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GENERAL INTEREST
Ancient Egyptians May Have Used Hydraulic Lift to Build Pyramid
Smithsonian, August 06, 2024
Standing as much as hundreds of feet tall and made of stones weighing up to 100 tons, Egypt’s pyramids are a remarkable feat of ancient engineering. To this day, scientists aren’t entirely sure how they were constructed.
Why Does the Symbol for Zero Look Like a Capital ‘o’ (0)?
Archimedes Lab, July 31, 2024
The history of this fundamental number is surprisingly intricate. Its roots can be traced back to ancient Babylon around 300 BCE, where a positional numeral system employed two slanted wedges to signify an empty place in a number. However, this was merely a placeholder without any numerical value.
Book Review: You Talking to Me? How Human Language Evolved
Undark, August 02, 2024
Prehistory professor Steven Mithen’s “The Language Puzzle” explores the mysteries of when and how we began to speak.
How Mathematical Curves Enable Advanced Communication
Quanta, September 19, 2022
A simple geometric idea has been used to power advances in information theory, cryptography and even blockchain technology.
Ancient Carvings in Turkey Could Be Earliest Solar Calendar
Phys.org, August 06, 2024
Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000-year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.
COSMOS
The Higgs Particle Could Have Ended the Universe by Now – Here’s Why We’re Still Here
The Conversation, August 02, 2024
Although our universe may seem stable, having existed for a whopping 13.7 billion years, several experiments suggest that it is at risk – walking on the edge of a very dangerous cliff. And it’s all down to the instability of a single fundamental particle: the Higgs boson.
Fast-Tracking the Search for Habitable Worlds
Universe Today, August 05, 2024
Modern astronomy would struggle without AI and machine learning (ML), which have become indispensable tools. They alone have the capability to manage and work with the vast amounts of data that modern telescopes generate. ML can sift through large datasets, seeking specified patterns that would take humans far longer to find.
Woo-hoo — The Perseid Meteor Shower Is Coming!
Sky & Telescope, August 01, 2024
The International Meteor Organization puts maximum at between 13 and 16 UT (9 a.m. to noon EDT) on August 12th, making the night of August 11–12 the best time for observers in the Americas to catch the peak.
First Observation of Electron and Muon Interactions with “Ghost Particle” Neutrinos
Cosmos, August 07, 2024
The interactions have the highest neutrino energy ever detected from a human-generated source and could help answer fundamental questions about the universe including why there is more matter than antimatter.
Massive Solar Wind Disturbance Caused Earth's Magnetosphere to Fly Without Its Usual Tail
Phys.org, August 02, 2024
Like a supersonic jet being blasted with high-speed winds, Earth is constantly being bombarded by a stream of charged particles from the sun known as solar wind.
INNOVATION
New England’s Offshore Wind Resource Is a Winter Powerhouse
UCS/The Equation, August 05, 2024
In most cold snaps, the same cold-weather systems that strain our grid have simultaneously been delivering massive amounts of offshore wind energy to the region.
Is It Possible to Build a Dream City from Scratch?
Grist, August 01, 2024
Sustainability is at the heart of California Forever’s ambitious plan for a new city — and its problems.
Seventh Person ‘Cured’ of HIV after Stem Cell Transplant
Scientific American, July 30, 2024
A man in Germany is HIV-free after receiving stem cells that are not resistant to the virus
Mac and Windows Users Infected by Software Updates Delivered Over Hacked ISP
Ars Technica, August 05, 2024
DNS poisoning attack worked even when targets used DNS from Google and Cloudflare.
Quantum Internet on the Horizon after Hybrid Network Success
Cosmos, August 07, 2024
Quantum internet could see the strange effect of quantum entanglement be used to make uncrackable encryption. Not even quantum computers – themselves still in the development phase – would be able to crack the security of a quantum internet.
HEALTH
The 2024 Dirty Dozen
Environmental Working Group (EWG), 2024
Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides:
The Checkup With Dr. Wen: 5 Ways to Manage Hypertension, the ‘Silent Killer’ Disease
Washington Post, August 01, 2024
Only a quarter of hypertensive American adults have their blood pressure under control.
Top Exercises for Belly Fat
Web MD
There are many exercises out there, but not all are created equal when it comes to banishing belly fat. But scientists and doctors agree that adding physical activity to your daily routine is a great way to burn off unwanted belly fat. Here are some exercises for belly fat that you can try to help you slim down your waistline.
Mark Bittman’s Warning: the True Costs of Our Cheap Food and the American Diet
The Guardian, April 25, 2021
The implied trade-off has been that advances in agriculture have greatly reduced hunger and driven societies out of poverty due to improved productivity and efficiencies. But Mark Bittman, the American food author and journalist, argues in his book Animal, Vegetable, Junk that these supposed benefits are largely illusionary.
