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☆ Mars study suggests an ocean's worth of water may be hiding beneath the red dusty surface
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Mars may be drenched beneath its surface, with enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean, new research suggests. The findings released Monday are based on seismic measurements from NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which detected more than 1,300 marsquakes before shutting down two years ago. Just because water still may be sloshing around inside Mars does not mean it holds life, Wright said. His team combined computer models with InSight readings including the quakes’ velocity in determining underground water was the most likely explanation. Wet almost all over more than 3 billion years ago, Mars is thought to have lost its surface water as its atmosphere thinned, turning the planet into the dry, dusty world known today.

Persons: Vashan Wright, Wright Organizations: University of California San Diego’s Scripps, of Oceanography, National Academy of Sciences

☆ Oceans of water may be trapped deep beneath the Martian surface
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Data from a retired NASA mission has revealed evidence of an underground reservoir of water deep beneath the surface of Mars, according to new research. A team of scientists estimates that there may be enough water, trapped in tiny cracks and pores of rock in the middle of the Martian crust, to fill oceans on the planet’s surface. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took an image of InSight sitting on the Martian surface on February 2, 2019. “It’s certainly true on Earth — deep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life. Windows into Martian historyThe findings add a new piece to the Martian water puzzle.

Persons: ”, Vashan Wright, ‘, Mars, orbiters, InSight’s seismometer, Wright, James Tuttle Keane, Aaron Rodriguez, Michael Manga, “ It’s, haven’t, Alberto Fairén, Fairén, Bruce Banerdt, we’re, Banerdt, al, ” Banerdt, “, ” Wright Organizations: CNN, NASA, National Academy of Sciences, Reconnaissance Orbiter, JPL, Caltech, University of Arizona, University of California, Diego’s Scripps, of Oceanography, Mars, Interior Exploration, Transport, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of Maryland, Cornell University Locations: Mars, Berkeley

☆ China launches its rival to Elon Musk's Starlink internet satellites
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Chang'e 6 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket combination sit atop the launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan province, China May 3, 2024. China on Tuesday launched its first batch of internet satellites that will form part of a constellation it hopes will rival SpaceX's Starlink. Known as "Thousand Sails," the constellation is a low-Earth orbit set of more than 15,000 satellites that China has said will create global internet coverage. A Long March 6A carrier rocket took off from the Taiyuan launch center in the northern Shanxi province of China to deliver the initial 18 satellites into space, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which called the mission a complete success. By 2025, China is aiming to deploy 648 satellites in the first phase of the constellation's buildout, in order to create an internet network with global coverage, according to state media CCTV.

Persons: SpaceX's Starlink Organizations: Tuesday, Chinese Academy of Sciences Locations: Hainan province, China, Taiyuan, Shanxi

☆ Meet Michal Kosinski, the Oppenheimer of AI's Scariest Future
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Eugenicists used photographs and IQ tests to determine which people were "inferior," and sterilized those who didn't measure up — which usually turned out to be anyone who wasn't white and rich. Before he worked with photographs, Kosinski was interested in Facebook. It's just picking up on the way gay people present themselves on dating sites — which, not surprisingly, is often very different from the way straight people present themselves to potential partners. Kosinski thinks AI's ability to make the kind of personality judgments he studies will only get better. That is the future Kosinski fears — even as he continues to tinker with the very models that prove it will come to pass.

Persons: Michal Kosinski, Kosinski, I'm, they'd, isn't, Oppenheimer, David Stillwell, Stillwell, aren't, Brian Stauffer, Aleksandr Kogan, Donald Trump, —, Kosinski isn't, MAGA, Bernie bros, Alexander Todorov, It's, they've, — Francis Galton, Ronald Fisher, Karl Pearson —, Aubrey Clayton, Hitler, Trump, They're, Adam Rogers Organizations: Stanford University, Kosinski, Facebook, Cambridge, Cambridge Psychometrics, National Academy of Sciences, Psychometrics, BI, intuit, Guardian, Rights, GLAAD, Stanford, HRC, University of Chicago, US Supreme, tinker, Business Locations: California, Stanford, Kosinski, Russia

☆ Antarctica heat wave sends temperatures 50 degrees above normal
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-03 | by ( Mary Gilbert | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This is the second significant heat wave Antarctica has endured in the last two years. That unprecedented heat wave was made worse by climate change, according to a 2023 study published in Geophysical Research Letters. Climate change contributed 3.6 degrees of warming to the heat wave and could worsen similar heat waves by 9 to 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, the study found. Climate Change Institute, University of Maine Climate Change Institute, University of Maine Slide left to see temperatures observed during this heat wave and right to see what normal temperatures should be. But other research in the last few years has demonstrated that melting in East Antarctica, where this heat wave is happening, is becoming equally troubling.

