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- Climate
Matt Crenson, Reconstructions
In ancient Southwest droughts, a warning of dry times to come.
- Humans
Matt Crenson, Reconstructions
Tools tell a more complicated tale of the origin of the human genus.
- Science & Society
Alexandra Witze, Earth in action
Loss of eyes in the sky hurts science on the ground.
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Grocers stacking oranges demonstrate intuitive grasp of sphere-packing math
They may not know it, but grocers face some of the most difficult questions in mathematics when stacking produce each day. Four centuries ago, the astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler guessed that the standard grocers’ method of piling oranges packs the most fruit into the least space. Confirming he was right had to wait until […]
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Love affair with statistics gives science a significant problem
Scientists love statistical significance. It offers a way to test hypotheses. It’s a ticket to publishing, to media coverage, to tenure. It’s also a crock — statistically speaking, anyway. You know the idea. When scientists perform an experiment and their data suggest an important result — say, that watching TV causes influenza — there’s always the nagging concern that the finding […]
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Climate’s effect on extreme weather is no game of chance
Climate change is supposed to be about climate, you’d think — not weather. After all, climate is what you expect in the long term, like how bad the average winter will be; weather is what you get day to day, like whether there will be frost on Halloween night. Predicting even next week’s weather often seems like […]
