Podcast: Download MYS304: It’s time for another set of weird questions posed by Cy Kellett of Catholic Answers to Jimmy Akin, including this time: should Elrond have killed Isildur?; reported time travelers; teleportation clones and confession; Klingon baptisms; Gulf War syndrome; and more. Get all new episodes automatically and for free: Follow by Email |… Continue reading Klingon Baptisms & More Weird Questions
First Comprehensive Plastics Database Tallies Staggering 16,000 Chemicals—And It’s Still Incomplete
First Comprehensive Plastics Database Tallies Staggering 16,000 Chemicals—And It’s Still Incomplete A massive new dataset highlights more than 4,200 plastic chemicals linked to health and environmental risks. But scientists say there are still large gaps in the scientific understanding of plastic ingredients By Katherine Bourzac Credit: Richard Drury/Getty Images Plastics are inescapable. That soda bottle… Continue reading First Comprehensive Plastics Database Tallies Staggering 16,000 Chemicals—And It’s Still Incomplete
Doubts Grow About the Biosignature Approach to Alien-Hunting
In 2020, scientists detected a gas called phosphine in the atmosphere of an Earth-size rocky planet. Knowing of no way that phosphine could be produced except through biological processes, “the scientists assert that something now alive is the only explanation for the chemical’s source,” the New York Times reported. As “biosignature gases” go, the phosphine… Continue reading Doubts Grow About the Biosignature Approach to Alien-Hunting
Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness
Random processes take place all around us. It rains one day but not the next; stocks and bonds gain and lose value; traffic jams coalesce and disappear. Because they’re governed by numerous factors that interact with one another in complicated ways, it’s impossible to predict the exact behavior of such systems. Instead, we think about… Continue reading Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness
The Many Ways a Porous Border Means Crime Without Boundaries
When President Biden’s supporters attacked him for describing the man who allegedly murdered Georgia co-ed Laken Reilly as an “illegal,” they shined a light on one of the most contested words in American politics. Laken Riley: High-profile victim. Wikipedia The progressive push to describe border crossers as undocumented or unauthorized can also serve to downplay… Continue reading The Many Ways a Porous Border Means Crime Without Boundaries
How Chain-of-Thought Reasoning Helps Neural Networks Compute
Your grade school teacher probably didn’t show you how to add 20-digit numbers. But if you know how to add smaller numbers, all you need is paper and pencil and a bit of patience. Start with the ones place and work leftward step by step, and soon you’ll be stacking up quintillions with ease. Problems… Continue reading How Chain-of-Thought Reasoning Helps Neural Networks Compute
The Modern Public Nuisance Movement Is a Growing Threat
The Left is running a full-scale effort to reshape consumers’ lives using every tool at their disposal, be that through regulations, product bans, or ideological lawsuits. A key part of this campaign is public nuisance lawsuits that seek to impose billions of dollars in liability on disfavored industries for “causing” amorphous, nationwide (or worldwide) problems… Continue reading The Modern Public Nuisance Movement Is a Growing Threat
A ‘Havana Syndrome’ Investigation in Congress Rests on Politics, Not Science
A ‘Havana Syndrome’ Investigation in Congress Rests on Politics, Not Science Lawmakers should look in the mirror if they want answers to who hyped dubious reports of Havana syndrome. Instead they are investigating the spy agencies telling them the truth about the mystery By Robert Bartholomew Cuban Flags fly in front of American Embassy. Credit:… Continue reading A ‘Havana Syndrome’ Investigation in Congress Rests on Politics, Not Science
Pregnancy and Childbirth Reshape the Brain in Profound, Sometimes Lasting Ways
How Pregnancy Changes the Brain A study of more than 100 new parents showed that pregnancy and birth cause changes in brain circuits that may be involved in empathy and bonding with the child By Gina Jiménez Credit: Cavan Images/Getty Images Being pregnant and giving birth changes a person’s brain, but the brain looks different… Continue reading Pregnancy and Childbirth Reshape the Brain in Profound, Sometimes Lasting Ways
Ancient Malaria Genome from Roman Skeleton Hints at Disease’s History
Ancient Malaria Genome from Roman Skeleton Hints at Disease’s History Genetic information from ancient Roman remains is helping to reveal how malaria has moved and evolved alongside people By Tosin Thompson & Nature magazine Malaria, an endemic disease caused by hematozoic parasites (Plasmodium falciparum) transmitted by the blood to humans through the bite of the… Continue reading Ancient Malaria Genome from Roman Skeleton Hints at Disease’s History