Persons: David Mikolajczyk, Mikolajczyk, ” Thomas Bracegirdle, University of Maine Bracegirdle, ” Bracegirdle, it’s, Ted Scambos, Bracegirdle, Amy Butler, Butler, ” Organizations: CNN, East Antarctica –, Antarctic Meteorological Research, Data Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Antarctic, Reds, Institute, University of Maine, Research, University of Colorado, Northern Hemisphere, Southern, NOAA’s Chemical Sciences, Change Institute, East Antarctica, National Academy of Sciences, “ Locations: Antarctica, East Antarctica, Bismarck, North Dakota, University of Colorado Boulder, Northern, East, Scambos, West Antarctica

☆ Melting polar ice is changing the way the Earth spins, making our days longer
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The impacts of human-caused climate change are so overwhelming they’re actually messing with time, according to new research. “This is a testament to the gravity of ongoing climate change,” said Surendra Adhikari, a geophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a report author. These include processes in the planet’s fluid core, the ongoing impact of the melting of huge glaciers after the last ice age, as well as melting polar ice due to climate change. If the world continues to pump out planet-heating pollution, “climate change could become the new dominant factor,” outpacing the moon’s role, he told CNN. They found any influence from the molten core was outweighed by that of climate change.

Persons: ”, Surendra Adhikari, “, Benedikt Soja, , Olivier Marin, ” Adhikari, Mostafa Kiani Shahvandi, Shahvandi, Duncan Agnew, Jacqueline McCleary, It’s Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences, GPS, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Swiss, ETH Zurich, Getty, University of California San, Northeastern University, Zurich’s Soja Locations: Scoresby, East Greenland, AFP, Greenland, Antarctica, University of California San Diego

☆ Climate change is messing with time more than previously thought, scientists find
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The impacts of human-caused climate change are so overwhelming they’re actually messing with time, according to new research. “This is a testament to the gravity of ongoing climate change,” said Surendra Adhikari, a geophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a report author. If the world continues to pump out planet-heating pollution, “climate change could become the new dominant factor,” outpacing the moon’s role, he told CNN. They found the impact of climate change on day length has increased significantly. They found any influence from the molten core was outweighed by that of climate change.

☆ Some Chinese buyers seem to be resorting to desperate measures to get Nvidia's most advanced chips
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The US blocked China from importing advanced Nvidia chips in 2022, so some travelers are smuggling them in their luggage, The Wall Street Journal reported. The outlet reviewed records, including customs filings, that showed Nvidia chips were being purchased by Chinese buyers in an underground market. Related storiesThe demand for Nvidia's most advanced chips is so acute because they're regarded as crucial for training AI models. AdvertisementReuters reported in April that Chinese universities and research institutes, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, obtained Nvidia chips through resellers. The Department of Commerce implemented the Advanced Computing Chips Rule , which makes it harder for China to import AI chips from American manufacturers.

Persons: —, Nvidia didn't Organizations: Service, Nvidia, Street Journal, Business, Financial Times, Reuters, Chinese Academy of Sciences, House, of Commerce Locations: China, Beijing, Asia

☆ Being nice may be the reason you're not getting promoted at work
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Lindsay Dodgson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Read previewIf you're good at your job and have a nice personality, you'll never get promoted. Mary McConner, the founder and CEO of Inclusive Excellence Consulting, told BI this is when high performers get overloaded with work because they are reliable. Advertisement"Unfortunately, performance punishment often leads to burnout and resentment because their good work isn't rewarded with advancement, but with more work," McConner said. Being nice but ballsy can pay offLuke Blaney, the managing director of the recruitment agency ARx, told BI there is "a lot of truth in the whole 'nice guys finish last' saying." She told BI that she thinks the notion of being a tough leader is "completely outdated."