30 Moves to Make the Most of Your At-Home Workout
Healthline, July 25, 2024
You can exercise at home without any equipment by practicing yoga poses and strength training exercises that use your body weight for resistance.
NATURE
New Study Refutes Leading Theory of Continent Formation
Sci-News, August 05, 2024
In the new study, Dr. David Hernández Uribe from the University of Illinois Chicago used computer models to study the formation of magmas thought to hold clues to the origin of Earth’s continents.
Why Do Birds Migrate at Night?
Treehugger, January 03, 2020
While plenty of birds — such as swallows, hawks, and hummingbirds — migrate during the day, the majority of land birds travel at night. Although it would seem more difficult to fly when it's dark, there are good reasons for the nighttime maneuvers.
Komodo Dragons’ Nightmare Iron-Tipped Teeth Are a Reptilian First
Scientific American, August 25, 2024
Reptile teeth have long been considered simple and cheap because the animals replace them regularly. That isn't so, Komodo dragons show
Head in the Clouds
Orion, March 05, 2021 issue (Rachel Carson)
In 1956, Ford Foundation approached Rachel Carson with the idea of writing the script for a television documentary about clouds. This was around the time that meteorologist Vincent Schaefer was first publishing his research into cloud forms, which, contrary to prior scientific understanding, he’d found to be not at all arbitrary.
3 Remarkable Trees: A Living Fossil, a Deadly Canopy, and the World's Biggest Seeds That Were Once Mounted in Gold by Royals
Live Science, August 03, 2024
Earth is home to 3 trillion trees, with around 73,000 species recognized — and thousands more yet to be discovered. In this adapted extract from "Remarkable Trees" (Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2024), authors Christina Harrison and Tony Kirkham look at three truly astonishing species, including one that can burn and blind humans who touch its sap.
ENVIRONMENT
E.P.A. Pulls From the Market a Weedkiller Harmful to Fetuses
New York Times, August 06, 2024
The herbicide, used widely on crops including broccoli and onions, can cause low birth weight and impaired brain development, regulators said.
Geoengineering Gains Momentum, But Governance Is Lacking, Critics Say
Mongabay, August 01, 2024
As the climate crisis advances, geoengineering — intentionally modifying Earth systems on a large scale to cool the planet or store additional carbon — is increasingly a hot topic. But an intense debate is raging as to how to govern research and deployment of these deeply contentious strategies.
Fossils From The Heart of Greenland Reveal a Greater Threat of Rising Seas
Science Alert, August 06, 2024
If greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are not drastically reduced, Greenland's ice sheet could almost entirely melt over the next several centuries to a few millennia, resulting in a sea level rise of approximately 23 feet (seven meters) that would wipe away the world's coastal cities.
Deep Sea Mining Debate Intensifies as Opponents Face a Setback
Earth, August 05, 2024
This outcome marks a crucial point in the ongoing debate over deep sea mining, which could yield essential minerals for the green transition but poses considerable environmental risks.
Artificial Sweeteners Don’t Degrade in the Human Body . . . or in Nature.
Anthropocene, August 02, 2024
In our attempts to eat and drink more healthily, we may be doing unintentional harm to ecosystems. Researchers have evidence that the widespread artificial sweetener, sucralose, may be disturbing the growth of aquatic microorganisms that form the foundation of aquatic food webs.
CLIMATE
Climate Change Deniers Make Up Nearly a Quarter of US Congress
The Guardian, August 05, 2024
Climate denialists – 23 in Senate and 100 in House – are all Republicans and make US an outlier internationally.
Study Finds Major Earth Systems Likely on Track to Collapse: 5 Things to Know
The Hill, August 02, 2024
Four key pillars of the global climate are melting in the heat trapped by rising fossil fuel emissions, a new study has found. The relatively stable climate that nurtured human civilization depends in large part on these structures: the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica, the Amazon rainforest and the Atlantic currents that warm Europe.
World’s Biggest Meat and Dairy Companies Spend More on Ads than Cutting Emissions — New Report
DeSmog, July 22, 2024
Global meat and dairy giants are investing just a fraction of their revenues into cutting emissions despite being among the world’s largest polluters, according to new estimates.
Should Companies Get Paid When Governments Phase Out Fossil Fuels? They Already Are
Inside Climate News, July 28, 2024
A common part of free trade agreements helps fossil fuel companies force big payouts from governments phasing out oil and gas projects. The United States narrowly avoided a $15 billion claim over the shuttered Keystone XL pipeline.
Understanding the New Era of Fire
New York Times, July 30, 2024
Wildfires, driven by climate change, have become more intense and frequent, but scientists are still trying to understand larger patterns.
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