Urgent Support Needed: One in Five Reptile Species Face Extinction
Reptiles, the majority of which are predators, are cold-blooded and scaly animals. Their ranks include some of the most deadly and venomous creatures on Earth,…
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How Cockroaches Survived the Asteroid That Led to the Extinction of Dinosaurs
When the asteroid now known as the Chicxulub impactor fell from outer space and slammed into the Earth 66 million years ago, cockroaches were there….
The Chemistry of Cooking Over an Open Flame: What Makes Smoky, Charred Barbecue Taste So Good?
Just the mere thought of barbecue’s smoky scents and intoxicating flavors is enough to get most mouths watering. Summer is here, and for many people…
Monkeypox Outbreak: “This Is an Entirely New Spread of the Disease”
One thousand confirmed cases of monkeypox, an infectious disease originating in Africa, have been recorded since early May across at least 30 non-endemic countries such…
The James Webb Space Telescope: Prepare for a New Way To See the Universe
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to do science – and it’s seeing the universe more clearly than even its own engineers hoped…
Scientists Blown Away by World’s Largest Plant – Stretching 112 Miles in Western Australia’s Shark Bay
Scientists were investigating meadows of ribbon weed seagrass using DNA analysis. The shocking results blew them away; the 18,000 DNA markers they analyzed in Shark…
Why We Can’t “Boost” Our Way Out of the COVID-19 Pandemic
You may be wondering whether the long-term plans for the COVID-19 pandemic call for an endless number of booster shots. They do provide a boost…
Fragments of a Dying Comet Might Put On a Spectacular Show – Or Pass By Without a Trace
As Earth orbits the Sun, it plows through dust and debris left behind by comets and asteroids. That debris gives birth to meteor showers –…
What Is Monkeypox? A Microbiologist Explains What’s Known About This Disease
On May 18, 2022, Massachusetts health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed a single case of monkeypox in a patient…
How Do Keys Open Locks? An Engineer Explains
Have you ever wondered how keys work to open locks? I teach a course in computer security where we learn how locks function – and…
What Is Dead Pool? It Sounds Ominous. And It Is.
Journalists reporting on the status and future of the Colorado River are increasingly using the phrase “dead pool.” It sounds ominous. And it is. Dead…
What Is the Multiverse? Is It Just Science Fiction, or Does It Really Exist?
Whether you need a new villain or an old Spider-Man, your sci-fi movie will sound more scientifically credible if you use the word multiverse. The…
The Standard Model of Particle Physics May Be Broken – A Physicist at the Large Hadron Collider Explains
As a physicist working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, one of the questions I am most frequently asked is “When are you…
“Dark Stars” – A Brief History of Black Holes
Late in 2018, the gravitational wave observatory, LIGO, announced that they had detected the most distant and massive source of ripples of spacetime ever monitored:…
Scientists Are Blasting Out Earth’s Location With the Hope of Reaching Aliens – Stephen Hawking Warned They Might Destroy Humanity
If a person is lost in the wilderness, they have two options. They can search for civilization, or they could make themselves easy to spot…
A Decade of Science and Trillions of Collisions Show the W Boson Is More Massive Than Expected – A Physicist Explains What It Means
“You can do it quickly, you can do it cheaply, or you can do it right. We did it right.” These were some of David…
Beer and Spirits Are Worse for the Waistline and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Than Red or White Wine
Drinking beer and spirits is associated with elevated levels of visceral fat – the harmful type of fat that is associated with an increased risk…
Do You Need a Second COVID Booster Shot? An Epidemiologist Scoured the Latest Research for Answers
In late March 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a second booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines for vulnerable people in the U.S.,…