Jan 4, 2025 | Salon.com
The universe is full of icy worlds that scientists suspect could serve as homes for alien life. These celestial bodies are so cold that humans could never set foot upon them without freezing to death — yet if they have liquid water and carbon, they could facilitate the evolution of organic beings like the inhabitants of our own planet....
Originally posted on salon.com
Jan 3, 2025 | Salon.com
It was not easy for Dr. Kevin Trenberth to leave the United States. An esteemed climate scientist who has published more than 600 articles on climatology, Trenberth spent more than four decades of his life in America, first teaching at the University of Illinois before joining the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), where he eventually became a distinguished scholar....
Originally posted on salon.com
Jan 2, 2025 | Salon.com
The common noctule bat (Nyctalus noctula) is a tiny golden-brown thing with just 12-to-18 inch (320 to 450 mm) wingspans, but they can travel long distances. They are found across North America, Europe and Asia, but don’t stay in one place. Like some birds, common noctules migrate long distances depending on the season, and scientists have long wondered how they do so despite the threats posed by predators and climate change, as well as high energy demands....
Originally posted on salon.com
Jan 2, 2025 | Salon.com
Plastic pollution is a scourge on Earth because it doesn’t naturally degrade for decades or even centuries. When many plastics break down, they create tiny particles known as microplastics, which are less than five millimeters long. Their tiny size has allowed them to get into everything, from human blood and breastmilk to the food we eat, stretching to every corner of the globe....
Originally posted on salon.com
Dec 30, 2024 | Salon.com
Jimmy Carter lived longer than any other American president, passing away on Sunday at the age of 100. Given that he devoted much of that life to serving others, it is fitting that Carter was blessed with so many years.
During his extra time on earth, the 39th president was involved in charities all over the world, from the peacemaking and disease-fighting Carter Center to Habitat for Humanity, which constructs affordable housing....
Originally posted on salon.com
Dec 30, 2024 | Salon.com
Last month the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an organization run by the European Union to monitor global heating, revealed that Earth was on track to surpass the 1.5º C threshold. This manifested throughout 2024 in so-called “weird weather,” from unusually extreme hurricanes and floods to intense heat waves, parching droughts and unprecedented wildfires....
Originally posted on salon.com
Dec 30, 2024 | Salon.com
Human brains are not computers, in spite of how often such a comparison is made, but a recent study in the journal Neuron reveals our gray matter is quite pokey even when compared to Wi-Fi speeds.
Researchers from the California Institute of Technology calculated the speed at which humans performed tasks that can be quantified as “information processing.”...
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Dec 28, 2024 | Education, Salon.com
Seemingly no one wants a low IQ. People with self-reported low intelligence quotients describe struggling with self-esteem issues and romantic hardships. The Environmental Protection Agency is reevaluating its support for fluoridation because of reported drops in IQ scores, while the Supreme Court is reconsidering death row cases on the basis that certain inmates’ low IQs might be mitigating factors in their sentences....
Originally posted on salon.com
Dec 24, 2024 | Salon.com
The concept of touching the Sun can be traced back to the ancient Greek myth of Icarus, but scientists at NASA have turned that idea into a reality. On Dec. 24th, their Parker Solar Probe managed to travel to just within 3.86 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface, a new record....
Originally posted on salon.com
Dec 24, 2024 | Salon.com
Most people who own a smart watch or fitness watch use a band made of synthetic rubber to hold the device on their wrist. Although the bands are designed to feel comfortable against the skin, a recent study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters found that they may be harmful....
Originally posted on salon.com