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Perseverance rover in 'great shape' after landing
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
Perseverance will now spend at least two years looking for evidence of past life on the Red Planet.
NASA's Mars Rover Landing: Launch Time, Streaming and Details
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
The Perseverance rover will attempt to touch down in one piece on Thursday. Here's what you need to know.
Highlights From NASA's Perseverance Rover Landing on Mars
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
The spacecraft's journey to the red planet was a success, extending the American record of safe landings there to six.
Ted Cruz Is No Hypocrite. He's Worse.
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2dCruz Cancun Mexico Texas
Updated on February 18 at 2:29 p.m. ET Nero fiddled while Rome burned; Ted Cruz jetted to Cancún. And although the emperor was at least ensconced in a lavish, louche palace, the senator from Texas was stuck in economy class with the peasantry. Cruz's appeal as a politician, such as it is , has never been about being lovable or relatable, but the latest incident is embarrassing even by his standar
Elon Musk, Who Moved to TX For Less Regulation, Is Furious That the Power Went Down
1dWhen Tesla CEO Elon Musk moved to Texas earlier this year to escape stiff regulations and high taxes, he couldn't have predicted a cold snap that brought the state's infrastructure to its knees. In a tweet this week, Musk lashed out at the state's energy agency, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), quipping that the body is "not earning that R." The historic deep freeze caused sever
Ancient Trees Show When The Earth's Magnetic Field Last Flipped Out
2dA precise record of the last major reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles can be found in ancient trees. Researchers say this event 42,000 years ago had a huge impact on the planet and ancient humans. (Image credit: Kim Westerskov/Getty Images)
Texas snowstorms are due to rapid heating of the Arctic, say scientists
1dWinter Storm Uri brought snow and freezing temperatures to Texas this week, causing multiple deaths and damage to infrastructure. Climate scientists have spent years exploring the relationship between extreme winter weather and warming temperatures in the Arctic Circle. Some studies suggest that the warming Arctic disrupts a natural phenomenon known as the polar vortex, which normally contains co
I'm Freezing Cold and Burning Mad in Texas
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3dTexas ERCOT Winter
The great winter storm of 2021 has terrorized Texans, overwhelmed our energy grid, and made a mockery of our politicians and our much-vaunted independence. Here in Dallas, my family and I have intermittently been without power for three days. On Monday night, the coldest night on record in three decades, we were without power for 12 long hours. I pitched a tent in my children's bedroom, and all o
No, Wind Farms Aren't the Main Cause of the Texas Blackouts
3dThe state's widespread electricity failure was largely caused by freezing natural gas pipelines. That didn't stop advocates for fossil fuels from trying to shift blame.
Why Did We Ever Send Sick Kids to School?
3dStaying home to avoid catching and spreading the coronavirus during the pandemic, for all the fear and anxiety it has caused, has come with one unexpected benefit for my family: My kids haven't been sick once, not even with the common cold. My husband and I noticed this with a sense of relief after months of virtual schooling. We're extremely fortunate that none of us have caught the coronavirus,
What Caused the Blackouts in Texas?
3dThe state's widespread electricity failure was largely caused by freezing natural gas pipelines. That didn't stop advocates for fossil fuels from trying to shift blame.
Blue Dogs Discovered Near Abandoned Chemical Plant
4dBlue Dogs Stray dogs with bright blue fur have been spotted roaming the streets near an abandoned chemical plant in the Russian city of Dzerzhinsk, Newsweek reports , about 230 miles east of Moscow. Animal activist groups suspect exposure to harmful chemicals may have resulted in the animals' furs taking on the blue hue, as state-owned news outlet RIA Novosti suggested in a Monday tweet. They fou
Texas Blackouts Hit Minority Neighborhoods Especially Hard
3dAs the freak winter storm raged, historically marginalized communities were among the first to face power outages, experts say.
Mars landing: Photo shows Perseverance about to touch down
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Nasa releases an astonishing image of its new Mars robot taken just moments before touchdown.
US cold snap: Why is Texas seeing Arctic temperatures?
3dFreezing temperatures have been recorded across the usually hot southern US state.
End of Neanderthals linked to flip of Earth's magnetic poles, study suggests
2dEvent 42,000 years ago combined with fall in solar activity potentially cataclysmic, researchers say The flipping of the Earth's magnetic poles together with a drop in solar activity 42,000 years ago could have generated an apocalyptic environment that may have played a role in a major events ranging from the extinction of megafauna to the end of the Neanderthals, researchers say. The Earth's mag
NASA's Perseverance Rover Lands on Mars to Renew Search for Extinct Life
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Perseverance's arrival extends the successful U.S. landing record on the planet, and brings sophisticated tools to the hunt for alien life.
You Can Now 3D Print an Entire Semi-Automatic Rifle at Home
3dHome Brewing 3D-printed guns, or functional firearms that can be mostly or entirely manufactured at home with a 3D printer, are getting more sophisticated and more dangerous. For a long time, 3D-printed guns were still quite slapdash. Early homemade handguns would break apart after firing once, and they served as more of a symbolic middle finger to government firearm regulation than a tangible th
Greta Thunberg Slams Mars Exploration, Says Earth Needs Help Instead
3dThe Great Escape A new satirical video ad created by the Fridays for Future (FFF) campaign, an environmental movement founded by Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greta Thunberg, pokes fun at the idea of having the "one percent" escape from a planet that's in dire straits to settle on Mars. It's a provocative idea — but the execution arguably paints a much rosier picture of a one-way trip to Mars, rather
Perseverance Has Landed! Mars Rover Begins a New Era of Exploration
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
NASA's latest mission to the Red Planet will seek out signs of ancient life, gather samples for return to Earth, and even fly a first-of-its-kind interplanetary helicopter — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
BREAKING: NASA Successfully Lands Perseverance Rover On Mars
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has successfully landed in the Jezero crater, a region believed to be an ancient dried up river delta. Touchdown was confirmed at 3:56 pm Eastern time. The news was met with loud cheering and whooping at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab mission control. It was a daring landing as the crater is lined with cliffs, sand dunes, and boulders. Thanks to Perseverance's sophistica
Perseverance Has Landed! Mars Rover Begins a New Era of Exploration
2dNASA's latest mission to the Red Planet will seek out signs of ancient life, gather samples for return to Earth, and even fly a first-of-its-kind interplanetary helicopter — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Meet Elizabeth Ann, the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret
2dHer birth represents the first cloning of an endangered species native to North America, and may bring needed genetic diversity to the species.
Scientists Found a Way to Communicate With People Who Are Asleep And Dreaming
1dThey even got them to solve math problems!
Mars rover landing: Nasa's Perseverance touches down safely in search of life
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
Radio signals confirmed that the six-wheeled rover had survived its perilous descent and arrived within its target zone Nasa's science rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology laboratory ever sent to another world, streaked through the Martian atmosphere on Thursday and landed safely on the floor of a vast crater, its first stop on a search for traces of ancient microbial life on the Re
Covid infections in England fall by two-thirds but spreading fastest among young
2dExperts urge care over opening schools as children aged 5-12 now in one of most common groups for virus Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Covid infections have fallen by two-thirds in a month in England but the virus is now spreading most among primary-age children and young people, research suggests. The React 1 study from Imperial College London points to the third n
Oldest DNA Sequenced Yet Comes From Million-Year-Old Mammoths
3dGenetic material from three ancient molars reveals secrets of about how the Ice Age elephants evolved
1d
Yes, You Should Still Wear a Mask After Covid-19 Vaccination
2dExperts don't yet know if Covid-19 vaccines prevent the virus' spread—and it may take months to find out
Rare snow covers Acropolis of Athens in dazzling white blanket
4dUnusual weather blanketed the Acropolis with snow on Tuesday (Feb. 16), turning the iconic UNESCO World Heritage site in Athens into a scene from a holiday card.
People Who Have Had Covid Should Get Single Vaccine Dose, Studies Suggest
1dNew studies show that one shot of a vaccine can greatly amplify antibody levels in those who have recovered from the coronavirus.
Texas weather: Are frozen wind turbines to blame for power cuts?
2dFrozen wind turbines are being blamed for power failures – but problems with fossils fuels are a bigger issue.
Texas Snap Freeze Causes Electricity Prices to Soar 10,000 Percent
3dCold Snap Texas is trapped in a bizarre cold snap, unlike any others in recent history. And plunging temperatures are wreaking havoc with the state's electrical grid, the second largest in the country. Several of its energy facilities have been knocked offline entirely, resulting in electricity prices spiking to more than 10,000 percent this week, according to CNN — a grim market response that co
Covid: vaccinated Israelis to enjoy bars and hotels with 'green pass'
1dMobile app inoculation certificate aims to help reopen economy, but privileges are untested and raise ethical questions Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Israel is preparing itself to be split in half from next week, with the government creating a new privileged tier in society: the vaccinated. Nearly 50% of the population who have chosen to be inoculated against Covid
'I Am Worth It': Why Thousands of Doctors in America Can't Get a Job
1dMedical schools are producing more graduates, but residency programs haven't kept up, leaving thousands of young doctors "chronically unmatched" and deep in debt.
Earth's magnetic field flipped 42,000 years ago, creating a climate 'disaster'
2dEarth's last magnetic flip 42,000 years brought environmental change and extinctions. Could that happen now?
Up to 90 volunteers in UK to take part in pioneering Covid infection trial
3dHuman challenge trial will monitor healthy 18-30-year-olds given virus to aid vaccine and therapy research Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The world's first coronavirus human challenge study will begin in the UK in a matter of weeks, following approval from the country's clinical trials ethics body, the business department said. Approval has been given for an initial
A Quite Possibly Wonderful Summer
1dEditor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here . The summer of 2021 is shaping up to be historic. After months of soaring deaths and infections, COVID-19 cases across the United States are declining even more sharply than experts anticipated . This is expected to continue, and rates of serious illness and death will plumm
Heating Arctic may be to blame for snowstorms in Texas, scientists argue
3dThe wintry weather that has battered the southern US and parts of Europe could be a counterintuitive effect of the climate crisis Associating climate change, normally connected with roasting heat, with an unusual winter storm that has crippled swaths of Texas and brought freezing temperatures across the southern US can seem counterintuitive. But scientists say there is evidence that the rapid hea
'I Am Worth It': Why Thousands of Doctors in America Can't Get a Job
1dMedical schools are producing more graduates, but residency programs haven't kept up, leaving thousands of young doctors "chronically unmatched" and deep in debt.
NASA Lands the Perseverance Rover on Mars
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
The science mission will launch the first drone to fly on another planet, attempt making oxygen in space, and search for signs of ancient life.
Dolphins have similar personality traits to humans, study finds
1dCuriosity and sociability among traits found, despite dolphins having evolved separately for millions of years Dolphins have developed a number of similar personality traits to humans, despite having evolved in vastly different environments, researchers have found. A study, published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, looked at 134 male and female bottlenose dolphins from eight facilities
BioNTech/Pfizer Covid vaccine no longer needs ultra-cold storage
1dNew stability data come as Israel study shows efficacy of single dose
Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 years ago
2dThe temporary breakdown of Earth's magnetic field 42,000 years ago sparked major climate shifts that led to global environmental change and mass extinctions, a new international study co-led by UNSW Sydney and the South Australian Museum shows.
A Different Kind of Land Management: Let the Cows Stomp
3dRegenerative grazing can store more carbon in soils in the form of roots and other plant tissues. But how much can it really help the fight against climate change?
Coronavirus Vaccines Are Reaching American Arms
1dMillions of doses of coronavirus vaccine are still sitting in freezers, allocated in excess to nursing homes or stockpiled for later use. Now states are claiming them.
Astrophysicists find rare star spinning backwards
2dAstrophysicists find a very rare system with two exoplanets orbiting their star backwards. The star system K2-290 is 897 light years away. In our Solar System, all the planets revolve in the same direction as the rotation of the Sun. Astrophysicists discovered a very rare planetary system 897 light years away which features two exoplanets orbiting their star backwards. This unexpected arrangement
How to Watch NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Landing
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3dNASA Perseverance Mars
NASA's biggest and boldest rover attempts a momentous landing on February 18. Here's how to watch—and why you should.
Republicans Back Trump Because of the Insurrection, Not Despite It
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3dRepublicans Trump GOP
America as a whole has had enough of Donald Trump. Voters hold him responsible for the January 6 insurrection, they believe the Senate should have convicted him for his role, and they want him to leave national politics. But the Republican Party is another country, and they do things differently there. Its rank-and-file members didn't support impeachment, don't want Trump punished, and prefer him
Texas Crisis Exposes a Nation's Vulnerability to Climate Change
6hContinent-spanning storms triggered blackouts in Oklahoma and Mississippi, halted one-third of U.S. oil production and disrupted vaccinations in 20 states.
Don't Read This If You Were a Rush Limbaugh Fan
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2dTrump Rush Limbaugh
Updated at 12:07 p.m. ET on February 19, 2021. As a radio broadcaster, Rush Limbaugh, who died yesterday, was a great success: He pioneered his genre, attracted millions of listeners for several decades, and grew fantastically wealthy. Many good people were used to his daily company, something unimaginable to critics who heard only the most odious excerpts from his broadcasts, never the more typi
White House Warns of "Catastrophic Consequences" of New Ebola Outbreaks
3dHealth experts around the world are increasingly worried about two growing Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea . In a Tuesday statement , the White House warned that the outbreaks need our attention now — and that otherwise we'll risk "catastrophic consequences," CNBC reports . "While the world is reeling from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola has again emerged,
Virologist: WHO Team Found No 'Credible Link' Between Wuhan Labs, COVID-19
4dVirologist Marion Koopmans was part of a WHO team that reconstructed the early coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. She talked with NPR about her team's investigation. (Image credit: Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
Bill Gates Says That Going to Mars Is Silly
4dMars Person When it comes to securing humanity's survival in the face of climate change, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates would rather save Earth than flee from it. Escaping to Mars, a dream goal for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and other techno-utopian thinkers , just isn't for him, Gates said on The New York Times ' podcast Sway . Instead, he argues that there's more important work to be done h
Great white-shark-sized ancient fish discovered by accident from fossilized lung
1dA 66 million-year-old fossilized lung belonging to a previously unknown giant coelacanth fish was recently discovered in Morocco.
First black hole ever detected is more massive than we thought
2dNew observations of the first black hole ever detected have led astronomers to question what they know about the Universe's most mysterious objects.
Quantum collaboration gives new gravity to the mysteries of the universe
3dScientists have used cutting-edge research in quantum computation and quantum technology to pioneer a radical new approach to determining how our Universe works at its most fundamental level.
Coronavirus FAQs: Mammograms, Vaccine Ingredients … And Dogs Who Sniff Masks
19hAre there issues with having a mammogram right after a vaccine? Is there a list of vaccine ingredients — some people say they're scary. Also: My pooch loves to sniff discarded masks. Should I worry? (Image credit: Malaka Gharib/ NPR)
The Librarian War Against QAnon
2dFor too long now, shared reality has been fracturing before our eyes. Eli Pariser's concept of the " filter bubble " is already a decade old. Yochai Benkler's research on propaganda networks finds that the roots of our epistemic crisis predate even the existence of the social web. The origins of this broken informational environment may be complicated, but the stakes are quite clearly life-and-de
About 3,500 sea turtles are rescued from the frigid temperatures in Texas.
3dThe turtles are among some of the state's wildlife that have been threatened during this week's winter storm.
