Neolithic engineers
The Guardian visits a huge, 5,000-year-old tomb complex on Scotland’s Orkney Isles that reveals a surprisingly sophisticated level of engineering know-how:
… Read the rest “Neolithic engineers”The tomb measures
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Fossil antibiotics
Stat covers a medicine-making strategy right out of Jurassic Park, with a UPenn researcher named Cesar de la Fuente, who is looking for protein-chains called peptides in the fossilized… Read the rest “Fossil antibiotics”
No song today
Once again, have a full instrumental track and melody, even, but the lyrics are not there. I now owe either two or three covers. One of them is just about ready.
Science Art: 821393 – Flying Machine – Wright Brothers, May 22, 1906.
It’s an airplane. Maybe the airplane. And this is how it looked when the U.S. Patent Office made it official.
I found the illustration on Wikimedia, where it was uploaded from the National… Read the rest “Science Art: 821393 – Flying Machine – Wright Brothers, May 22, 1906.”
Hit the snooze button; your brain will thank you.
BBC’s Science Focus recommends indulging in another few minutes of shut-eye, because Swedish research shows hitting the snooze button on your morning alarm can boost brain function… Read the rest “Hit the snooze button; your brain will thank you.”
Unlocking brain fog: is it serotonin?
STAT reports on a new study that might be getting to the root of the long-covid brain fog, finding that the symptom appears to go hand-in-hand with a lack of free-floating serotonin in the … Read the rest “Unlocking brain fog: is it serotonin?”
Chinese programmer fined RMB 1 million for using a VPN.
The Guardian reports on a dramatic sentence for the crime of internet privacy:
… Read the rest “Chinese programmer fined RMB 1 million for using a VPN.”The programmer, surnamed Ma, was issued with a penalty notice by the public security bureau of Chengde, a city
Science Art: Two-Step Multi-Audi-Fone ad, 1916.
This is an ad from, as Thomas Dolby put it, the Golden Age of wireless. More literally, it’s from the October, 1916, issue of The Electrical Experimenter, a Hugo Gernsback publication,… Read the rest “Science Art: Two-Step Multi-Audi-Fone ad, 1916.”
An AI anesthesiologist to detect pain during surgery.
EurekAlert! shares the slightly unnerving announcement made at the annual Anesthesiology meeting about a new application for AI – monitoring pain levels in surgical patients … Read the rest “An AI anesthesiologist to detect pain during surgery.”
Samples from asteroid Bennu “an astrobiologist’s dream”
Popular Science raves about the carbon, oxygen, and other life-sustaining material NASA scientists have found in samples retrieved from the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu:
… Read the rest “Samples from asteroid Bennu “an astrobiologist’s dream””And
Uruguay gets 98% of its power from renewable sources.
NPR had a piece on the little South American nation that’s leading the way to a less polluted future, getting nearly all of its electricity from well-placed windmills and an economic… Read the rest “Uruguay gets 98% of its power from renewable sources.”
Science Art: Cafeteria virion by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics ViralZone.
It looks like a D20 wrapped in iguana leather and filled with caramel and chocolate sprinkles. It’s actually a rheavirus, also known as cafeteriavirus. It’s in the Mimiviridae… Read the rest “Science Art: Cafeteria virion by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics ViralZone.”
Ultrasound cleans “forever chemicals” from polluted groundwater.
Scientific Frontline reports on new Ohio State University research that shows sound waves can shake apart toxic PFAS, molecules so durable they previously earned the nickname “forever… Read the rest “Ultrasound cleans “forever chemicals” from polluted groundwater.”
AIs are in the hurricane-forecast business now.
Ars Technica, in not so many words, is saying that AIs could be coming for the meteorologists next. But for now, they’re helping the pros predict hurricanes accurately with greater… Read the rest “AIs are in the hurricane-forecast business now.”
Science Art: Planetary Systems, with Five Opening Flaps, from Geographical Studies by Levi Walter Yaggy, 1887.
I found this fascinating artifact in a wonderful article in Public Domain Review about Yaggy’s maps, pop-ups, and 3D diagrams of the Earth’s surface, habitats, and other … Read the rest “Science Art: Planetary Systems, with Five Opening Flaps, from Geographical Studies by Levi Walter Yaggy, 1887.”