Persons: —, you'll, Jacqueline Morris, Morris, jacqueline, Paul Bramson, Bramson, Cameron Anderson, Mary McConner, isn't, McConner, Mary Barnes, Barnes, Lawrence J, Peter, Luke Blaney, aren't, Blaney, it's, Carolina Caro, " Caro, Caro Organizations: Service, Business, Paul Bramson Companies, Universities of, University of Notre Dame, Cornell University, University of Western, National Academy of Sciences, University of California, Consulting, Partners Locations: Universities of Bristol , Minnesota, Heidelberg, University of Western Ontario, Berkeley, Canadian

☆ German cockroaches’ unexpected origins revealed by genomic analysis
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Amanda Schupak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The nocturnal critter was most likely a German cockroach, and its ancestors were pestering people more than 2,000 years ago in southern Asia, a new study found. German cockroaches, scientifically known as Blattella germanica, are ubiquitous in cities in the United States and around the world. The research team received 281 German cockroach samples from 57 sites in 17 countries and studied their DNA to trace their evolution. And we know that transatlantic trade routes probably were the culprit for the spread of German cockroaches. “For example, the German cockroach has insecticide resistance that is not detected in many other pests,” he said.

Persons: Qian Tang, ”, Tang, Carl Linnaeus, Matt Bertone, Jessica Ware, ” Ware, Amanda Schupak Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences, Harvard University, American Museum of Locations: Asia, United States, Europe, India, Myanmar, Swedish, North America, Americas, New York City

☆ Thomas Midgley Jr.: The man who almost destroyed the planet (twice)
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Facing a crowd of journalists, inventor Thomas Midgley Jr. poured a lead additive over his hands and then proceeded to inhale its fumes for about a minute. Unfazed, he said, “I could do this every day without getting any health problems whatsoever.”Soon afterward, Midgley needed medical treatment. The task of addressing the issue of engine knocking fell to Midgley while he was working at General Motors in 1916. An estimated 1 million people a year still die from lead poisoning, according to the World Health Organization. The toxicity of lead was already well-known when Midgley added it to gas, but that didn’t stop Ethyl from becoming a commercial success.

Persons: Thomas Midgley Jr, “, ”, Midgley, —, Ford, Gerald Markowitz, Colin Creitz, Charles Kettering, ” Markowitz, ” Midgley, Bill Kovarik, Midgley —, Kettering —, Freon, Joe Sohm, CFCs, Perkin, Priestley, Kettering, Willard Gibbs, Carl E, ” Kovarik, Markowitz, I’m Organizations: CNN, General Motors, City University of New, GM, Standard Oil, DuPont, Network, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Radford University, America, Montreal Protocol, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders, Society of Chemical Industry, American Chemical Society, National Academy of Sciences, TNT, Linde Locations: Beaver Falls , Pennsylvania, United States, City University of New York, Algeria, American, Dayton , Ohio, Virginia, Montreal, Chicago

☆ Hundreds of mammoth bones discovered in Austrian wine cellar
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Hundreds of mammoth bones have been uncovered in an Austrian wine cellar, in a discovery labelled an “archaeological sensation.”The remains are thought to be between 30,000 and 40,000 years old, according to experts. Andreas Pernerstorfer made the incredible discovery while renovating his wine cellar in the village of Gobelsburg, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of Vienna, in March. “He wanted to level the floor of his wine cellar because it was sloping and he removed some concrete in the center,” she said. “It quickly became apparent that it wasn’t just a few mammoth bones but very many mammoth bones,” she said. More than 300 densely packed bones were discovered, though there are likely to be considerably more buried beneath the cellar.

Persons: Andreas Pernerstorfer, Pernerstorfer, Hannah Parow –, “, ”, Souchon, “ I’m, we’ve Organizations: CNN, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Federal Monuments Office, Stone Locations: Austrian, Gobelsburg, Vienna, ”, Austria, Lower Austria

☆ Ocean water is rushing miles underneath the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ with potentially dire impacts on sea level rise
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica — nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier” because its collapse could cause catastrophic sea level rise — is the world’s widest glacier and roughly the size of Florida. Thwaites, which already contributes 4% to global sea level rise, holds enough ice to raise sea levels by more than 2 feet. “This process of widespread, enormous seawater intrusion will increase the projections of sea level rise from Antarctica,” he added. Sea ice around Rothera Point, on Adelaide Island to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula. The researchers also used climate models to predict the potential speed of recovery from such extreme sea ice loss and found that even after two decades, not all the ice will return.

