Share this on WhatsApp In 2023 every U.S. land surveyor will finally be on equal footing. One kind of foot, specifically: the “international foot.” These engineers have long measured land with two versions of the unit, depending on which state they are in and whom they work for. To eliminate the resulting confusion, surveyors will […]
Share this on WhatsApp Once again California is ablaze. A combination of hot, dry weather and a relatively rare lightning storm sparked hundreds of fires in the northern half of the state in recent weeks. Several of them exploded into major conflagrations—the kinds of intense, destructive fires that some research suggests will become more likely […]
Share this on WhatsApp Originally published in February 1955 Credit: Scientific American Advertisement “Many people, particularly scientists, believe that we are suffering in the U.S. from a national epidemic of irrationality—what Senator J.W. Fulbright of Arkansas has called the ‘swinish blight of anti-intellectualism.’ Fluoridation of public water supplies has been recommended by an impressive list […]
