Living your best life doesn’t depend on wealth, or even happiness, but a rich and complex experience Credit: Scientific American Mind November 2020 Advertisement Is there anything more American than the pursuit of happiness? Not merely written into the Declaration of Independence, it seems to be one of the more important metrics by which we […]
“Science isn’t political.” If you’re in STEM, you’ve likely heard this refrain before; its sentiment might even resonate with you. It may not surprise you that only 43.6 percent of STEM students voted in the last presidential election, compared to 49.2 and 53.2 percent of students in the humanities and social sciences, respectively. Science, however, […]
During the summer, blue whales in the Northeastern Pacific spend their days feeding on massive amounts of tiny plankton called krill. In fact, krill is all they eat. “It really is remarkable that such a small animal is able to sustain the largest life form that’s ever existed on this planet.” Stanford University marine ecologist […]
A bug trapped in a precious gem could offer new clues in the hunt for ancient life on Earth and Mars. The opal, pulled from rock in Indonesia and nicknamed “Beverly,” contains the shell of a tiny cicada nymph. In June in Scientific Reports, researchers explained how it likely formed. Other opal fossils have been […]
COVID-19 surged across the U.S. South in July and August, becoming the newest epicenter of the pandemic. During the summer of 2020, more than 20 percent of the entire world’s new COVID-19 cases occurred in the southern states led by Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Arizona. Reasons for the summer rise in cases have been […]
Tinnitus, the perception of phantom noises in the absence of actual sound, affects millions of people around the world. According to one recent assessment, approximately one in 10 adults in the U.S. experiences tinnitus—and in nearly a quarter of these individuals, symptoms last for more than 15 years. Those with tinnitus can also experience complications […]
Darren Woods entered 2018 with big plans for Exxon Mobil Corp. In a presentation to investors early that year, the CEO of America’s most prominent oil company outlined a strategy to double Exxon’s earnings by 2025. It called for a massive increase in drilling: 25 new projects capable of boosting production by about 1 million […]
Editor’s Note (10/7/20): This story is being republished in light of the growing number of people at the White House who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus—many of whom may have been infected at a ceremony for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that was held in the Rose Garden a little more than […]
It was a grotesque sight: the president of the United States preening from the White House balcony, his mask pulled defiantly off his face, able to infect anyone around him with the novel coronavirus. He had just been released from Walter Reed hospital, after he’d tweeted that we shouldn’t “be afraid of COVID” or “let […]
Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna win for technology that gives scientists unprecedented abilities to change the code of life Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna. Credit: © Nobel Media. Ill. Niklas Elmehed. Advertisement This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the discovery of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system, which has enabled scientists—for […]