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GENERAL INTEREST
The Decimal Point Is 150 Years Older Than Historians Thought
Nature, February 19, 2024
Origin of the powerful calculation tool traced back to a mathematician from the Italian Renaissance.
Ancient Rock Art in Argentinian Cave May Have Transmitted Information Across 100 Generations
Live Science, February 14, 2024
A gallery's worth of rock art decorating the inside of a cave in Argentina is several millennia older than once thought and contains hundreds of drawings that span 100 generations.
Before Darwin, Animal Mummies Were Used to Squash Early Evolutionary Theory
Science Alert, February 20, 2024
Throughout the early 1800s, the question of whether animals could turn into new species was hotly debated in scientific circles.
Muon Mystery: New Measurements Challenge Quantum Theory
Big Think, February 19, 2024
Discrepancies between observations and theory regarding subatomic particles called muons may force scientists to rethink the quantum world.
Why Does a Leap Year Have 366 Days?
The Conversation, February 19, 2024
Leap years help to keep the 12-month calendar matched up with Earth’s movement around the Sun.
COSMOS
Brightest and Fastest-Growing: Astronomers Identify Record-Breaking Quasar
Phys.Org, February 19, 2024
Using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have characterized a bright quasar, finding it to be not only the brightest of its kind but also the most luminous object ever observed.
Galaxies That Shouldn’t Exist Keep Being Discovered by JWST
Cosmos, February 15, 2024
A bright red speck appears against the backdrop of a space photo, but astronomers say it shouldn’t be there. But there it is.
Gravastars Are an Alternative Theory to Black Holes. Here's What They'd Look Like
Universe Today, February 19, 2024
One of the central predictions of general relativity is that in the end, gravity wins.
Inside the Hunt for New Physics at the World’s Largest Particle Collider
MIT Technology Review, February 20, 2024
The Large Hadron Collider hasn’t seen any new particles since the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. Here’s what researchers are trying to do about it.
Solving Astronauts’ Health Challenges in Deep Space Could Have Payoffs on Earth
STAT, February 16, 2024
Space is famously known as the final frontier for human exploration. It may also be the final frontier for human medicine.
INNOVATION
Where Are We At With Wave Power?
Cosmos, February 19, 2024
Humans have dreamed of using the clean, predictable and enormous energy of the ocean for our own electricity needs since at least 1799, when a French engineer and inventor named Pierre-Simon Girard filed a patent for a machine which would use wave power to pump water for irrigation.
Move Over, CRISPR: RNA-Editing Therapies Pick Up Steam
Nature, February 16, 2024
Two RNA-editing therapies for genetic diseases have in the past few months gained approval for clinical trials, raising hopes for safer treatments.
Scientists Are Putting ChatGPT Brains Inside Robot Bodies. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Scientific American, February 21, 2024
The effort to give robots AI brains is revealing big practical challenges—and bigger ethical concerns.
In Wyoming, Sheep May Safely Graze Under Solar Panels in One of the State’s First “Agrivoltaic” Projects
Inside Climate News, February 17, 2024
The elevated photovoltaic panels can actually improve grazing conditions, a novelty that could help make solar projects more land-efficient and accepted in the ranching-heavy state.
‘It Is Hijacking My Brain’ – a Team of Experts Found Ways to Help Young People Addicted to Social Media to Cut the Craving
The Conversation, February 15, 2024
Many people have compared the addictive nature of social media to cigarettes. Checking your likes, they say, is the new smoke break. Others say the unease over social media is just the next round of moral panic about new technologies.
HEALTH
Flexibility Exercise (Stretching)
American Heart Association, January 24, 2024
Flexibility exercise is one of the four types of exercise along with strength, balance and endurance.
7 Famous People Who Have Autism
EveryDay Health, February 16, 2024
These influential people have been candid about life with autism spectrum disorder.
What Does Being Physically Fit Mean?
