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GENERAL INTEREST
'We Were Just Trying to Get It to Work': The Failure That Started the Internet
BBC, October 29, 2024
On 29 October 1969, two scientists established a connection between computers some 350 miles away and started typing a message. Halfway through, it crashed. They sat down with the BBC 55 years later.
Baseball’s Legendary ‘Magic Mud’ Finally Analyzed by Scientists
Popular Science, November 04, 2024
While it can’t be credited with winning the Los Angeles Dodgers their eighth World Series championship, baseball’s “magic mud” is the stuff of lore.
How Edwin Hubble Won the Great Debate
Astronomy, November 02, 2024
A century ago this month, a brash astronomer leaked a discovery that opened our view to the cosmic distance scale and the nature of galaxies.
Scientists Have Discovered a “Lost” Mayan Mega-city, Complete With Hidden Pyramids
Sci-Tech Daily, November 02, 2024
Tulane researchers uncovered over 6,500 Maya structures in Mexico using lidar, revealing a complex settlement landscape and challenging previous assumptions about the Maya civilization’s urban and rural distribution.
The Eugenics Movement in Retrospect
Natural History, January, 2022 issue
Despite warnings by biologists and geneticists, eminent individuals and venerable institutions helped promote a false theory that led to sterilizations and genocide.
COSMOS
Some TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets Could Have Stable Atmospheres
EarthSky, November 03, 2024
The seven Earth-sized planets of TRAPPIST-1 are the subject of a new study focusing on their atmospheres. Observations show the two innermost planets have likely lost all or most of their atmospheres.
Can Axions Save the Universe?
New York Times, November 01, 2024
The hunt for dark matter is shifting from particles to waves named after a laundry detergent.
This Is What It Sounds Like When the Earth's Poles Flip
Phys.org, November 01, 2024
About every 450,000 years, Earth's magnetic poles flip. North becomes south and vice versa in a phenomenon called geomagnetic reversal.
New Theory That Black Holes Might Be Behind Dark Energy
Cosmos, October 30, 2024
A whopping 70% of the universe is made up of an even more elusive substance called “dark energy”. Dark energy is what cosmologists believe is driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. It is thought to have emerged 13.8 billion years ago when the cosmos began its inflation
Plans to Trash the Space Station Preview a Bigger Problem
Scientific American, October 28, 2024
A special spacecraft will guide the space station through Earth’s atmosphere, but what about other large pieces of space debris?
INNOVATION
Lithium-Ion Batteries Have Ruled for Decades. Now They Have a Challenger.
Washington Post, November 01, 2024
Scientists have been researching alternatives to lithium for years. Much of the world relies on this kind of battery, but the mining and processing of its materials can be harmful to workers, local communities and the environment. Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a possible alternative.
Chemists Have Made the Best Carbon Capture Material Yet
Anthropocene, October 31, 2024 (scroll down)
A little over 1.5 cups of a yellow powder made of tiny porous polymer particles can capture as much carbon dioxide in a year as a mature tree.
What Is Wind Energy?
TreeHugger, October 24, 2024
Wind energy is electricity from the naturally flowing air in the Earth's atmosphere. As a renewable resource that won't get depleted through use, its impact on the environment and climate crisis is significantly smaller than burning fossil fuels.
‘Cloud-Milking’: The Zero-Energy Technique Keeping Young Trees Alive
The Guardian, October 31, 2024
The project that began in the Canary Islands mimics the way leaves capture water droplets from fog in order to produce water.
Future Space Telescopes Could be Made From Thin Membranes, Unrolled in Space to Enormous Size
Universe Today, November 03, 2024
Space-based telescopes are remarkable. Their view isn’t obscured by the weather in our atmosphere, and so they can capture incredibly detailed images of the heavens. Unfortunately, they are quite limited in mirror size.
HEALTH
Mucus: It’s Snot What You Think
New York Times, October 31, 2024
The sticky, slimy goo plays an essential role in fighting off infections, shaping the gut microbiome and more.
A Straightforward Gym Machine Workout Plan For Beginners
Coach, February 07, 2023
If you’ve never set foot in a gym before, this progressive gym machine workout plan will help you build confidence and muscle over 12 weeks
Explained:What Is Fluoride, Is It Safe, and Why Does RFK Jr Want Trump to Remove It from Drinking Water?
The Guardian, March 04, 2024
Fluoride is a compound naturally present in groundwater, water sources and plants. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water is widely considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, for its role in preventing tooth decay.
