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
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
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine