In 1963, six years after the first satellite was launched, editors from the Encyclopaedia Britannica posed a question to five eminent thinkers of the day: “Has man’s conquest of space increased or diminished his stature?” The respondents were philosopher Hannah Arendt, writer Aldous Huxley, theologian Paul Tillich, nuclear scientist Harrison Brown, and historian Herbert J. ...
Online platforms are awash with ads for so-called “green” products. Power companies are “carbon neutral.” Electronics are “for the planet.” Clothing is “circular” and travel is “sustainable.” Or are they? Our study of more than 8,000 ads served more than 20,000 times in people’s Facebook feeds found many such claims are vague, meaningless, or unsubstantiated ...
Earth’s surface is the living skin of our planet — it connects the physical, chemical, and biological systems and their diversity. Over geological time, this surface evolves. Rivers fragment the landscape into an environmentally diverse range of habitats. These rivers also transfer sediments from the mountains to the continental plains and ultimately the oceans. The ...
In June, evolution researchers, led by palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger, published sensational claims about an extinct human species called Homo naledi online and in the Netflix documentary Unknown: Cave of Bones. They argued the small-brained H. naledi buried their dead in Rising Star Cave in South Africa more than 240,000 years ago, and may also have ...
The scientific worldview has made great contributions to humanity’s flourishing. However, as science advances into territory once firmly held by religion — attempting to answer questions about the origins of the universe, life, and consciousness — science communication often paints a fairly pessimistic picture of the world. Take a few examples. An article in New ...
Elon Musk is thrilled about going to space and has big plans. He wants people to be able to stay on Mars and grow. The name for this process is “terraforming.” Terraforming is like making Mars more like Earth so people would want to live there. Elon Musk wants people to love life on Mars. ...
A complex web of interdependence exists between the various organisms that comprise an ecosystem, such as seals. Earth’s rich biodiversity is essential to the planet’s continued existence. Therefore, the loss of even a single species can have far-reaching effects on the biosphere. Some species become extinct because of human interference, specifically deforestation and destroying their ...
In a world where progress often comes at the cost of nature, the story of the pear tree in Cubbington, Warwickshire, in England, is remarkable. For over 250 years, this ancient pear tree has been a source of beauty and inspiration, standing tall against the changing times. However, when the HS2 rail line was announced, ...
Today, Australia is home to 17 species of hawks and eagles. But the fossil record shows some other, rather special raptors were present in the relatively recent past. Tens of thousands of years ago, Australia was home to species such as Dynatoaetus gaffae, the largest eagle ever to have lived in Australia, and Cryptogyps lacertosus, ...
Researchers at the University of Leicester in England have found a new way to link suspects to a crime scene or a victim using cat hair DNA. They say that a single strand of cat hair left at a crime scene can be linked to an individual cat — provided there was a cat. Conversely, ...
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