ScienceDesk

ScienceDesk, 2 days ago to science

The Hubble Telescope launched into orbit 34 years ago and is planned continue its journey around the planet until the mid-2030s. Then what? In 2022, billionaire Jared Isaacman announced a proposal to save the program, but NASA turned it down. Space.com tells us why: https://flip.it/ncqMk5
#Science #Space #HubbleTelescope #SpaceExploration #NASA

ScienceDesk, 2 days ago to science

Cell biologist and biochemist Leonard Rome’s lab discovered an odd, abundant component of cells in the 1980s — and he’s still trying to figure out what it does. Could solving the cell’s biggest mystery help cancer patients someday? Science.org has more. https://flip.it/Y41lCe
#Science #Health #Cancer #Cells #Biology

ScienceDesk, 4 days ago to science

William Anders, a NASA astronaut who was part of the 1968 Apollo 8 crew that was the first to orbit the moon, died Friday in a plane crash in Washington state, his son Gregory Anders confirmed. He was 90 years old. Anders took the famous "Earthrise" photo that showed our world with the lunar horizon in the foreground. NBC News has more on the crash and Anders’ life. https://flip.it/0sR1e7
#Science #NASA #Space #SpaceExploration

ScienceDesk, 5 days ago to Anthropology

DNA from prehistoric and modern-day people suggests that humans interbred with Neanderthals 47,000 years ago for a period lasting 6,800 years, Live Science reports:
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/neanderthals-and-humans-interbred-47000-years-ago-for-nearly-7000-years-research-suggests

#DNA #Anthropology #Prehistoric #Neanderthals

ScienceDesk, 5 days ago to ocean

In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, marine scientists have discovered animals humanity has never seen before: creatures who live very different lives, in the permanent darkness of the abyssopelagic.
https://www.sciencealert.com/alien-looking-species-seen-for-first-time-ever-in-oceans-darkest-depths, Science Alert reports:

#Ocean #Newspecies #Sealife #Biology

ScienceDesk, 5 days ago to science

Why fireflies are only spotted in summer and where lightning bugs live the rest of the year.

CBS News reports: "Their time aboveground before dying is brief, with fireflies actually spending the bulk of their lives living underground."

https://flip.it/dzsny4

#Firefly #Insects #Entomology #Science

ScienceDesk, 5 days ago to ocean

D-Day shipwrecks were a WWII time capsule. Now they are home to rich ocean-floor life.

BBC reports on the 80-year-old sunken wrecks that line the coasts of Britain and France: https://flip.it/uAQ6F6

#Ocean #DDay #WWII #MarineBiology #Science

ScienceDesk, 6 days ago to science

This is a wild headline from NPR: "A fungus is turning cicadas into horny zombies — but don’t panic."

"[The fungus] Massospora cicadina has been observed in cicadas in more than half a dozen states — both those belonging to Brood XIII, which emerges every 17 years and is concentrated in Illinois, and of Brood XIX, a 13-year group that is distributed across much of the southeast."

https://flip.it/-By0qt

#Cicadas #Insects #Bugs #Entomology #Science

ScienceDesk, 6 days ago to SpaceX

SpaceX gets green light for fourth Starship test flight, to take place Thursday.

CNN reports: "The first two attempts to get Starship to orbital speeds in 2023 ended in explosions, with the spacecraft and booster erupting into flames before reaching their intended landing sites."

https://flip.it/sZBuGQ

#SpaceX #Starship #Space #NASA #ElonMusk

ScienceDesk, 7 days ago to space

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft with two NASA astronauts launches successfully from Florida.

CBS News reports: "The long-awaited flight marked the first launch of an Atlas 5 with astronauts aboard and the first for the Atlas family of rockets since astronaut Gordon Cooper took off just a few miles away on the Mercury program's final flight 61 years ago."

https://flip.it/mJyNT2

#Boeing #Starliner #NASA #Space #SpaceX #Astronaut

ScienceDesk, 7 days ago to climate

Earth’s "Gateway to Hell" is growing in Siberia.

@popsci reports "the Batagay megaslump is a sign of the times."

https://flip.it/BNu6U6

#ClimateChange #Permafrost #Arctic #Climate #Siberia

ScienceDesk, 7 days ago to space

2024’s summer solstice is Earth’s earliest since 1796.