Texans Are Sleeping In Their Teslas to Survive Freezing Cold
1dHeat Seeker Texas was gripped by a deep freeze this week, bringing the second largest state in the United States to its knees. Millions are still without power, while many more continue to lack access to clean water or even water at all. Amid rolling blackouts, Texans are having to get creative to stay warm, as homes predominantly use electricity as a heat source in the state. But Tesla owners ha
NASA Rover Releases First Photos From the Surface of Mars
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
What a View It's a historic day for the team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The agency pulled off the nerve-wracking descent, landing its fifth robotically operated rover, Perseverance, on the surface of Mars. Mission control confirmed touchdown of the car-sized rover around 3:56pm EST. Minutes later, the world got its first glimpse of what Perseverance saw when its six wheels touched the r
Tomorrow's Mars Landing Will Be Hardest in NASA's History
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3dNASA Perseverance Mars
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover is preparing to plunge through the planet's thin atmosphere tomorrow, then attempt to land on the desolate surface below. It's an extremely exciting prospect. The 28-miles-across Jezero Crater the rover is aiming for is believed to be a massive dried up river delta, potentially harboring signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. But it's also extremely difficult terr
Growing Inventory of Black Holes Offers a Radical Probe of the Cosmos
3dWhen the first black hole collision was detected in 2015, it was a watershed moment in the history of astronomy. With gravitational waves, astronomers were observing the universe in an entirely new way. But this first event didn't revolutionize our understanding of black holes — nor could it. This collision would be the first of many, astronomers knew, and only with that bounty would answers come
Don't Suffer in The Cold? Turns Out There's a Genetic Mutation For That
1dThere's a reason ice baths aren't for everyone.
Studies Suggest People Who Had Covid-19 Should Get Single Vaccine Dose
1dNew studies show that one shot of a vaccine can greatly amplify antibody levels in those who have recovered from the coronavirus.
We Thought We Understood The 'First' Black Hole. But We Were Wrong, Scientists Say
2dSo much bigger than we realised.
A leaked report shows Pfizer's vaccine is conquering covid-19 in its largest real-world test
1dA leaked scientific report jointly prepared by Israel's health ministry and Pfizer claims that the company's covid-19 vaccine is stopping nine out of 10 infections and the country could approach herd immunity by next month. The study, based on the health records of hundreds of thousands of Israelis, finds that the vaccine may sharply curtail transmission of the coronavirus. "High vaccine uptake c
Researchers observe stationary Hawking radiation in an analog black hole
1dBlack holes are regions in space where gravity is very strong—so strong that nothing that enters them can escape, including light. Theoretical predictions suggest that there is a radius surrounding black holes known as the event horizon. Once something passes the event horizon, it can no longer escape a black hole, as gravity becomes stronger as it approaches its center.
Mars landing: Excitement builds over new images from Nasa Perseverance rover
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
The rover touched down successfully on Thursday in Mars' Jezero Crater.
The Skycrane: How NASA's Perseverance Rover Will Land on the Red Planet
2dThe "Skycrane" maneuver that will soon place Perseverance on Mars' surface was once considered a crazy idea — even within NASA.
Artificial Neural Nets Finally Yield Clues to How Brains Learn
2dIn 2007, some of the leading thinkers behind deep neural networks organized an unofficial "satellite" meeting at the margins of a prestigious annual conference on artificial intelligence. The conference had rejected their request for an official workshop; deep neural nets were still a few years away from taking over AI. The bootleg meeting's final speaker was Geoffrey Hinton of the University of
COVID-19 Cases Are Dropping Fast. Why?
3dEditor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here . One month ago, the CDC published the results of more than 20 pandemic forecasting models. Most projected that COVID-19 cases would continue to grow through February, or at least plateau. Instead, COVID-19 is in retreat in America. New daily cases have plunged, and hospitali
Cities Are So Heavy That They're Sinking Into the Earth
4dSinking Cities Cities are literally starting to sink under their own weight — even as climate change is causing sea levels to rise, ScienceAlert [one word] reports . In a study published in the journal AGU Advances , Tom Parsons, a geophysicist at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) agency, found that cities such as San Francisco may have sunk up to 80 millimeters, or just over three inche
UK companies look to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory
4dLaw firms say businesses are considering making jabs a condition of employment
US Formally Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement
23hAfter US president Joe Biden signed an executive order almost a month ago to move the United States toward rejoining the Paris climate agreement, the country formally reentered the international pact today, as Scientific American reports . The reentry signals the start of a lengthy process of drafting new emissions pledges. Biden called for an international climate summit on April 22, which falls
Incredible Photo Shows NASA Mars Rover Hanging Below "Sky Crane"
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Jetpack Snapshot NASA has released a new photo sent to us all the way from Mars courtesy of its Perseverance rover, which successfully landed on the Red Planet on Thursday. The incredible image shows the rover hanging below the probe's "sky crane," a rocket-powered device that lowered Perseverance from an altitude of about 70 feet down to the surface below. A similarly designed crane also was use
Scientists Communicate With Lucid Dreamers During Sleep
1dHello There For the first time, scientists managed to open a line of two-way, real-time communication with sleeping volunteers who were in the midst of a lucid dream. Scientists from Northwestern University and various European institutions were able to chat with lucid dreamers and ask them questions, receiving answers in real-time in the form of specific eye movements, Motherboard reports . It's
The Border Mess That Trump Left Behind
1dAs President Joe Biden tries to undo the damage that his predecessor did to America's immigration system, three problems are getting in the way: The nation's existing laws are outmoded and overly restrictive, the United States hasn't devoted the resources necessary to review individual cases, and the Biden administration has little control over when migrants will arrive at the border and seek ent
How Did Texas Electricity Grid Fail Residents So Catastrophically? An Expert Explains
1dCheap, until it was gone.
Nasa mission control erupts as Perseverance rover successfully lands on Mars – video
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
Nasa's Perseverance rover touched down on Mars' Jezero Crater to search for ancient microbial life after a journey of almost seven months from Earth, beaming back an image of the surface of the red planet Mars rover landing: Nasa's Perseverance safely touches down in search of life Continue reading…
Pigs proven intelligent enough to play video games
2dA quartet of porcine subjects at the Purdue Center for Animal Welfare Science learned to play a simple video game. All of the pigs scored well at the games' hardest level. Gaming skills were improved with human verbal and tactile encouragement. As evidence keeps mounting in support of the idea that pigs are highly intelligent—and despite some researchers viewing the species merely as a source of
2d
4 pigs have learned to play a video game
2dA quartet of porcine subjects at the Purdue Center for Animal Welfare Science learned to play a simple video game. All of the pigs scored well at the games' hardest level. Gaming skills were improved with human verbal and tactile encouragement. As evidence keeps mounting in support of the idea that pigs are highly intelligent — and despite some researchers viewing the species merely as a source o
Europe's largest meteorite crater is home to deep ancient fungi
2dFractured rocks of impact craters have been suggested as suitable environments for deep colonization of microbial communities. In a new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, a team of researchers shows that fungi has colonized deep parts of the largest impact crater in Europe, the Siljan impact structure, Sweden. Intriguingly, the fungi seem to have been fueling methane production
Europe's largest meteorite crater is home to deep ancient fungi
2dFractured rocks of impact craters have been suggested as suitable environments for deep colonization of microbial communities. In a new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, a team of researchers shows that fungi has colonized deep parts of the largest impact crater in Europe, the Siljan impact structure, Sweden. Intriguingly, the fungi seem to have been fueling methane production
Isle of Man Viking jewellery found by metal detectorist
2dA retired police officer found the rare silver and gold jewellery, which has been declared treasure.
Two COVID Strains Appear to Have Merged Into a "Heavily Mutated" Hybrid
3dBette Korber, a researcher at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, has discovered what he characterizes as "pretty clear" evidence of a heavily mutated hybrid version of the coronavirus that resulted from two variants combining their genomes . The "heavily mutated" hybrid version, New Scientist reports , resulted from genomes of the B117 variant, a highly transmissible version that o
NASA's Perseverance rover is about to start searching for life on Mars
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3dNASA Perseverance Mars
NASA officials have an expression for what it's like to land a rover on Mars: seven minutes of terror. A million things could go wrong as the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere and attempts to make it to the surface safely. The drama is made all the more stressful by the 11-minute lag in communications between the planets. On February 18, when the Perseverance rover descends toward the Mart
The LA Musician Who Designed a Microphone for Mars
3dHow an obsession with space led to a partnership on the Perseverance rover—and the chance we could finally hear what our planetary neighbor sounds like.
Scientists Call on CDC to Set Air Standards for Workplaces, Now
3dThe agency has not fully reckoned with airborne transmission of the coronavirus in settings like hospitals, schools and meatpacking plants, experts said.
3d
Another new coronavirus variant now detected in 13 countries
22hAs of Feb. 17, there had been 46 cases of the new variant confirmed in the U.K.
Photos Show NASA Perseverance Rover Landing on Mars
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Scientists working on the mission are eagerly scrutinizing the first images sent back to Earth by the robotic explorer.
Nasa scientists release new image of Perseverance rover on Mars at news briefing – live
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Team of experts answer questions about mission following safe landing on the red planet on Thursday – follow the briefing live In pictures: Perseverance mission to Mars 6.40pm GMT The landing site, Jezero crater, was picked from more than 60 candidates because of its promise for preserving signs of life. Billions of years ago the site was once home to an ancient lake and river delta that may have
Hiking Is an Ideal Structure for Friendship
1dEach 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 a group of friends who have been going on monthly hikes for 25 years. They discuss why the hike organizer has absolute authority, how they've shown up for one another through tragedies, a
Origin of life: Did Darwinian evolution begin before life itself?
1dA study done by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich physicists demonstrates that fundamental characteristics of mopolymeric lecules, such as their subunit composition, are sufficient to trigger selection processes in a plausible prebiotic setting.
Origin of life: Did Darwinian evolution begin before life itself?
1dA study done by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich physicists demonstrates that fundamental characteristics of mopolymeric lecules, such as their subunit composition, are sufficient to trigger selection processes in a plausible prebiotic setting.
20.5m years of life may have been lost to Covid across 81 countries, study finds
2dData shows Covid has taken far greater toll than flu, to which it is often dismissively compared Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage More than 20.5 million years of life may have been lost to the coronavirus pandemic in 81 countries of the world, according to a new study that exposes the fallacy that those who die would have soon done so even if they had not caught Covid
Mars Is Radiating Gravity Waves, Which Is Bad News For Human Settlers
2dKeep Out Bad news for any future Mars settlers: New research used data from NASA spacecraft to show that gravity waves emanating from the planet are making it even more inhospitable to life as time goes on. Mars is home to some pretty gnarly dust storms. It turns out that these storms can actually trigger the planet into giving off gravity waves, The Academic Times reports . That, in turn, makes
DNA Points to Single Coyote in Series of Attacks in California
2dSince July, four attacks on Bay Area residents have involved the same coyote, according to DNA taken from the victims' bite wounds and clothing.
The real story behind the Texas power outages
2dPower plants can be built to be resistant to snow, but places without regular snow don't invest in those measures. (Thomas Park/Unsplash/) A burst of Arctic air unleashed extreme winter weather on the central and southern US this week, and Texans were hit particularly hard. More than four million in the state were left without power in rotating blackouts conducted by the state's grid operator, th
Pfizer Says Its COVID Vaccine Is 93% Effective After Just One Shot
2dAccording to a new letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine , the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech is 92.6 percent effective after just one out of two doses. The results from the lab trial have significant implications. Thanks to a highly protective first dose, it strongly suggests that countries are able to safely delay giving out second doses to ensure that fi
Meet the Newest Member of the Fluorescent Mammal Club
2dThe springhare — whose coat glows a patchy pinkish-orange under UV light — joins the platypus and other mammals with this perplexing trait.
Mutation in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein renders virus up to eight times more infectious
3dA mutation in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2—one of several genetic mutations in the concerning variants that have emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil—makes the virus up to eight times more infectious in human cells than the initial virus that originated in China, according to research published in the journal eLife.
Mutation in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein renders virus up to eight times more infectious
3dA mutation in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2—one of several genetic mutations in the concerning variants that have emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil—makes the virus up to eight times more infectious in human cells than the initial virus that originated in China, according to research published in the journal eLife.
A spiky flea could ruin Midwestern ecosystems and kill native fish
3dMore spiny water fleas are turning up in waterways across the Upper Midwest. (Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center/) This story originally featured on Outdoor Life . It seems that the next troublesome invasive species in the Upper Midwest is a tiny one. The spiny water flea has been latching onto fishing equipment, traveling the Great Lakes for decades, but now they are being transp
The Moon's Biggest Crater Is Revealing Lunar Formation Secrets We Never Knew
3dOne of the biggest craters in the Solar System.
Russian Scientists Are Probing Prehistoric Viruses Emerging From Siberian Permafrost
3dFrozen since forever.
Nomadland Is a Gorgeous Journey Through the Wreckage of American Promise
8hFern (played by Frances McDormand), the hardscrabble hero of Chloé Zhao's Nomadland , is the kind of resolute, independent protagonist that has dominated American movies since the dawn of the Western genre. She drives around the country in her van, living as self-sufficiently as possible, and carries a flinty affect with people, revealing little about herself and the turmoil that has led to her l
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Mars landing team 'awestruck' by photo of descending rover
23hThe world got its first close-up look at a Mars landing on Friday, as NASA released a stunning picture of its newest rover being lowered onto the dusty red surface.
A speed limit also applies in the quantum world
23hEven in the world of the smallest particles with their own special rules, things cannot proceed infinitely fast. Physicists at the University of Bonn have now shown what the speed limit is for complex quantum operations. The study also involved scientists from MIT, the universities of Hamburg, Cologne and Padua, and the Jülich Research Center. The results are important for the realization of quant
Time-lapse reveals the hidden dance of roots
1dDuke researchers have been studying something that happens too slowly for our eyes to see. A team in biologist Philip Benfey's lab wanted to see how plant roots burrow into the soil. So they set up a camera on rice seeds sprouting in clear gel, taking a new picture every 15 minutes for several days after germination.
Time-lapse reveals the hidden dance of roots
1dDuke researchers have been studying something that happens too slowly for our eyes to see. A team in biologist Philip Benfey's lab wanted to see how plant roots burrow into the soil. So they set up a camera on rice seeds sprouting in clear gel, taking a new picture every 15 minutes for several days after germination.
The US is back in the Paris Agreement. What's next? | John Kerry and Al Gore
1dOn his first day as president, Joe Biden signed a letter of acceptance that set in motion the 30-day process for the United States to re-join the Paris Agreement on climate. On the day the US returns to the accord, John Kerry, the US Special Envoy for Climate, sits down with Nobel Laureate Al Gore to discuss the make-or-break decade ahead of us. Listen as Kerry lays out how the US fits into the gl
CRISPR-Edited Bananas
1dIn the British Drama, Years and Years , they imagine the very near future. I do wonder what someone from 2010 would have thought about a tv show accurately depicting 2020. In any case, one of the throw-away lines of the show was that there are no more bananas. The writers did their research – that the Cavendish banana will disappear sometime in the 2020's is extremely likely. It is being threaten
The AI Research Paper Was Real. The 'Coauthor' Wasn't
1dAn IBM researcher found his name on two papers with which he had no connection. A different paper listed a fictitious author by the name of "Bill Franks."
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Ted Cruz's Trip to Mexico Looks Bad. But This Is Worse.
2dFirst they hid behind obscure interpretations of the Constitution and false claims of voter fraud. Then, even after a violent mob came for them, they chose a pathological liar and would-be authoritarian over the rule of law. Now that Donald Trump's second impeachment has ended in acquittal, we can look to the objections lodged by 147 Republicans against certifying the presidential-election result
This is the first image taken by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Now the hunt for life begins.
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
NASA's Perseverance rover has landed safely on Mars. The spacecraft survived its journey through the Martian atmosphere and made a soft touchdown at Jezero crater. Shortly after landing, it sent back this picture from the surface using its Hazard Avoidance Cameras , which it will use when on the move. The image is partially obscured by a dust cover. What happened: Perseverance began its descent i
Investigating the wave properties of matter with vibrating molecules
2dThe working group led by Prof. Stephan Schiller, Ph.D. from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has used a novel, high-precision laser spectroscopic experiment to measure the internal vibration of the simplest molecule. This allowed the researchers to investigate the wave character of the motion of atomic nuclei with unprecedented accuracy. They present their findings in the current edition
A Hitchhiker's Guide to an Ancient Geomagnetic Disruption
2dA shift in Earth's poles 42,000 years ago may have drastically altered the planet's climate, scientists have found — and they're naming the period after the author Douglas Adams.
