exhibition at London’s Science Museum shows how far carbon capture research has come Tackling climate change may bring unexpected benefits, London’s Science Museum will reveal next month. A special exhibition on carbon capture, the fledgling technology of extracting greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and emissions from factories, will display bottles of vodka, tubes of toothpaste, pens and y
It's OK Our Bodies Have Changed During the Pandemic
1dThe coronavirus changed so much about our lives, including, for many of us, our bodies. It’s OK.
$25 Million Worth Of Giant Clam Shells Seized In The Philippines
1dThe raid Friday was the third giant clam bust in just over a month. Since the beginning of March, about $30 million worth of giant clams have been seized from illegal operations.
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Physicists have created a new and extremely rare kind of uranium
2dA team of physicists in China has produced the lightest uranium atom ever, which is more than 10 per cent smaller than the most common type of uranium
Around 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rex ever walked the Earth
2dAn estimate for the number of Tyrannosaurus rex that ever existed suggests that around 20,000 adults lived at any one time, meaning there were a total of 2.5 billion of them during the lifespan of the species
Switching beef for chicken could reduce water footprint of US diets
2dSimple dietary changes – like switching beef for chicken and peas for asparagus – may help people in the US reduce the amount of water required to put their meals on the table
Just 3 per cent of the land on Earth is still ecologically intact
2dMost of Earth’s terrestrial habitats have lost their ecological integrity – even areas previously categorised as being intact
Limiting fossil fuel use isn’t enough – we must stop extraction too
2dTo limit climate change and meet even the modest goals of the Paris Agreement, governments need to focus less on reducing demand for fossil fuels and more on cutting the supply
What causes the rare blood clots linked with some covid-19 vaccines?
2dJohnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccines have been paused in the US after rare reports of blood clots, similar to those linked with the AstraZeneca vaccine in other countries. Could the cause of the clots be the same?
Animals with weird neurons may rewrite the story of brain evolution
2dThe neurons of comb jellies are a peculiar shape and use chemicals not found in the brains of other animals – hinting they might have evolved independently of other neurons
Mars swung between humid and arid conditions before it dried up
2dImages captured on the Martian surface by the Curiosity rover indicate that the planet fluctuated between arid and humid conditions in its ancient past
NASA is about to fly a helicopter on another planet for the first time
2dThe Ingenuity helicopter, which hitched a ride to Mars aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover, is getting ready to perform its first test flight on 12 April
Dementia risk doubles if people have both vision and hearing loss
2dOver six years, a study following thousands of people aged 58 and up found that those who started to lose their vision and hearing were more likely to develop dementia
People are bad at spotting simple solutions to problems
2dWe tend to default to solving problems by adding features rather than removing them, potentially failing to recognise efficient solutions that involve simplification
Most fuel-hungry SUVs in the UK are bought by people in cities
2dSUVs in the UK are overwhelmingly bought by people in towns and cities, with the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea emerging as the country’s Range Rover capital
Human brain organoids grown in cheap 3D-printed bioreactor
2dIt is now possible to grow and culture human brain tissue in a device that costs little more than the price of a cup of coffee
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Tarantula's ubiquity traced back to the cretaceous
2dTarantulas are among the most notorious spiders, due in part to their size, vibrant colors and prevalence throughout the world. But one thing most people don't know is that tarantulas are homebodies. Females and their young rarely leave their burrows and only mature males will wander to seek out a mate. How then did such a sedentary spider come to inhabit six out of seven continents?
Why the Vaccine Safety Numbers Are Still Fuzzy
2dPutting a risk in context: The rate of blood clots is extremely low, but the pause in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could reveal more cases.
Elon Musk Takes Cybertruck for Off-Road Joyride
3dOff-Road Joyride During a recent visit to Tesla’s factory in Austin, Texas, CEO Elon Musk decided to take a prototype of the company’s long-awaited electric pickup, the Cybertruck, out for a spin. Videos of the event showed the brutalist truck drive over the site’s dirt-covered grounds. Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas! $TSLA #Tesla #Cybertruck #EV @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/g90Ml0NWTF — Tesla New
UK finds more cases of variant linked to severe second wave in India
3dDiscovery of 77 infections with new strain prompts calls to add India to Britain’s travel ‘red list’
What the Pandemic Has Done to the Class of 2020
3dNina Berman / NOOR / Redux Noah Baumbach’s 1995 film, Kicking and Screaming , opens at a college-graduation party. Students dressed in boxy suits and flouncy dresses mill around campus, savoring their final moments of collegiate aimlessness: Today I am a student, an English major. Tomorrow these identities will fall away and I will have no idea who or what I am anymore. A group of friends gathers
Laos jars are slowly revealing their secrets
3dIn the rugged province of Xieng Khoaung in upper northern Laos are scattered more than 2,000 large carved stone jars. They vary in size, with the biggest standing at just over 2.5 meters tall and weighing in at 30 tons. The jars are believed to have been used for funerary purposes, with human remains (including teeth) found buried around some of the jars.
‘They Just Feel That They’ve Been Violated’
3dPeople come to Shelly Hughes to get better. Most patients at the Washington State long-term-care facility she works at are there for the express purpose of getting well enough to go home. In a typical year, she would rarely see cases of “failure to thrive,” the technical term for a sharp and sudden decline in health. But last year, multiple people who were expected to make a full recovery went in
Coping Strategies of Ocean Castaways Hold Lessons for the COVID Pandemic
3dShipwreck victims cast adrift for weeks or months exhibit a resilience that serves as a model to weather any extended crisis — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Surrendering Our Cities to Cars Would Be a Historic Blunder
3dAmid the devastation caused by the pandemic, an urban awakening occurred. It would have been international news on its own, had the health crisis not overshadowed it. As businesses and offices closed their doors, cities opened their streets for residents and restaurants hungry for space and socially distant outdoor activity—a radical transformation of asphalt into active places at an astonishing
Geoffrey Hinton has a hunch about what’s next for AI
3dBack in November, the computer scientist and cognitive psychologist Geoffrey Hinton had a hunch. After a half-century’s worth of attempts—some wildly successful—he’d arrived at another promising insight into how the brain works and how to replicate its circuitry in a computer. “It’s my current best bet about how things fit together,” Hinton says from his home office in Toronto, where he’s been se
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Only 3% of Earth's Land Ecosystems Remain Intact, But All Is Not Lost
3dWe can still help the planet recover.
