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One verdict on global warming in 2017 is in: Warmest year with no temperature boost from El Niño, and second warmest overall This map shows how air temperatures at a height of two meters varied in 2017 from the 1981–2010 average. (Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service, ECMWF) Today brought another lesson about the difference between weather and climate. While winds were howling, snow was blowing, and temperatures were plummeting thanks to the bomb cycl ...read more

(Credit: InnerVisionPRO/Shutterstock) When turns you on? When responding to the question, most people turn to physical attributes, and we can probably all guess what the answers might be. But for some, sexual attraction stems not from the assemblage of flesh and bone that carries us through life, but from what resides within. No, it’s not the soul — it’s the mind. Or so they say. So-called sapiosexuals claim to be attracted to intellect, and many say that it ov ...read more

Willy from Philly measures snow precipitation Did you know that forecasters rely on YOU to help accurately predict storms, floods, droughts and extreme weather conditions? The National Weather Service, for example, depends on people just like you to report local rain and snow precipitation measurements to a citizen science project known as CoCoRaHS: Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. Learn more about this long-running, popular project and, when you’re ready to jum ...read more

By: Caitlin Larkin You probably remember when the Ebola virus became news in 2014, after it killed thousands of people. Erica Ollmann Saphire (pictured above), a structural biologist at The Scripps Research Institute, and one of the world’s foremost experts on Ebola, understood the molecular structure of the disease—and she knew its weak spots. She had a plan of attack to find an antiviral drug. Her first step was to study millions of chemical compounds to determine their potential a ...read more

An animation of images acquired by the GOES-16 weather satellite shows a strong winter storm undergoing a phenomenon known as “bombogenesis.” Click on the image to watch the animation created by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies. (Source: CIMSS Satellite Blog) Last night, my daughter called me from New York City to ask worriedly about the so-called bomb cyclone that was threatening the northeastern United States. “What is this about a bomb?,&rdquo ...read more

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(Credit: Shutterstock) The great Mr. Rogers once shared these words of wisdom to allay our fears in times of great strife: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” But bonobos, our highly social and sexually promiscuous closest relatives, probably couldn’t care less about those helpers. Instead, they’d much rather keep their eyes peeled for the ...read more

A composite, layered image of 16 individuals (eight women) photographed twice in a cross-over design. These photos average the facial features of all 16 people into a single face. Can you tell which person is sick? A or B? (Answer at the bottom of this article. (Credit: Axelsson et al) Humans seem to possess an uncanny ability to read sickness on others’ faces, even in the earliest stages of an infection. No kidding, you might say. Who couldn’t pick out a poor soul who’s been ...read more

An artist’s concept of a ring of dust orbiting Tabby’s Star. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) We can probably put our hopes of meeting aliens on hold just a little bit longer. A team of researchers studying “Tabby’s star,” a stellar object whose mysterious dips in brightness have puzzled scientists and enthralled space enthusiasts, has announced that the most likely explanation for the behavior is a cloud of fine dust circling the star—wah, wah. That con ...read more