May 31 Smartphone tracking data reveals that the 2016 election season spoiled Thanksgiving By Nsikan Akpan Americans gave up 74 million hours of Thanksgiving in 2016 due to fears of political strife, according to a study published Thursday in Science Magazine. Continue reading
May 24 Blue flames, toxic gas clouds. How does Kilauea’s latest eruption compare to its past disasters? By Nsikan Akpan Kilauea is the most lethal volcano in American history, but this reputation comes mostly from a single event. Continue reading
May 22 WATCH LIVE: Explosive eruption at Kilauea volcano, as lava threatens geothermal plant By Nsikan Akpan Early Tuesday morning, local news outlets reported another explosive eruption at the Kilauea summit, the fourth to strike the 4,000-foot-high cauldron in three days. Continue reading
May 21 Kilauea’s lava is now spilling into the ocean. Here’s why that’s dangerous By Nsikan Akpan Late Saturday, Kilauea’s lava began oozing into the Pacific Ocean, creating a plume of acid and glass shards. As bad as it sounds, this poisonous haze may not be the most hazardous part. Continue reading
May 16 Watch 2:22 Yanny vs. Laurel spotlights our brains’ desire to fill in the gaps By Julia Griffin, Nsikan Akpan It's the auditory debate taking the internet by storm. The PBS NewsHour's Nsikan Akpan and Julia Griffin explain how one sound can create two different experiences. Continue watching
May 16 Analysis: Yanny, Laurel and why our brains struggle with ‘ambiguity illusions’ By Stephen L. Macknik, Scientific American On Tuesday, the "Yanny-Laurel" auditory illusion took the internet by storm. A neuroscientist explains why listening to a single sound clip can yield different perceptions. Continue reading
May 14 What Kilauea’s eruption can reveal about volcanoes on other worlds—and possibly, alien life By Fedor Kossakovski The Kilauea volcano provides a natural laboratory on Earth to study volcanoes found on other planets and moons in our solar system. Continue reading
May 10 5 things you never knew about the New Horizons mission to Pluto By Rashmi Shivni NASA New Horizons mission leader Alan Stern and astrobiologist David Grinspoon divulge the most intimate accounts of the decades of planning needed for the Pluto probe in the new book “Chasing New Horizons.”… Continue reading
May 07 Watch 5:52 The science behind Hawaii’s bubbling lava Hawaii emergency crews continue to battle lava flow and hazardous sulfur dioxide fumes, four days after the Kilauea volcano erupted on the big island. The slow-moving lava has destroyed 35 structures so far, including at least 26 homes; no fatalities… Continue watching
May 05 Photos: Why did the Kilauea volcano make a pink plume? By Nsikan Akpan Hours before the volcano erupted, it spewed a plume of pink ash hundreds of feet into the air. How come?… Continue reading