NYPD Robodog Involved in Arrest of Man With Gun
3dTo the dismay of local residents, the New York City police department rolled out its newest toy earlier this week: a four-legged robot dog. The robot, a modified Spot model manufactured by Boston Dynamics, made an appearance at a public housing building . Videos taken at the scene show the robot dog entering and exiting the building’s lobby. Now, new details are emerging about the incident. Polic
Terrifying Mutated-Looking “Creature” Turns Out to Be a Croissant
3dPastry Panic A mysterious creature caught in a tree caused residents in Krakow, Poland, to shut their windows and hunker down. “People aren’t opening their windows because they’re afraid it will go into their house,” a woman recalled, as quoted by the BBC . The putative creature spent two days in the tree worrying onlookers. Eventually the Krakow Animal Welfare Society was called in, not sure wha
Is it good for you? According to Nietzsche, it's better to ask, "Does it dance?"
3dFriedrich Nietzsche's body of work is notoriously difficult to navigate. He wrote in multiple styles, including essays, aphorisms, poems, and fiction. He introduced idiosyncratic concepts such as the free spirit, the Übermensch , eternal recurrence, ressentiment , the ascetic ideal, the revaluation of values, and the affirmation of life. He shifted allegiances: writing books, for example, in supp
The $1 billion Russian cyber company that the US says hacks for Moscow
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3dUS Russian SolarWinds
The hackers at Positive Technologies are undeniably good at what they do. The Russian cybersecurity firm regularly publishes highly-regarded research, looks at cutting edge computer security flaws, and has spotted vulnerabilities in networking equipment, telephone signals, and electric car technology. But American intelligence agencies have concluded that this $1 billion company—which is headquar
Russia Is Planning a Moon Landing Later This Year
3dLuna 25 Russia is planning to launch a mission to the Moon’s south pole — and it’s scheduled for launch this October, Space.com reports . The mission, dubbed Luna 25, could be the first Russian moon landing since Luna 24, the country’s third lunar sample return mission, which launched in 1976. The goal of the mission is to investigate ice deposits suspected to be buried beneath the Moon’s south p
How many T. rexes were there? Billions.
3dHow many Tyrannosaurus rexes roamed North America during the Cretaceous period?
Deciduous trees offset carbon loss from Alaskan boreal fires, new study finds
3dMore severe and frequent fires in the Alaskan boreal forest are releasing vast stores of carbon and nitrogen from burned trees and soil into the atmosphere, a trend that could accelerate climate warming. But new research published this week in the journal Science shows that the deciduous trees replacing burned spruce forests more than make up for that loss, storing more carbon and accumulating it
Google Earth time-lapses show a changing planet
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4dGoogle Earth Timelapse
Satellite images collected over 37 years are combined to show how Earth in a new way.
Concerns rise about spread of coronavirus variant in London
4dSeveral people infected by strain first identified in South Africa had received at least one vaccine shot
Ford CEO Mocks Tesla For Rolling Out Half-Finished Autonomous Driving
4dUS carmaker Ford just announced its answer to Tesla’s Autopilot. The hands-free highway driving system, called BlueCruise, is making its way into the Mustang Mach-E, the company’s latest flagship electric vehicle. CEO Jim Farley took the opportunity to take potshots at the competition. “BlueCruise! We tested it in the real world, so our customers don’t have to,” the executive wrote in a tweet, an
Will we ever know exactly how the universe ballooned into existence?
4dPhysicists have long been unable to describe what happened just after the Big Bang when a teensy blip ballooned into the universe, a process called inflation. We may know why.
Why corporate diversity programs fail — and how small tweaks can have big impact | Joan C. Williams
4dCompanies in the US spend billions of dollars each year on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, but subtle (and not so subtle) workplace biases often cost these initiatives — and the people they're meant to help — big time by undermining their goals. DEI expert Joan C. Williams identifies five common patterns of bias that cause these programs to fail — and offers a data-driven approach
Researchers generate human-monkey chimeric embryos
4dInvestigators in China and the United States have injected human stem cells into primate embryos and were able to grow chimeric embryos for a significant period of time—up to 20 days. The research, despite its ethical concerns, has the potential to provide new insights into developmental biology and evolution. It also has implications for developing new models of human biology and disease. The wor
Anomaly in Earth’s Magnetic Field May Be Caused by Buried Fragment of Ancient Planet
4dScientists have long observed a growing “dent” in the Earth’s magnetic field just above the southern Atlantic Ocean. The “ South Atlantic Anomaly ,” as it has become known, can wreak havoc with satellites and spacecraft that happen to pass over it. Now, scientists suspect it may have a connection to two mysterious blobs of dense material discovered in the Earth’s mantle that recent research sugge
How to Buy Happiness
4d“ How to Build a Life ” is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. Arthur C. Brooks will discuss the science of happiness live at 11 a.m. ET on May 20. Register for In Pursuit of Happiness here . I n 2010 , two Nobel laureates in economics published a paper that created a tidal wave of interest both inside and outside academia. With careful data analysis, th
WHO sounds alarm on drug-resistant bacteria
4dGlobal health body warns none of antibiotics currently being developed are enough to tackle superbugs
J&J vaccine pause to last extra week amid blood clot fears
4dGuidance that jab should not be used remains in place after US meeting of experts
'Magic mushroom' compound may work just as well as antidepressants, small study finds
4dThe study adds to a growing body of research on the potential benefits of psilocybin for people with depression.
In Coinbase’s Rise, a Reminder: Cryptocurrencies Use Lots of Energy
4dThe company’s stock market arrival establishes Bitcoin and other digital currencies in the traditional financial landscape. It also elevates a technology with astonishing environmental costs.
