We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

— Oscar Wilde

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How Do Tides Shape Earth and the Solar System?

Fri, 04/12/2024 - 6:45am

The ocean’s twice-daily rise and fall is only the most obvious effect of tides—they slow Earth’s spin and shape stars and galaxies, too

Categories: Astronomy

Measles Is Back, and That’s Scary

Fri, 04/12/2024 - 6:00am

The deadly virus was practically eliminated in the U.S., but now it’s infecting more people.

Categories: Astronomy

Scientists Found a Way to Supercharge Cancer-Fighting Cells

Thu, 04/11/2024 - 4:00pm

The bioengineered immune players called CAR T cells last longer and work better if pumped up with a large dose of a protein that makes them resemble stem cells

Categories: Astronomy

How Will EPA’s New Rule about ‘Forever Chemicals’ Protect Your Drinking Water?

Thu, 04/11/2024 - 3:45pm

A new EPA rule will limit PFASs, or “forever chemicals,” in your drinking water for the first time. Here’s what that means for you

Categories: Astronomy

Why Some People Always Get Lost—And Others Never Do

Thu, 04/11/2024 - 2:00pm

Experience may matter more than innate ability when it comes to a sense of direction

Categories: Astronomy

U.S. Carbon Removal Needs Have a $100-Billion Price Tag—Per Year

Thu, 04/11/2024 - 11:30am

The U.S. needs to vastly increase taxpayer spending on direct carbon removal technology to meet President Biden’s climate goals, the Rhodium Group says

Categories: Astronomy

Why We Believe the Myth of High Crime Rates

Thu, 04/11/2024 - 12:00am

The crime issue, a focus of the 2024 presidential election, is sometimes rooted in the misplaced fears of people who live in some of the safest places

Categories: Astronomy

Did the Eclipse Give You the Amateur Astronomy Bug? Here’s How to Get Started

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 3:00pm

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a professional astronomer, talks about her own adventures in astrophotography—and offers tips and tricks for new amateur astronomers.

Categories: Astronomy

Climate Action Is a Legal Obligation, European Court Rules

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 12:00pm

The European Court of Human Rights found that climate change is a human rights issue, providing a blueprint for Europeans to force their governments to tackle rising temperatures

Categories: Astronomy

Peter Higgs, a Giant of Particle Physics, Dies at 94

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 11:00am

The Nobel Prize-winning theorist’s prediction of the Higgs boson sparked a half-century quest of discovery that reshaped physics—and our understanding of the universe

Categories: Astronomy

Why Batteries Come in So Many Sizes and Shapes

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 9:00am

A rectangular nine-volt battery is basically just a bunch of smaller batteries in a trench coat

Categories: Astronomy

How a Theory about Climate Change Led to The Feminine Mystique

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 8:00am

In 1958 Betty Friedan wrote an article that changed science journalism—and her career

Categories: Astronomy

Animal ‘Queens’ Reveal Surprising Complexities of Social Power

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 7:00am

In a new nature documentary about matriarchal species, the males are mostly absent

Categories: Astronomy

Ring This ‘Fish Doorbell’ to Help Migrating Animals Get Through a Dutch Canal

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 6:45am

An online underwater livestream lets worldwide volunteers ring a “fish doorbell” to help fish fulfill their reproductive missions

Categories: Astronomy

Think Seeing Is Believing? Think Again

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 6:00am

We think that what we see represents stone-cold reality. Science has found out how wrong we can be.

Categories: Astronomy

An Eclipse Is a Moment of Solitude—Even When You’re in a Crowd

Tue, 04/09/2024 - 3:30pm

Even among hundreds of people, experiencing an eclipse is a joyous solitude

Categories: Astronomy

Rural Americans Are Dying at Increasingly Higher Rates Than City Dwellers

Tue, 04/09/2024 - 2:30pm

The urban-rural mortality rate gap in the U.S. is increasing, especially among young women and Native Americans. Limited access to health care could help explain why

Categories: Astronomy

Recycle Your Eclipse Glasses to Share the Awe with Others

Tue, 04/09/2024 - 1:00pm

The nonprofit Astronomers Without Borders is collecting gently used eclipse glasses through Warby Parker and other sites to enable people to see future eclipses

Categories: Astronomy

How Likely Is a Major Earthquake in New York City—And Is the City Prepared for It?

Tue, 04/09/2024 - 12:12pm

After an unexpected magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattled the New York City area, questions abound regarding how likely it is that a major earthquake could occur there and whether the city is prepared

Categories: Astronomy

No Spoilers, Please! Why Curiosity Makes Us Patient

Tue, 04/09/2024 - 10:00am

Curiosity makes people hungry for knowledge—but not necessarily in a hurry

Categories: Astronomy