Sci/Tech

As a comet zooms through the inner solar system, the Sun heats it, causing ices below the surface to vaporize into space. The venting vapor dislodges dust and rock, and the gas creates a bright tail that can extend millions of miles from the nucleus like an ethereal veil. Whereas comets contain lots of different […]

It is increasingly clear that the prolonged drought conditions, record-breaking heat, sustained wildfires, and frequent, more extreme storms experienced in recent years are a direct result of rising global temperatures brought on by humans’ addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. And a new MIT study on extreme climate events in Earth’s ancient history suggests […]

In our globalized world, cooperation between citizens of different countries should actually be a matter of course. But around the world, people prefer to cooperate with their own fellow citizens rather than with foreigners. This was the result of a study by an international team of researchers led by Angelo Romano and Matthias Sutter from […]

GENEVA, Aug 9 – Scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, released today. Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some […]

Videos of squirrels leaping from bendy branches across impossibly large gaps, parkouring off walls, scrambling to recover from tricky landings. Just more YouTube content documenting the crazy antics of squirrels hell-bent on reaching peanuts? No, these videos are part of a research study to understand the split-second decisions squirrels make routinely as they race through […]

Researchers call for a shift in focus away from risks of “super-volcanic” eruptions and towards likelier scenarios of smaller eruptions in key global “pinch points” creating devastating domino effects. Currently, much of the thinking around risks posed by volcanoes follows a simple equation: the bigger the eruption, the worse it will be for society and […]

Strategies to reduce antibiotic prescribing in primary care are insufficient alone to halt the rise in drug resistant E. coli infections in England, a new report concludes.   The first evaluation of NHS England’s Quality Premium intervention on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The Quality Premium scheme was introduced in 2015 […]

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service is observing closely the wildfire activities in the eastern Mediterranean region. In Turkey and southern Italy, CAMS data shows the emissions and intensity of wildfires are rapidly increasing, and countries like Morocco, Albania, Greece, North Macedonia and Lebanon are also affected. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), implemented by the […]

Where there’s water, there’s life. That’s the case on Earth, at least, and also why scientists remain tantalized by any evidence suggesting there’s liquid water on cold, dry Mars. The Red Planet is a difficult place to look for liquid water: While water ice is plentiful, any water warm enough to be liquid on the […]

The Covid-19 pandemic and the politicization of health-prevention measures such as vaccination and mask-wearing have highlighted the need for people to accept and trust science. But trusting science isn’t enough. A new study finds that people who trust science are more likely to believe and disseminate false claims containing scientific references than people who do […]

DENVER, JULY 26, 2021 — Improving air quality may improve cognitive function and reduce dementia risk, according to several studies reported today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC®) 2021 in Denver and virtually. Previous reports have linked long-term air pollution exposure with accumulation of Alzheimer’s diseaserelated brain plaques, but this is the first accumulated […]

Safe and effective vaccines offer hope for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the possible emergence of vaccine-resistant SARS-CoV-2 variants, as well as novel coronaviruses, make finding treatments that work against all coronaviruses as important as ever. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research have analyzed viral proteins across 27 coronavirus species and thousands […]

More than 700 imaging satellites are orbiting the earth, and every day they beam vast oceans of information — including data that reflects climate change, health and poverty — to databases on the ground. There’s just one problem: While the geospatial data could help researchers and policymakers address critical challenges, only those with considerable wealth […]

In light of damning new reports of state-sponsored human rights abuses facilitated by NSO Group, Candiru, and Cellebrite, Access Now is calling for urgent action to hold the surveillance industry and governments accountable. Yesterday, July 18, Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories’ breaking investigation, the Pegasus Project, revealed that more than 180 journalists in 21 countries — including India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, […]

Many legacy media outlets played an unwitting role in the growth of the four most successful fake Twitter accounts hosted by the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) that were created to spread disinformation during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, according to a study led by a University at Buffalo communication researcher. In roughly two years […]

On June 7, 2021, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew closer to Jupiter’s ice-encrusted moon Ganymede than any spacecraft in more than two decades. Less than a day later, Juno made its 34th flyby of Jupiter, racing over its roiling atmosphere from pole to pole in less than three hours. Using the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager, the mission […]

Using measurements from ESA’s Earth Explorer Swarm mission, scientists have developed a new tool that links the strength and direction of the magnetic field to the flight paths of migrating birds. This is a huge step forward to understanding how animals use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate vast distances. These days, it is almost unimaginable […]

An unprecedented heat wave that started around June 26 smashed numerous all-time temperature records in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada. NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), aboard the Aqua satellite, captured the progression of this slow-moving heat dome across the region from June 21 to 30. An animation of some of the AIRS data show […]