Neil deGrasse Tyson Sucked Into Feud With Processed Meat Brand (Again)
4dTwitter can be an unusual place for internet discourse. It’s a bizarre melting pot, where anthropomorphized spacecraft , outspoken political pundits, and billionaire CEOs meet to shout into the void of the world wide web. Sometimes, things can get a little heated — no matter how mismatched the two bickering parties might be. Most recently, the social media manager of Steak-umm, a processed meat t
Are chemical pollutants altering the behavior of wildlife and humans?
5dInternational scientists from around the world are warning that chemical pollutants in the environment have the potential to alter animal and human behavior.
Is Bigfoot real? You likely already know the answer.
5dDespite a lack of hard evidence, some people believe that Bigfoot, also called Sasquatch, is a giant ape-like creature that roams North America.
Knife-wielding spider god mural unearthed in Peru
5dArchaeologists in Peru are taking steps to preserve and study a 3,200-year-old temple painted with a mural of a spider deity holding a knife.
A NASA astronaut's lessons on fear, confidence and preparing for spaceflight | Megan McArthur
5dHow does an astronaut prepare physically and mentally to launch into space? NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, who will take part in the SpaceX Crew-2 mission later this month, shares stellar life lessons on how to cultivate the resolve to do incredible things through preparation — and a dash of bravery. A rare glimpse at what it takes to literally shoot for the stars. (This virtual conversation, hos
Scientists Should Admit They Bring Personal Values to Their Work
5dValue neutrality among researchers is a myth that hurts the public trust of science — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Who Let the Doge Out? The Cryptocurrency Is As Nutty As Ever
5dThe much wow Dogecoin has had its notable influencers—including, for a brief moment, me.
Coinbase Makes Its Debut—and Bitcoin Arrives on Wall Street
5dThe big cryptocurrency exchange goes public through a direct listing, and it could make a bigger debut than Facebook.
Sitting in a tin can: why sci-fi films are finally telling astronaut life like it is
5dNew Netflix drama Stowaway is the latest in a crop of movies that suggests space travel is more random death and boredom than warp speed nine Anybody who fancies watching a new science fiction film this month can count their lucky stars. A Netflix drama, Stowaway , features Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette and Daniel Dae Kim as a trio of astronauts who are on their way to Mars when they discover that
The new lawsuit that shows facial recognition is officially a civil rights issue
5dOn January 9, 2020, Detroit police drove to the suburb of Farmington Hill and arrested Robert Williams in his driveway while his wife and young daughters looked on. Williams, a Black man, was accused of stealing watches from Shinola, a luxury store. He was held overnight in jail. During questioning, an officer showed Williams a picture of a suspect. His response, as he told the ACLU , was to reje
Indian jumping ants have ability to shrink brain and re-grow it — study
5dColony does not perish when queen dies as ‘chosen’ workers shrink brains and expand their ovaries Few species in the animal kingdom can change the size of their brain. Fewer still can change it back to its original size. Now researchers have found the first insect species with that ability: Indian jumping ants. They are like catnip to researchers in the field. In contrast to their cousins, Indian
US envoy John Kerry woos China over climate
5dUS envoy John Kerry will hold talks in Shanghai ahead of a climate summit hosted by President Biden.
Long-necked dinosaurs migrated hundreds of miles, 'stomach stones' reveal
5dDuring the Jurassic period, long-necked dinosaurs gulped down pink stones and then migrated hundreds of miles across what is now the American Midwest.
Mom & baby giraffe trapped on a sinking island rescued in months-long operation
5dA months-long rescue operation transported the last of nine stranded giraffes to their new home in a mainland sanctuary.
We May Have Found a Cellular Difference That Protects Kids From COVID-19
5dBut don't treat them as invincible.
NASA Considering Reality TV Show Filmed on Space Station
6dNew Deal NASA has signed paperwork to explore the prospect of letting a company film what would be the first reality show set in space Space.com reports . The show, titled “Space Hero,” claims to be “the world’s first ever global casting show where contestants compete for a trip to the International Space Station,” according to a statement, with flights being offered up by Axiom Space. Despite th
A third of Antarctic ice shelves could collapse at current pace of warming
6dA third of Antarctica's vast offshore ice shelves would risk collapse into the ocean if the world warms by 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
Indian astronomers detect over 200 variable stars
6dUsing the ARIES telescope, astronomers from India have inspected a young open cluster known as NGC 281, searching for new variable stars. As a result of this investigation, they detected 228 new variables. The finding is detailed in a paper published April 5 on the arXiv pre-print repository.
The Alt-Right Has Lost Control of Redpill
6dHave you fallen for a famous great ape, the most lovable star of something called the “MonsterVerse”? You’re Kong-pilled . Have you been convinced by a local restaurateur that an imported Italian oil is actually worth the expense? You’re truffle-pilled . Have you inadvertently become entranced by Marxist perspectives on mass media and popular culture? You’re Horkheimer and Adorno–pilled . All ove
There’s a Booming Business in America’s Forests. Some Aren’t Happy About It.
8hThe fuel pellet industry is thriving. Supporters see it as a climate-friendly source of rural jobs. For others, it’s a polluter and destroyer of nature.
11h
Whitest paint ever reflects 98 per cent of light and could cool homes
2dAn ultra-reflective white paint absorbs so little sunlight that it becomes cooler than its surroundings, so it could replace energy-intensive air conditioners to cool buildings
Can the European Union prevent an artificial intelligence dystopia?
2dLeaked draft legislation suggests the European Union is attempting to find a “third way” on artificial intelligence regulation, between the free market US and authoritarian China
Vibrations from a smartphone can help us spot unsafe drinking water
2dA smartphone’s motion sensor and vibrating ringtone can be used to measure the viscosity of liquids, which can reveal impurities in water, and even test urine to diagnose kidney conditions or pregnancy
Australian bushfires warmed the stratosphere by 1°C for six months
2dSmoke pollution from the 2019–2020 Australian bushfires warmed the stratosphere over the southern hemisphere by at least 1°C for six months after the fires
Regular headphones can detect a heart rate and hear your conversations
2dStandard headphones with no microphone or sensors can detect your heart rate, identify you from the shape of your ear canal and even record your voice
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The most detailed look at kelp forests to date finds unseen parasites dominate species interactions
3dEven the mention of parasites can be enough to make some people's skin crawl. But to recent UC Santa Barbara doctoral graduate Dana Morton these creepy critters occupy important ecological niches, fulfilling roles that, in her opinion, have too often been overlooked.
