Human-wildlife overlap is projected to increase across more than half of all lands around the globe by 2070. The main driver of these changes is human population growth. This is the central finding of our newly published study in the journal Science Advances.Our research suggests that as human population increases, humans and animals will share increasingly crowded landscapes. For example, as more people move into forests and agricultural regions, human-wildlife overlap will increase sharply. It ...read more

The proverbial “sugar high” that follows the ingestion of a sweet treat is a familiar example of the potentially positive effects of food on mood.On the flip side, feeling “hangry” – the phenomenon where hunger manifests in the form of anger or irritability – illustrates how what we eat or don’t eat can also provoke negative emotions.The latest research suggests that blood sugar fluctuations are partly responsible for the connection between what we eat and how we feel. Through its ...read more

In Part 1 of this three-part series focusing on a new report about climate change in 2023, I described the relentless rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Rather than showing signs of leveling off — which must happen soon if we are to avoid even more disruptive climate changes than we've already seen — they're accumulating at an increasing rate. In fact, 2023 saw the fourth highest rise of atmospheric CO2 on record.As I pointed out in Part 1, no aspect of Earth's climatic life support ...read more

We've known for awhile that 2023 was by far the warmest year on record, triggering widespread alarm among climate scientists. Now, a newly released climate report reveals other disturbing trends.No aspect of Earth's climatic life support system was spared from humankind's impact last year, according to the State of the Climate 2023 report, led by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Driving it a ...read more

If you've checked out parts 1 and 2 of this three-part series examining the new State of the Climate 2023 report, you already know that greenhouse gases have been continuing their relentless growth in the atmosphere, and that 2023 shattered previous global heating records. Here in Part 3 of the series, I look at some of the other impacts, starting with one that took me surprise: In addition to being the warmest year, 2023 was also the least cloudy ever observed globally in records dating back fo ...read more

Brain-computer interfaces are a groundbreaking technology that can help paralyzed people regain functions they’ve lost, like moving a hand. These devices record signals from the brain and decipher the user’s intended action, bypassing damaged or degraded nerves that would normally transmit those brain signals to control muscles.Since 2006, demonstrations of brain-computer interfaces in humans have primarily focused on restoring arm and hand movements by enabling people to control computer cu ...read more

One of the most famous events in the history of astronomy is the Wow! Signal that was picked up by Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope in August 1977. The signal entered folklore because it couldn’t be explained by any known natural phenomena and didn’t appear to have originated from Earth. That left open an extraordinary possibility: that it had been produced by an extraterrestrial civilization. Indeed, Jerry Ehman, the astronomer who noticed the signal in the data, was so sho ...read more

During the height of the summer tourism season, frustrated residents in Barcelona organized protests. Some carried signs that read “tourists go home” and paraded them past restaurants packed with travelers. Others aimed water guns at diners and sprayed them while they tried to eat.Travel experts have given a variety of reasons for why cities like Barcelona feel inundated with tourists. Cruise ships have gotten bigger, travel surged after the pandemic lockdowns, and low-cost airlines make it ...read more

SpaceX’s upcoming Polaris Dawn mission aims to be historic in more ways than one. Polaris Dawn plans to not only orbit Earth higher than any astronauts have in more than 50 years but to also feature the first private spacewalk.The mission was originally scheduled to launch August 27, but has encountered delays – first for a helium leakand then for bad weather. SpaceX officials have said they’re monitoring the weather to reschedule the launch.It will feature a crew of four: the mission’s ...read more

Aging is a biological process that no one can avoid. Ideally, growing old should be a time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Aging also has a darker side, however, often linked to disease.Every second, your cells perform billions of biochemical reactions that fuel essential functions for life, forming a highly interconnected metabolic network. This network enables cells to grow, proliferate, and repair themselves, and itsdisruption can drive theaging process.But does aging cause metab ...read more