DARPA's new combat drones could catch a ride from other aircraft
2dThis Reaper drone is armed with a AIM-9X Block 2 missile. (Senior Airman Haley Stevens / US Air Force/) Imagine an unmanned aircraft that is able to launch its own air-to-air weapon. That agile machine would itself first deploy from a bigger, crewed airplane, meaning that the entire system would involve missiles inside a drone that detaches from an airplane—like airborne Russian nesting dolls. Th
Coronavirus Cases Around the World Are Finally Dropping
2dThe number of new coronavirus cases decreased in 44 US states this past week — an improvement that's mirrored by much of the rest of the world. On average, there were about 82,000 new confirmed COVID-19 infections per day throughout the United States over the last week, according to Axios . Case numbers in a handful of states are still on the rise, but the numbers represent a 24 percent drop in o
Like it or not, history shows that taxes and bureaucracy are cornerstones of democracy
2dThe media has been rife with stories about democracy in decline: the recent coup in Myanmar, the ascent of strongman Narendra Modi in India, and of course ex-President Trump's attempts to overturn the U.S. presidential election—all of which raise alarms about the current status of democracies worldwide. Such threats to the voices of the people are often attributed to the excesses of individual lea
The Evolution of Trump's Threat to America
2dIn folklore and rhetoric, there's a concept known as the "rule of three." A trio of events, characters or ideas, the reasoning goes, is for some reason more engaging to the human mind than collections of two or four. The major crises that will define Donald Trump's attacks on democracy and the rule of law over the course of his presidency have now reached that crucial number. First, there was the
Smart materials: From tiny robots to colour-swapping clothes
2dA report examines the potential of materials that can change shape, adapt and repair themselves.
Dramatisk Mars-landing venter i aften: Værste scenarie er en eksplosion
2dDer er 15 milliarder kroner og dansk teknologi på spil, når Nasa-robotten Perseverance skal lande på Mars.
Winners of the 2020 Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest
3dThe judging for the ninth annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest , organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has wrapped up, and the winning images and photographers have been announced. Gaetano Dario Gargiulo took Best in Show with his image of an octopus in a tide pool. The organizers of the contest have once again shared with us some of the winners and honorable mentions, shown below,
China and Russia Agree to Collaborate on Lunar Base
3dPicking Sides The governments of Russia and China have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding that says the two countries will collaborate on an upcoming lunar base. Specifically, SpaceNews reports , the memorandum suggests that Russia will sign on to help China with its planned International Lunar Research Stations (ILRS). It's a striking — but not surprising — pivot from Russia's partners
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Millions of Americans Have No Power in This Extreme, Nation-Wide Storm. Here's Why
3dA record-setting phenomenon.
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Etna spews smoke and ashes in spectacular new eruption
4dMount Etna, one of the world's most active volcanoes, belched smoke and ashes in a new eruption on Tuesday, but Italian authorities said it posed no danger to the surrounding villages.
Decades After The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Local Dolphins Are Still Suffering
20hThe damage lingers.
A Second AI Researcher Says She Was Fired by Google
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21hGoogle Mitchell AI
Margaret Mitchell was the co-leader of a group investigating ethics in AI, alongside Timnit Gebru, who said she was fired in December.
Curious Test Reveals Dogs May Have a Special Ability We Didn't Know About Before
1dNot unlike toddlers.
Nasa scientists hail Perseverance rover's arrival on Mars with stunning images
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Car-sized vehicle designed to seek signs of life is pronounced 'healthy' after dramatic descent to surface of the red planet Nasa scientists have said the Perseverance Mars rover is "healthy" and is beaming back many stunning new images from the surface of the planet, promising significant scientific discoveries ahead. Related: Perseverance's mission to Mars – in pictures Continue reading…
Nasa publicerar nya skarpa bilder från Mars
1dI går lyckades Nasa landa rymdsonden Perseverance på Mars. Uppdraget är att leta efter tecken på tidigare liv och redan nu har sonden skickat hem skarpa bilder från den steniga planeten.
Another Earthquake Nails the Crumbling Fukushima Power Plant
1dNot Again A powerful earthquake struck the site of Japan's already-crumbling Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last weekend, further damaging the facility that experts and authorities have spent years trying to safely maintain. The power plant's operators found that cooling water levels had dropped in two of the plant's reactors, indicating that the earthquake caused them to spring new leaks,
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The Window for D.C. Statehood Won't Be Open Forever
1dWith one move, Democrats could reshape government and potentially lock in their majority in the Senate for years to come. Four of their own stand in the way. The party may have just a few months to make it happen—but leaders in the House and Senate are taking their time and arguing about the details. Advocates see statehood for Washington, D.C., as a moral issue, because it would give equal right
Florida Women Caught Wearing Elderly Disguises to Get Vaccine Early
1dTwo Florida women in their 30s reportedly dressed up as "grannies" to get the COVID-19 vaccine early, according to local Orlando news station WFTV . "OMG," WFTV reporter Lauren Seabrook wrote in a Thursday tweet . Director of the Florida Department of Health Raul Pino "just said two young girls in their 20s dressed up as grandmas with 'bonnets and gloves' and went through the line to try and get
Physicists Propose a 'Force Field' to Protect Sensitive Quantum Computers From Noise
1dWhat a time to be alive!
Critically endangered baby whale washes up dead on Florida coast
1dAn endangered whale calf has been found dead on a beach in Florida with signs it was hit by a boat. Fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales are left on Earth.
Scepticism over Oxford vaccine threatens Europe's immunisation push
1dGerman politicians voice support for jab after only 17% of doses delivered to country are administered so far Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Politicians in Germany are stepping out in support of the AstraZeneca vaccine as public scepticism around the University of Oxford-developed product threatens to hamper Europe's Covid-19 immunisation programme. The vaccine, sub
When There's No Heat: 'You Need Wood, You Get Wood.'
1dCommunity wood banks, like food banks, help people in need. Climate change is shaping their role.
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As Coronavirus Variants Spread, the US Struggles to Keep Up
1dThe nation is a sequencing superpower. But without a federal strategy or enough funding, scientists can't coordinate to track an evolving threat fast enough.
Experts Answer the Biggest COVID Vaccine Questions
1dWhat does "95 percent effective" mean? Should you get vaccinated if you have had COVID? Is there a best vaccine? — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Experts Answer the Biggest COVID Vaccine Questions
1dWhat does "95 percent effective" mean? Should you get vaccinated if you have had COVID? Is there a best vaccine? — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
The Battle of Iwo Jima: A gruesome victory for the Allied Forces
1dFought on a tiny volcanic island 76 years ago, this brutal clash between American and Japanese forces defined the horror of the Pacific theater.
Foot-and-mouth outbreak's parallels with Covid pandemic
1dTwenty years on from the start of the foot-and-mouth crisis, the Covid parallels appear stark.
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The dentist who helped a koala to walk
1dJon Doulman built a unique prosthetic after hearing about Triumph, a koala born without a foot.
UK to launch 'high risk' science agency
1dThe new agency will help "cement the UK's position as a science superpower", the government says.
NASA rover Perseverance survives death-defying plunge, lands safely on Mars
2dNASA's rhinoceros-size Perseverance rover pulled off the most precise landing in Martian history Thursday (Feb. 18), touching down successfully in Jezero crater.
Bruce Blackburn, Designer of Ubiquitous NASA Logo, Dies at 82
2dHe was known for the NASA "worm," which has become synonymous with space exploration. He also designed the 1976 American Revolution Bicentennial star.
The first black hole ever discovered is more massive than we thought
2dEinstein first predicted the existence of black holes when he published his theory of general relativity in 1916, describing how gravity shapes the fabric of spacetime. But astronomers didn't spot one until 1964, some 6,070 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation. Geiger counters launched into space detected cosmic x-rays coming from a region called Cygnus X-1. (We now know the cosmic rays a
Here's What Planetary Scientists Think of Krispy Kreme's Mars Donut
2dAs NASA prepared to land its first rover in nine years on the surface of Mars this week, famed donut chain Krispy Kreme stole the headlines with its own contribution to the scientific discourse: a Mars-themed donut, dipped in caramel and filled with chocolate cream. Ever skeptical, Futurism reached out to a variety of planetary scientists to ask whether the donut looks like an accurate model of t
Endangered black-footed ferret cloned for the first time
2dThe adorable clone, named Elizabeth Ann, was created using cells that were frozen more than three decades ago.
Russian Scientist Proposes Using Lasers to Melt Space Junk
2dSatellite Melt As we speak, thousands of small pieces of debris are cluttering Earth's orbit. Even entire derelict satellites are drifting through space, having long fulfilled their purpose. In fact, an astonishing 60 percent of our planet's roughly 6,000 satellites are no longer in operation. That's a problem, as any collision could end in disaster — or the dreaded knock-on effect known as Kessl
Texas Is a Mess
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2dTexas Winter ERCOT
The state of Texas was hit hard, as was much of the central United States, when frigid Arctic air pushed southward and a winter storm blew through. Millions of Texas residents have been without electricity for days amid record-setting cold temperatures and widespread blackouts. The power situation is improving now, but officials warn there may be further rotating power outages as systems come bac
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How to Watch NASA's Perseverance Rover Land on Mars
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
Perseverance Landing Today, NASA is set to land its Perseverance rover on what is believed to be an ancient dried up river delta on the surface of Mars — and luckily, the agency is giving us access to every tool at its disposal to follow the white-knuckles journey. NASA's live stream will kick off at 2:15 pm Eastern time, including live footage from mission control. Unfortunately, though, you won
The Populists Who Got COVID-19 Are a Warning for Democracy
2dWhen Donald Trump was sick with COVID-19 last year, some Americans wondered if his illness would spur a change in his handling of the pandemic. It didn't—Trump continued to minimize its risk , hold rallies, and resist mask wearing. He declared that the United States was "rounding the corner" and little significant policy change materialized, even as cases of COVID-19 increased and deaths mounted.
Lucid dreamers can hear and answer questions while still asleep, scientists find
2dResearchers have successfully achieved real-time communication with a sleeping person by invading their dreams in several independent experiments.
Little is known about the effects of puberty blockers
2dThat has not stopped clinics prescribing them enthusiastically
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Watch the Perseverance rover complete its dramatic landing on Mars
2dUpdate: NASA's Perseverance rover is now home on Mars. Here's the first on-the-ground look (a screenshot from NASA's livestream). pic.twitter.com/Ny6RgJYMXl — Popular Science (@PopSci) February 18, 2021
Clinical Trials Are Moving Out of the Lab and Into People's Homes
2dAfter the pandemic forced thousands of trials to shut down, researchers found clever ways to conduct human studies remotely — while reaching more people, quickly and cheaply.
Nasa Perseverance rover to land on Mars in search of life
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
Spacecraft will descend on red planet carrying helicopter and instruments to look for biosignatures A rover and a tiny helicopter are preparing to land on Mars, aiming to offer an opportunity to answer an enduring question: has life ever emerged on another planet? Nasa's ninth mission to descend on the cold, dry, red planet will be steered by a $2.7bn (£2.1bn), car-sized, six-wheeled rover christ
How the Rice's Whale Became a New Species
2dThe intact skeleton of a washed-up whale gave scientists the final pieces of evidence needed to make the designation
New advances using exotic matter may lead to ultrafast computing
2dIn the 196zeroes, an exotic phase of matter known as an excitonic insulator was proposed. Decades later, evidence for this phase was found in real materials. Recently, particular attention has centered on Ta2NiSe5 because an excitonic insulator phase may exist in this material at room temperatures. The substance is made up of the elements tantalum, nickel, and selenium, and has the potential to le
New metamaterials for studying the oldest light in the universe
2dThe cosmic microwave background, or CMB, is the electromagnetic echo of the Big Bang, radiation that has been traveling through space and time since the very first atoms were born 380,000 years after our universe began. Mapping minuscule variations in the CMB tells scientists about how our universe came to be and what it's made of.
Birders' Tweets Are Causing an Online Flap
2dSharing photos and location details of rare bird sightings is boosting the birdwatching community. But some worry that the exposure threatens the animals.
The First 100 Days on Mars: How NASA's Perseverance Rover Will Begin Its Mission
2dWith the space agency's latest rover set to touch down on February 18, here is the agenda for its initial months — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Syv rædselsfulde minutter afgør alt: Sådan foregår voldsom Mars-landing i aften
2dSe trin for trin, hvordan Nasa-rover går fra at rejse med 19.500 kilometer i timen til at lande blidt på Mars.
What Americans Don't Know About Their Medications
2dA few days ago , an unusual offer landed in my inbox. "Do you want to interview this man before he ends his life?" read the subject line of the message sent by Linda Martin, who, out of concerns for her safety, would tell me only that she is in her 60s and lives on the West Coast. She said that John Fratti, a 50-year-old former pharmaceutical-sales representative, was "making plans to end his lif
Explaining this week's deadly US cold snap
2dWind turbines can be designed to withstand snow and ice. (Pixabay/) This week's bizarre, deadly weather—snow on the Mexican border, ice-locked roads in Louisiana, and subzero temperatures in central Texas—all starts in the Arctic, where a barrier that normally keeps out polar winds has switched sides. Under normal circumstances, the jet stream (a band of fast-moving wind that encircles the North
South African Covid variant may cut Pfizer vaccine protection by two-thirds
2dStudy finds fall in antibody activity – but scientists say jab should still protect against severe disease and death Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the m
Scientists Just Confirmed The Existence of a New Crystalline Structure of Ice
2dBehold the weirdness that is ice XIX.
COVID-19 Vaccines for Pregnant Moms May Protect Newborns
2dA case study finds SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in placental cord blood after maternal vaccination.
The Extreme Weather in The US Is So Severe Even Weather Satellites Are Bewildered
2dThis doesn't make sense.
C.D.C. Announces $200 Million 'Down Payment' to Track Virus Variants
3dScientists say the new investment will help in the next couple of months, but hope that the stimulus package will provide much more.
Researchers discover a new route to forming complex crystals
3dWhen materials reach extremely small size scales, strange things begin to happen. One of those phenomena is the formation of mesocrystals.
SpaceX Starships keep exploding, but it's all part of Elon Musk's plan
3dThe SpaceX Starship rockets intentionally fall horizontally, a maneuver that helps them slow down. (SpaceX /) Earlier this month, a gleaming, 15-story rocket exploded in a massive fireball over a coastal testing facility near Brownsville, Texas. A video of the fiery crash, broadcast via YouTube by SpaceX, looked like something out of a Michael Bay blockbuster. To many observers, the crash of the
Termite gut microbes could aid biofuel production
3dWheat straw, the dried stalks left over from grain production, is a potential source of biofuels and commodity chemicals. But before straw can be converted to useful products by biorefineries, the polymers that make it up must be broken down into their building blocks. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering have found that microbes from the guts of certain termite sp
The Most Accurate Flat Map of Earth Yet
3dA cosmologist and his colleagues tackle a centuries-old cartographic conundrum — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Verdens ældste dna afslører ukendt slægt af ikoniske mammutter
3dDna'et er 1,2 millioner år gammelt og giver en helt ny forståelse af de forhistoriske kæmper.
The safest ways to stay warm during a power outage
3dWhen the power's out and it's cold outside, you need to find a way to keep warm. (michael podger/Unsplash/) It's cold—below freezing, maybe. You just lost power. Heat too, perhaps. Now you're trying to figure out the best way to stay warm without electricity. We've got you. What not to do When the temperature indoors drops, it can be tempting to seek out quick fixes in an effort to keep you and y
Million-year-old mammoth genomes set record for ancient DNA
3dDNA from teeth found in Siberia permafrost the oldest yet sequenced, pushing science into 'deep time' Teeth from mammoths buried in the Siberian permafrost for more than a million years have led to the world's oldest known DNA being sequenced, according to a study that shines a genetic searchlight on the deep past. Researchers said the three teeth specimens, one roughly 800,000 years old and two
How to Stop Moths? Blickling Hall Tries Bringing in Wasps
3dBlickling Hall, a centuries-old building in England, is trying to protect its priceless tapestries, carpets and furniture with thousands and thousands of microscopic wasps.