Watch Humanity Mold the Planet in Amazing Google Earth Time-Lapse
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3dGoogle Earth Timelapse
Fast Forward Google Earth just unveiled its biggest update in several years, a tool that shows 35 years of satellite footage to create a 3D time-lapse of how the planet has changed between 1984 and 2020 in a matter of seconds. The tool (you can access it here and yes, you can look up your house) represents a major upgrade over the existing Google Earth time-lapse feature, Gizmodo reports , which
Study uses plankton genomes as global biosensors of ocean ecosystem stress
3dBy analyzing gains and losses in the genes of phytoplankton samples collected in all major ocean regions, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have created the most nuanced and high-resolution map yet to show where these photosynthetic organisms either thrive or are forced to adapt to limited quantities of key nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and iron.
Vladimir Putin Is Reportedly Terrified of Gene-Hacking Experiments
4dRussian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly horrified that human gene editing will result in someone developing a weapon capable of wiping out entire populations and demographics at once. Insiders at Russia’s genetics research programs say that idea is far-fetched, according the investigative news outlet Meduza . But military and security concerns are at the front of Putin’s mind as the countr
Schools Can Open Safely during COVID, the Latest Evidence Shows
4dThe risk of COVID transmission in schools is very low if precautions are taken — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
A Kidnapping Gone Very Wrong
4dIllustrations by Leonardo Santamaria This article was published online on April 15, 2021. T he Motel El Encanto in Hermosillo, Mexico, served a lavish breakfast that John and Andra Patterson liked to eat on the tiled deck near their suite. The couple would discuss the day ahead over fresh pineapple and pan dulces while their 4-year-old daughter, Julia, watched the gray cat that skulked about the
Short duration of the Yixian Formation and 'Chinese Dinosaur Pompeii'
5dThe Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, renowned for its exceptionally well preserved volcanic-influenced ecosystem, was buried in lacustrine and occasionally fluvial sediments in northern Hebei and western Liaoning, China. It includes large amount of evolutionarily significant taxonomy, e.g. feathered dinosaurs, early birds, mammals and flowering plants, representing one of the most diversified terrest
Vaccine Side Effects Q and A
5dSo what’s the side effect that caused the J&J vaccine pause? Blood clotting – but not the usual kind. This appears to be the same (or very similar) to the problem seem with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe, and both are very similar to a known syndrome called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia . That involves unusual binding to a blood protein, platelet factor 4, and it occurs in rare patie
Mystery canine illness identified as animal coronavirus
5dAn outbreak of vomiting among dogs has been traced back to a type of animal coronavirus by researchers.
St Vincent volcano: Island covered in layer of grey as La Soufriere erupts
5dLa Soufriere, on the island of St Vincent, has been erupting for the past five days.
How Domestic Labor Became Infrastructure
5dSince the Biden administration released its infrastructure proposal, a semantic debate has arisen around a specific provision: the $400 billion in spending for at-home care for the elderly and disabled. Many Republicans and some Democrats have bristled that such spending—along with more robust family-leave mandates and investments in child-care access that are expected in a second package—is not
Vacuna Johnson & Johnson: Estados Unidos pausa su aplicación
5dLa FDA ha recomendado pausar esta vacuna por precaución mientras se investigan casos de coágulos de sangre extremadamente raros.
Stellar feedback and an airborne observatory: Team determines a nebula to be much younger than previously believed
5dIn the southern sky, situated about 4,300 light years from Earth, lies RCW 120, an enormous glowing cloud of gas and dust. This cloud, known as an emission nebula, is formed of ionized gases and emits light at various wavelengths. An international team led by West Virginia University researchers studied RCW 120 to analyze the effects of stellar feedback, the process by which stars inject energy ba
Fireball meteor burns up over South Florida
5dThe meteor was spotted at about 10 p.m. local time on April 12.
The US Government Is Trying to Figure Out the Best Way to Nuke an Asteroid
6dNuclear Deterrence When the almost-certainly-inevitable day comes that we spot an asteroid hurtling toward the Earth, our best chance for survival may be launching a rocket to destroy or deflect it away from the planet before it frizzles us up like the dinosaurs. It sounds like a pretty straightforward plan: Just shoot at the killer space rock and make it go boom , like in a game of “Asteroids.”
Surge testing may not be enough to curb Covid variants in UK, say scientists
6dLocal restrictions may be needed, specialists warn, as South Africa strain is identified in London Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Local restrictions should be imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus variants when clusters emerge to avoid local or national lockdowns, scientists have said after the UK’s biggest surge testing operation got under way. In south London,
Japan vil hælde 1 mio. ton forurenet vand fra Fukushima i Stillehavet
6dBåde Greenpeace og Kina protesterer mod den japanske regerings planer om at udlede vand med det radioaktive materiale tritrium i havet. Udledningen vil begynde om to år og vare flere årtier.
Data Brokers Are a Threat to Democracy
6dUnless the federal government steps up, the unchecked middlemen of surveillance capitalism will continue to harm our civil rights and national security.
Henry Glassie: Field Work review – hypnotic glimpses of folk art in the making
6dThis documentary about the celebrated folklorist also takes a leisurely look at the working methods of the artists he reveres There’s an unmistakable slow-cinema vibe to this scrupulously observational documentary, which seems somehow to go on for weeks despite its 100-minute running time. The ostensible subject matter is American anthropologist Henry Glassie , who is college professor emeritus i
AI Comes to Car Repair, and Body Shop Owners Aren’t Happy
6dDuring the pandemic, insurers accelerated the use of automated tools to estimate repair costs. Garage operators say the numbers can be wildly inaccurate.
Hackers Used to Be Humans. Soon, AIs Will Hack Humanity
4hLike crafty genies, AIs will grant our wishes, and then hack them, exploiting our social, political, and economic systems like never before.
Union Says Amazon Violated Labor Law in the Alabama Election
4hAmazon defeated the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union’s bid to represent workers at one warehouse. The union claims the company fought dirty.
