Uncategorized
- Planetary Science
Ice among the rocks
A newly discovered trio of icy comets, hidden among the thousands of rocks in the main asteroid belt, may be part of a previously unknown class and a primary source of water for the dry, early Earth.
- Ecosystems
Antarctic birds are breeding later
Rising global temperatures are causing Arctic birds to breed earlier in the spring, but for Antarctic birds, the reverse is true.
- Math
Men, Women, Cars, and Crashes
Why do men, whether as drivers or pedestrians, have a much higher rate of traffic fatalities than women do? For more math, visit the MathTrek blog.
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After taking some of the bias tests talked about in this article, I am very skeptical. Since the major tool is speed of reaction, and since my eyes are not too good now, the results were very curious and probably totally unreliable: Though a lifelong, unprejudiced heterosexual, the test has me biased in favor of […]
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The Bias Finders
A simple test of unconscious preferences has achieved great popularity among psychologists and, at the same time, sparked heated debate over how it works and whether it shows widespread implicit biases against black people.
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Clock time has long been out of step with the heavens. Since the adoption of time zones in the 19th century, we have accepted disparities of as much as 30 minutes at the edges of the time zones (more in some cases since time zones are set by politics, not geography). And of course, the […]
- Humans
To Leap or Not to Leap
Scientists are debating whether to continue the practice of occasionally inserting leap seconds in order to keep official, atomic-based time in sync with time based on Earth's rotation.
- Humans
From the April 11, 1936, issue
Spring flowers, alcohol's effect on the liver, and tapping into brain waves.
- Humans
Sculpting Life’s Machinery
Sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae creates novel artworks inspired by the three-dimensional structures of proteins. His latest work, “Unravelling Collagen,” goes on display next month in the City of South San Francisco’s Orange Memorial Sculpture Park. Now based in Portland, Ore., Voss-Andreae had started out as a quantum physicist. Go to: http://www.julianvossandreae.com/
- Planetary Science
Brilliant! Tenth planet turns out to be a shiner
Xena, unofficially called the 10th planet, is the second-most-shiny known object in the solar system.
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It seems that each of the moons of all of the planets within our solar system—and even some moons outside of our solar system—are named. However, it strikes me as remarkable and ironic that our own moon is the only moon that is unnamed. I think we should have a naming contest for our moon. […]
- Chemistry
Dynamic Duo: Two catalysts build valuable carbon chains
By combining the power of two well-known reactions, chemists have devised a way to alter the length of linear carbon chains.