Persons: West Antarctica —, It’s, Thwaites, glaciologists —, Irvine —, ”, Eric Rignot, Finland’s, Rignot, Ted Scambos, it’s, James Smith, Noel Gourmelen, Gourmelen, Steve Gibbs, ” Louise Sime Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences, Global, University of California, UC Irvine, University of Colorado, British Antarctic Survey, University of Edinburgh, BAS Locations: West Antarctica, Florida, Irvine, Antarctica, University of Colorado Boulder, Thwaites, Rothera, Adelaide

☆ Tiny backpacks reveal newfound species of the world’s largest hummingbird
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Now, new research has revealed that there are two distinct species of giant hummingbird in South America — the northern giant hummingbird that lives year-round in the Andes, and the migratory southern giant hummingbird — and they have been evolving separately for millions of years. A southern giant hummingbird is seen flying from its breeding grounds in central Chile. “We wanted to finally solve this mystery.”Designing backpacks for hummingbirdsGiant hummingbirds differ from hundreds of other hummingbird species in many other ways. A southern giant hummingbird is fitted with a tiny backpack-like geolocator tracking device in central Chile. “The two forms of giant hummingbird look almost identical — for centuries, ornithologists and birders never noticed that they were different.

Persons: Charles Darwin, Darwin, Chris Witt, ”, Jessie Williamson, “, ” Williamson, Emil Bautista, Williamson, Christopher Witt, birders, ” Witt, chaskis, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, HMS, National Academy of Sciences, National Science Foundation, Cornell, of Ornithology, Swifts, Centro, Biology, Museum of Southwestern, University of New Locations: New York City, Buenos Aires, South America, Chile, Ithaca , New York, Peru, Biodiversidad, Lima, Peruvian, Chilean, University of New Mexico, Inca

Two of three speakers at the engineering school’s ceremony disappeared abruptly from the school’s graduation website. A self-described “fourth-generation Trojan” from Pasadena, Ms. Blain, who has spent much of her life imagining her own U.S.C. Pro-Palestinian students tried to set up an encampment on campus days later, and university officials summoned the Los Angeles police. At the engineering school, where Ms. Tabassum, the valedictorian, will be graduating, professors were trying to resurrect her chance to speak. A university committee had picked Ms. Tabassum, who is Muslim and of South Asian ancestry, from about 100 undergraduates with near 4.0 grade point averages.

Persons: Kevin Feige, Liza Colón, Zayas, Tina, “, ”, Jaren Lewison, they’re, Ella Blain, Blain, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Biden, U.S.C, Asna Tabassum, Jon M, Chu, Marcia McNutt, Blain’s, Annette Ricchiazzi, Carol Folt, Missives, Sean Penn, —, Goodwin Liu, Merrill Balassone, Phil Chan, Pam Zhang, Safiya Umoja Noble, Lewison, Jane Coaston, Tabassum, Yannis C, Folt, Kevin Crawford Knight, Didi Global, Zohreh, Khademi, Knight, ” Hossein Hashemi, Hashemi, Dustin Jeffords Organizations: University of Southern, Angeles, Marvel Studios, Hollywood, Netflix, Dornsife, of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles Memorial, School of Dramatic Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor , Indiana University, Bloomington, Northeastern University, United Nations, University, Vermont’s, Columbia University, National Academy of Sciences, Los Angeles police, Community, Dodger, California Supreme, MacArthur, Rossier School, Education, Jewish, commencements, New York Times, Microsoft, Media, “ Locations: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Coast, Aude, Pasadena, Gaza, Ann Arbor ,, Boston, U.S, Israel, U.S.C, California, San Bernardino County

☆ Was the Stone Age Actually the Wood Age?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Franz Lidz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The basic chronology — Stone Age to Bronze Age to Iron Age — now underpins the archaeology of most of the Old World (and cartoons like “The Flintstones” and “The Croods”). Thomsen could well have substituted Wood Age for Stone Age, according to Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist and head of research at the Department of Cultural Heritage of Lower Saxony, in Germany. “We can probably assume that wooden tools have been around just as long as stone ones, that is, two and a half or three million years,“ he said. Of the thousands of archaeological sites that can be traced to the era, wood has been recovered from fewer than 10. The projectiles unearthed at the Schöningen site, known as Spear Horizon, are considered the oldest preserved hunting weapons.