Is the ‘new muon’ really a great scientific discovery? For now, I’m cautious | Carlo Rovelli
10hPhysicists are always looking for eureka moments – but we should be careful with headline-grabbing announcements There is something curious about the great experiments and discoveries in fundamental physics from the past few decades. They have covered black holes , gravitational waves , the Higgs particle and quantum entanglement . They have led to Nobel prizes, reached the front pages of newspap
Danske forskere har udviklet et insektmiddel, som får skadedyr til at tisse sig selv ihjel
1dInsektmidlet rammer ikke bierne på markerne. Kun de skadelige biller.
NASA's Mars copter flight could happen as soon as Monday
1dNASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter could make its first flight over the Red Planet as soon as Monday, the US space agency reported, following a delay of more than a week due to a possible technical issue.
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4,000 to attend FA Cup semi-final as live sport cautiously reopens
1dLargest crowd at a major British stadium for more than a year will aid research into events reopening this summer Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A sporting record will be broken on Sunday when 4,000 football fans gather at Wembley to watch the FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and Southampton. It will be the largest crowd to have watched a football match in a
How the FBI Got Into the San Bernardino Shooter’s iPhone
2dPlus: Russian sanctions, Europe’s SolarWinds fallout, and more of this week’s top security news.
Everyone On Facebook’s Oversight Board Should Resign
2dThe committee's coming decision on banning Donald Trump from the platform is meaningless. Its existence only gets in the way of actually fixing Facebook.
Left-Behind Suburbs Are a Civil-Rights Battleground
2dThe death of Daunte Wright, a Black motorist killed by police in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, is a window into the future of civil-rights conflict in America. That Black Lives Matter was launched after a police shooting in a similar community outside St. Louis—Ferguson, Missouri—is not a coincidence. Both Brooklyn Center and Ferguson are small, older suburbs. Both have be
‘Stol ikke på skyen’: Holger mistede mange timers arbejde og flere tusinde kroner i brand
2d3,6 millioner hjemmesider blev påvirket af brand i Europas største datacenter.
Human cells grown in monkey embryos raise ethical concerns
2dHuman-monkey chimeras produced by implanting human stem cells in macaque embryos could be used to study how cells develop, but some ethicists have raised concerns
The Danger of a ‘Dudes Only’ Vaccine
2dThe Johnson & Johnson shot is teetering on the precipice of becoming America’s “dudes only” vaccine. On Tuesday, the CDC and FDA advised halting the vaccine’s nationwide rollout to investigate six cases of a rare blood-clotting disorder that’s occurred in people within about two weeks of receiving the vaccine—all of them women under the age of 50. In an emergency meeting convened Wednesday by the
Tesla Helps Cops Catch Man Who Committed Racial Hate Crime
2dHello There A federal court charged 44-year-old Dushko Vulchev with repeatedly setting fire to a predominately Black church in Massachusetts thanks, in part, to video footage captured by a nearby Tesla’s cameras . Vulchev reportedly set the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church on fire several times and slashing the tires of cars in the area, according to Gizmodo . Vukchev, who was
As many as 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rexes once stalked Earth
3dDigging deep into T.rex's history helped researchers determine how many of these apex predators ever existed.
NASA rocket to survey the solar system's windshield
3dEleven billion miles away—more than four times the distance from us to Pluto—lies the boundary of our solar system's magnetic bubble, the heliopause. Here the Sun's magnetic field, stretching through space like an invisible cobweb, fizzles to nothing. Interstellar space begins.
Microorganisms on the Rio Grande Rise are a basis for life and a possible origin of metals
3dThe abundant biological and mineral diversity of the Rio Grande Rise, a seamount in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean about 1,500 km from the coast of Brazil, is probably due, to a great extent, to little-known microscopic creatures.
In a Warming World, Heat Interferes With Sex Determination in These Australian Lizards
3dScientists have discovered how hot temperatures override chromosomes in bearded dragons
DJI's New Drone Makes Aerial Cinematography a Breeze
4dA better image sensor and more AI-powered video smarts make the Air 2S one of the best drones you can buy.
Alphabet's 'missing link' possibly discovered
4dAn alphabetic inscription written on a jar fragment found at the site of Tel Lachish in Israel and dating back around 3,450 years may provide a "missing link" in the history of the alphabet.
With the right price path, there is no need for excessive carbon dioxide removal
4dTechnologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, such as reforestation or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), are an indispensable part of limiting climate change in most scenarios. However, excessive deployment of such technologies would carry risks such as land conflicts or enhanced water scarcity due to a high demand for bioenergy crops. To tackle this trade-off, a team of researc
Bizarre neck bones helped pterosaurs support their giraffe-size necks and huge heads
4dPterosaur neck vertebrae had an incredible internal structure.
The Biggest Security Threats to the US Are the Hardest to Define
4dIn a Senate briefing, the heads of the major intelligence agencies warned the public about dangers that offer no easy solutions.
What the Coronavirus Variants Mean for Testing
4dMost tests should be able to detect the variants of concern, but test developers and health officials must remain vigilant, scientists say.
Surge testing for Covid expanded to two more London postcodes
5dHouseholds in Southwark and Barnet added to test drive in effort to curb spread of South African variant Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Surge testing has been expanded in London to two further postcodes in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa. On Tuesday it was announced that surge testing would be carried out in La
Choices Was the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Escape I Needed
5dIn the mobile game, I could be anyone I wanted—and my decisions reflected the bolder, braver person I aspired to be.
Boomerangs return with greater insights into ample uses
5dIf you thought all boomerangs were used solely for throwing and—hopefully—returning then think again, because new research by a team of Griffith University archaeologists suggests that Aboriginal Australians employed the traditional curved wooden objects for so many more purposes.
5 New Family-Friendly Movies and 1 Actually Good One
5dThis year’s Oscar-nominated animated films have a uniformly safe, childish approach to death. But The Willoughbys—not nominated—will mess you up.
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Can mixing Covid vaccines work?