Big Think explains why: https://flip.it/OKIEfP

For more science stories, follow @general

#Solstice #Summer #Earth #SummerSolstice #Space #Science

ScienceDesk, 7 days ago to Archaeology

Archaeologists have fully mapped a series of ancient rock art in Venezuela and Colombia, including the world's largest monumental engraving, Live Science reports:
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/2000-year-old-rock-art-including-nearly-140-foot-long-snake-may-mark-ancient-territories-in-colombia-venezuela

#Archaeology #Hieroglyphic #Colombia #Venezuela #Southamerica

ScienceDesk, 7 days ago to space

NASA said the Hubble Space Telescope has temporarily stopped observing the cosmos, APN News reports:
https://apnews.com/article/nasa-hubble-space-telescope-00b58a8b308ebe4725925b6e753cc3d1

#NASA #Space #Hubblespacetelescope #Hubble

ScienceDesk, 8 days ago to USpolitics

"In his first public testimony since stepping down from [U.S.] government office at the end of 2022, Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday fended off a variety of attacks from Republican politicians at a fiery hearing called to discuss lessons learned during the pandemic."

NBC News reports: "Fauci has emerged as one of the people most vilified by supporters of former President Donald Trump, with many blaming him for the pandemic based on a wide array of false or misleading claims. Calls to prosecute Fauci for unspecified crimes have become common on the right."

https://flip.it/jTDjgD

#COVID #COVID19 #Fauci #Pandemic #USPolitics #Health #Science

ScienceDesk, 9 days ago to climate

Cicadas are back, but climate change is messing with their body clocks.

CBS News reports: "Cicada watchers used to be able to predict their emergence as easily as astronomers could predict the recent solar eclipse. But that has become more challenging as the cicadas' patterns are changing as warm spring days happen more often."

https://flip.it/k2w4Rs

#Cicadas #Insects #Bugs #Entomology #ClimateChange #Science

ScienceDesk, 9 days ago to Mexico

Mexico's first female president is also a scientist. Claudia Sheinbaum has a Ph.D. in energy engineering.

In an interview with the AP last year, she said, "I believe in science.”

https://flip.it/4oFyH3

#Mexico #Sheinbaum #Science

ScienceDesk, 9 days ago to science

Opus caementicium, also known as Roman concrete, was an ultradurable building material used in the construction of countless monumental buildings that survived extremely harsh conditions for thousands of years. What was the Romans' secret? Heritage Daily has more: https://flip.it/ay8Q9N
#Science #Construction #Concrete #RomanEmpire

ScienceDesk, 11 days ago to science

As if the decision to withdraw life support for patients with traumatic brain injuries weren't excruciating enough, a small modeling study suggests that it has at times been withdrawn too early. The American College of Surgeons recommends full ICU treatment for at least 72 hours. But there are no guidelines in the U.S. as to which patients should be taken off life support and when. Live Science reports: https://flip.it/0-aEj2
#Science #Health #Brain #Injury

ScienceDesk, 12 days ago to science

Martian meteorites are turning out to be quite an asset. These tiny bits of rock were chipped off of Mars, flung into space, and eventually landed on Earth about 11 million years ago. Today they’re giving scientists new insight into the fine structure of the outer later of the red planet. Science Alert explains: https://flip.it/Lb8hDb
#Science #Mars #Earth #Meteorites

ScienceDesk, 12 days ago to science

Panama’s government recently presented keys to the new houses it was providing for about 300 families from a small island in the San Blas Archipelago. What spurred the kind gesture? Increasing floods and damage from storms caused by climate change. The Atlantic shares more in this photo feature that spotlights the country’s relocation efforts for Indigenous communities threatened by a rising sea and staggering lack of space. https://flip.it/3vegLI
#Science #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Panama

ScienceDesk, 12 days ago to science

How much does misinformation affect the people who consume it? Researchers at MIT and Penn set out to analyze the impact of 13,000 headlines on vaccination intentions among roughly 233 million U.S.-based Facebook users. Read more from Science Alert, including what type of content had the biggest influence over vaccine hesitancy. https://flip.it/jbP52i
#Science #Health #SocialMedia #Misinformation

ScienceDesk, 12 days ago to science

AI chatbots and large language models struggle to convey genuine empathy, a new study found, but that’s not the worst of it. Research led by a Stanford computer scientist shows that these conversation agents can also encourage toxic belief systems like Nazism, racism, and sexism. Live Science reports: https://flip.it/Q3T4Uu
#Science #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Chatbots #Empathy

ScienceDesk, 13 days ago to science

On the lunar surface, a single Earth day would be 56 microseconds shorter — a tiny number that can lead to significant inconsistencies over time. That’s why scientists aren’t just looking to create a new “time zone” for the Moon, but an entirely new “time scale” that accounts for the faster speed at which seconds tick by up there. CNN explains: https://flip.it/V_LgSS
#Science #Space #Moon #Time #NASA

ScienceDesk, 13 days ago to Weather

Super-charged Atlantic hurricane season poised for intense activity.

AccuWeather reports: "The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be much worse than last year with 20 to 25 named storms predicted, and experts warn now is the time to prepare before the onslaught of storms and hurricanes begins."

https://flip.it/mpvVez

#Hurricane #Storm #Weather #ClimateChange #Climate