This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows an oil sheen observed offshore of Huntington Beach, Calif., Friday, March 8, 2024. Officials say no recoverable oil remains in the water after a sheen was reported off the Southern California coast, but it remains unclear what caused it. Credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Richard Brahm/U.S. … Read more
During warm periods in Earth’s history, known as interglacials, glaciers the size of continents pulled back to reveal new landscapes. These were new worlds for early humans to explore and exploit, and 1.4 million years ago this was Europe: a Terra nullius unoccupied by humans. Long before it emerged as the epicenter of global colonialism, … Read more
Lunar reconnaissance drone system. Credit: Ronasso et al. Exploring the moon has become increasingly more of a focal point lately, especially with a series of landers recently launched with various degrees of success. One of the difficulties those landers and any future human missions face is understanding the terrain they are landing on and potentially … Read more
Credit: CC0 Public Domain In an age of GoFundMe campaigns, it’s easier than ever to help family, friends and even strangers in times of need. It’s also easy to look the other way. “Most people see themselves as cooperative and generous, but there’s a cost to helping people who can’t reciprocate,” said Pascal Boyer, the … Read more
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Friends out for a drink have hatched many a bright idea, but these insights (or what feel like insights at the time) don’t usually end up published in academic journals. For researchers Jackie Silverman and Alixandra Barasch, though, a trip to a brewery sparked an idea that has blossomed into multiple … Read more
Violin plots showing the distributions of hope for peace and hope for victory Among Israeli Jews (Study 1, N = 306) and among Pakistanis (Study 2, N = 253). Credit: British Journal of Social Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12722 Research on group-based hope typically focuses on the positive effects of hope, such as peace and harmony. However, a new research … Read more
Inland waters in China, such as the Yangtze River, could be a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Lishan Ran Inland waters such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds may release copious amounts of greenhouse gases, but this possibility is not well understood. In a new review published in theJournal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, … Read more
The art on this side of the plate, which will seal an opening of the vault on NASA’s Europa Clipper, features waveforms that are visual representations of the sound waves formed by the word “water” in 103 languages. At center is a symbol representing the American Sign Language sign for “water.” Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech When it … Read more
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The nutritional value of meat must be considered when comparing carbon footprints—that is the key message from a recent study undertaken by Hybu Cig Cymru—Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), Bangor University, Queen’s University, and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI). The paper, published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems using … Read more
Ice collects on boulders along the Lake Michigan shoreline on February 18, 2024 in Whiting, Indiana; the Great Lakes shorelines have historically been ice-covered this time of year, but this winter’s warm weather has led to historically low ice cover. This winter was the warmest ever recorded in the mainland United States, data showed Friday—the … Read more
