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Life finds a way. Paleontologists have reiterated that maxim over and over, often drawing from the way organisms seemed to bounce back from the five mass extinctions Earth has suffered. These events winnowed down the number of species alive on the planet, the story goes. And the survivors set the foundation for life to flower again the way a forest can be refreshed by fire. But a new study suggests that paleontologists may be off tempo....

Smart phones such as the iPhone or those running Google’s Android or Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating systems are beloved by their owners for their ability to function as pocket-size, Web-connected computers. Unfortunately, the iPhone and its ilk also share the kinds of security problems that have plagued PCs since the advent of widespread Internet access. The latest smart-phone security vulnerability garnering attention is one that could allow a hacker to blitz one’s iPhone or Android-based device with a deluge of SMS (short message service) text messages, an attack that could allow an intruder to plant a virus on the phone or at the very least cause the phone to shut down (disconnecting calls and Web access in the process)....

I can trace my search for consciousness in nonresponsive patients to the moment in 1997 when I met Kate, a young teacher from Cambridge, England, who had lapsed into a coma after a flulike illness. Within a few weeks Kate’s doctors had declared her to be vegetative—meaning that although she had sleep-wake cycles, she lacked conscious awareness. Her eyes would open and close, and she would appear to look fleetingly around the hospital room, but she showed no signs of inner life and no responses to prompting by her family or doctors....

Recently, mass killings have been front and center in the news. The terrorist attacks in Paris struck a chord worldwide, and similar attacks in Beirut, Baghdad, Mali, Lake Chad, and elsewhere have made the horror seem never-ending. Yesterday marked the three-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting and two weeks ago another shooting in San Bernardino topped a long list of harrowing incidents in the United States. While the political discourse focuses on how to prevent future tragedies from happening, survivors and the families and friends of victims are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives....

Do we have free will? It is an age-old question which has attracted the attention of philosophers, theologians, lawyers and political theorists. Now it is attracting the attention of neuroscience, explains Michael S. Gazzaniga, director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of the new book, “Who’s In Charge: Free Will and the Science of the Brain.” He spoke with Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook....

A new type of test may markedly improve the ability to detect potentially drug-resistant HIV infections using a patient’s blood sample. The technique works by scanning individual virus molecules for genetic mutations that are known to confer immunity to existing treatments. Although the test still has to prove it can benefit large numbers of patients and work in a real-world setting, “this to me looks faster, cheaper and easier” than existing assays for HIV drug resistance, says HIV/AIDS researcher Douglas Richman of the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the research....

SAN FRANCISCO—The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) here has filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that calls on the EPA to override lax water quality standards in 15 coastal states and territories. Requiring those states to meet or exceed minimum federal standards intended to limit the amount of acidification that can occur in coastal waters would in effect force the states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As CO2 in the atmosphere accumulates, more is absorbed by the ocean, which feeds chemical reactions that are making seawater increasingly acidic....

In Malaysia, it’s happening so a housing development can be built. In Albania, it’s to make room for an airport. And in both Brazil and the United States, it’s to extract more minerals and fossil fuels. These are some of the reasons that governments have given for shrinking or eliminating protected areas in recent months, even as a global pandemic has limited the public’s ability to participate in these decisions. The cruel irony is that, by scaling back protected areas, governments are silently weakening policies that can help minimize the risk of future pandemics....

Aristotle once noted, “Man is by nature a political animal.” What may be the first study to investigate this idea scientifically now controversially suggests that Aristotle may have been right—the desire to vote or abstain from politics might largely be hardwired into our biology. When it comes to predicting who will vote, researchers have looked at “everything but the kitchen sink,” says political scientist James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego....

Despite being the wealthiest nation on the planet, the U.S. has continued to have by far the most COVID infections and deaths per country: one million dead, with no end in sight. This is an unfathomable number, yet in contrast to the beginning of the pandemic, the news media has often downplayed the one-million mark. In May 2020 the New York Times ran a sympathetic headline reading “U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss,” using its entire front page to print names of some of the deceased....

A new framework for reducing carbon emissions takes a crack at the knottiest dilemma confronting a global climate solution: how to divvy cuts between rich and poor nations. A new study published Monday attempts to sidestep the rancor, finding that virtually every country has a class of individuals—the so-called “high emitters”—enjoying a rich, carbon-intensive lifestyle. If those individuals, no matter their locale, are forced to take responsibility for their emissions, a great swath of countries become participants in the climate effort, the study claims....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. In the 2nd century CE, the Roman Empire stretched from Scotland in northern Europe to the deserts of southern Egypt, encompassing the entirety of the Mediterranean basin. Beyond that lay its borders. Where there was no natural frontier such as rivers, mountains, deserts, or sea, the Romans constructed artificial barriers....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. As early as the 10th century BCE, Israelite and Judean religion began to emerge within the broader West Semitic culture, otherwise known as Canaanite culture. Between the 10th century and 7th centuries BCE, ancient Israelite and Judean religion was polytheistic. The polytheism, though, was counterbalanced by devotion to one or two primary deities, a practice known as henotheism (van der Toorn, 2047)....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Her name echoes down the corridors, in classrooms and in books, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt was a great French Egyptologist and, in the opinion of the writer, a woman strong and determined enough to have been the first female to direct an excavation in 1938 and afterwards, in 1960, possibly the most epic archaeological undertaking of all time....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The legends surrounding King Arthur and his knights have charmed and intrigued people for centuries and their popularity continues in the present day. As with any famous figure, however, the question arises as to whether the legend is based on any fact. There have been many suggestions over the years as to the best candidate for the ‘historical Arthur,’ but the most reasonable response is that he was based on a British leader of the 5th or 6th century CE....