Vanguard 1: Earth’s Oldest Artificial Satellite That’s Still in Orbit
America’s second satellite stopped communicating with Earth in 1964, but it will stay in orbit for centuries. ...read more
Author: Vishay Singh
Why Light Pollution is a Crucial Test of Humanity’s Problem-Solving Skills
A new way to think about light pollution in Europe and the U.S. should help policy makers take its measure. But if they can't solve it, what hope for more complex problems like global heating? ...read more
Another Month Gone, Another Month Entering the Global Warming Record Books
With Siberia burning under unprecedented heat, our planet experienced a virtual tie for warmest June on record ...read more
Why We Can’t Stop Talking About ‘Karen’ — and Why Labels and Memes Speak to Us
A meme is often more than a joke — the social media critique of ‘Karens’ often has a deeper message. ...read more
Is AI Ready to Help Diagnose COVID-19?
While machine learning might hold promise as a powerful medical tool, statisticians warn that current models are severely flawed. If adopted too soon, they could do more harm than good. ...read more
Museums are Full of Forgotten Treasures. Here’s How You Can Help Find Them
These citizen science projects need online volunteers to help identify specimens and transcribe old notes from science centers and museums. ...read more
Thorne-Żytkow Objects: When a Supergiant Star Swallows a Dead Star
One of the universe’s strangest stars is thought to form when a neutron star gets sucked into a red supergiant. But despite 45 years of searching, astronomers still aren’t sure they’ve ever found one. ...read more
Typhoid Mary Was a Real, Asymptomatic Carrier Who Caused Multiple Outbreaks
In the early 1900s, Mary Mallon worked as a cook — and spread typhoid fever to the families she worked for. ...read more
What Would Happen If We Didn’t Have Vaccines?
Immunizations are intended to stop diseases like the coronavirus. But there are a range of other long-term societal benefits from vaccines. ...read more
The Path to Ingenuity: One Man’s Decades-Long Quest to Fly a Helicopter on Mars
NASA is about to fly a rotorcraft on another planet for the first time. And for the engineers who built the Mars Ingenuity helicopter, it's a Wright brothers moment. ...read more