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5d& Johnson Vaccine
Scientists are testing the risks and advantages of offering a different shot for second and third doses
Biden Can Redeem His Mistake
5dIf the purpose of the Afghan War was to prevent terrorists from using Afghanistan to stage attacks on the United States, America could have declared victory and gone home years ago. But if the purpose was also to help build a durable state—to prevent the Taliban from taking power again, destroying the hard-won progress made by millions of Afghan citizens, and perhaps allowing radical Islamists to
The Weekly Planet: The 1 Thing to Understand About Biden’s Infrastructure Plan
5dEvery week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get T he Weekly Planet , our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox. There are some real numerical humdingers in President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan . It pledges to fix 10,000 bridges and repair 20,000 mil
The US says not to give Johnson & Johnson vaccines after a woman died from a rare blood clot
5dThe US took the dramatic step of recommending that health-care providers stop giving people the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against covid-19 after six women who received it developed serious blood clots and one died. The US Food and Drug Administration described its action as a temporary halt to give regulators time to understand the apparent side effect. “We are recommending a pause in the use of
Smoking cannabis significantly impairs vision, study finds
6dA study carried out by the University of Granada indicates that smoking cannabis significantly alters key visual functions, such as visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, three-dimensional vision (stereopsis), the ability to focus, and glare sensitivity. Yet, more than 90% of users believe that using cannabis has no effect on their vision, or only a slight effect.
How Neil Armstrong Avoided Near-Disaster to Make the First Space Docking
6dSmithsonian curator Michael Neufeld recounts the harrowing details of when Gemini Vlll astronauts faced the first life-threatening, in-flight emergency
CDC Says Don’t Take J&J Vaccine While We Figure Out Clotting Risk
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6d& Johnson J&J
On Tuesday morning, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the federal government would be pausing its rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine due to concerns about possible side effects. So far, 7 million people in the US have been given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Of them, six women developed a rare
How Radio Astronomy Reveals the Universe
6dIf you ask an astronomer to choose the single most exciting picture in all of astronomy, many of us will point to a familiar orange ring . At a glance it may not look like much — a fuzzy glowing doughnut, bulging slightly at the bottom and, as of last month , streaked with curving lines — but in reality this unassuming circle is humanity’s first glimpse of a black hole, with the colors chosen not
How Do Astronauts Spend Their Weekends in Space?
6dThey take time off and practice their hobbies, though that wasn't always the case
Here’s What It Takes to Fly a Drone on Mount Everest
6dIf you're heading to the top of the iconic mountain to look for a dead man and a 100-year-old camera, you want to start by running some tests on your device.
Most-Vaccinated Country on Earth Has “Pretty Much Eradicated” COVID
1hAccording to a new paper published in the journal Nature today, the evidence is overwhelming: COVID-19 vaccines work, and they work well. In fact, Israel’s vaccination program — the most expansive on Earth — has been so successful that it has “pretty much eradicated COVID-19 from Israel, at least for the time being,” Weizmann Institute researcher and co-author of the new paper Eran Segal wrote in
Astronomers Surprised to Find That Stars Compete With Each Other
1hGas Guzzlers In a new study, Japanese scientists found that a star’s final size doesn’t depend on how big its initial core was but rather how successful it was at competing with its neighbors for resources. That came as a shock, as the astronomy community long assumed that the mass of a newly-formed core or one collapsed from a dead star — both the seeds of new star formation — had a much larger
The Two Memos With Enormous Constitutional Consequences
5hOne conclusion is apparent following Donald Trump’s four years in office: A sitting president is perhaps the only American who is not bound by criminal law, and thus not swayed by its disincentives. What’s astonishing is that this immunity has no grounding in actual law. It’s not in the Constitution or any federal statute, regulation, or judicial decision. It is not law at all. Instead, the ban o
Nasa succesfully conducts Mars helicopter flight test – watch live
6hNasa has said its Ingenuity aircraft flew above the Martian surface in the first powered, controlled flight on another planet Continue reading…
I’m Not Ready to Perform
6hLast October, before the second pandemic wave took off in New York City, I had one last band practice in my backyard in South Brooklyn. Five of us were working on songs from my new solo record. Normally we’d play in the basement, but it’s pretty low-ceilinged, and we’d read Zeynep Tufekci’s recent Atlantic article on viral spread, so we were all hyper-focused on air circulation. My bandmate Sara
Christian Elliot’s “18 Reasons I Won’t Be Getting a Covid Vaccine”: Viral antivaccine misinformation
10hChristian Elliot is a self-proclaimed "natural health nerd" and entrepreneur who recently published 18 reasons why he wouldn't take the COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, it's viral disinformation based on conspiracy theories, bad science, pseudoscience, and nonsense. The post first appeared on Science-Based Medicine .
How to Schedule Emails and Texts to Send Anytime You Want
1dYour messages don’t have to go out right away. Be strategic about when your recipient gets them.
How To Clean Your Patio
1dSprucing up for spring includes giving your lawn furniture the cleaning it deserves.
American export controls threaten to hinder global vaccine production
1dThe world’s biggest vaccine-maker says it will feel the pinch in a month
An Ode to the Left Hand
2dTim Lahan This article was published online on April 17, 2021. I raised the drumstick , brought it down, and a dreamworld opened beneath me. A dreamworld, to be clear, of incompetence. A dreamworld of crapness and debility. A slump in tempo, an abyss. I was sitting at my practice drum kit, attempting one of the signature moves of the late John “Bonzo” Bonham, of Led Zeppelin: triplets with a left
India sees record surges in cases due to coronavirus variants
2dIndia's daily coronavirus cases are currently the highest in the world, with modelling suggesting the country's total tally could be close to 450 million
How good are the coronavirus vaccines at blocking transmission?
2dSome covid-19 vaccines seem to excel at stopping the virus spreading as well as preventing disease, but vaccines alone still might not be enough to achieve herd immunity
Chaos Walking review: Unsettling sci-fi that exposes men’s thoughts
2dSci-fi film Chaos Walking, featuring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, is a disconcerting little masterpiece of sensitive acting and well-judged world-building, says Simon Ings
Redesign makes drones quieter and less annoying without losing thrust
2dDrones can be loud and irritating, but by redesigning the rotors the noise they make could become more palatable without a loss of thrust
How to watch the Lyrid meteor shower
2dThe Lyrid meteor shows will light up the skies from April 16 to April 30. Here's how to watch.