Oldest sequenced DNA belonged to 1 million-year-old mystery mammoth
3dThe oldest sequenced DNA on record belongs to a 1.2 million-year-old mammoth.
UK Covid lockdowns can be eased quicker due to vaccines and data, MPs told
3dExpert says there is more confidence in scientific analysis showing risks Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The success of the vaccination programme makes it possible to consider lifting the lockdown restrictions, scientists have told MPs, but the UK should not expect to become Covid-free like New Zealand. Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at
How theater weathers wars, outlasts empires and survives pandemics | Cara Greene Epstein
3dWhen catastrophe strikes, art prevails — and has done so for centuries. In this fascinating talk, writer and director Cara Greene Epstein places the closing of theaters during the coronavirus pandemic in a historical context, exploring how we can use this intermission to imagine a more just, representative and beautiful world, onstage and off.
Plastic in the ocean kills more threatened albatrosses than we thought
3dPlastic in the ocean can be deadly for marine wildlife and seabirds around the globe, but our latest study shows single-use plastics are a bigger threat to endangered albatrosses in the southern hemisphere than we previously thought.
Plastic in the ocean kills more threatened albatrosses than we thought
3dPlastic in the ocean can be deadly for marine wildlife and seabirds around the globe, but our latest study shows single-use plastics are a bigger threat to endangered albatrosses in the southern hemisphere than we previously thought.
Mice living with humans the longest found to be the best at problem-solving
3dA team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, has found that mice that have been living a commensal life with humans for the longest amount of time are the best at problem-solving. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes experiments they conducted with mice from different regions.
Mice living with humans the longest found to be the best at problem-solving
3dA team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, has found that mice that have been living a commensal life with humans for the longest amount of time are the best at problem-solving. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes experiments they conducted with mice from different regions.
An mRNA vaccine for cancer immunotherapy
3dMessenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to prevent COVID-19 have made headlines around the world recently, but scientists have also been working on mRNA vaccines to treat or prevent other diseases, including some forms of cancer. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Nano Letters have developed a hydrogel that, when injected into mice with melanoma, slowly released RNA nanovaccines that shrank tumors and kept
Low-wage workers at risk for automation: study
3dIn a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface in January 2021, SFI External Professor Doyne Farmer, first author Maria del Rio-Chanona, and their colleagues at Oxford University explore the impact of automation on low-wage workers. The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the pace of automation, and they determined that low-wage workers face a double-whammy of being more likely t
Researchers report switching material between semiconductor and metallic states
3dA group of researchers from the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin have found out that a semiconductor can be converted to a metal and back by light more easily and more quickly than previously thought. This discovery may increase the processing speed and simplify the design of many common technological devices.
World's largest iceberg disintegrates into 'alphabet soup,' NASA photo shows
3dThe world's largest iceberg has disintegrated into an 'alphabet soup' of mini ice island, new NASA imagery shows.
Watch NASA's Perseverance rover land on Mars
3dFollow along as the Mars rover Perseverance lands on Mars on Feb. 18. Don't miss out on the final 7 minutes of terror.
A new, clearer insight into Earth's hidden crystals
3dGeologists have developed a new theory about the state of Earth billions of years ago after examining the very old rocks formed in the Earth's mantle below the continents.
From Nelly to Doug: nicknames emerge for growing list of Covid variants
3dWith no agreed naming system, scientists are devising their own nomenclature to fill the gap Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Each day seemingly unveils a fresh variant of the virus that causes Covid-19. These variants – may be worthy of concern or simply stoke scientific curiosity, but they carry some industrial-strength technical names such as B117 or B1351. And as
Humour over rumour? The world can learn a lot from Taiwan's approach to fake news | Arwa Mahdawi
3dMatt Hancock should spend less time watching Hollywood films and more time studying the Asian country's innovative approach to misinformation Matt Hancock, we learned recently , got a few pointers on how to shape the UK's vaccine strategy from the 2011 movie Contagion. I don't know if that is something I would boast about if I were the UK health secretary, but, look, it is great that the man is n
Here's What Dieting Actually Does to Your Metabolism, According to Scientists
3dDon't believe everything you've heard.
Egyptian pharaoh was executed on the battlefield, mummy reveals
3dEgyptian pharaoh Seqenenre Taa II seems to have been overwhelmed by multiple attackers on the battlefield, perhaps after being captured and bound.
Wisconsin Official Traded Sturgeon Research Eggs for Caviar, Prosecutors Say
3dRyan Koenigs, a biologist who oversees the state's sturgeon spearing season in Lake Winnebago, is accused of accepting $20,000 worth of caviar in an illegal bartering scheme.
Europe launches recruitment drive for female and disabled astronauts
3dEuropean Space Agency aims to take on 26 people for missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars European space chiefs have launched their first recruitment drive for new astronauts in 11 years, with particular emphasis on encouraging women and people with disabilities to join missions to the Moon and, eventually, Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday that it was looking to boost t
Neanderthals May Have Been Killed Off By Magnetic Pole Flip
1hPolar Opposites Scientists have discovered evidence that Earth's magnetic poles flipped 42,000 years ago — possibly leading to the Neanderthals' extinction. Researchers from Sydney's University of South Wales (UNSW) and the South Australian Museum released a paper describing the findings in the journal Science detailing how the reversal of the poles caused abrupt solar storms and climate shifts t
Long Covid: 'It's a year since I've felt like myself'
4hThere is fresh hope for those still suffering the effects of the virus after 12 months with £18.5m of new funding and 70 new NHS clinics Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Today is an anniversary that George Hencken never imagined. It is exactly one year since she caught Covid-19. But unlike most people who have suffered from the disease, she remains ill. "It's a year s
NASA's New Mars Rover Is Less Powerful Than Many Smartphones
5hiMars If you thought a NASA rover that cost $2.4 billion to build and launch would be more powerful your old smartphone, you have another thing coming. NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed successfully on Mars Thursday , is powered by an old chipset that gives it about the same processing power as an iMac from 1998, according to PCMag 's breakdown . More specifically, it's packing 256MB of RAM
A New Era of Black Holes Is Here
9hWhen the first black-hole collision was detected in 2015, it was a watershed moment in the history of astronomy. Using gravitational waves, astronomers were observing the universe in an entirely new way. But this first event didn't revolutionize our understanding of black holes—nor could it. This collision would be the first of many, astronomers knew, and only with that bounty would answers come.
Octopuses Have a Secret Sense to Keep Their 8 Arms Out of Trouble
12hEven when an octopus can't see light with its eyes, its arms seem to know it is there.
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New technology enables predictive design of engineered human cells
1dNorthwestern University synthetic biologist Joshua Leonard used to build devices when he was a child using electronic kits. Now he and his team have developed a design-driven process that uses parts from a very different kind of toolkit to build complex genetic circuits for cellular engineering.
New technology enables predictive design of engineered human cells
1dNorthwestern University synthetic biologist Joshua Leonard used to build devices when he was a child using electronic kits. Now he and his team have developed a design-driven process that uses parts from a very different kind of toolkit to build complex genetic circuits for cellular engineering.
New study identifies 126 species that could host coronavirus
1dThe novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is a product of different coronaviruses recombining in animal species. A new study suggests that hundreds of animal species may harbor multiple types of coronaviruses, meaning recombination events could be more likely than previously thought. The authors noted that their results could help improve surveillance programs to mitigate the risks associated wi
Are billionaires bad for the environment?
1dA 100-meter yacht like this one can TK. (Arno Senoner//) Richard Wilk is a distinguished professor and provost's professor of anthropology at the Director of the Open Anthropology Institute at Indiana University. Beatriz Barros is a Ph.D. Candidate in anthropology at Indiana University. This story originally featured on The Conversation . Tesla's Elon Musk and Amazon's Jeff Bezos have been vying
Is this winter weather 'normal'? And other questions about the historic storms in the US.
1dSnow-covered streets were the norm across the US this week. (Sam Farallon/Un/) It's been a wild and dangerous week for weather in the US. With record cold and snowfalls across nearly the entire country, many Americans are wondering what exactly is going on. Here are some answers to your most burning questions. Why did wind turbines fail in the winter storm? Sweden, which is no stranger to chilly
Conservation paradox: The pros and cons of recreational hunting
1dRecreational hunting—especially hunting of charismatic species for their trophies—raises ethical and moral concerns. Yet recreational hunting is frequently suggested as a way to conserve nature and support local people's livelihoods.
Global study of 48 cities finds nature sanitizes 41.7 million tons of human waste a year
1dThe first global-scale assessment of the role ecosystems play in providing sanitation finds that nature provides at least 18% of sanitation services in 48 cities worldwide, according to researchers in the United Kingdom and India. The study, published February 19 in the journal One Earth, estimates that more than 2 million cubic meters of the cities' human waste is processed each year without engi
Conservation paradox: The pros and cons of recreational hunting
1dRecreational hunting—especially hunting of charismatic species for their trophies—raises ethical and moral concerns. Yet recreational hunting is frequently suggested as a way to conserve nature and support local people's livelihoods.
Nvidia's latest effort to fix the graphics card shortage takes aim at crypto miners
1dNvidia's RTX 3060 is in high-demand due to its relatively low price and high performance. (Nvidia/) The past year has left PC gamers feeling conflicted. Hardware makers like Nvidia have released some of the most powerful and compelling new graphics cards—essential components for running games at high frame rates and resolutions—in years. Cards like the Nvidia RTX 30-series promise big performance
Scientists Name Old Dinosaur for the Smithsonian
1dA new study has reclassified a fossil discovered in 1883 as a dicraeosaurid—a family of long-necked dinosaurs rarely found in North America
UK scientists highlight 12 criteria for Covid vaccine passports
1dRoyal Society says issues such as certifying immunity and data protection need to be considered Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Vaccine passports are feasible, according to scientists at the Royal Society, but many pressing questions need to be answered around their use, from knowing whether vaccines protect people against transmitting coronavirus, to ensuring they d
Quartz crystals in the stomach of fossil bird complicates the mystery of its diet
1dIt's hard to know what prehistoric animals' lives were like—even answering seemingly simple questions, like what they ate, can be a challenge. Sometimes, paleontologists get lucky, and pristine fossils will preserve an animal's stomach contents or provide other clues. In a new study in Frontiers in Earth Science, researchers investigating the fossil of a bird that lived alongside the dinosaurs got
Quartz crystals in the stomach of fossil bird complicates the mystery of its diet
1dIt's hard to know what prehistoric animals' lives were like—even answering seemingly simple questions, like what they ate, can be a challenge. Sometimes, paleontologists get lucky, and pristine fossils will preserve an animal's stomach contents or provide other clues. In a new study in Frontiers in Earth Science, researchers investigating the fossil of a bird that lived alongside the dinosaurs got
Nicaragua leaders face backlash after forming space agency amid human rights crisis
1dCritics say President Daniel Ortega is attempting to distract from his dismal human rights record and poor response to the pandemic Nicaragua has created a new National Ministry for Extraterrestrial Space Affairs, The Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, prompting scorn from critics in a nation experiencing a steady erosion of human rights since a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests three ye
COVID-19 is shortening US life expectancy—especially for people of color
1dVaccinations are going to be crucial in bringing down case counts, serious illness, and mutations as the pandemic continues. (CDC/) As we reach the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 being officially detected in the United States, there's both hopeful news and many questions yet to answer. While vaccines are still being made and administered, the rising threat of stronger variants looms as the UK v
The Good News of COVID-19 Is Sticking, for Now
1dEditor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here . All major indicators of COVID-19 transmission in the United States continue to fall rapidly. Weekly new cases have fallen from 1.7 million at the national peak in early January to fewer than 600,000 this week, and cases have declined in every state. As we've seen at many po
WANTED: Three North Korean Hackers For Trying to Steal $1.3B In Crypto
1dWanted Poster The United States Department of Justice just indicted three state-backed North Korean hackers who, it says, conspired to steal more than $1.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency. The three hackers are part of North Korea's military intelligence group known as the Reconnaissance General Bureau, according to The New York Times . The trio reportedly made off with a serious haul of crypto,
Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 years ago
1dThe temporary breakdown of Earth's magnetic field 42,000 years ago sparked major climate shifts that led to global environmental change and mass extinctions, a new international study shows.
Perseverance beams back first images of Mars
2dNASA's Perseverance rover sent home two images immediately upon its successful landing on the Martian surface Thursday (Feb. 18).
Nasa-robot er landet sikkert på Mars
2dNasa-robotten 'Perseverence' landede torsdag aften sikkert på Mars og skal nu lede efter spor på liv.
Researchers Exchange Messages with Dreamers
2dDreamers answered experimenters' questions or solved simple math problems, showing that complex two-way communication between the dreaming and waking world is possible.
Thousands of Sea Turtles Immobilized by Brutal Texas Winter Storm
2dVolunteers have been working around the clock to rescue the animals found stunned on the beach.
Nasa's 'Perseverance' rover lands on Mars
2dMission controllers receive radio signal soon after car-sized vehicle touches down on the Jezero crater
NASA rover lands on Mars to look for signs of ancient life
2dA NASA rover streaked through the orange Martian sky and landed on the planet Thursday, accomplishing the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on Mars.
LSD alters consciousness by breaking down barriers in the brain
2dBrain scans reveal that LSD may free the brain from its own natural barriers.
A Famous Black Hole Gets a Massive Update
2dCygnus X-1, one of the first identified black holes, is much weightier than expected, raising new questions about how such objects form.
Why the Deep Freeze Caused Texas to Lose Power
2dIssues with natural gas supplies and the grid's isolation both factored in to the massive outages — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Polar Bears Live on the Edge of the Climate Change Crisis
2dOn Hudson Bay's frigid shores, scientists track the animals to better understand how the environment is shaping their chances of survival
UN: Huge changes in society needed to keep nature, Earth OK
2dHumans are making Earth a broken and increasingly unlivable planet through climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. So the world must make dramatic changes to society, economics and daily life, a new United Nations report says.
Dogs may have body-awareness and understand consequences of own actions
2dA new study published in Scientific Reports has revealed that dogs understand the relationship between their body and the environment in a problem solving task. The researchers of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary) found that dogs can recognize their body as an obstacle, which ability is one of the basic manifestations of self-representation in humans.
Dogs may have body-awareness and understand consequences of own actions
2dA new study published in Scientific Reports has revealed that dogs understand the relationship between their body and the environment in a problem solving task. The researchers of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary) found that dogs can recognize their body as an obstacle, which ability is one of the basic manifestations of self-representation in humans.
Incredibly detailed video shows DNA twisting into weird shapes to squeeze into cells
2dScientists recently captured a high-resolution video of DNA shimmying into weird shapes in order to squeeze inside cells.
Facebook announces UK trial to tackle climate misinformation
2dLabels to be attached to posts directing users to Facebook's Climate Science Information Center Facebook has said it will start labelling misinformation about the climate crisis in a small trial limited to the UK. Labels will be attached to certain posts directing users to Facebook's Climate Science Information Center, a repository of fact-checked claims about the environment. Continue reading…
Perseverance Set to Land on Mars
2dThe landing is the tricky part. Mars is a difficult planet to land on. It has just enough of an atmosphere to be a problem, about 1% the pressure of Earth's atmosphere. This is thin so provides much less breaking (but still useful) to slow the craft, but thick enough to produce dust storms and other menaces. Mars has 0.376 G surface gravity, which is a lot less than Earth but significantly more t
What You Gain When You Give Things Up
2d" How to Build a Life " is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. W e have just entered the season of Lent, a time to pray and fast to commemorate Jesus's 40-day sojourn into the desert at the beginning of his public ministry. About a quarter of Americans—including 61 percent of Catholics—typically observe Lent through voluntary sacrifice, fasting, almsgivi
Nursing Home Workers Had One of the Deadliest Jobs of 2020
2dAn analysis of incomplete data shows they had a death rate higher than that of loggers, and may have rivaled fishers for most perilous profession — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
The First 100 Days on Mars: How NASA's Perseverance Rover Will Begin Its Mission
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
With the space agency's latest rover set to touch down on February 18, here is the agenda for its initial months — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
For Muslims wary of the Covid vaccine: there's every religious reason not to be | Sadakat Kadri
2dSuspicion of authority and worries about what is halal must be balanced by the fact that protecting others is an obligation Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage As the UK's Covid-19 vaccination programme has accelerated, optimism about its effectiveness has been rising. According to the Office for National Statistics , more than nine in 10 people are now keen to get a jab
Delay a Shot? Skip One? Vaccine-Dosing Messaging Is a Nightmare.
