I’ve been invited to speak with well-known writers, singers, and film producers about my new book, Extraterrestrial, during the last several months. Before our chats, I had been the recipient (and admirer) of their creative work, but suddenly they were interested in my scientific studies. These discussions prompted me to see parallels between art and…
The need for low-waste items develops as our knowledge of how much plastic we waste develops, particularly in the form of plastic-free establishments like Precycle in Brooklyn. The internet is loaded with videos and stories about individuals who have embarked on a low-waste or waste-free trip in the hopes of reducing the amount of rubbish…
Montrose Point Park in Chicago appears to be a tiny area of green surrounded by miles of urban and suburban sprawl. Thus it doesn’t seem to be a pollinator haven. Doing so is Medewin National Tall Grass Prairie, a protected and restored preserve located more than fifty miles from the city’s pollution and activity. When…
Remember this when the world becomes lonely: we’re all marinating in a communal cauldron of microbial life. For the most critical part, this is a positive thing. You may have heard of the human gut microbiome, a community of microscopic organisms in our digestive system that might impact our health in still-unknown ways. Still, cities,…
You could get lucky and see a “wandering meatloaf,” a circular reddish-brown mollusk also known as the gumboot chiton or, more technically, Cryptochiton stelleri, if you scour the North Pacific shorelines. With its little but extremely gritty teeth, it trudges along coastlines scraping algae off rocks. Scientists discovered that the stylus (the long, hollow structure…
Tristan Gooley’s The Secret World of Weather: How to Read Signs in Every Cloud, Breeze, Hill, Street, Plant, Animal, and Dewdrop is the source of the following passage. I’d want you to try an experiment over the next day or two. On the Internet, look for a weather prediction. Look for anything that mentions the…
As the hunter built a modest fire, the air was likely quite cold. The caribou would arrive in the morning, pushed across the wetlands where he tented. There was no other option. Large stones had been put out in slanting lines to funnel the animals into this bottleneck, which was surrounded on both sides by…
Stomach ulcers and other gastrointestinal sores affect one out of every eight persons globally, yet traditional treatments have problems. Scientists are now exploring a new frontier in 3-D printing: placing living cells directly within the human body to address such issues. Bioprinters eject live cells to generate tissues and organs in the same way as…
Suppose you’ve been following social media lately. In that case, you may have seen a viral commercial for EXTRA gum showing images of post-pandemic life: individuals hesitantly peering out from behind locked doors, closing their laptops until emerging maskless out of their toilet paper–filled caves into the street. The performers, all messy and unclean, dash…
Scientists have been perplexed by a subatomic riddle for more than 40 years: why can pieces of splitting atomic nuclei emerge turning from the wreckage? According to experts, these baffling gyrations may now be explained by an action similar to that which occurs when a rubber band is snapped.Consider a big stack of coins to…