A Guide to Basic Stretches
Mayo Clinic
It's helpful to include stretching in your exercise plan. Stretching can increase flexibility and improve the range of motion in your joints. Being more flexible can help you move more freely and be better able do daily activities.
Health Benefits of Avocados
Web MD, March 22, 2024
Turns out, avocados are popular for good reason. Not only are they delicious, they're packed with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that can help keep you healthy.
NATURE
The Physics Behind Curly Hair
Big Think, November 04, 2024
Whether your hair is straight, wavy, curly, or kinky isn’t just genetic in nature. It depends on the physics of your hair’s very atoms.
Traveling the Buffalo Road: Indigenous Nations Are Rematriating Bison to the Prairies
The Narwhal, October 25, 2024
Millions of bison once roamed the grasslands, until colonialism nearly wiped them out. Now, Indigenous people are bringing them back and restoring balance to their homelands
Minerals Evolve Under Pressure in the Same Way Life Does, Researchers Find
Live Science, August 02, 2024
Researchers say they've discovered evidence for the recently proposed 'law of increasing functional information' by proving that minerals evolve as life does.
The World’s Oldest Tree? Genetic Analysis Traces Evolution of Iconic Pando Forest
Nature, November 01, 2024
DNA samples from one of the world’s largest and oldest plants — a quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) in Utah called Pando — have helped researchers to determine its age and revealed clues about its evolutionary history. By sequencing hundreds of samples from the tree, researchers confirmed that Pando is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old
COP16: What Is Biodiversity and How Are We Protecting It?
BBC, October 18, 2024
Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth - animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms like bacteria. Together they provide us with everything necessary for survival - including fresh water, clean air, food and medicines.
ENVIRONMENT
Returning Grazing Land to Native Forests Would Yield Big Climate Benefits
Inside Climate News, November 04, 2024
Removing cattle from carbon-rich soils in the eastern U.S. and western Europe while intensifying production elsewhere could drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, with little hit to global protein production, a new study shows.
COP16 Ends in Disarray and Indecision Despite Biodiversity Breakthroughs
The Guardian, November 03, 2024
Conservation summit agrees global levy on drugs from nature’s genetics and stronger indigenous representation, but developing nations furious at unmet funding promises.
US Congress Members Call on EPA to Ban Paraquat, Citing Risk of Parkinson’s and Other Diseases
The New Lede, November 01, 2024
More than 50 US lawmakers are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to join dozens of other nations in banning a widely used weed killer linked to Parkinson’s disease and other health dangers.
Domino Effect in the Amazon Region
EurekAlert, November 04, 2024
The Earth’s climate system is highly complex and its components, which include the ocean, atmosphere, and vegetation, are closely interlinked. Changes in individual parameters can have far-reaching effects on the entire system.
Agricultural Subsidies Are Killing Americans and Fueling the Climate Crisis
STAT News, October 28, 2024
A new Farm Bill should promote production of food that is good for both consumers and the planet.
CLIMATE
Have Climate Questions? Get Answers Here.
New York Times, September 06, 2023
Climate change is tremendously complex — and we’re here to help. The climate desk at The Times has been collecting reader questions and has started answering them here.
'We Are Teetering On a Planetary Tightrope': Cut Emissions in Half Right Now to Prevent Climate Catastrophe, UN Warns
Live Science, October 30, 2024
A new U.N. report has found the world will warm by twice the 1.5-degree-Celsius target adopted in the Paris Agreement by 2100 if countries fail to slash greenhouse gas emissions right now.
New Report Shows How Human-Caused Warming Intensified the 10 Deadliest Climate Disasters Since 2004
Inside Climate News, October 31, 2024
A decade of attribution research shows that “burning fossil fuels causes climate change and climate change causes death and destruction.”
Governments Subsidizing ‘Unprecedented’ Health Threats from Fossil Fuels, Leading Medical Journal Finds
The Hill, October 29, 2024
“This year’s stock-take of the imminent health threats of climate inaction reveals the most concerning findings yet in our eight years of monitoring,” warned Marina Romanello, executive director of Lancet Countdown, which for nearly a decade has tracked the globe’s progress on health and climate change.
Lakes Release Large Amounts of CO2; Now We Know Why
Cosmos, October 31, 2024
A new study has uncovered the missing science behind why some lakes around the world emit such large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).
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