The memories that we humans encode and store in the neuronal networks of our brains are fundamental to our existence as individuals and as collective societies—for the recalling of those memories, especially during times of stress, can help us to anticipate and shape the future for our own well-being. But we are not the only ones to benefit from the capacity to remember, nor are human memories the only ones from which we can benefit....
President Obama mentioned climate change almost in passing during last night’s State of the Union address, noting: “The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change.” But what Obama didn’t mention is that declining energy consumption in a sluggish economy and well-placed regulations targeting air pollution and oil use are creating a more climate-friendly United States. Fuel-economy standards for gasoline guzzlers and the prospect that stable, cheaper natural gas supplies will speed closure of the nation’s dirtiest coal-fired utilities are beginning to depress long-term projections for U....
By Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. power sector will need to emit 30 percent less carbon dioxide by 2030 than it did in 2005, according to new federal regulations - the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s climate change strategy - to be unveiled on Monday. The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal is one of the most significant environmental rules proposed by the United States, and could transform the power sector, which relies on coal for nearly 38 percent of electricity....
A team of IBM researchers spent four years building Watson, a computer system clever enough to beat the best Jeopardy players in the world. And although the three-day competition marked the end of Watson’s game-show career, it was just the beginning of Watson’s life in business. One of the things that makes Watson unique is its ability to understand natural language—“getting at the meaning of words and understanding what humans meant, not just what they said or wrote,” says Katharine Frase, IBM’s vice president of research....
Imagine you have a choice between earning $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000 or earning $100,000 a year while other people get $250,000. Prices of goods and services are the same. Which would you prefer? Surprisingly, studies show that the majority of people select the first option. As H. L. Mencken is said to have quipped, “A wealthy man is one who earns $100 a year more than his wife’s sister’s husband....
Desert soil has a living crust that is essential for fixing nitrogen, a critical plant nutrient, and for avoiding erosion that produces a swirl of itinerant dust. When the crust is damaged, dust storms well up, residents of nearby communities develop hacking coughs, snow melts early and a whole array of untoward consequences ensue. Jayne Belnap of the U.S. Geological Survey is the world’s foremost expert on biological crusts and has issued a clarion call that we should stop treating this ecological treasure like dirt....
One in 800 children are born with Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. The vast majority of cases are caused by having three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two. People with Down syndrome also have reduced fertility, and their sense of smell is often impaired or lost. No treatments have been found so far for the neurological symptoms. In a study published on September 1 in Science, neuroscientist Vincent Prevot of Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), Lille, France and a team of European researchers show that a hormone known for regulating reproductive function—gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or GnRH—may represent a promising treatment for cognitive problems in Down syndrome....
William Walker and his wife, Mi Chong, wanted to join what’s seen as a solar revolution in Hawaii. Shortly after buying their Oahu home earlier this year, they plunked down $35,000 for a rooftop photovoltaic system. The couple looked forward to joining neighbors who had added panels, to cutting their $250 monthly power bills and to knowing they were helping the environment. Their plans shifted the day after the PV panels went up in early October....
Many asteroids have a reddish tint as a result of sun-induced weathering and bombardment by micrometeorites, but a select few retain a relatively pristine gray appearance. In the January 21 issue of Nature planetary scientist Richard Binzel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues report a finding that may clear up the asteroid-coloration mystery once and for all. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) Binzel and his colleagues found that an asteroid passing through Earth’s vicinity is literally shaken by the encounter, turning up fresh material on the asteroid’s loosely bound surface....
Mother’s milk may be the first food, but it is not created equal. In humans and other mammals, researchers have found that milk composition changes depending on the infant’s gender and on whether conditions are good or bad. Understanding those differences can give scientists insights into human evolution. Researchers at Michigan State University and other institutions found that among 72 mothers in rural Kenya, women with sons generally gave richer milk (2....
Since entering Saturn’s orbit on June 30 last year, the Cassini spacecraft has sent back intriguing images of some of the planet’s 34 known moons. Newly released pictures from Cassini’s first encounter with one such moon, Hyperion, indicate that the irregularly shaped satellite resembles a heap of rubble. Hyperion’s strange shape is immediately apparent in the images, which were taken between June 9 and 11 from distances between 168,000 and 815,000 kilometers away....
