With Judge Amy Coney Barrett poised to become the sixth Republican-nominated justice on the nation’s highest bench, environmental law experts see her influence tipping the scales on energy and climate rules. President Trump tapped Barrett on Saturday, and Trump—with the help of a Republican-led Senate—is intent on swiftly filling the position left by the late […]
When people hear that they might have cancer, perhaps the only thing more frightening than the C word is the M word. Metastatic disease—in which the malignancy has traveled beyond its primary site to other spots in the body—is responsible for nine out of every 10 cancer deaths. Recently an unexpected player in this process […]
Tomatoes come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes and flavors—and a new study uses state-of-the-art DNA-sequencing technology to finally trace the genetic underpinnings of these differences. The comparison of 100 tomato varieties’ genetic sequences reveals more than 230,000 variations within their DNA. Understanding how these mutations modify tomatoes will give breeders and scientists new […]
Quantum particles are known to be strange or even “spooky.” But can those properties ever be useful? A new study proves that one type of wackiness—entanglement between identical particles—has practical value. Ordinarily, two objects are never exactly alike. They can only seem that way because scientists use imperfect instruments to try and tell them apart. […]
The ongoing tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic afflicts every corner of the world. Vaccines may be our best hope for a safe return to workplaces, parties, stores and schools, but even if all leading vaccine candidates are protective, the British charity Oxfam estimates that nearly two thirds of the world’s population will not have access […]
During this school year, thousands of children will begin reading. Despite their best efforts, however, up to a tenth of them will struggle. If we were aware of the early warning signs, we could help these children by using research-based remediation. But dyslexia is poorly understood by the public. Unveiling these misconceptions can help millions […]
A new color-changing ink could aid in health and environment monitoring—for example, allowing clothing that switches hues when exposed to sweat or a tapestry that shifts colors if a dangerous gas enters the room. The formulation could be printed on anything from a T-shirt to a tent. Wearable sensing devices such as smart watches and […]
Most people tend to think of Venus as completely uninhabitable, given that its surface temperature hovers around 900 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius), which doesn’t seem very inviting. But I have long championed the idea that life could exist in the thick cloud decks that shroud the planet. In my 1997 book Venus Revealed, I […]
1970 1970 Pacific Junction “A four-week Pacific cruise this spring by the U.S. Navy research vessel DeSteiguer has produced further evidence that the earth’s crust consists of discrete drifting plates. The voyage provides an example of theory successfully predicting fact: if three oceanic plates should drift apart, a wedge-shaped area would appear on the seafloor […]
In April, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary did something unusual. For the previous 20 years, they had issued quarterly updates to announce new words and meanings selected for inclusion. These updates have typically been made available in March, June, September and December. In the late spring, however, and again in July, the dictionary’s […]