New Details Emerge About Fatal Jetpack Crash
2dJetpack Crash Daredevil jetwing pilot Vince Reffet tragically passed away in November 2020 during a training accident. While details about the cause of his death remained scarce at the time, we’re finally starting to get a sense of what may have happened. According to a new report from the United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority, as obtained by the Associated Press , Reffet didn’t
Martin Rowson on ethics and the Conservative party – cartoon
2dBuy a copy of this cartoon from our print shop Continue reading…
Tiny Jurassic 'Monkeydactyl' has the oldest pair of thumbs on Earth
2dResearchers unearthed the fossil of a pterosaur with opposable thumbs, making it the oldest known animal with thumbs on Earth.
Analysing long Covid and managing anxiety | Letters
3dThere is a greater need than ever for measured, up-to-date information about this condition, writes Prof Michael Sharpe. Plus letters from Robin Davies and Prof Paul Garner George Monbiot has written about post Covid-19 illnesses ( Apparently just by talking about it, I’m super-spreading long Covid , 14 April). He referred to slides he had obtained from a talk I was invited to give because of my
How are asteroids, space weather and space debris detected before they hit Earth?
3dThe European Space Agency’s Space Situational Awareness program is tackling the problem on three fronts.
International paleontology team discovers tiny cat-sized stegosaur
3dA single footprint left by a cat-sized dinosaur around 100 million years ago has been discovered in China by an international team of paleontologists.
When Your Best Friend Becomes an ‘Aunt’ to Your Kids
3dEach installment of “ The Friendship Files ” features a conversation between The Atlantic ’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship. This week she talks with Judie, an introvert, and Kristi, an extrovert, about their opposites-attract friendship, and how Judie leaned on it when her daughter was diagnosed with cancer during the pandemic. Th
You’re Gonna Miss Zoom When It’s Gone
3dI f there’s a villain of the pandemic, other than COVID-19, it’s probably Zoom. The videochatting platform is making people tired , it’s making people awkward , and it’s making people sick of their own faces. Zoom is such a shoddy substitute for real life that, according to o ne survey , nearly one in five workers has illicitly met up in person with colleagues to discuss work. And in another poll
The FDA’s Decision to Pause J&J Could Help Defeat Covid-19
3dA slower vaccine rollout isn’t ideal, but it’s more important that Americans know they can trust officials to address health concerns when they arise.
Cord-Cutting Isn't About Saving Money. It's About Control
3dMaking the switch to streaming used to be a way to pay only for what you watched. Those days are long gone.
Photos of the Week: Beach Classroom, Giant Eye, Trench Puppies
3dCherry blossoms in Germany, Fashion Week in Madrid, an island castle in Switzerland, Ramadan prayers in Mecca, a volcanic eruption in the Caribbean, a protest march in Minnesota, a “Field of Light” in California, a comfort dog at the U.S. Capitol, and much more
Doctors Should Talk to Patients about Firearm Injury Prevention
3dIt’s a major public health issue, and discussing it should part of routine care, no different than questions about health risk factors such as smoking, substance use and diet — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
COVID-19 booster shots may be needed within 12 months, US officials say
3dPeople vaccinated against COVID-19 may require booster shots within nine to 12 months of their initial vaccination.
Pausing the J&J Vaccine Was Easy. Unpausing Will Be Hard
3dJohnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine was supposed to be the uncomplicated one. But even with new data, getting people to trust it again will be tricky.
US Sanctions on Russia Rewrite Cyberespionage's Rules
3dThe US has sent a loud message to Moscow—though what it's saying isn’t exactly clear.
The whitest paint is here—and it's the coolest. Literally.
3dIn an effort to curb global warming, Purdue University engineers have created the whitest paint yet. Coating buildings with this paint may one day cool them off enough to reduce the need for air conditioning, the researchers say.
Isen smelter og storbyer vokser: Google Earth viser Jordens forandring
4dDet er nu muligt at se satellitbilleder fra næsten fire årtier.
Britain must harness the social sciences to fight post-pandemic deprivation | Will Hutton
4dThe wealth of research going on around Covid and inequality could be used to help everyone lead healthier lives Will Hutton is the incoming president of the Academy of Social Sciences For the past year the repeated government invocation has been that it will “ follow the science ”. As the world knows, the general direction of scientific advice, although there have been occasional dissenters and d
3500 year-old honeypot: Oldest direct evidence for honey collecting in Africa
4dBefore sugar cane and sugar beets conquered the world, honey was the worldwide most important natural product for sweetening. Archaeologists at Goethe University in cooperation with chemists at the University of Bristol have now produced the oldest direct evidence of honey collecting of in Africa. They used chemical food residues in potsherds found in Nigeria. (Nature Communications, DOI 10.1038/s
Ancient DNA hints at diverse Stone Age traditions of kinship
4dGenomes from University of Liverpool excavations of burials around some of the earliest houses in history contributed to a major study by an international team of geneticists, anthropologists and archaeologists, revealing more about the remarkable diversity of kinship types in ancient human societies.
How a Burst of Light in the Sky Illuminated Something Primal
4dVideos of a mysterious celestial phenomenon captured a once-common human emotion: awe at the wonder of the heavens.
Så låter det när spindelnätets vibrationer tonsätts
4dNär en spindelhane vill locka till sig en hona spelar han på hennes nät och genom vibrationerna uppfattar hon kärleksförklaringen. Spindlar kommunicerar nämligen med vibrationer och nu har forskare tonsatt dessa. I klippet ovan kan du höra hur det låter. Glöm inte sätta på ljudet.
The Sun Never Set on the British Empire’s Oppression
4dLate last month, the leader of Myanmar’s junta, Min Aung Hlaing, stood on a huge parade field to recount the military’s “immense prestige etched in the annals of history.” Hundreds of soldiers who had not been deployed to quell an uprising against the country’s coup marched in formation at dawn. Armored vehicles spewing black smoke rumbled alongside them. The speech marked Myanmar’s annual Armed
Why is it so hard to review the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? Data.