Persons: Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, Thomsen, Thomas Terberger, “, Terberger, heidelbergensis Organizations: Department of Cultural Heritage, National Academy of Sciences Locations: Danish, Europe, Lower Saxony, Germany, Schöningen

☆ China acquired recently banned Nvidia chips in Super Micro, Dell servers, tenders show
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Specifically, the servers contained some of Nvidia's most advanced chips, according to the previously unreported tenders fulfilled between Nov. 20 and Feb. 28. While the U.S. bars Nvidia and its partners from selling advanced chips to China, including via third parties, the sale and purchase of the chips are not illegal in China. Contacted by Reuters, Nvidia said the tenders specify products that were exported and widely available before the restrictions. Daniel Gerkin, a Washington-based partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis, said Nvidia chips could have been diverted to China without a manufacturer's knowledge, given a lack of visibility into downstream supply chains. It did not respond to subsequent questions about tenders that identified its products as a source of banned Nvidia chips.

Persons: Wong Yu Liang, Daniel Gerkin, Kirkland, Ellis, Clare Locke, Gigabyte Organizations: Nvidia, Getty, Super Micro Computer Inc, Dell Technologies Inc, Gigabyte Technology, Reuters, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Artificial Intelligence, Hubei Earthquake Administration, U.S, U.S . Commerce Department, Industry, Security, Super Micro, Dell Locations: China, U.S, Shandong, Hubei, Southwest, Heilongjiang, Washington

☆ National Sciences Academy Asks Court to Strip Sackler Name From Endowment
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Christina Jewett | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The National Academy of Sciences is asking a court to allow it to repurpose about $30 million in donations from the wealthy Sackler family, who controlled the company at the center of the opioid epidemic, and to remove the family name from the endowment funds. The petition filed by the Academy in Superior Court in Washington, D.C., Thursday aims to modify the terms of the donations so the institution can use them for scientific studies, projects and educational activities. The move follows a report in The New York Times last year that examined donations from several Sackler members, including an executive of Purdue Pharma, which produced the painkiller OxyContin that has long been blamed for fueling the opioid crisis that has claimed thousands of lives. “The notoriety of the Sackler name has made it impossible for the Academy to carry out the purposes for which it originally accepted the funds,” Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, said in a statement released on Thursday.

Persons: Sackler, ” Marcia McNutt Organizations: National Academy of Sciences, Academy, Washington , D.C, The New York Times, Sackler, Purdue Pharma Locations: Superior Court, Washington ,, The

☆ Central Asian migrants face xenophobic backlash in Russia after Moscow terror attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sebastian Shukla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The men had been in Russia as migrant workers on either temporary or expired visas, authorities said. But in the days since, that emotion – combined with the disturbing videos – appears to have unleashed a wave of xenophobia from some towards Central Asian migrant workers in general. Her organization offers legal assistance to migrants looking for help in Russia, often on a pro bono basis. We need to spread the word.”A user in another channel, with 200,000 followers, suggested there was no space for anyone to feel sorry for migrants in Russia. According to Umerov, there are some 7 million migrants in Russia, of whom around 80% are from Central Asia.

Persons: Moskovsky, “ I’m, Vladimir Putin, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Putin, ”, ‘ It’s, Valentina Chupik, Tong Jahoni, Temur Umerov, don’t, ” Umerov, Umerov, Emomali Rahmon, “ Putin Organizations: CNN, Moscow’s Crocus, Central, Crocus City Hall, Reuters, Soviet, Kazakhstan —, Human Rights Watch, Central Asia, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Hall, Russian, Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, European Bank for Reconstruction, “, Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, ISIS, Kremlin Locations: Moscow’s Crocus City, Tajikistan, Soviet, Central Asia, Russia, Ivanovo, Russian, Crocus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Illinois, Moscow, Central, Berlin, Ukraine, Kyrgyz, Tashkent, Western

☆ Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize winner who wrote Thinking, Fast and Slow, dies aged 90
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New Delhi CNN —Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering theories on behavioral economics, has died. The Israeli-American psychologist died peacefully on Wednesday, according to a release from Princeton University, whose faculty he had joined in 1993. Kahneman, who also wrote the best-selling book Thinking, Fast and Slow, helped debunk the notion that people’s behavior is driven by rational decision-making, and instead is often based on instinct. Then, at 27, he returned to Hebrew University to teach statistics and psychology and began his famous partnership with Amos Tversky, also a Hebrew University psychology professor. In 2002, six years after Tversky’s death, Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their models of how intuitive reasoning is flawed in predictable ways.