Medical News Today, May 25, 2023
Maintaining a good level of physical fitness is important. However, it can be difficult to determine what fitness entails. Various components of physical health can help determine physical fitness.
Reduce Cancer Risk by Eating Right
Eat Right, August 25, 2023
Research suggests about 18% of all cancer diagnosed in the United States are linked to diet, elevated body mass index (BMI), lack of physical activity and alcohol intake.
At Least 60% of US Population May Face ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Tap Water, Tests Suggest
The Guardian, February 20, 2024
Federal tests of one-third of water systems find 70 million Americans exposed to PFAS – suggesting 200 million affected overall.
NATURE
See What Charles Darwin Kept in His ‘Insanely Eclectic’ Personal Library, Revealed for the First Time
Smithsonian, February 12, 2024
On the English naturalist’s 215th birthday, more than 9,000 titles from his expansive collection are now accessible online
An Evolutionary Tale of Seagrasses
Eco, January 29, 2024
Seagrasses provide the foundation of one of the most highly biodiverse, yet vulnerable, coastal marine ecosystems globally. They arose in three independent lineages from their freshwater ancestors some 100 million years ago and are the only fully submerged, marine flowering plants.
The World's Largest Deserts
Geology
A desert is a landscape or region that receives very little precipitation - less than 250 mm per year (about ten inches). Approximately 1/3 of Earth's land surface is a desert.
The Uncharted World of Emerging Pathogens
Undark, February 14, 2024
In their quest to detect early outbreaks, virus hunters are sampling environmental DNA in water, dirt, and air.
What Is a Species, Anyway?
New York Times, February 19, 2024
Some of the best known species on Earth may not be what they seem.
ENVIRONMENT
The Perverse Policies That Fuel Wildfires
New Yorker January 29, 2024
Another recent report, from the Federation of American Scientists, observed that the world is warming so fast that the models firefighters rely on to predict how blazes will behave have become obsolete.
Philadelphia Jury Delivers Historic Verdict in Roundup Cancer Case
Environmental Health News, February 19, 2024
In a landmark decision, a Philadelphia jury awards $2.25 billion in a lawsuit linking Roundup weed killer to cancer, marking a significant turn in ongoing litigation.
‘America Is a Factory-Farming Nation’: Key Takeaways from US Agriculture Census
The Guardian, February 15, 2024
Small farms and Black farmers are going out of business, while corporate-controlled farms are booming, raking in subsidies
Can We Outrun the Flood Risks of Climate Change?
ECO, February 19, 2024
Floods destroy habitats, pollute water sources, damage infrastructures, disrupt businesses, and force people from their homes. These problems are all connected, making it hard to solve them.
In Graphic Detail: Deep-Sea Mining in the United States
Hakai, February 16, 2024
No longer the stuff of science fiction, the deep-sea mining industry is speeding up efforts to mine precious minerals in international waters. But some countries are looking to do so within their national boundaries.
CLIMATE
Scientists Under Arrest: The Researchers Taking Action Over Climate Change
Nature, February 21, 2024
Fed up with a lack of political progress in solving the climate problem, some researchers are becoming activists to slow global warming.
New York Lobbyists ‘Aiding and Abetting’ Climate Crisis, Research Reveals
The Guardian, February 19, 2024
Lobbying firms work double-duty, representing political interests of victims and perpetrators of climate change in state capital.
Why Biden’s Pause on New LNG Export Terminals Is a BFD
Yale Climate Connections, February 14, 2024
The administration’s move puts a spotlight on a potent climate-warming gas: methane, the main ingredient in natural gas.
If the Atlantic Ocean Loses Circulation, What Happens Next?
Scientific American, February 13 2024
Researchers found that if melting glaciers shut down the Atlantic Ocean’s circulation pattern, the global climate could see major changes within just 100 years.
What Europe’s Egg-Hurling Farmers Can Teach Us about Climate Progress
Grist, February 20, 2024
EU officials had big plans to slash emissions from farming. Then the protests started.
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