All Stories by Maria Temming
- Space
New search methods are ramping up the hunt for alien intelligence
Six decades of radio silence hasn’t stopped scientists searching for intelligent life beyond Earth. In fact, new technologies are boosting efforts.
- Climate
These women endured a winter in the high Arctic for citizen science
Two women have spent the winter on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard to collect data for climate scientists around the world.
- Health & Medicine
You can help fight the coronavirus. All you need is a computer
With Folding@home, people can donate computing time on their home computers to the search for a chemical Achilles’ heel in the coronavirus.
- Environment
Legos may take hundreds of years to break down in the ocean
Sturdy types of plastic may persist in seawater for much long than scientists previously thought.
- Climate
How Hurricane Maria’s heavy rains devastated Puerto Rico’s forests
Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rican forests in some unexpected ways.
- Artificial Intelligence
An AI that mimics how mammals smell recognizes scents better than other AI
An artificial intelligence modeled after the neural circuitry in mammalian brains can keep learning new aromas without forgetting others.
- Astronomy
Heavy metal may rain from the skies of planet WASP 76b
Astronomers saw hints of iron rain on an ultrahot gas giant, an exoplanet where starlike atmospheric temperatures drive weird weather.
- Chemistry
Thirdhand smoke wafting off moviegoers hurts air quality in theaters
Nonsmoking theaters can still get exposed to cigarette-related pollutants carried in on audience members’ bodies and clothing.
- Chemistry
Evaporating mixtures of two liquids create hypnotic designs
Through the magic of surface tension, mixtures of two liquids form fingerlike protrusions and other patterns as droplets evaporate.
- Climate
Ordering from a local store can curb online shopping’s CO₂ emissions
Online shopping isn’t necessarily better for the environment than going to the store in person, a new study finds.
- Climate
Climate change is slowly drying up the Colorado River
Annual water flow in the Colorado River decreased by over 11 percent due to warming in the 20th century, a new study estimates.
- Computing
AI can predict which criminals may break laws again better than humans
Computer algorithms are better than people at forecasting recidivism, at least in some situations, a new study finds.