2dThe debates began as 2020 ended and the first vaccines were headed toward authorization. Skip the second dose, some researchers proposed —just one prick of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna formulation might be enough to do the trick. Jab No. 2 is crucial, others parried, but perhaps it can be postponed longer than the prescribed three or four weeks . No need to screw with the schedule, still ot
The U.S. Puts Its Greatest Vulnerability on Display
2dIn one of his first public speeches , in early 1838, Abraham Lincoln warned that the biggest threat to the United States came from within. "If destruction be our lot," said the future president, then 28, "we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." Citing the killings of a mixed-race boatman and an abolitionist newspaper
'I've accepted the risk': volunteering to be exposed to Covid in new trials
2dHealthy adult volunteers aged 18 to 30 will be exposed to virus in controlled environment Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Human challenge trials for coronavirus are to begin in the UK , a world first in the global fight against Covid-19. Healthy adult volunteers aged between 18 and 30 will be exposed to coronavirus in a controlled environment, to learn more about how
Physicists Thought The Atomic Giant Flerovium Was 'Magical', But It Was Just a Mirage
2dThe strange case of element 114.
I Am a Heroin User. I Do Not Have a Drug Problem – Issue 96: Rewired
2dCarl Hart is a neuroscientist and Ziff Professor of Psychology at Columbia University—he was the first tenured African-American professor of sciences at Columbia. His research focuses on the "behavioral and neuropharmacological effects of psychoactive drugs in humans." Hart's new book, Drug Use For Grown-Ups , is a bold and engaging effort to counter what he sees as generations of misinformation
Nasa Perseverance rover: How this Mars landing will be different
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2dNASA Perseverance Mars
Nasa's Perseverance rover is aiming for Jezero Crater, considered "too dangerous" for previous spacecraft.
BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine is less potent against South African variant
2dCovid-19 jab still works but produces only a third of the antibodies it did for original virus, study finds
New research on sea urchins challenges long-held assumptions about marine reserves
3dDeprive a mountain range of its wolves, and soon the burgeoning deer population will strip its slopes bare. "I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer," wrote ecologist Aldo Leopold in his landmark 1949 title "A Sand County Almanac."
New research on sea urchins challenges long-held assumptions about marine reserves
3dDeprive a mountain range of its wolves, and soon the burgeoning deer population will strip its slopes bare. "I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer," wrote ecologist Aldo Leopold in his landmark 1949 title "A Sand County Almanac."
3-D-printing perovskites on graphene makes next-gen X-ray detectors
3dSince Wilhelm Röntgen discovered them in 1895, X-rays have become a staple of medical imaging. In fact, barely a month after Röntgen's famous paper was published, doctors in Connecticut took the first ever radiograph of a boy's broken wrist.
Stop Domestic Terrorism
3dOur national leaders must take on racist-driven violence in the U.S. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
NASA Will Listen for Thumps on Mars From Perseverance Rover's Arrival
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3dNASA Perseverance Mars
Parts of the new visitor will make large impacts that could be picked up by the InSight spacecraft's seismometer.
World's first trial of deliberate coronavirus infection is approved
3dChallenge study in London will provide platform for future vaccine development
Toward a disease-sniffing device that rivals a dog's nose
3dNumerous studies have shown that trained dogs can detect many kinds of disease—including lung, breast, ovarian, bladder, and prostate cancers, and possibly COVID-19—simply through smell. In some cases, involving prostate cancer for example, the dogs had a 99 percent success rate in detecting the disease by sniffing patients' urine samples.
Scientists Are About to Give Research Subjects COVID on Purpose
3dScientists at Imperial College London's Royal Free Hospital are about to deliberately infect 90 volunteers with the coronavirus to see what happens. The UK's Ethics Committee approved what's called a "human challenge study," or research designed to figure out how the coronavirus infects and spreads among people in an extremely controlled environment, according to CNBC . For instance, the first pa
Giant 14-foot-long crocodile found with human remains in stomach
3dThe remains likely belong to a local fisherman who went missing last week, the government said.
Tre råd fra forskere: Sådan forbereder du din krop på COVID-vaccination
3dModerat motion kan øge antallet af antistoffer hos udsatte grupper, viser ny undersøgelse.
Mammoth Genomes Shatter Record for Oldest DNA Sequences
3dResearchers extracted DNA from fossils that are more than a million years old, illuminating the origins of the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Världens äldsta DNA hittat i Sibirien – 1,2 miljoner år gammalt
3dVärldens äldsta DNA kommer från mammutar i Sibirien och är 1,2 miljoner år gammalt. – Det tidigare äldsta DNA:et som analyserats är ungefär 600 000 år gammalt. Så vi dubblerar rekordet, säger en av forskarna bakom studien.
Where Does the Columbian Mammoth Come From?
3dGenomic data — the oldest ever recovered from a fossil — reveals the origin and evolution of the Columbian mammoth.
Will Quantum Computers Truly Serve Humanity?
3dLet's take advantage of this early stage of their development to avoid the mistakes of past technological upheavals — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
It's All Rigged
3dAs of January 10, nine brokerages had set the one-year target stock price for GameStop at about $10. But that's not where it would stay—at least for a while. It climbed in price because a subreddit, r/WallStreetBets, engineered a short squeeze. That kicked off a wild ride, revealing many things not just about how digital technologies are transforming our world, but also about how they are not. It
THYME project discovers a sub-Neptune exoplanet orbiting young star
3dAstronomers report the discovery of a new sub-Neptune exoplanet as part of the TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME) program. The newly found alien world, designated HD 110082 b, is about three times larger than the Earth and orbits a relatively young star. The finding is reported in a paper published February 11 on arXiv.org.
Parler Says It's Back
3dThe platform was kicked off Amazon's servers. Now it says it no longer relies on "Big Tech" for its infrastructure.
Astronomers detect signs of "galactic cannibalism"
3dThe Milky Way is surrounded by dozens of dwarf galaxies that are thought to be relics of the very first galaxies in the universe. Among the most primitive of these galactic fossils is Tucana II — an ultrafaint dwarf galaxy that is about 50 kiloparsecs, or 163,000 light years, from Earth. Now MIT astrophysicists have detected stars at the edge of Tucana II, in a configuration that is surprisingly
Here's how NASA will safely land a $2.7 billion rhino-sized rover in a dangerous Martian crater
3dWhen NASA's $2.7 billion Perseverance rover plunges like a meteor into the Martian atmosphere on Thursday (Feb. 18), it will put on a show unlike any before in the five-decade history of Red Planet exploration.
Israel allows 1,000 Covid vaccines into blockaded Gaza after hold up
3dSputnik vaccines being sent to frontline medical workers after previous shipment was blocked Israel has permitted Palestinian officials to send the first shipment of 1,000 coronavirus vaccines to the blockaded Gaza Strip, after the Palestinian Authority accused it of holding up vital shipments intended for frontline medical workers. "This morning, an amount of 1,000 Sputnik vaccines donated by Ru
UK Covid live: PM planning nationwide mass rapid testing as lockdown is eased, report claims
3dLatest updates: millions in England may face 'surge' in rapid testing as Covid curbs are relaxed Cutting Covid top-up 'will put 700,000 people into poverty' Quarantine hotels 'a death sentence' for at-risk Britons, says cancer patient Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage 10.21am GMT PA Media reports: The "classic triad" of cough, fever and loss of smell (anosmia) – the sy
Plantwatch: fungus creates fake fragrant flowers to fool bees
3dFusarium xyrophilum hijacks yellow-eyed Xyris grasses from Guyana to create forgeries made of fungal tissue Fungi have been discovered making fake flowers that look and even smell like the real thing, fooling bees and other pollinating insects into visiting them. The fungus Fusarium xyrophilum infects the beautiful yellow-eyed grasses of Xyris from Guyana in South America. The fungus stops the pl
CT scans of Egyptian mummy reveal new details about the death of a pivotal pharaoh
3dA CT scan study of the mummy of Pharaoh Seqenenre-Taa-II, an Egyptian ruler whose death eventually helped reunite the kingdom, revealed new details about how the king died. A recent paper suggests that the pharaoh died close to the battlefield and was ceremoniously executed by several people using Hyksos weapons. Additionally, the computer-processed X-rays revealed his embalmers had skillfully con
Climate change: Don't raid home insulation scheme, MPs urge ministers
3dThe government hopes to claw back money from a £1.5bn fund to promote home insulation.
Doctors Find Drug That Seems to Treat Long-Hauler COVID Symptoms
4dOne of the problems with battling the coronavirus pandemic is that some survivors will continue to face serious, sometimes-debilitating symptoms that persist for many months after their infection. One of these long-hauler symptoms is a condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a nervous system disorder that causes people's heart rates to spike out of control. But a new cl
A new 7 minutes of terror: See the nail-biting Mars landing of NASA's Perseverance rover in this video
4dPerseverance will attempt to land inside Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18. A new video shows how the spacecraft's harrowing entry, descent and landing will work.
Common weed killers favor antibiotic resistant bacteria, new study shows
4dThe use of weed killers can increase the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in soil, a new study from the University of York shows.
Common weed killers favor antibiotic resistant bacteria, new study shows
4dThe use of weed killers can increase the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in soil, a new study from the University of York shows.
SpaceX Starship Testing Shut Down by Huge Snowstorm
4dFrosty the Starship As if launching a 165-foot spacecraft prototype wasn't complicated enough, SpaceX now has to contend itself with extreme winter weather hitting its Texas testing facilities. Development of its Starship program has slowed to a crawl as a result of freezing temperatures and high winds, Teslarati reports — though it'll probably be back to business as usual once the weather clears
Hundreds of animal species could harbor novel coronaviruses
4dA new model predicts which mammals might be likely hosts for new coronaviruses.
Oldest skink fossil found in Australian outback may hold key to lizard evolution
4dThe 25m-year-old find that will help fill in the gaps in the record of one of the continent's most diverse species A tiny fossil pulled from the edge of a scorching salt lake in the South Australian outback is the oldest known remains of a skink ever found on the continent and may provide a vital clue to the lizard's evolution. The team of palaeontologists and volunteers from Flinders University
Revealed: NHS could offer Covid vaccine to 32m in priority groups by Easter
4dAnalysis suggests everyone in first nine priority groups could get jab four weeks ahead of schedule Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage At current rates, the NHS could offer a coronavirus vaccine to the 32 million people in the first nine priority groups by Easter – four weeks ahead of the official schedule – according to analysis by the Guardian. Government and health s
Why thousands of turtles were paralyzed off the coast of Texas this week
9hHere's why thousands of sea turtles were paralyzed in the frigid waters along the Texas coastline during the unprecedented winter storm that swept across the country this week.
Astronomers publish map showing 25,000 supermassive black holes
1dAn international team of astronomers has published a map of the sky showing over 25,000 supermassive black holes. The map, to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, is the most detailed celestial map in the field of so-called low radio frequencies. The astronomers, including Leiden astronomers, used 52 stations with LOFAR antennas spread across nine European countries.
To Meet Ambitious Emissions Goals, Large Food Companies Are Looking to Lock Carbon in Soil
1dBut the logistics of moving farmers in their supply chains to regenerative agriculture practices can be complicated
Stromatolites—fossils of earliest life on Earth—may owe existence to viruses
1dAs the Mars Rover sets out to look for evidence of life on another planet, scientists back on Earth suggest viruses played a key role in creating stromatolites, our planet's earliest lifeforms.
A first-of-its-kind geoengineering experiment is about to take its first step
1dTrapped inside a long glass tube in a ground-floor lab at Harvard University is a miniature copy of the stratosphere. When I visited Frank Keutsch in the fall of 2019, he walked me down to the lab, where the tube, wrapped in gray insulation, ran the length of a bench in the back corner. By filling it with the right combination of gases, at particular temperatures and pressures, Keutsch and his co
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Potassium nucleus loses some of its magic
1dA new study at ISOLDE finds no signature of a "magic" number of neutrons in potassium-51, challenging the proposed magic nature of nuclei with 32 neutrons.
When World of Warcraft Is an Escape—and a Memorial
1dAs kids, my cousin Kano and I spent hours together in this fantastical world. During quarantine, and for the first time since his death, I logged in again.
Dødelighed under corona overstiger influenza: Over 20 millioner leveår er gået tabt
1dNye data viser, at coronavirussen har en langt højere dødelighed end tidligere influenzaepidimier.
FN advarer: Menneskets ødelæggelse af naturen er 'meningsløs og selvmorderisk'
1dEn ny rapport fra FN gennemgår menneskets rolle i klimaforandringerne og fremlægger konkrete tiltag, der kan være med til at rette op på skaderne.
Unusual creatures uncovered beneath an Antarctic ice shelf
1dA new study details the discovery of sessile organisms living under the Antarctic's Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. In recent years, scientists have discovered more creatures living in environments once thought inhospitable to life. It's currently unknown how these new organisms find food in such an environment, nor how plentiful they are beneath the continent's ice-blanketed coastlines. Life finds a w
Climate Change: How much did it cost US economy in 2020?
1dLast year saw a record numbers of costly extreme weather events.
The Grim Consequences of a Misleading Study on Disinformation
2dAn influential study relies too heavily on news media reporting—which has only recently acknowledged the social media manipulation problem at all.
How does it feel to be a bee? The quest to understand animal sentience
2dWhat is it like to be a bee? Or a spider? Does a crab feel pleasure or pain? Behavioural and welfare science have moved on considerably in the past 20 years, but there is still a huge amount we don't know about how animals actually feel—or, indeed, whether they all do.
Planet 9 probably doesn't exist, new paper argues
2dDoes the solar system really have a big, dark ninth planet drifting somewhere far beyond the orbit of Neptune? A new paper argues that Planet 9 is a statistical mirage.
Lakes beneath the Antarctic ice could be teeming with microbial life
2dHeat from the Earth's interior may help sustain life in this bizarre environment.
Mindfulness, laughter and robot dogs may relieve lockdown loneliness – study
3dUniversity of Cambridge researchers identify potentially effective interventions to help people Robotic dogs, laughter therapy and mindfulness could help people cope with loneliness and social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers at the University of Cambridge have found. The team at the university's School of Medicine, led by Dr Christopher Williams, reviewed 58 existing studies o
Severe COVID-19 may damage the eyes, small study hints
3dThe researchers saw "nodules" at the back of patients' eyes, which can be signs of inflammation or direct damage to the eye.
Malware Is Now Targeting Apple's New M1 Processor
3dTwo distinct strains of malware have already adjusted to the new silicon just months after its debut.
Researchers Are Studying These Worm Blobs to Build Robots
3dThese crawlers form clumps to protect the collective. Understanding their movement gives engineers a model for shape-shifting robot swarms.
Entitled People Are More Likely To Be Angry at Bad Luck
3dEven when nobody is to blame, some feel they were victimized — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Stained-glass 'graphic novel' reveals miracles of Archbishop of Canterbury
3dThomas Becket's miraculous acts — presented "graphic-novel-style" in stained glass — leave Canterbury Cathedral for a museum exhibit.
The Pandemic Holds These Keys to a Better Education
3dFirst of all, shorten your lectures. Now is the time to rethink the way that schools should accommodate students and teachers from all backgrounds.
Queensland says new Covid variant was detected in Brisbane quarantine
3dQueensland health department says variant B1525 was identified in returned travellers in January Follow Wednesday's live blog Australia's Covid vaccine rollout: how will it happen and when can you get it? Melbourne hotspots ; Victoria rules and restrictions Follow our global coronavirus live blog The Queensland government has revealed that a new coronavirus strain with a "worrying" set of mutatio
COVID-19 More Deadly with Blood than Solid Cancer: Study
4dDeath rates among blood cancer patients who contract COVID-19 are higher than for those with other cancers, pointing to impaired immunity that makes it hard to overcome the virus.