By Kate Kelland There is no conclusive evidence that drinking coffee causes cancer, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency will say in a reverse of its previous warning, but it will also say all “very hot” drinks are probably carcinogenic. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had previously rated coffee as “possibly carcinogenic” but has changed its mind. On Wednesday it will say its latest review found “no conclusive evidence for a carcinogenic effect” of coffee drinking and will point to some studies showing coffee may actually reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer....
Microscopes make living cells and tissues appear bigger. But what if we could actually make the things bigger? It might sound like the fantasy of a scientist who has read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland too many times, but the concept is the basis for a new method that could enable biologists to image an entire brain in exquisite molecular detail using an ordinary microscope, and to resolve features that would normally be beyond the limits of optics....
Editor’s Note (06/14/18): Scientific American is re-posting the following article, originally published May 14, 2016, in light of Elon Musk’s announcement that the City of Chicago has chosen his firm, The Boring Company, to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the proposed Chicago Express Loop. The high-speed underground public transportation system would link downtown Chicago and O’Hare Airport and ferry passengers on autonomous “electric skates” traveling at up to 240 kilometers per hour....
Anyone who has spent an afternoon puzzling over an IKEA furniture kit will appreciate how tempting it would be to turn the project over to a robot. Fortunately the store’s complex self-assembly kits are something of a benchmark for roboticists who have toiled for years at building automatons smart and dexterous enough to fit screws and wooden pegs into their corresponding holes. Progress has been steady, but it will likely be awhile before robots can build a STUVA loft bed combo in your bedroom while you sip coffee in the kitchen....
By Declan Butler of Nature magazineKey weapons in the fight against malaria, pyrethroid insecticides, are losing their edge. Over the past decade, billions of dollars have been spent on distributing long-lasting pyrethroid-treated bed nets and on indoor spraying. Focused in Africa, where most malaria deaths occur, these efforts have greatly reduced the disease’s toll. But they have also created intense selection pressure for mosquitoes to develop resistance.“Data are coming in thick and fast indicating increasing levels of resistance, and also of resistance in new places,” says Jo Lines, an entomological epidemiologist and head of vector control at the Global Malaria Program of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland....
After a mysterious four-month fading streak, the star known as Betelgeuse could be on its way to regaining its shine. Easily recognizable as the right ‘shoulder’ in the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse is normally one of the ten brightest stars in the night sky. But it began getting dimmer in October last year, and by mid-February it had lost more than two-thirds of its brilliance — a difference noticeable to the naked eye....
The Department of Energy said on 19 February that it has approved $6.5 billion in loan guarantees for the $14-billion Vogtle nuclear project near Waynesboro, Georgia. The two reactors received regulatory approval in 2012 — the first new US reactors in roughly 30 years. The announcement came as energy secretary Ernest Moniz reiterated the support of President Barack Obama’s administration for nuclear power as part of its “all-of-the-above” energy strategy to reduce dependence on foreign oil, and as a way to help to reduce US greenhouse-gas emissions....
Edited by Dava Sobel I was troubled by how easy it was to mistake one thing for another, as with snakes— the Scarlet King resembling the Coral with its arrangement of black on yellow, or the harmless Hognose which is often confused with a Copperhead. Likewise, mushrooms— however you might examine the warts on the umbrella caps or the thin white gills you could miss some telltale sign— the partial veil around a stem, say, or white spores, the Sprouting Amanita pretending to be a Young Puffball and then, days later the lethal symptoms would begin: burning thirst, blurred vision, your heartbeat growing dangerously slow....
Space is vast. Yet Earth orbits are becoming increasingly littered with debris (speckled graphic). A satellite could be demolished if struck by a 10-centimeter piece of junk, about the size of a softball. Even a one-centimeter tidbit could disable a spacecraft. And the more functioning, defunct or fragmented objects up there, the more that decay in the atmosphere (pink stripe). The collision problem has become so serious that in 2016 the European Space Agency (ESA), which tracks the objects, announced it might capture derelict satellites in low orbits, starting in 2023....