4dThe future of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson covid vaccine remains in limbo after an advisory panel recommended taking a deeper look into reports of rare—and sometimes fatal—side effects. The US Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration advised suspension of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday , after reports that six people who had received a dose developed rare bl
Famous fast radio burst FRB20180916B just barely lets itself be captured
4dTwo international teams of astronomers (with significant Dutch involvement) have published two scientific papers with new information about the famous fast radio burst FRB20180916B. In a study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, they measured the radiation from the bursts at the lowest possible frequencies. In a study published in Nature Astronomy, they examined the bursts in the great
RNA holds the reins in bacteria: Researchers observe RNA controlling protein synthesis
4dTo better understand how RNA in bacteria gives rise to protein—and along the way, target these processes in the design of new antibiotics—researchers are turning their attention to the unique way this process happens in bacteria.
NAS Considers Expulsion of Two Scientists for Sexual Harassment
4dThe National Academy of Sciences is reviewing complaints about astronomer Geoffrey Marcy and geneticist Francisco Ayala, who left their academic positions following investigations at their institutions.
Social wasps lose face recognition abilities in isolation
4dJust as humans are challenged from the social isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a new study finds that a solitary lifestyle has profound effects on the brains of a social insect: paper wasps.
Could muons point to new physics?
5dThe first question ever asked in Western philosophy, "What's the world made of?" continues to inspire high energy physicists. New experimental results probing the magnetic properties of the muon, a heavier cousin of the electron, seem to indicate that new particles of nature may exist, potentially shedding light on the mystery of dark matter. The results are a celebration of the human spirit and
Who Are the Fastest Animals in the World — and Why?
5dThe secret is all in the muscles. But if that’s true, why can’t the biggest, strong animals run the fastest?
'Polluter elite' needs to act first on climate change
5dA new report by the Cambridge Sustainability Commission on Scaling Behavior Change calls on policymakers to target the UK's 'polluter elite' to trigger a shift to more sustainable behavior, and provide affordable, available low-carbon alternatives to poorer households.
Your most distant cousin doesn't even have an anus
5dNo animal is less related to you than a sea sponge, and they've got the genes and nerveless, anus-less bodies to prove it.
Telescope lasers could give humanity an edge in war against space junk
5dSpace junk is a growing problem. Scientists want to fight it with lasers that can de-twinkle the stars.
Is Silicon Valley Dead? Not According to Venture Dollars
5dIn a record quarter for VC funding, California still takes the cake—further evidence that reports of the region’s demise are greatly exaggerated.
COP26: Delaying key climate meeting preferable to 'messing it up'
5dFurther postponement of the UK climate summit would be better than a failed event, says an expert.
Neglected tropical diseases are the landmines of global health | Albert Picado and John H Amuasi
5dThey are 20 disparate diseases that, like mines, unduly affect the world’s poorest people. Now there’s a plan to eradicate them by 2030 In January the World Health Organization launched a new strategy for eradicating neglected tropical diseases, boldly setting targets to eliminate 20 of them by 2030. But what are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)? There is no easy answer. The concept was first p
A Tiny Ant Brain Is Still Too Big for Reproduction
5dFor most ant species, nothing spells apocalypse quite like the death of a queen. A colony stripped of its monarch, the group’s only fertile female and the sole source of eggs, quickly unravels, then dies—an entire society snuffed out. The captain does not go down with her ship; the ship goes down with her captain. Indian jumping ants do not abide by such dictatorial dramatics. They’ve evolved a w
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Suspension–What This Means For You
5dAn infectious disease doctor answers questions about the CDC’s and FDA’s decision to pause the vaccine’s use over a possible link with blood clots — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Protecting Crops Against a Spring Frost
5dUnseasonably cold temperatures across parts of Western Europe have threatened vineyards and groves of fruit trees, as frost damages delicate new buds. Days of record-low overnight temperatures have spurred winegrowers and other farmers to take action to protect their crops—some opting to spray water on their plants so a layer of ice will shield them from the frost, and others choosing to light ma
A new warning sign to predict volcanic eruptions?
6dA recent study used data collected by NASA satellites to conduct a statistical analysis of surface temperatures near volcanoes that erupted from 2002 to 2019. The results showed that surface temperatures near volcanoes gradually increased in the months and years prior to eruptions. The method was able to detect potential eruptions that were not anticipated by other volcano monitoring methods, suc
Megafauna extinction mystery unlocked
6dThe rapid extinction of giant animals including wombat-like creatures as big as cars, birds more than two meters tall, and lizards more than seven meters long that once roamed the Australian continent is a puzzle that has long engaged researchers.
Using emotion and humor to combat science misinformation
6dMisinformation in public debates about scientific issues such as vaccinations and climate change can be found all over the internet, especially on social media. In a new study, Sara K. Yeo, associate professor of communication at the University of Utah, examines why it's so difficult to detect science misinformation and suggests that using humor may help combat the issue.
US may pause J&J coronavirus vaccines due to rare cases of blood clots
6dThe CDC and FDA are recommending a pause in administering the J&J vaccine to investigate reports of 6 cases of rare blood clots.
The DNA of lettuce unraveled: 6000 years from weed to beloved vegetable
6dIceberg lettuce, oakleaf lettuce, romaine, and all other lettuces that we eat nowadays, descend from wild plants that were modified 6000 years ago in the Caucasus so that plant oil could be harvested from the seeds. After the ancient Greek and Romans further bred the plants to use them as leafy vegetables, lettuce also ended up on our plates over time. The special history of lettuce has been descr
The observation of Kardar-Parisi-Zhang hydrodynamics in a quantum material
6dClassical hydrodynamics laws can be very useful for describing the behavior of systems composed of many particles (i.e., many-body systems) after they reach a local state of equilibrium. These laws are expressed by so-called hydrodynamical equations, a set of mathematical equations that describe the movement of water or other fluids.
Microsoft Makes a $16 Billion Entry Into Health Care AI
6dThe company plans to buy Nuance, a speech-recognition firm that grasps the specialized language of medicine—tech that won’t be easy for others to replicate.