Smartphones “have made it easier than ever to avoid interacting with the people in our immediate environment, writes New York City-based author Joe Keohane. But is that always good? “Some social scientists believe teaching kids that literally everyone in the world they hadn’t met is dangerous may have been actively Read more…
Dr. Bik is a microbiologist who has worked at Stanford University and for the Dutch National Institute for Health who is “blessed” with “what I’m told is a better-than-average ability to spot repeating patterns,” according to their new Op-Ed in the New York Times. In 2014 they’d spotted the same Read more…
Today ProPublica published “the largest-ever analysis of Google’s ad practices on non-English-language websites,” saying their report shows Google “is funneling revenue to some of the web’s most prolific purveyors of false information in Europe, Latin America and Africa,” and “reveals how the tech giant makes disinformation profitable….” The company has Read more…
“NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission is mapping the prevalence of key minerals in the planet’s dust-producing deserts — information that will advance our understanding of airborne dust’s effects on climate,” NASA announced this week. “But EMIT has demonstrated another crucial capability: detecting the presence of methane, Read more…
A global helium shortage has doctors worried about one of the natural gas’s most essential, and perhaps unexpected, uses: MRIs. Strange as it sounds, the lighter-than-air element that gives balloons their buoyancy also powers the vital medical diagnostic machines. An MRI can’t function without some 2,000 liters of ultra-cold liquid Read more…
Knowing you have higher than normal blood pressure — and taking medications daily to treat it — may be one key to avoiding dementia in later life, a new study found. Scientists already know that having high blood pressure, particularly between ages 40 and 65, increases the risk of developing Read more…
China plans to break its own record for the world’s largest wind farm by constructing a new one before 2025 that could power more than 13 million homes. Interesting Engineering reports: The 14th five-year plan for Chaozhou, China’s Guangdong province, was released last week, outlining the city’s ambitious plans for Read more…