MDMA against white supremacy.
BBC reports on a simple pharmaceutical study at the University of Chicago – about the mechanism by which MDMA increased “the pleasantness of social touch” – … Read the rest “MDMA against white supremacy.”
Articles by grant
Science Art: Ceratosuchops inferodios life reconstruction, by PaleoGeekSquared
This is a kind of spinosaur-ancestor dubbed “the hell heron” by some dramatically minded scientists. C. inferodios was identified in 2021 from some fossil fragments in the… Read the rest “Science Art: Ceratosuchops inferodios life reconstruction, by PaleoGeekSquared”
Making a pain-free battery: “Nickel doesn’t have child-labor issues.”
Scientific Frontline looks at a new way to create rechargeable lithium-ion batteries – the power behind electric cars, iPhones, and most of the rest of the 21st century – without… Read the rest “Making a pain-free battery: “Nickel doesn’t have child-labor issues.””
Texas expects record-setting power usage this week.
Reuters reports on a hot, hot summer that is pulling more electricity from the Texas state grid than ever before:
… Read the rest “Texas expects record-setting power usage this week.”AccuWeather forecast high temperatures in Houston, the biggest city in
How do you feel when the AI starts reading your young children their bedtime stories?
As The Markup points out, this is no longer a hypothetical question, but an actual parenting challenge now:
… Read the rest “How do you feel when the AI starts reading your young children their bedtime stories?”I made a note to ask his teacher the following week, and imagine my surprise when
Science Art: NASA’s Chandra, Webb Combine for Arresting Views (Pillars of Creation), 2023
This is an image made by combining visible light (from the Hubble and ESO orbiting telescopes) and invisible infrared and X-ray imagery (from the Webb, Chandra, and XMM-Newton telescopes).… Read the rest “Science Art: NASA’s Chandra, Webb Combine for Arresting Views (Pillars of Creation), 2023”
A beaked dinosaur in Utah named for the god Janus.
Smithsonian Magazine covers the discovery of a new species of dinosaur, Iani smithi, that’s part of a little-known group of dinosaurs that were around just before the big, famous… Read the rest “A beaked dinosaur in Utah named for the god Janus.”
Science Art: Habitus images of Chimairacoris lakshmiae, 2015.
This is a plant bug. That’s the technical term – it’s part of that group of insects called “true bugs,” the family Miridae; plant bugs are the subfamily … Read the rest “Science Art: Habitus images of Chimairacoris lakshmiae, 2015.”
The smarter the brain, the longer it takes to solve a hard problem.
The Berlin Institute of Health has a new metric for intelligence. It’s not speed at solving problems, but the opposite. Higher intelligence means simple problems get solved quickly,… Read the rest “The smarter the brain, the longer it takes to solve a hard problem.”
More Chinese astronauts for China’s space station.
Reuters reports that a couple of days ago, the Shenzhou-16, or “Divine Vessel-16,” a spaceship mounted on a Long March-2F rocket, sent a new crew of three astronauts to the … Read the rest “More Chinese astronauts for China’s space station.”
ChatGPT flunks Martin Gardner’s old brainteasers.
If you’re a longtime Scientific American reader, or just a geek of a certain age, you’ll remember Martin Gardner’s “Mathematical Games” puzzle column.… Read the rest “ChatGPT flunks Martin Gardner’s old brainteasers.”
Science Art: Intercepting Well, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, by R.S. Bross, 1882.
This is an illustration of a public waterwork taken from the pages of A practical treatise on hydraulic and water-supply engineering: relating to the hydrology, hydrodynamics, and practical… Read the rest “Science Art: Intercepting Well, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, by R.S. Bross, 1882.”
Out of Africa, yes, but all over Africa and not all at once.
New York Times rewrites human prehistory with a genetic study that replaces the tree of life – a diagram of human origins with one trunk growing out of one spot in the continent before… Read the rest “Out of Africa, yes, but all over Africa and not all at once.”
SONG: In the Years Before A/C
SONG: “In the Years Before A/C”.
ARTIST: grant.
SOURCE: National Park Service, 1 May 2023, “National Park archeologists find remains of an underwater hospital and… Read the rest “SONG: In the Years Before A/C”
No song today.
I have rough drafts of music tracks and written lyrics… but have not yet brought the two together. More soon, along with a penitential cover.