Pigs can play video games. Here's why that matters.
4dWe knew pigs were smart, but no one could have imagined they'd be owning at arcade games. (Benjamin Wedemeyer//) Rebecca E. Nordquist is an assistant professor of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University. This story originally featured on The Conversation . Pigs might not be able to fly, but they can play video games. In a new study , researchers from Purdue University in Indiana, US have shown th
Johns Hopkins Professor: US Will Hit COVID Herd Immunity by April
4hCOVID-19 will be "mostly gone" by April, according to a Johns Hopkins professor. Dr. Marty Makary, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, points to several reasons to be hopeful in a new op-ed for The Wall Street Journal . He believes a combination of natural immunity from previous infection, rising vaccination rates, and a dramatic drop in cases mean America will reach herd immuni
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Why a dazed deer in Tennessee had hair growing from its eyeballs
10hThe buck was likely born with the odd condition.
Intense Strength Training Does Not Ease Knee Pain, Study Finds
23hMillions of patients with knee osteoarthritis are told to exercise. A new study casts doubt on what sort of exercise is helpful.
For the First Time, Scientists Clone Endangered Species
1dIt's Alive! For the first time, scientists cloned an organism on the United States' list of endangered species: a black-footed ferret that they've named Elizabeth Ann. Elizabeth Ann was born on December 10 and, as far as the Fish and Wildlife Service scientists raising her can tell, is a perfectly healthy and lively young critter, The Associated Press reports . The tentative success story, a firs
Researchers decode a deep-sea-vent-endemic snail hologenome
1dA research team led by Prof. Qian Peiyuan, Head and Chair Professor from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)'s Department of Ocean Science and David von Hansemann Professor of Science, has published their cutting-edge findings of symbiotic mechanisms of a deep-sea vent snail (Gigantopelta aegis) in the scientific journal Nature Communications. They discovered that the Gigant
Release of nutrients from lake-bottom sediments worsens Lake Erie's annual 'dead zone'
1dRobotic laboratories on the bottom of Lake Erie have revealed that the muddy sediments there release nearly as much of the nutrient phosphorus into the surrounding waters as enters the lake's central basin each year from rivers and their tributaries.
Location tracking apps and privacy implications
1dA recent study shows how, from location data, apps can retrieve a wide range of personal information about users, including their health, socio-economic status, ethnicity and religion.
The Double Meaning of the American Dream
1dHaving moved from the teeming cityscape of Taipei to the rural American South in the 1970s as a preteen, I know something of the shock, at once awe-inspiring and estranging, of that first sight of the great American landscape—just sheer land—that seems to stretch on forever. Watching Minari , the new semi-autobiographical film from Lee Isaac Chung about a Korean-American family newly arrived in t
Stromatolites—fossils of earliest life on Earth—may owe existence to viruses
1dAs the Mars Rover sets out to look for evidence of life on another planet, scientists back on Earth suggest viruses played a key role in creating stromatolites, our planet's earliest lifeforms.
In step toward autonomous materials, researchers design patterns in self-propelling liquid crystals
1daterials capable of performing complex functions in response to changes in the environment could form the basis for exciting new technologies. Think of a capsule implanted in your body that automatically releases antibodies in response to a virus, a surface that releases an antibacterial agent when exposed to dangerous bacteria, a material that adapts its shape when it needs to sustain a particula
CSI Solid-State: The fingerprints of quantum effects
1dIn solid-state physics, the precise interactions of electrons are analyzed through meticulous detective work, ultimately to gain a better understanding of fundamental physical phenomena.
How to calculate the social cost of carbon? Researchers offer roadmap in new analysis
1dThe Biden administration is revising the social cost of carbon (SCC), a decade-old cost-benefit metric used to inform climate policy by placing a monetary value on the impact of climate change. In a newly published analysis in the journal Nature, a team of researchers lists a series of measures the administration should consider in recalculating the SCC.
G7 leaders vow to boost vaccine supplies to developing world
1dRich nations increase Covax pledges but US less certain on when to share 'surplus' doses
Photos of the Week: Mars Rover, Green Fur, Icicle Tunnel
1dLava flows on Mount Etna, ski championships in Italy, scenes from the Australian Open, ice-skating in the Netherlands, an image from New York Fashion Week, freezing conditions in Texas, a monument to cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, snowy scenes in Greece, and much more
EU-politikere går efter 'atomkraft-renæssance' med opsigtsvækkende rapport: »Det er rystende«
1dPLUS. »Det er så voldsomt med falske antagelser og påstande i rapporten, at det er rystende,« siger dansk energiprofessor om en ny rapport, der konkluderer, at atomkraft er billigere end både vind- og solenergi.
Vinder: Engagement hos alle faggrupper giver topplacering
1dPernille Mørk Hansen er ledende overlæge på afdelingen for nyresygdomme på Herlev og Gentofte Hospital, som besætter førstepladsen inden for dialyse.
Apple Offers Its Closest Look Yet at iOS and MacOS Security
2dIn its latest Platform Security Guide, Cupertino raised the curtain on the critical features that protect against hackers.
Touchdown! NASA's Mars Perseverance rover safely lands on Red Planet
2dThe largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world touched down on Mars Thursday, after a 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles (472 million kilometers). About the size of a car, the robotic geologist and astrobiologist will undergo several weeks of testing before it begins its two-year science investigation of Mars' Jezero Crater. A fundamental part of its mission is astrobiol
NASA Scientists Need to Live and Work on "Mars Time"
2dMars Time NASA's Perseverance Mars rover is currently approaching the surface of Mars, where it's expected to touch down in the next few hours. Assuming it lands successfully, the Perseverance mission team at NASA is going to need to make some major lifestyle changes, Space.com reports . Most notably? They're going to have to start living and working on what's called "Mars time," meaning they'll
Eating grapes can reduce UV damage from the Sun
2dThe skin of study participants who consumed lots of grapes developed an increased resistance to UV light. Grapes contain polyphenols, good stuff for repairing skin and fighting inflammation. After their grape adventure, biopsies revealed less skin-cell damage from UV light. The sun's ultraviolet rays can be punishing to human skin. Sunblock can mitigate the potential damage, but when it comes to
Eating grapes can reduce UV damage from the Sun
2dThe skin of study participants who consumed lots of grapes developed an increased resistance to UV light. Grapes contain polyphenols, good stuff for repairing skin and fighting inflammation. After their grape adventure, biopsies revealed less skin-cell damage from UV light. The sun's ultraviolet rays can obviously be punishing to human skin. Sunblock can mitigate the potential damage, but when it
Intelligent models for smarter decision-making
2dThe popularity of the design, build, and test approach to engineering is fast-waning as today's engineers face unprecedented pressure to innovate, keep pace with the latest technologies, and design creative solutions to urgent problems. Consider, for example, automated driving systems. Although autonomous vehicles promise to significantly improve mobility, engineers must test these frameworks for
Unique feeding behavior of Asian kukri snakes gutting frogs and toads
2dAfter describing a novel behaviour of the Small-banded Kukri Snake last September, two new studies, also led by Henrik Bringsøe, now report the same gruesome feeding strategy – where the snakes pierce the abdomen of frogs or toads to swallow their organs, as the prey remains alive for up to a few hours – in another two species: the Taiwanese Kukri Snake and the Ocellated Kukri Snake. The findings
How does it feel to be a bee? The quest to understand animal sentience
2dWhat is it like to be a bee? Or a spider? Does a crab feel pleasure or pain? Behavioural and welfare science have moved on considerably in the past 20 years, but there is still a huge amount we don't know about how animals actually feel—or, indeed, whether they all do.
Nursing Home Workers Had One of the Deadliest Jobs of 2020
2dAn analysis of incomplete data shows they had a death rate higher than that of loggers, and may have rivaled fishers for most perilous profession — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Dinosaur-killing space rock may have originated at the edge of the solar system
2dThe chunk of space rock that killed the nonavian dinosaurs may have been a piece of a comet that Jupiter's gravity kicked onto a collision course with Earth.
Texas weather: How to stay safe in freezing conditions
2dFrom dressing properly, to keeping warm in power cuts, to signalling for help when stranded.
Long-Lost Neanderthal Tooth Reveals a Surprising Unknown Link to Modern Humans
2dIt's time to rethink this.
Martin Luther Rewired Your Brain – Issue 96: Rewired
2dYour brain has been altered, neurologically rewired as you acquired a particular skill. This renovation has left you with a specialized area in your left ventral occipital temporal region, shifted facial recognition into your right hemisphere, reduced your inclination toward holistic visual processing, increased your verbal memory, and thickened your corpus callosum, which is the information high
Himalayan Songbirds Adapted to the Cold by Sporting Thicker Down 'Jackets'
3dHigh-elevation birds might use their downy feathers to keep from wasting energy shivering to stay warm
Feds Indict North Korean Hackers for Years of Heists
3dThe three men are allegedly part of a group that tried to steal $1.3 billion in an extended—and ongoing—cybercrime spree.
World's oldest DNA reveals how mammoths evolved
3dAn international team led by researchers at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm has sequenced DNA recovered from mammoth remains that are up to 1.2 million years old. The analyses show that the Columbian mammoth that inhabited North America during the last ice age was a hybrid between the woolly mammoth and a previously unknown genetic lineage of mammoth. In addition, the study provides new
World's oldest DNA reveals how mammoths evolved
3dAn international team led by researchers at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm has sequenced DNA recovered from mammoth remains that are up to 1.2 million years old. The analyses show that the Columbian mammoth that inhabited North America during the last ice age was a hybrid between the woolly mammoth and a previously unknown genetic lineage of mammoth. In addition, the study provides new
One year of COVID-19: What will we learn?
3dThe US is approaching 500,000 COVID-19 deaths. What can we learn from one year of loss and chaos? The lessons are clear. Among them are realizing our fragility as a species, our codependence as humans, and the urgent need to move beyond social injustice and inequity. As with the Renaissance following the Black Plague of the 14th century and the explosive creativity of the 1920s post Spanish influ
NASA's next Mars rover is ready for the most precise landing yet
3dWhat to expect when the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover arrives at the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021:
Mars Relay Network connects Earth to NASA's robotic explorers
3dA tightly choreographed dance between NASA's Deep Space Network and Mars orbiters will keep the agency's Perseverance in touch with Earth during landing and beyond.
Naja og Andreas søger job som Europas nye astronauter: 'Jeg ved godt, at det er et meget lille nåleøje'
3dFor første gang i 13 år er ESA på jagt efter fire nye astronauter.
Mars landings: How many landings on Mars?
3dWith two missions to land on Mars in 2021, Laura Foster looks back at all the previous attempts.
CT scans of Egyptian mummy reveal new details about the death of a pivotal pharaoh
3dModern medical technology is helping scholars tell a more nuanced story about the fate of an ancient king whose violent death indirectly led to the reunification of Egypt in the 16th century BC. The research was published in Frontiers in Medicine.
Taiwan suggests China to blame after deal for 5m Covid vaccine doses is put on hold
3dPlan to buy the BioNTech shot has been delayed amid intervention by 'outside forces', says health minister Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A deal for Taiwan to buy 5m doses of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech is on hold, the island's health minister said, citing potential pressure from China for the delay. Taiwan's health minister, Chen Shih-chung,
Private equity group buys into UK's vaccine rollout success
3dLuxembourg-based CVC takes stakes in companies behind Britain's inoculation programme
The Weekly Planet: The Big Idea From Bill Gates's New Climate Book
3dEvery Tuesday, 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 . Lately, Bill Gates has been thinking about what he calls the "hard stuff" of climate change. He isn't talking about the challenges that we usually dis
Why a Smithsonian Researcher Is Tracking the Wind on Mars
3dWhen Perseverance lands, Mariah Baker will collect data that will prepare the way for crewed missions to the Red Planet
Neandertal gene variants both increase and decrease the risk for severe COVID-19
4dLast year, researchers showed that a major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neandertals. Now the same researchers show that Neandertals also contributed a protective variant. Half of all people outside Africa carry a Neandertal gene variant that reduces the risk of needing intensive care for COVID-19 by 20 percent.
6 Clever Ways to Use the Windows Command Prompt
10hA rundown of things you can do faster, easier, and with less hassle, all just by peeking under the hood.
'An exciting time': European Space Agency takes diversity to space
10hHelen Sharman, the UK's first astronaut, praises the agency as it begins a search for 26 recruits Helen Sharman, the UK's first astronaut, has welcomed the European Space Agency's decision to improve diversity among crew as an "exciting time for human space flight expansion". Esa announced earlier this week that as part of its bid to recruit up to 26 new astronauts it was casting its net wider th
Coronavirus: UK should donate vaccines to poorer nations now, says new WTO chief; two die amid lockdown protests in Gabon
13hThousands of China's Sinovac vaccine on way to Mexico France reports increase in daily Covid death toll Ireland reports three cases of Brazilian variant See all our coronavirus coverage 9.50am GMT A year ago, Laura Ricevuti and Annalisa Malara – both doctors at Codogno hospital in Italy – had a hunch something was different about a patient in the intensive care ward. As Reuters reports, their dec
Superspridarna oftare äldre och överviktiga
14hVarför vissa blir superspridare av covid-19 har hittills varit en gåta för forskarna. En ny studie visar att det kan hänga ihop med infektionsgrad, ålder och övervikt.
Who Will Be the Next F.D.A. Chief?
14hTwo leading contenders generate wider debate about the leadership needed to restore morale and scientific integrity to an agency battered by the politicized Trump administration.
Möjligt förändra sina personlighetsdrag med hjälp av en app
17hDet går att förändra vissa oönskade personlighetsdrag som att vara neurotisk eller introvert, enligt en ny studie. Och förändringen består i minst tre månader.
The UK Is the Latest Country to Tighten the Screws on Uber
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1dUK Court Uber Drivers
The country's highest court ruled that the 25 drivers who filed a lawsuit should be considered workers and entitled to minimum wage and vacations.
Eating more refined grains increases risk of heart attack, early death
1dA new study found consuming a high number of refined grains, such as croissants and white bread, is associated with a higher risk of major cardiovascular disease, stroke and early death.
30% of people with COVID-19 experience symptoms up to 9 months later
1dMost participants in the study initially had mild cases of COVID-19.
Celtic god or 1980s hockey player? Ancient deity statue wears a mullet and mustache
1dA tiny statue of a deity dating to the Iron Age has a surprisingly modern hairstyle.
Why 'no jab' should not always mean 'no job'
1dA combination of vaccinations and testing will make for a safer workplace
The Coronavirus is Here to Stay–Here's What That Means
1dA Nature survey shows many scientists expect the virus that causes COVID-19 to become endemic, but it could pose less danger over time — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Researchers decode a deep-sea-vent-endemic snail hologenome
1dA research team led by Prof. Qian Peiyuan, Head and Chair Professor from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)'s Department of Ocean Science and David von Hansemann Professor of Science, has published their cutting-edge findings of symbiotic mechanisms of a deep-sea vent snail (Gigantopelta aegis) in the scientific journal Nature Communications. They discovered that the Gigant
The government failed Texans—so people on the internet stepped in
1dOn Valentine's Day, Texas plunged into a polar vortex the likes of which hadn't been seen since 1899. Freezing temperatures led to widespread power outages. Homes more used to the swampy heat were useless against the wind and cold, with pipes bursting and ceilings caving in. Where water, clothing, and food were being distributed, lines snaked around the block. Hundreds of people in Texas have bee
How Antidepressants Work, At Last?
1dOver the years I've very much enjoyed being startled by the scientific literature, and there haven't been many times when I've been more surprised than I was this morning. I've been making references on this blog for years about how we don't even know how antidepressants work, but if this new paper is correct, then perhaps now we do. I'm amazed. It's from a multinational team led out of the Unive
Perseverance's mission to Mars – in pictures
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Nasa's rover, the most advanced astrobiology laboratory ever sent to another world, landed safely on the floor of a vast crater on Thursday, the first stop on its search for life on the red planet Mars rover landing: Nasa's Perseverance touches down safely in search of life Continue reading…
Boys who play video games have lower depression risk
1dBoys who regularly play video games at age 11 are less likely to develop depressive symptoms three years later, finds a new study.
