If you get your financial advice on social media, watch out for misinformation

If you get your financial advice on social media, watch out for misinformation

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain When your parents had financial troubles or questions about planning for the future, they may have sought the help of a financial adviser, their bank, or other professional. Today, many people turn to social media. TikTok in particular has become a hub of financial advice, from money saving hacks and personal … Read more

Rare eleventh-century astrolabe discovery reveals Islamic–Jewish scientific exchange

Rare eleventh-century astrolabe discovery reveals Islamic–Jewish scientific exchange

The Verona astrolabe. Credit: Federica Gigante The identification of an eleventh-century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever discovered and one of only a handful known in the world. The astronomical instrument was adapted, translated, and corrected for centuries by Muslim, Jewish, and Christian users in … Read more

On fisheries, Australia must be prepared for New Zealand as opponent rather than ally

On fisheries, Australia must be prepared for New Zealand as opponent rather than ally

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain On February 1, senior Australian and New Zealand ministers signed a Joint Statement of Cooperation, acknowledging the long history of collaboration between the two nations. The same week, New Zealand rejected an Australian proposal on sustainable fishing at the annual fisheries meeting of nations that fish in the high seas of … Read more

The world’s business and finance sectors can do much more to reverse deforestation—here’s the data to prove it

The world’s business and finance sectors can do much more to reverse deforestation—here’s the data to prove it

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Big corporations could drive a worldwide shift towards more sustainable supply chains that limit damage caused by deforestation. But progress is being slowed down by weak or non-existent commitments to ensure that supply chains for commodities such as soy, palm oil, and beef have not contributed to tropical deforestation, according to … Read more

Burned rangeland can recover quickly, but cattle ranchers face struggles ahead to find and feed their herds

Burned rangeland can recover quickly, but cattle ranchers face struggles ahead to find and feed their herds

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Strong winds spread the largest wildfire in Texas history across more than 1 million acres of rangeland in the Panhandle, the heart of the state’s cattle-producing region, and into Oklahoma in late February 2024. Light precipitation on Feb. 29 helped firefighters as they tried to contain the Smokehouse Creek Fire and … Read more

Losing their tails provided our ape ancestors with an evolutionary advantage, but we’re still paying the price

Losing their tails provided our ape ancestors with an evolutionary advantage, but we’re still paying the price

Evolution of tail loss in hominoids. Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07095-8 Put the word “evolution” into Google images and the results are largely variations on one theme: Ralph Zallinger’s illustration, March of Progress. Running left to right, we see a chimp-like knuckle walker gradually becoming taller and standing erect. Implicit in such images—and the title … Read more

Where will you be for the April 8 total solar eclipse? There’s still time to grab a spot

Where will you be for the April 8 total solar eclipse? There’s still time to grab a spot

People gather near Redmond, Ore., to view the sun as it nears a total eclipse by the moon, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. The April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse in North America first hits land at Mexico’s Pacific coast, cuts diagonally across the U.S. from Texas to Maine and exits in eastern Canada. Credit: AP … Read more

Scientists fret as Antarctic sea ice dwindles

Scientists fret as Antarctic sea ice dwindles

View of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica on January 26, 2024. Sea ice levels in Antarctica have registered historic lows for three consecutive years, portending grave consequences for life on Earth as we know it. But looking out over the southernmost continent, scientist Miguel Angel de Pablo laments that humanity seems to … Read more

Japan moon lander put to sleep after surviving lunar night

Japan moon lander put to sleep after surviving lunar night

This image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/Takara Tomy/Sony Group Corporation/Doshisha University shows an image taken by a Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) of a robotic moon rover called Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, on the moon. A Japanese moon explorer, after making a historic “pinpoint” lunar landing last month, has … Read more

In wake of powerful cyclone, remarkable recovery of Pacific island’s forests

In wake of powerful cyclone, remarkable recovery of Pacific island’s forests

These photos show the rapid recovery of the forest canopy on Tanna, following Cyclone Pam in 2015. Credit: UH Mānoa After one of the most intense cyclones in world history tore through the Pacific island of Tanna in Vanuatu, new research led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa showed the resilience of the island’s … Read more