Aug 02 80 percent of humans on Earth had hotter July due to climate change, scientists find By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press A new quick study finds that human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth. Continue reading
Aug 01 Who was Henrietta Lacks? Here’s how HeLa cells became essential to medical research By Ivan Martinez, The Conversation On Aug. 1, 2023, over 70 years after doctors took Lacks’ cells without her consent or knowledge, her family reached a settlement with biotech company Thermo Fisher. Continue reading
Aug 01 Blue blood from horseshoe crabs is needed for medicine, but a declining bird species relies on the crabs to eat By Patrick Whittle, Associated Press The animals are drained of some of their blood and returned to the environment, yet some inevitably die. Regulators say recent revisions to the guidelines for handling the animals should keep more alive through the process. Continue reading
Aug 01 Chatbots can make things up. Can we fix AI’s hallucination problem? By Matt O'Brien, Associated Press Builders of AI systems known as large language models say they're working to make them more truthful. But some experts say the problem isn't fixable. Continue reading
Jul 30 Why towing stranded whales and dolphins back out to sea doesn’t always work By Vanessa Pirotta, The Conversation Towing whales and dolphins is not simple — rescuers have to have good conditions and a fair dash of luck for it to succeed. Continue reading
Jul 30 Get ready to catch a double supermoon feature this August. Here’s when to look By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project. Continue reading
Jul 29 Analysis: Whistleblower testimonies did not change our basic understanding of UFOs By Chris Impey, The Conversation While Wednesday's congressional hearings brought attention to unidentified anomalous phenomena and could lead to a push for more government transparency, the testimonies did not produce evidence to fundamentally change the understanding of UAPs. Continue reading
Jul 29 Analysis: Is it actually hotter now than any time in the last 100,000 years? By Darrell Kaufman, The Conversation A paleoclimate scientist who studies temperatures of the past explains what we can confidently say about when Earth was last this hot. Continue reading
Jul 27 Watch 6:11 How urban heat islands make the impacts of excessive heat worse By William Brangham, Shoshana Dubnow Living in certain parts of a city can make the impacts of extreme heat worse. That’s because of a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect. A recent report by the research group Climate Central showed that more than 40… Continue watching
Jul 27 Watch 7:33 Lobster industry says regulations to save right whales will push them out of business By Miles O'Brien, Dorothy Hastings, Will Toubman Right whales are a majestic sight to behold off the eastern coast of North America, but they are endangered and their numbers are shrinking. Many conservationists say fishing gear that causes entanglements is a big part of the problem. But… Continue watching