Ultraviolet 'television' for animals helps us better understand them
1dUniversity of Queensland scientists have developed an ultraviolet 'television' display designed to help researchers better understand how animals see the world.
Ultraviolet 'television' for animals helps us better understand them
1dUniversity of Queensland scientists have developed an ultraviolet 'television' display designed to help researchers better understand how animals see the world.
Massive Power Failure Could Finally Cause Texas to Connect with the Nation's Power Grids
1dEnergy from neighboring states could have helped Texans survive their extreme winter storm — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Massive Power Failure Could Finally Cause Texas to Connect with the Nation's Power Grids
1dEnergy from neighboring states could have helped Texans survive their extreme winter storm — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Arctic and tropical Pacific synergistic effects cause extremely cold winter in China
1dChina is just one of many countries in the Northern Hemisphere experiencing an extremely cold winter due in part to both the tropical Pacific and the Arctic, according to an analysis of temperatures from Dec. 1, 2020 to mid-January of 2021.
Gut microbiome implicated in healthy aging and longevity
1dThe gut microbiome is an integral component of the body, but its importance in the human aging process is unclear. Researchers have identified distinct signatures in the gut microbiome that are associated with either healthy or unhealthy aging trajectories, which in turn predict survival in a population of older individuals.
Pfizer Vaccine Has Weaker Response Against South African COVID Variant, Study Hints
1dDon't panic just yet.
NASA's Perseverance Rover Successfully Lands on Mars
1dAfter years of development and seven months in space, NASA's Perseverance rover touched down on Mars today, kicking off what we can only hope will be years of groundbreaking science. NASA used Curiosity as a model for this new robot, but its instrument suite is upgraded to scour the red planet for signs of ancient life. This mission will also be the first leg in a three-part process to get bits o
The US Military Is Getting 3D Printing "Factories" Inside Shipping Containers
2dPortable Factory The United States Department of Defense just awarded a contract to additive manufacturing company ExOne to develop 3D printing mini-factories that could be deployed into the field during a military operation. The factories are essentially complete 3D printing labs that can be housed entirely within a shipping container, according to Interesting Engineering . It's an intriguing —
Explainable AI for decoding genome biology
2dResearchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, in collaboration with colleagues at Stanford University and Technical University of Munich have developed advanced explainable artificial intelligence (AI) in a technical tour de force to decipher regulatory instructions encoded in DNA. In a report published online February 18, 2021, in Nature Genetics, the team found that a neural network
Explainable AI for decoding genome biology
2dResearchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, in collaboration with colleagues at Stanford University and Technical University of Munich have developed advanced explainable artificial intelligence (AI) in a technical tour de force to decipher regulatory instructions encoded in DNA. In a report published online February 18, 2021, in Nature Genetics, the team found that a neural network
Engineers place molecule-scale devices in precise orientation
2dEngineers have developed a technique that allows them to precisely place microscopic devices formed from folded DNA molecules in not only a specific location but also in a specific orientation.
WATCH: Perseverance Lands on Mars Today in '7 Minutes of Terror'
2dAbout eight and a half years ago, I stayed up until well after midnight to watch Curiosity make Marsfall. At the time, all eyes were glued to what is euphemistically referred to as the "seven minutes of terror." It took Curiosity and will take Perseverance approximately that long to descend from the top of the Martian atmosphere to the ground below. It takes 11 minutes for a signal from Mars to r
What democracy and science demand: The 'Smartmatic vs Fox News' case
2dSmartmatic, an election technology company, has filed a $2.7-billion-dollar defamation suit against Fox News for making false claims about its voting machines during Fox's dishonest campaign against the 2020 US presidential election results. The lawsuit opens with three powerful statements of fact: A scientific truth, a mathematical proof, and an objective political fact: More people voted for Jo
Chloé Zhao Is About to Be Huge
2dChloé Zhao is having a very busy 2021. She's buried in postproduction on a Marvel movie, Eternals , due out this November. Her third feature film, Nomadland , will be released wide tomorrow, screening both on Hulu and in open theaters around the country. It's a big, bold rollout for an ostensibly intimate drama. But Zhao's films have always had a grand scale to them, even though they're made on t
Scientists Really, Really Want a Piece of Mars
2dUpdated at 2:06 p.m. ET on Feb. 19, 2021. When Mike Zolensky saw the night sky over the Australian desert glow red in June of 2010, he knew: The long-awaited object had plunged through the atmosphere and fallen to Earth. Zolensky, a curator of astromaterials, and dozens of others leapt into action. The team dispatched a helicopter to find the fallen object in the darkness. At daybreak, elders fro
Years of life lost to COVID-19 in 81 countries
2dScientific Reports, Published online: 18 February 2021; doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83040-3
Scientists identify over 140,000 virus species in the human gut
2dViruses are the most numerous biological entities on the planet. Now researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have identified over 140,000 viral species living in the human gut, more than half of which have never been seen before.
Scientists identify over 140,000 virus species in the human gut
2dViruses are the most numerous biological entities on the planet. Now researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have identified over 140,000 viral species living in the human gut, more than half of which have never been seen before.
What A 30,000-Person Survey Reveals About Day-To-Day Life In The Pandemic
2dThe responses reveal the impact on living standards in nine low- and middle-income countries — and may help governments find a way to help citizens most in need. (Image credit: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images)
Studie: Derfor slår børns immunforsvar covid-19 ned mere effektivt
2dPLUS. Et australsk studie peger på, hvordan celler i børns medfødte immunforsvar beskytter dem mod covid-19. Måske kan denne viden bruges i behandlingsøjemed, vurderer dansk professor.
'Valheim' Is the Viking Survival Game You've Been Craving
2dAfter a few hours with Steam's newest Early Access success, which surpassed 2 million sales in less than two weeks, the game's allure becomes clear.
Booster Shots Against Scary COVID Virus Variants Are In the Works
2dVaccine makers are designing follow-up shots, based on new mutations, to keep the disease at bay — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
En av fem har mutation som ger ökad tolerans mot kyla
2dNärmare en av fem personer saknar proteinet α-aktinin-3 i sina muskelfibrer. Nu visar forskare vid Karolinska Institutet att dessa personers skelettmuskler består av en större andel långsamma muskelfibrer, som är mer uthålliga och energieffektiva och ger bättre tolerans mot kyla än snabba muskelfibrer. Skelettmuskler består av snabba (vita) muskelfibrer som är snabbt uttröttbara och långsamma (rö
The NHS rose to the challenge of Covid, but its next test may be even harder | Bruce Keogh
2dThe health service needs modernising if it is to maintain its position at the forefront of patient care and medical research Bruce Keogh is a former national medical director of NHS England Over the past year, our NHS has risen to the challenges of the pandemic. But it's been a very close-run thing. There have been well-publicised difficulties such as the shortage of ventilators , ICU beds and PP
UK Covid live: Britain hard hit by coronavirus due to years of Tory rule, Starmer to say
2dLatest updates: Labour leader to use speech to outline vision for economic recovery from Covid crisis ; chancellor's budget to provide fresh rescue package Covid hit UK hard because of years of Conservative rule, Starmer to say Infections in England fall by two-thirds but spreading fastest among young Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage 10.24am GMT The number of students
NASA rover streaks toward a landing on Mars
2dA NASA rover streaked toward a landing on Mars on Thursday in the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on the red planet.
Blue-Light Glasses: Should I Buy Them?
2d"Computer glasses" are a booming category, thanks to increased screen time, but scientists say they don't do much.
Oil spill has long-term immunological effects in dolphins
2dA study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has found long-term impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico on bottlenose dolphins' immune function.
Why do humans struggle to think of ourselves as animals? – podcast
2dThe pandemic has demonstrated why humans are ultimately an impressive species. From monitoring the genetic evolution of Sars-CoV-2 to devising vaccines in record time, we have put our minds together to reduce the impact of Covid-19. Yet, the global spread of a new disease is a reminder that we are not invincible, and remain at the mercy of our biology and the natural world. Speaking to author Mel
'Horrifying' death toll prompts calls to prioritise jabs for disabled people
2dCharities say UK government must do more to address disparities in life expectancy after pandemic
Wolves, dogs and dingoes, oh my
2dDogs are generally considered the first domesticated animal, while its ancestor is generally considered to be the wolf, but where the Australian dingo fits into this framework is still debated, according to a retired anthropologist.
New 'Radically Different' Map Is Said to Be The Most Accurate 2D Map Ever Made
2dSee the world in a whole new way.
Edible holograms could someday decorate foods
3dHolograms are everywhere, from driver's licenses to credit cards to product packaging. And now, edible holograms could someday enhance foods. Researchers reporting in ACS Nano have developed a laser-based method to print nanostructured holograms on dried corn syrup films. The edible holograms could also be used to ensure food safety, label a product or indicate sugar content, the researchers say.
Severe COVID-19 Might Lead to Strange Growths Behind the Eyes
3dWhen they were examining the brain scans of COVID-19 patients hospitalized for particularly severe infections, French doctors found something unusual: inflamed growths called nodules directly behind their eyes. The University of Paris scientists studied 129 patient MRIs and found nodules behind the eyes of nine of them, eight of whom had nodules behind both eyes, Live Science reports . The discov
Texas Power Outage Underscores Looming Climate Tests
3dExtreme weather is increasingly likely to test electric grids and energy supply systems — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Lakes isolated beneath Antarctic ice could be more amenable to life than thought
3dLakes underneath the Antarctic ice sheet could be more hospitable than previously thought, allowing them to host more microbial life.
What Scientists Have Learned from 100 Years of Bird Banding
3dA rich archive of data has illuminated the secret lives of birds — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Leo Goodman, Who Transformed Sociology With Stats, Dies at 92
3dHe developed tools for researchers to analyze categorical data, revolutionizing the study of poverty, income inequality and social mobility. He died of Covid-19.
Mammoth Genomes Shatter Record for Oldest DNA Sequences
3dResearchers extracted DNA from fossils that are more than a million years old, illuminating the origins of the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Mammoth Genomes Shatter Record for Oldest DNA Sequences
3dResearchers extracted DNA from fossils that are more than a million years old, illuminating the origins of the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
3d
Dinosaur Discoveries Are Booming
3dFossils are being found worldwide, and there are plenty more to come — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
A 'twisted elevator' could be key to understanding neurological diseases
3dA University of Sydney-led international team of scientists has revealed the shape of one of the most important molecular machines in our cellsthe glutamate transporter, helping to explain how our brain cells communicate with one another.
A 'twisted elevator' could be key to understanding neurological diseases
3dA University of Sydney-led international team of scientists has revealed the shape of one of the most important molecular machines in our cellsthe glutamate transporter, helping to explain how our brain cells communicate with one another.
Radiological images confirm 'COVID-19 can cause the body to attack itself'
3dMuscle soreness and achy joints are common symptoms among COVID-19 patients. But for some people, symptoms are more severe, long lasting and even bizarre, including rheumatoid arthritis flares, autoimmune myositis or 'COVID toes.' A new Northwestern Medicine study has, for the first time, confirmed and illustrated the causes of these symptoms through radiological imaging.
Study predicts where new coronaviruses might originate
3dThe potential scale of novel coronavirus generation in wild and domesticated animals may have been highly underappreciated, suggests new University of Liverpool research.
Entitled People Are More Likely To Be Angry at Bad Luck
3dEven when nobody is to blame, some feel they were victimized — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Keep This Gear at Home In Case of Emergencies
3dFrom flashlights to water purifiers, these items can be of immense help in case of a natural disaster or power outage.
Scottish government inadequately prepared for Covid – watchdog
3dReport points to failures to improve availability of PPE and capability of social care after readiness exercises Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The Scottish government was not adequately prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by the country's public spending watchdog. The Audit Scotland report found that, despite three preparedness exercises since
How to fix what the innovation economy broke about America
3dValerie Moreno laughed out loud when I asked if her family received regular medical checkups. "Oh my gosh, no!" she said. "We have to be dying before we see a doctor." The reason why wasn't a mystery. Valerie, who was dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, her dark hair showing a few grays, pulled her checkbook out of a small bag and riffled through the ledger. "I have $65 in the checking account," s
Slow motion precursors give earthquakes the fast slip
4dAt a glacier near the South Pole, earth scientists have found evidence of a quiet, slow-motion fault slip that triggers strong, fast-slip earthquakes many miles away, according to Cornell University research published in Science Advances.
New hope for treating chronic pain without opioids
4dAccording to some estimates, chronic pain affects up to 40% of Americans, and treating it frustrates both clinicians and patients — a frustration that's often compounded by a hesitation to prescribe opioids for pain.
NASA Releases Amazing Photo of Rover Parachuting to Mars Surface
16minFree Falling NASA continues to give Annie Leibovitz a run for her money with its stunning new photos of the Perseverance rover as it landed on Mars on Thursday. One of its latest is a spectacular wide shot of Perseverance as it descends on parachute through the Martian atmosphere — another historic document of what may be the most technologically advanced off-planet exploration in the history of
See the wonderful world of fermented foods on one delicious chart
4hFrom snacks to sauces, fermentation is an important culinary tool across eras and cultures. (Mona Chalabi/) No matter who you are or where you live, you've almost certainly eaten something fermented . Humans have been processing food this way for at least 10,000 years in cuisines on every populated continent. Microbes like bacteria and fungi flourish when feeding off carbohydrates, turning sugars
America has sent five rovers to Mars—when will humans follow?
5hWith its impeccable landing on Thursday, NASA's Perseverance became the fifth rover to reach Mars—so when can we finally expect the long-held goal of a crewed expedition to materialize?
Drug companies look to AI to end 'hit and miss' research
6hTechnology that speeded the development of Covid vaccines has potential to transform the pharmaceutical industry The hunt for new medicines has often been more like a game of roulette than high-end science. But now the pharmaceutical sector is on the cusp of a transformation, as it delves into cutting-edge technology to come up with new treatments for diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis
Sites Have a Sneaky New Way to Track You Across the Web
7hPlus: A LastPass rate change, Clubhouse concerns, and more of the week's top security news.
The U.S. Needs a Federal Department of Science and Technology
7hCurrently, STEM-related policy is administered by a bewildering array of entities, which dilutes its effectiveness — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Can Hamburger Buns Save Your Pipes from Freezing?
8hWater expands when it freezes, and that's bad for plumbing. Insulation—any insulation—is better than nothing.
How The Military Helped Bring Back The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker
9hThe U.S. military and conservation groups forged an unusual alliance to help save the red-cockaded woodpecker, but a Trump-era move to take the bird off the endangered list could threaten the species.
Inside the Strange World of the Police
10hPhotographs by Joseph Rodríguez "Police work is doing what people in the city want done," Willie Williams, the Los Angeles Police Department chief, told me in 1994. Williams, the agency's first Black chief, had been brought in from Philadelphia to make changes after LAPD officers beat Rodney King in 1991, the incident that ultimately led to the Los Angeles riots. A commission that year concluded
When did lap dogs become popular?
10hTrends, set by royals and movies, help to influence a dog breed's popularity.
Storing the Pfizer vaccine could get a lot simpler in coming weeks
23hThe Pfizer vaccine can actually be stored in normal freezers. (Pixabay/) Click here to see all of PopSci's COVID-19 coverage. In an announcement this morning, Pfizer and BioNTech described new findings showing that their COVID vaccine could be stored for at standard freezing temperatures, setting the stage for a dramatically simplified vaccine distribution effort. That's a big step for Pfizer's v
Researchers find evidence of protein folding at site of intracellular droplets
1dScientists have discovered the first evidence of protein folding driven by liquid-liquid phase separation, a phenomenon in which fluids form into microscopic droplets and separate inside cells—like drops of oil in water.
Researchers find evidence of protein folding at site of intracellular droplets
1dScientists have discovered the first evidence of protein folding driven by liquid-liquid phase separation, a phenomenon in which fluids form into microscopic droplets and separate inside cells—like drops of oil in water.
