Thanks to a series of social media movements organized by Black researchers and nature lovers, science and academia are finally waking up to some of the ways they have pushed out Black people. From May 31 to June 5, #BlackBirdersWeek helped change the narrative that Black individuals don’t participate in outdoor activities—after the racist incident at […]
Is astrology real? Reading horoscopes is a popular diversion, but is there any science to suggest it means anything? Inspiration finds you if you’re willing to dedicate yourself to a cause. Problems may arise when you’re tempted by a familiar disruption and your willpower weakens. Something appearing meaningless may be a lesson to learn. As […]
Special Report Special Report What began as a call to action in response to police violence and anti-Black racism in America is now a global initiative to confront racial inequities in society including environmental injustice, bias in academia and the public health threat of racism. Policy & Ethics The weaponization of medical language emboldened white […]
A suite of experiments that use the gene-editing tool CRISPR–Cas9 to modify human embryos have revealed how the process can make large, unwanted changes to the genome at or near the target site. The studies were published this month on the preprint server bioRxiv, and have not yet been peer-reviewed. But taken together, they give scientists a […]
The newest generation of global climate models is running hotter than earlier versions, with many models predicting stronger future warming than their predecessors. It‘s a confusing trend, and scientists have been working to figure out why it‘s happening. A review paper out this week suggests that clouds—and the tiny particles that help them form in the atmosphere—have […]
Originally published in June 1959 Credit: Scientific American Advertisement “The construction of a machine capable of building itself might be judged to be impossible and to belong to the category of perpetual motion engines. Together with Roger Penrose, I have approached the problem in a radical manner, without the encumbrance of prefabricated units such as […]
What does SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, look like? This simple question does not have a simple answer. SARS-CoV-2 is very small, and seeing it requires specialized scientific techniques. Electron microscopy (EM) can reveal its general size and shape. We can see that the virions are spherical or ellipsoidal, with “crowns” of spikes on […]
Physicists have filled in the last missing detail of how nuclear fusion powers the Sun, by catching neutrinos emanating from the star’s core. The detection confirms decades-old theoretical predictions that some of the Sun’s energy is made by a chain of reactions involving carbon and nitrogen nuclei. This process fuses four protons together into a […]
By now, you have received a statement about the current state of race relations from almost every institution and organization that you are affiliated with. Like me, you may be asking yourself: Will these statements mean anything? Will these organizations actually do something? Universities and scientific organizations are not just expected to say something, but […]
Experts explain the best time for testing after exposure and how to find test sites — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Source link