Science

China’s air pollution worsened in 2023, the first time it has done so in a decade, a study released on Friday said. “2023 is the first year that China’s national average PM2.5 level has increased year-on-year since the beginning of China’s ‘war on pollution’ in 2013,” a study by independent research organization the Centre for … Read more

Eam Orn (L) kneels in a Cambodian forest, pressing his hands together before an offering, and prays for the return of his land. Eam Orn kneels in a forest in northwest Cambodia, pressing his hands together before an offering of bananas studded with smoking incense, and prays for the return of his land. He is … Read more

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Earlier this month, a Senate inquiry recommended Australian students get specific lessons in how to behave. Following concerns about increasing levels of disruptive behavior in Australian schools at both primary and high school levels, the inquiry wants to see “the explicit teaching of behavior [as a] vital component of the Australian … Read more

Credit: SpaceX NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Doug “Wheels” Wheelock participated in a recent test of a sub-scale mockup elevator for SpaceX’s Starship human landing system that will be used for NASA’s Artemis III and IV missions to the moon. The Starship human landing system will carry two astronauts from the Orion spacecraft in lunar … Read more

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain We’re all familiar with the jolly, white-haired and bearded overweight man who sneaks down chimneys on Christmas Eve delivering presents to children. But where did this come from? With roots in Christianity, the origins of the world’s most beloved gift-giver transcend time, culture and religion. St. Nicholas It all starts with … Read more

Basic principles of biological information processing. Credit: Materials Today (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.mattod.2023.07.019 Every search engine query, every AI-generated text and developments such as autonomous driving: In the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, computers and data centers consume a lot of energy. By contrast, the human brain is far more energy-efficient. In order … Read more

by Nicolas Barbier, Bonaventure Sonké, Le Bienfaiteur Sagang, Pierre Ploton and Stéphane Momo Takoudjou, The Conversation Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain “Green lungs” is the term often used to describe rainforests due to their ability to use photosynthesis to capture CO2, the planet’s primary greenhouse gas. That makes them a key component of global climate regulation, … Read more