The melting of large icebergs is a key stage in the evolution of ice ages
1dA new study, in which the Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute (IACT) (CSIC-UGR) participated, has described for the first time a key stage in the beginning of the great glaciations and indicates that it can happen to our planet in the future. The study claims to have found a new connection that could explain the beginning of the ice ages on Earth.
Nasa reveals new colour images of Mars from Perseverance rover – video
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1dNASA Perseverance Mars
Adam Steltzner, the chief engineer on the Perseverance project, said his team was 'overwhelmed with excitement and joy' as he revealed new colour photographs beamed back from Nasa's Perseverance rover Nasa scientists release new images of Perseverance rover on Mars at news briefing Nasa scientists hail Perseverance rover's arrival on Mars with stunning images Continue reading…
L.L.Bean's Extra-Warm Bean Boots Are $140 Off Right Now
1dThe limited-edition, Gore-Tex lined, insulated version of the classic duck boot is $129 at the moment.
How the brain processes sign language
1dOver 70 million deaf people use sign languages as their preferred communication form. Although they access similar brain structures as spoken languages, it hasn't been identified the brain regions that process both forms of language equally. Scientists have now discovered that Broca's area in the left hemisphere, central for spoken languages, is also crucial for sign languages. This is where the g
Listen: 'A Disaster for Feminism'
1dNearly a year ago, Atlantic staff writer Helen Lewis predicted that the pandemic would be " a disaster for feminism ," and far too many of her predictions have proved true. With women leaving the workforce at unprecedented rates, why has the pandemic's burden fallen so much harder on them? And what can we, as a society, do about it? Lewis joins staff writer James Hamblin and comedian Maeve Higgin
Artificial Intelligence-Worshipping Church Officially Shuts Down
1dClosed Doors Remember that artificial intelligence-worshipping church, the Way of the Future? Well, first of all: Yes, that existed . But secondly, founder Anthony Levandowski told TechCrunch this week that he has now decided to dissolve the church and donate all of its funds — just over $175,000 — to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Levandowski still supports the church's mission to r
Escaping lockdown: when will life return to normal?
1dBoris Johnson reveals his road map for lifting restrictions on Monday. The world will be watching to see how far he goes
Study reveals energy sources supporting coral reef predators
1dSince Charles Darwin's day, the abundance of life on coral reefs has been puzzling, given that most oceanic surface waters in the tropics are low in nutrients and unproductive.
Study reveals energy sources supporting coral reef predators
1dSince Charles Darwin's day, the abundance of life on coral reefs has been puzzling, given that most oceanic surface waters in the tropics are low in nutrients and unproductive.
Nasa rover to begin search for ancient Mars life after safe landing
1dLargest vehicle sent from Earth will conduct experiments and prepare samples for future missions to bring back
Insight-HXMT gives insight into origin of fast radio bursts
1dThe latest observations from Insight-HXMT were published online in Nature Astronomy on Feb. 18. Insight-HXMT has discovered the very first X-ray burst associated with a fast radio burst (FRB) and has identified that it originated from soft-gamma repeater (SGR) J1935+2154, which is a magnetar in our Milky Way.
Abandoned moonshine still linked to Al Capone uncovered in South Carolina woods
1dArchaeologists uncovered an illegal 1920s-era liquor still in South Carolina that may have been linked to Al Capone's criminal empire.
Lab-grown 'mini-bile ducts' used to repair human livers in regenerative medicine first
1dScientists have used a technique to grow bile duct organoids – often referred to as 'mini-organs' – in the lab and shown that these can be used to repair damaged human livers. This is the first time that the technique has been used on human organs.
Handheld DNA sequencers show promise for monitoring microbes during food production
1dHandheld devices are well suited to environmental monitoring during food production, and have key advantages in ease of use and in identifying a broad variety of bacteria, according to a new study published in the journal npj Science of Food.
Cold dust cores in the central zone of the Milky Way
1dThe Milky Way's central molecular zone (CMZ) spans the innermost 1600 light-years of the galaxy (for comparison, the Sun is 26,600 light-years away from the galactic center) and includes a vast complex of molecular clouds containing about sixty million solar-masses of molecular gas. The gas in these clouds exists under more extreme physical conditions than elsewhere in the galaxy on average, with
What Would It Take to Actually Settle an Alien World?
1dDavid Gerrold's new novel Hella is about a low-gravity planet inhabited by dinosaur-like creatures—and it doesn't skip the logistical details of human habitation.
Frigid Temperatures Bring Disaster to Texas
1dA pulse of frigid Arctic air sent temperatures dropping to record lows in Texas this week, leading to widespread power outages and dozens of deaths. The disruptions have raised questions about how well the country's second-largest state is prepared for natural disasters in the face of climate change.
New-found molecular signature keeps key genes ready for action
1dDuring development, scores of molecular signals prod cells to take on specialized identities and functions. In response to some of these signals, the cellular machinery awakens specific genes called 'immediate early genes' within minutes. The Rijli group has now identified a unique molecular signature that keeps immediate early genes quiet yet poised for rapid activation. Working out how immediate
A powerful, pocket-sized optical imager, no longer science fiction
1dBefore Wilhelm Röntgen, a mechanical engineer, discovered a new type of electromagnetic radiation in 1895, physicians could only dream of being able to see inside the body. Within a year of Röntgen's discovery, X-rays were being used to identify tumors. Within 10 years, hospitals were using X-rays to help diagnose and treat patients.
New-found molecular signature keeps key genes ready for action
1dDuring development, scores of molecular signals prod cells to take on specialized identities and functions. In response to some of these signals, the cellular machinery awakens specific genes called 'immediate early genes' within minutes. The Rijli group has now identified a unique molecular signature that keeps immediate early genes quiet yet poised for rapid activation. Working out how immediate
Asthmatics at no higher risk getting or dying from COVID-19, assessment of studies consisting of 587,000 people shows
1dA review of 57 studies shows people with asthma had a 14 percent lower risk of getting COVID-19 and were significantly less likely to be hospitalized with the virus.
Preschoolers with higher cardiorespiratory fitness do better on cognitive tests
1dResearchers report that 4-6-year-old children who walk further than their peers during a timed test – a method used to estimate cardiorespiratory health – also do better on cognitive tests and other measures of brain function. The study suggests that the link between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive health is evident even earlier in life than previously appreciated.
Earth's magnetic field broke down 42,000 years ago and caused massive sudden climate change
1dThe world experienced a few centuries of apocalyptic conditions 42,000 years ago, triggered by a reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles combined with changes in the Sun's behavior. That's the key finding of our new multidisciplinary study, published in Science.
Bacterial magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications
1dMagnetic nanoparticles biosynthesized by bacteria might soon play an important role in biomedicine and biotechnology. Researchers of the University of Bayreuth have now developed and optimized a process for the isolation and purification of these particles from bacterial cells. In initial tests, magnetosomes showed good biocompatibility when incubated with human cell lines. The results, presented
Skanska slår fast: Højhastighedsjernbane mellem Göteborg og Stockholm kan bygges på ni år
1dEn højhastighedsforbindelse mellem Göteborg og Stockholm til godt 150 milliarder danske kroner kan blive en realitet på bare ni år, viser ny rapport fra Skanska Sverige.
Australia Is Fighting a Platform War on the Wrong Battlefield
1dPlus: Google's ad software, the future of space travel, and the Texas governor's weird tune.
The future of electronics is stretchy
1dStretchable electronic circuits are critical for soft robotics, wearable technologies, and biomedical applications. The current ways of making them, though, have limited their potential.
Coronavirus latest: US carriers to send overseas passengers' contact tracing data to CDC
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Widely shared vitamin D-COVID-19 preprint removed from Lancet server
1dA preprint promoted by a member of the UK Parliament for claiming to show that vitamin D led to an "80% reduction in need for ICU and a 60% reduction in deaths" has been removed from a server used by The Lancet family of journals. The preprint, "Calcifediol Treatment and COVID-19-Related Outcomes," was posted to … Continue reading
It Shouldn't Be This Hard to Get a PlayStation 5
1dThis week, we share our horror stories about trying to procure Sony's elusive new gaming console. We also share tips for testing your own luck.
Christian Happi: 'With pathogens, we need to play offence'
1dThe scientist who helped beat Ebola in Nigeria on Africa's success against Covid-19 — and his trailblazing plans to preempt future pandemics
Read a free issue of How It Works magazine!
1dOur sister publication is the action-packed magazine that's bursting with the answers to your curious questions
UK Covid live: Johnson to make vaccine pledge to poorer nations as he chairs G7 meeting
1dLatest updates: PM expected to say that the UK will share any surplus vaccines; primary school students to return to class in Wales on 15 March Boris Johnson to pledge surplus Covid vaccine to poorer countries at G7 New universal credit claimants forced to skip meals in Covid crisis Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage 10.19am GMT Sadiq Khan has insisted there should be n
Her er de dygtigste inden for 65 behandlinger
1dSe de bedste inden for de 65 behandlings- og diagnoseområder.
Nasa-robotten er landet på Mars: Se de første billeder her
1dRobotten, der har været undervejs i seks måneder, har dansk udstyr ombord.
Ny teknologi skal afsløre skjulte lungeskader efter COVID-19-infektion
1dNyt billeddiagnostisk udstyr hentet i England skal give forskere på Aarhus Universitetshospital en unik mulighed for at afdække skjulte skader i lungerne hos personer med senfølger efter COVID-19. Professor håber på hurtig myndighedsgodkendelse
Spacewatch: Hope spacecraft sends back pictures of Mars volcanoes
1dHope mission is to study Martian atmosphere to help understand how water has been lost The first photograph of Mars taken by the Emirates Mars Mission's Hope spacecraft has been released by the UAE Space Agency and Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre . Captured at 20:36 GMT on 10 February 2021, one day after the Hope probe successfully entered orbit around the red planet, the image shows sunlight cr
Damage to the heart found in more than half of COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital
1dAround 50 percent of patients who have been hospitalized with severe COVID-19 and who show raised levels of a protein called troponin have damage to their hearts. The injury was detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at least a month after discharge, according to new findings.
Pandemic got you down? A little nature could help
1dResearchers have long been aware of the positive impact of a connection with nature on psychological health and, according to a new study, the pandemic hasn't decreased the power of nature to improve mental well-being.
Friends fur life help build skills for life
1dA new study finds children not only reap the benefits of working with therapy dogs — they enjoy it too.
Entire Brazilian city will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in giant experiment
2dScientists will vaccinate all the adults in a single city to see whether a COVID-19 vaccine will reduce cases.
In dueling ants vying to become queen, behavioral and molecular cues quickly determine who will win
2dIn one species of ants, workers duel to establish new leadership after the death of their queen. While these sparring matches stretch for more than a month, changes in behavior and gene expression in the first three days of dueling can accurately predict who will triumph, according to a New York University study published in the journal Genes & Development.
In dueling ants vying to become queen, behavioral and molecular cues quickly determine who will win
2dIn one species of ants, workers duel to establish new leadership after the death of their queen. While these sparring matches stretch for more than a month, changes in behavior and gene expression in the first three days of dueling can accurately predict who will triumph, according to a New York University study published in the journal Genes & Development.
Researchers eavesdrop on cellular conversations
2dAn interdisciplinary team of biologists and mathematicians at the University of California, Irvine has developed a new tool to help decipher the language cells use to communicate with one another.
Researchers eavesdrop on cellular conversations
2dAn interdisciplinary team of biologists and mathematicians at the University of California, Irvine has developed a new tool to help decipher the language cells use to communicate with one another.
Is odor the secret to bats' sex appeal?
2dWhen falling in love, humans often pay attention to looks. Many non-human animals also choose a sexual partner based on appearance. Male birds may sport flashy feathers to attract females, lionesses prefer lions with thicker manes and colorful male guppies with large spots attract the most females. But bats are active in the dark. How do they attract mates? Mariana Muñoz-Romo, a senior Latin Ameri
Migratory birds track climate across the year
2dAs climate change takes hold across the Americas, some areas will get wetter, and others will get hotter and drier. A new study of the yellow warbler, a widespread migratory songbird, shows that individuals have the same climatic preferences across their migratory range. The work is published Feb. 17 in Ecology Letters.
In dueling ants vying to become queen, behavioral and molecular cues quickly determine who will win
2dIn one species of ants, workers duel to establish new leadership after the death of their queen. While these sparring matches stretch for more than a month, changes in behavior and gene expression in the first three days of dueling can accurately predict who will triumph, according to a New York University study published in the journal Genes & Development.
Metabolic mutations help bacteria resist drug treatment
2dBacteria have many ways to evade the antibiotics that we use against them. Each year, at least 2.8 million people in the United States develop an antibiotic-resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die from such infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Metabolic mutations help bacteria resist drug treatment
2dBacteria have many ways to evade the antibiotics that we use against them. Each year, at least 2.8 million people in the United States develop an antibiotic-resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die from such infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Scientists: Chemical pollution is a global threat that needs global action
2dAn international group of scientists is calling for a global intergovernmental science-policy body for informing policymakers, business, and the public about reducing harm from chemical pollution. In a paper published today in Science, the group explains how limited and fragmented science-policy interactions on chemicals and waste have contributed to widespread health and environmental problems.
An Unexpected Flash Point in the Battle Over Biden's Agenda
2dBurnt buildings were still smoldering when Bill Clinton toured South Central Los Angeles, the historic center of the city's Black community, in early May 1992. The presidential candidate had flown cross-country from the East Coast as the city was being consumed by waves of unrest following the acquittal of four police officers who had savagely beat Rodney King the year before. By this point in th
Coronavirus Variants: Down to the Details
2dIt's my impression that the pace of headlines and tweets, etc. about the many COVID-19 variants has increased recently (and it wasn't exactly an unexplored topic before). Some of the coverage is just horse-race stuff (here comes this one, around the curve comes that one), but some of it is downright alarmist. And while I'm not here to tell you that everything is peachy, I wanted to add my voice t
Real-time dialogue with a dreaming person is possible
2dDreams take us to what feels like a different reality. They also happen while we're fast asleep. So, you might not expect that a person in the midst of a vivid dream would be able to perceive questions and provide answers to them. But a new study shows that, in fact, they can.
Physics of tumours: Cancer cells become fluidised and squeeze through tissue
2dWorking with colleagues from Germany and the US, researchers at Leipzig University have achieved a breakthrough in research into how cancer cells spread. In experiments, the team of biophysicists led by Professor Josef Alfons Käs, Steffen Grosser and Jürgen Lippoldt demonstrated for the first time how cells deform in order to move in dense tumor tissues and squeeze past neighboring cells. The rese
Australians fear climate change more than catching Covid, survey shows
2dEdelman Trust Barometer records big gains for attitudes towards government, media and business, but not technology A new survey has found Australians are more afraid of climate change than catching Covid-19 – and they want government to do something about it. The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer asked 1,350 Australians questions on a range of topics between October and November 2020. Continue reading
Oil spill has long-term immunological effects in dolphins
2dA study has found long-term impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico on bottlenose dolphins' immune function.
Long-term, heavy coffee consumption and CVD risk
2dIn a world first genetic study, researchers found that that long-term, heavy coffee consumption – six or more cups a day – can increase the amount of lipids (fats) in your blood to significantly heighten your risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Study finds real-time dialogue with a dreaming person is possible
2dDreams take us to what feels like a different reality. They also happen while we're fast asleep. So, you might not expect that a person in the midst of a vivid dream would be able to perceive questions and provide answers to them. But a new study reported in the journal Current Biology on February 18 shows that, in fact, they can.
At least 20 million years of life have been lost to COVID-19, study suggests
2dOn average, each COVID-19 death resulted in 16 years of life lost.
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People Answer Scientists' Queries in Real Time While Dreaming
2dResearchers demonstrate that during REM sleep, people can hear—and respond to—simple questions (What is eight minus six?) — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
People Answer Scientists' Queries in Real Time While Dreaming
2dResearchers demonstrate that during REM sleep, people can hear—and respond to—simple questions (What is eight minus six?) — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
People Answer Scientists' Queries in Real Time While Dreaming
Researchers demonstrate that during REM sleep, people can hear—and respond to—simple questions (What is eight minus six?) — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com