Category: Science and Nature

Neanderthals Enjoyed Seafood, Too, New Evidence Suggests

The Figueira Brava site on Portugal’s Atlantic coast.Image: P. Zilhão et al., 2020/ScienceNeanderthals living in Portugal during the last ice age consumed copious amounts of seafood, according to new archaeological evidence. The discovery suggests Neanderthals, like our modern human ancestors, made the most of marine resources.Marine food resources such as fish, eel, mollusk, and crab…

Perseverance Will Be the Next NASA Rover on Mars

Artist’s conception of Perseverance working on the Martian surface.Image: NASA/JPL-CaltechAfter months of anticipation and a naming contest that involved hundreds of thousands of voters, NASA has finally settled on a name for its upcoming Mars rover: Perseverance.Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity—and now Perseverance.The next-gen Mars 2020 rover is basically ready for launch, which is scheduled for…

Scientists Save Quantum States in a Diamond, a Tiny Step Toward a Quantum Internet

A scanning electron micrograph of the device used to store quantum information in order to extend the reach of quantum communications.Image: Bart Machielse (Harvard University)A newly created system can enhance quantum communications over longer distances—a small but crucial step toward a quantum internet.We’re in the early stages of a quantum boom, as researchers are attempting…

The Pandemic Has Led to a Huge, Global Drop in Air Pollution

This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down industrial activity and temporarily slashing air pollution levels around the world, satellite imagery from the European Space Agency shows.One expert said the sudden shift represented the “largest-scale experiment ever,” in terms of the reduction of…

Reddit’s Wedding Planners Pivot to Covid-19 Crisis Comms

The moderators of r/weddingplanning are no strangers to controversy. Divisive dresses, family dramas, and anxious brides and grooms are par for the course for the volunteer supervisors of Reddit’s go-to forum for the recently betrothed. Then came the coronavirus.Wired UKThis story originally appeared on WIRED UK.Suddenly, the usual mix of wedding dress pictures and etiquette…

What We Think We Know About the Coronavirus Is Going to Keep Changing

Viral particles of SARS-CoV-2, seen under a transmission electron microscope in a sample taken from a person.Image: C.S. Goldsmith and A. Tamin (CDC)With new information about the novel coronavirus seemingly arriving every hour on the hour, it’s perfectly understandable to feel confused and discombobulated. With that in mind, here’s a mantra I’ve held close to…

Greta Thunberg Urges World to ‘Unite Behind the Experts’ as Youth Climate Strikes Move Online

If Queen Greta stans, so do we.Photo: GettyFor the last two weeks, youth climate organizers in New York have been discussing how climate striking may change now that the novel coronavirus had reached the state. These conversations have been happening elsewhere, too, including in Spain and Belgium. And now Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen activist…