In a world flooded with data, figuring out where and how to store it efficiently and inexpensively becomes a larger problem every day. One of the most exotic solutions might turn out to be one of the best: archiving information in DNA molecules. The prevailing long-term cold-storage method, which dates from the 1950s, writes data […]
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Court Orders Shell to Slash Emissions in Historic Ruling
For the first time in history, a court yesterday ordered a private company, rather than a government, to curb its planet-warming pollution. Royal Dutch Shell PLC must slash its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels, The Hague District Court ruled in a decision that could reverberate around the world. “This is a turning point […]
Yellowstone is Warming at Its Fastest Rate in 1,250 Years
Summers in the nation’s first and oldest national park are rapidly heating up, new research finds. For the last two decades, Yellowstone National Park has been warming at its most intense rates in at least 1,250 years. 2016 was the warmest the region had seen since 770. The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used […]
Can a Cell Make Decisions?
In 1906, zoologist Herbert Spencer Jennings published Behavior of the Lower Organisms, a book that contained a provocative idea: microbes can change their minds. His subject was a single cell bristling with beating hairs called Stentor. These trumpet-shaped predators are so large fish can eat them and humans can see them, and so brazen they […]
Biden Touts Electric Vehicles Amid Negotiations on Infrastructure Spending
President Biden said yesterday he still wants a bipartisan infrastructure deal. Then he climbed behind the wheel of a potential deal breaker for Republicans: an electric vehicle. Biden sped through Ford Motor Co.’s test site before rolling down his window and delivering his verdict on the new F-150 Lightning, the electric version of the country’s […]
‘Tree Farts’ Increase Carbon Emissions in Ghost Forests
Trees that were poisoned and killed by saltwater are emitting greenhouses gases known as “tree farts,” prompting researchers to warn of a secret warming source that could become worse as rising seas encroach on forests. Drowned trees in what scientists call “ghost forests” increased the amount of carbon dioxide released by these ecosystems by about […]
China Lands Tianwen-1 Rover on Mars in a Major First for the Country
And then there were two: today China says it safely landed a spacecraft on Mars—for the first time in its history and in its first attempt, becoming the only other nation besides the U.S. to achieve such a feat. Its Zhurong rover, named after a god of fire from Chinese folklore, successfully touched down in […]
Hacker Attack on Essential Pipeline Shows Infrastructure Weaknesses
A crucial U.S. fuel pipeline operator recently announced it had been hit by ransomware, a type of cyberattack in which hackers encrypt important data so their owners cannot access them—unless the owners pay the criminals to unlock the information. Colonial Pipeline, a private company that transports nearly half of the U.S. East Coast’s gasoline and […]
Disgust Can Be Morally Valuable
The disgust that we feel at the sight of blood or the taste of spoiled milk is familiar. And while this disgust is unpleasant to experience, it’s generally thought to be beneficial—an emotional response that helps protect us against the pathogens that may lurk in what we’re repulsed by. But assessing the value of the […]
Maintenance – Scientific American
Maintenance – Scientific American <img alt=”dcsimg” id=”dcsimg” width=”1″ height=”1″ src=”https://statse.webtrendslive.com/dcszbiart00000oiar2s6w5ud_4y9j/njs.gif?dcsuri=/nojavascript&WT.js=No&WT.tv=10.4.12&dcssip=www.sciam.com”/> Source link