Persons: New Delhi CNN — Daniel Kahneman, Kahneman, Danny, Eldar Shafir, ” Kahneman, Amos Tversky Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Princeton University, Hebrew University, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Locations: New Delhi, American, Tel Aviv, Paris, France, British, Palestine, Israel, Jerusalem, Berkeley

☆ Opinion: Precious samples from Mars have been collected. Now it’s up to Congress to get them back
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Opinion Jonathan I. Lunine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

He served on the NASA Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board in 2023. Within these tubes are priceless samples of Mars that hold the clues to when and how Mars went from Earth-like habitability to uninhabitable desolation. Mars Sample Return is among the most challenging and complex robotic missions ever attempted, requiring the largest lander ever put on Mars, which would carry a rocket to launch the samples off the surface into Martian orbit. Mars holds secrets about what makes it possible for a planet to support life, locked in the samples that await return to Earth. NASA must provide that plan to Congress as soon as possible so that Congress can move forward with adequate funding.

Persons: Jonathan Lunine, David C, Duncan, Jonathan I, Mars Organizations: Cornell University, NASA, CNN, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Apollo, European Space Agency, US National Academy of Sciences, MSR, Planetary Science Locations: Washington, DC, China

☆ When Cicadas Emerge, Things Might Get a Little Wet
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Alla Katsnelson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This spring, when the ground temperature hits 64 degrees Fahrenheit, trillions of cicadas will dig their way up from beneath the soil across the Southern and Midwestern United States. In a rare so-called double emergence, two distinct cicada broods — one on a 13-year life cycle and the other on a 17-year one — will take to the trees to sing, eat and mate. And though we may prefer not to think about it, considering their lodgings in the branches above, the cicadas will also eliminate waste in the form of urine. Despite their size, cicadas have an impressively powerful stream, scientists reported in an article published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers adapted a fluid dynamics framework based on features like surface tension and the effects of gravity to map out how animals of different sizes, from mosquitoes to elephants, might pee.

Persons: Saad Bhamla Organizations: Southern, Midwestern, National Academy of Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology Locations: Midwestern United States

☆ Scientists use cosmic rays to date earliest evidence of humans in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Archaeologists have recovered 90,000 stone tools from the site, which lies close to Ukraine’s southwestern border with Hungary and Romania. Some 90,000 stone tools made by early humans have been found at the site but no human fossils. Garba‘s colleagues measured two nuclides, aluminum-26 and beryllium-10, found in quartz grains from seven pebbles discovered in the same layer as the stone tools. The earliest human fossils unearthed in Europe are from the Atapuerca site in Spain and date back 1.1 million years, according to the study. Korolevo would have been appealing to ancient humans because it’s near the Tisza River, which leads to the Danube, and there was a readily available source of hard rock to knap stone tools, Garba said.

Persons: Roman Garba, ”, “, ” Garba, Garba, It’s, Briana Pobiner, wasn’t, hominins Organizations: CNN, Czech Academy of Sciences, Archaeological Institute, NAS, Smithsonian National Museum of Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Prague, Hungary, Romania, Africa, Spain, Georgia, Dmanisi, Washington , DC, hominins

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ancient stone tools found in western Ukraine may be the oldest known evidence of early human presence in Europe, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Archaeologists used new methods to date the layers of sedimentary rock surrounding the tools to more than 1 million years old. The chipped stone tools were likely used for cutting meat and perhaps scraping animal hides, he said. The very earliest stone tools of this type were found in eastern Africa and date back to 2.8 million years ago, said Rick Potts, who directs the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program. “The oldest humans with this old stone tool technology were able to colonize everywhere from warm Iberia (Spain) to Ukraine, where it's at least seasonally very cold – that’s an amazing level of adaptability,” said Potts.

Persons: ”, Mads Faurschou Knudsen, it's, Roman Garba, Rick Potts, “, Potts Organizations: WASHINGTON, Aarhus University, Czech Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Korolevo, Denmark, Spain, Africa, Iberia

☆ Tiny fish can make noises louder than an elephant, says new study
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A small species of fish that measures no more than half an inch in length is capable of producing sounds louder than an elephant, according to a new study. Danionella cerebrum, tiny translucent fish that live in shallow waters off Myanmar, can make noises of more than 140 decibels, an international team of scientists report in a press release published Tuesday. Large animals tend to be capable of producing louder noises than small ones, with elephants able to make sounds up to 125 decibels with their trunks. There are also some fish species that make unusually loud noises, such as the male plainfin midshipman fish, which is capable of making mating calls up to 130 decibels, but Danionella cerebrum appears to be unique among fish. “No other fish has been reported to use repeated unilateral muscle contractions for sound production,” reads the study.

Persons: Danionella, ”, Ralf Britz, Danionella cerebrum Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences Locations: Myanmar, Dresden, Germany

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