The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that causes severe health effects such as neurological damage, organ failure and death. Widely used in products such as paint and gasoline until the late 1970s, lead continues to contaminate environments and harm… Continue reading Lead from Old Paint and Pipes Is Still a Deadly Hazard in Millions of U.S. Homes
How Vance Can Move the Needle in PA
Johnsonburg is a small borough on the Clarion River in Elk County, Pennsylvania. Home to a paper mill, it has a unique scent in its air. “You can smell it before you can see it,” people endearingly say. My family, like many others, made it their home around the turn of the 20th century. Like… Continue reading How Vance Can Move the Needle in PA
Meet the Real-Life Versions of Dune’s Epic Sandworms
Meet the Real-Life Versions of Dune’s Epic Sandworms A Dune-loving worm paleontologist makes the case that worms have been just as important on Earth as they are in the blockbuster film By Julian Nowogrodzki & Nature magazine Sandworms pursue a crowd in this scene from Dune: Part Two. Warner Bros./FlixPix/Alamy Stock Photo The film Dune:… Continue reading Meet the Real-Life Versions of Dune’s Epic Sandworms
Why the Vatican Changed Its Rules for Evaluating Supernatural Phenomena (Apparitions, Visions, Eucharistic Miracles, Catholic, Vatican, Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith)
Podcast: Download MYS321: In May 2024, the Vatican issued new norms for how to evaluate reports of supernatural phenomena. In the first of a two-part discussion, Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli examine how the new rules radically change the way these phenomena are classified. Get all new episodes automatically and for free: Follow by Email… Continue reading Why the Vatican Changed Its Rules for Evaluating Supernatural Phenomena (Apparitions, Visions, Eucharistic Miracles, Catholic, Vatican, Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith)
These Invasive Ants Are Changing How Lions Hunt
Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American’s Science Quickly. I’m Karen Hopkin. Hopkin: Why did the lion take down a buffalo instead of a zebra? Because of the big-headed ants! I know, I know. Sounds like a riddle written by a preschooler tripping on Pixie Stix and David Attenborough DVDs. But it’s actually the finding of… Continue reading These Invasive Ants Are Changing How Lions Hunt
The Federal Housing Agency Hasn’t Gotten Its Economic House in Order, Under Both Parties
Paul Fishbein’s conviction on rent fraud charges in New York City last year was a feast for the tabloids. The story was crazy enough to get readers to click. Prosecutors said that Fishbein, 51, somehow convinced local housing agencies that he owned dilapidated apartment buildings that he didn’t, enabling him to move in tenants and skim government rent subsidies… Continue reading The Federal Housing Agency Hasn’t Gotten Its Economic House in Order, Under Both Parties
Tight-Knit Microbes Live Together to Make a Vital Nutrient
In the radioactive bacteria, Tschitschko and his colleagues detected the Gamma A version of the nitrogenase gene. They were on its trail. However, the gene was located in an exotic genomic environment. When they sequenced the DNA of the Gamma A bacterium, most of its genome was typical of a globally distributed class of bacteria… Continue reading Tight-Knit Microbes Live Together to Make a Vital Nutrient
The 4-Day School Week: It’s a Trend Across America … Despite Questionable Results
Above, the four-day school week embraced by the 27J district outside Denver. Despite the shorter week’s popularity, researchers warn, it undermines learning when instructional time is reduced. By Vince Bielski, RealClearInvestigationsJuly 17, 2024 Next month, the Huntsville School District in Arkansas will join the wave of public schools switching to a four-day week. The shorter… Continue reading The 4-Day School Week: It’s a Trend Across America … Despite Questionable Results
How the Seven Bridges of Königsberg Spawned New Math
During the 18th century the denizens of the Prussian city of Königsberg wrestled with a puzzle: How could they find a walking path through the city that crossed each of its storied seven bridges exactly once? The bridges spanned a river containing two large islands. No matter how much they strategized their routes, they couldn’t… Continue reading How the Seven Bridges of Königsberg Spawned New Math
‘Sensational’ Proof Delivers New Insights Into Prime Numbers
Sometimes mathematicians try to tackle a problem head on, and sometimes they come at it sideways. That’s especially true when the mathematical stakes are high, as with the Riemann hypothesis, whose solution comes with a $1 million reward from the Clay Mathematics Institute. Its proof would give mathematicians much deeper certainty about how prime numbers… Continue reading ‘Sensational’ Proof Delivers New Insights Into Prime Numbers