Today, I’ve rounded up some freebies that don’t involve driving anywhere* or waiting on rebates. So keep that credit card in your wallet and read on! *OK, one of the freebies does involve a trip to your local Target. But you were headed there anyway, right? Mad, of course, was that awesome satire magazine you read as a kid. This very first issue is more like a comic book, but you can see the foundations being laid....
Despite decades of entreaties from the World Health Organization (WHO) and mothers alike to eat more fruits and vegetables, a new study has found that these dietary additions appear to do little to decrease the overall likelihood of getting cancer. The recommendation that people eat at least five servings (about 400 grams) of fruits and veggies each day, espoused by the WHO since 1990, was based on studies that found a link between higher intakes of these foods and lower risks for cancer and other diseases....
SA Forum is an invited essay from experts on topical issues in science and technology. The geoengineering juggernaut has shifted into higher gear with the release of a long-awaited report from the National Research Council recommending federal funding for research into “plan B” technologies to intervene in the climate system to counter the effects of warming. Reports commissioned by the council are often the trigger for large-scale research programs into new areas of science....
A 7-year-old restaurant’s quest for carbon-neutral dining begins the minute the customer walks through the door. At Farmers Fishers Bakers restaurant in Washington, D.C., a polite sign encourages guests to come in via the whimsically decorated revolving door. (Revolving doors, one Massachusetts Institute of Technology research team has found, are eight times more energy-efficient than traditional ones.) Once inside this upscale farm-to-table restaurant, the customer finds it filled with refurbished barn wood, reclaimed marble and water jugs from a local dairy....
This essay was posted initially on Ensia.com and is reprinted here with permission. Nothing dominates the American landscape like corn. Sprawling across the Midwest and Great Plains, the American Corn Belt is a massive thing. You can drive from central Pennsylvania all the way to western Nebraska, a trip of nearly 1,500 miles, and witness it in all its glory. No other American crop can match the sheer size of corn....
A big slice of corporate America—including utilities, banks and auto manufacturers—signed onto a statement yesterday calling on President-elect Joe Biden to work with Congress on “ambitious, durable, bipartisan climate solutions.” “To achieve a net-zero economy, the United States must establish durable national policies that harness market forces, mobilize investment and innovation, and provide the certainty needed to plan for the long term,” they wrote. Organized by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, or C2ES, the statement comes amid a raft of corporate signaling on climate, as Biden enters office with an ambitious clean energy platform....
By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several U.S. states are investigating a massive cyberattack on No. 2 U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc that a person familiar with the matter said is being examined for possible ties to China. Anthem disclosed the attack late Wednesday, saying unknown hackers had penetrated a database with some 80 million records. The insurer said it suspected they had stolen information belonging to tens of millions of current and former customers as well as employees....
When Noelle Sawyer, a Bahamian mathematician at Southwestern University, came to the U.S. for college, she was taken aback. During the first two years of her undergraduate program, Sawyer, whose research focuses on dynamics and geometry, kept wondering, “Why is no one treating me like I’m good at learning things?” Marissa Kawehi Loving is a National Science Foundation postdoctoral researcher and a visiting assistant mathematics professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-founder of the Web site Indigenous Mathematicians....
There’s a little too much wishful thinking about mindfulness, and it is skewing how researchers report their studies of the technique. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, analysed 124 published trials of mindfulness as a mental-health treatment, and found that scientists reported positive findings 60% more often than is statistically likely. The team also examined another 21 trials that were registered with databases such as ClinicalTrials.gov; of these, 62% were unpublished 30 months after they finished....
The hordes of microbes that inhabit every nook and cranny of every animal are not just passive hitchhikers: they actively shape their hosts’ well-being and even behavior. Now, researchers have found evidence that bacteria living in the scent glands of hyenas help to produce the smells that the animals use to identify group members and tell when females are ready to mate. Kevin Theis, a microbial ecologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, had been studying hyena scent communication for several years when, after he gave a talk on the subject, someone asked him what part the bacteria might play....
Key concepts Sound Music Physics Sound waves Frequency Introduction Have you ever wondered how a musical instrument produces the beautiful sounds that it does? It all comes down to science! To make a certain note, the instrument has to generate a particular-sized sound wave. So what you hear as pitch is really just a collection of similarly sized sound waves moving through the air and hitting your ear. Of course, most instruments are capable of producing many different notes—or sizes of sound waves....
Editor’s Note (3/19/20): Italy reported 427 more deaths from the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, raising the total from 2,978 to 3,405 in one day—now the highest number of deaths worldwide. Deaths from the new coronavirus in Italy have soared in recent days, with the country reporting 463 total fatalities from the virus, out of 9,172 confirmed cases, as of Monday (March 9). But why are deaths in the country so high?...
On a Sunday morning in a decaying and dangerous inner-city barrio in Lima, Peru, an unmarked white van carrying nearly a dozen bodies rumbles to a stop on the grounds of the National Institute of Neurological Sciences. Seated in a small waiting area to the rear of the building, a throng of well-dressed researchers and government officials watches intently. As the driver clambers out, an assistant hustles off in search of a hospital gurney....
Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus (l.c. 50- 130 CE) following the example of Socrates, wrote none of his teachings down, preferring to impart his wisdom to his students through class discussions. His student Arrian collected and edited the lectures and discussions he attended in eight books, of which four remain extant, and distilled his master’s thoughts in the Enchiridion (`Handbook’)....
Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Rock art, that is paintings and carvings on natural rock formations, is one of the earliest forms of creative expression and a universal phenomenon among prehistoric societies. An instrument of communication rather than simply art, it is an assemblage of material culture which provides a glimpse into the lives of people who painted them....
Did you like this interview? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism, a new exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, explores the dynamic historical intersection of politics, religion, and art as reflected through Tibetan Buddhism. The exhibition underscores how Tibetan Buddhism presented a model of universal sacral kingship, whereby consecrated rulers were empowered to expand their realm, aided by the employment of ritual magic between the 8th to the 19th centuries CE....
Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The society of ancient Egypt was strictly divided into a hierarchy with the king at the top and then his vizier, the members of his court, priests and scribes, regional governors (eventually called ’nomarchs’), the generals of the military (after the period of the New Kingdom, c. 1570- c....
You find a lost wallet. Do you return it? Do you think other people would return it? It is a bit of a hassle. And what if there’s a little money in the wallet? A lot of money? Who couldn’t use a little extra cash? These are the questions at the heart of the most extensive experiment in civic honesty to date, published on June 20 in Science. And the results are remarkable and encouraging....
May 1961 Cosmonaut “On April 12, 1961, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a citizen of the U.S.S.R., achieved the distinction of being the first man to cross the border between the earth and interplanetary space. The rocket bearing the five-ton spaceship Vostok (meaning ‘East’) was fired aloft at 9:07 A.M. Moscow time. While Gagarin was in orbit he radioed messages such as: ‘I am watching the earth. The visibility is good. I feel well and cheerful....
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. How do you stop a robot from hurting people? Many existing robots, such as those assembling cars in factories, shut down immediately when a human comes near. But this quick fix wouldn’t work for something like a self-driving car that might have to move to avoid a collision, or a care robot that might need to catch an old person if they fall....
