Engineering Design
- Animals
Science and Indigenous history team up to help spirit bears
When scientists and Indigenous people work together, their efforts can benefit bears and people.
- Animals
Analyze This: Cows burp less methane after early-life treatment
Calves that receive the 14-week treatment belch less of the greenhouse gas, possibly due to shifts in their gut microbes.
- Plants
Scientists may have finally found how catnip repels insects
The plant deters mosquitoes and fruit flies by triggering a chemical receptor that, in some animals, senses pain and itch.
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Moderna and Pfizer vaccines appear to cut coronavirus spread
The vaccines are about 90 percent effective at blocking infection, which should cut spread of the virus. And at least one vaccine works well in teens.
- Planets
Signs of a hidden Planet Nine in our solar system may be an illusion
Hints of the remote planet, also called Planet X, relied on clumped up orbits of bodies beyond Neptune. A new study suggests that clumping doesn’t exist.
- Tech
Greening your digital life
The less electricity you use while playing video games or using your devices, the less impact you’ll have on climate change.
- Tech
5G promises new energy savings for digital tech
A new way to transmit wireless communications promises time and energy savings by using networks of smaller cells.
- Environment
COVID-19 cut pollution in 2020, warming the atmosphere
Pandemic-related lockdowns briefly warmed the planet. The reason: The cleaner air carried fewer planet-cooling aerosols.
- Math
Explainer: What is statistics?
Scientists use statistics to design studies, analyze data and evaluate uncertainty. You’ll find it in biology, climate change, medicine and more.
- Psychology
Boredom may pose a public health threat in the social distancing era
Boredom contributes to pandemic fatigue, and it may account for why some people don’t follow social distancing rules.
- Science & Society
Machine learning includes deep learning and neural nets
By combining patterns found in mountains of data with information gleaned from mistakes, these computer programs expand their artificial intelligence.
- Tech
Training AI to be really smart poses risks to climate
As artificial intelligence models grow larger and consume more energy, experts have begun to worry about their impact on Earth’s climate.
