Podcast: Download MYS380: It’s a fifth Friday, so Cy Kellett of Catholic Answers Live is asking Jimmy Akin weird questions from listeners, about topics like what we will be doing after the Resurrection; the morality of Catholics colonizing Mars; why Lucifer rebelled; and more. Get all new episodes automatically and for free: Follow by Email… Continue reading Could Catholics Colonize Mars? (And More Weird Questions)
The Sudden Surges That Forge Evolutionary Trees
Over the last half-billion years, squid, octopuses and their kin have evolved much like a fireworks display, with long, anticipatory pauses interspersed with intense, explosive changes. The many-armed diversity of cephalopods is the result of the evolutionary rubber hitting the road right after lineages split into new species, and precious little of their evolution has… Continue reading The Sudden Surges That Forge Evolutionary Trees
How AI Is Changing Our Approach to Disasters
Disaster losses are rising, and the stakes are high for reducing risk. Artificial intelligence (AI) promises new ways to spot danger sooner, coordinate relief more quickly, and save lives and property. But AI doesn’t just drop neatly into a command center. To matter in practice, it must be shaped to the messy realities of emergency… Continue reading How AI Is Changing Our Approach to Disasters
The Pursuit of Life Where It Seems Unimaginable
It’s surprising because they would be the only organisms on Earth to do this. There are many metabolic processes that go in the forward direction and the reverse direction. That is something that life uses quite a bit just to be more efficient with our enzymes. But the idea that your respiration — what you… Continue reading The Pursuit of Life Where It Seems Unimaginable
Civics Revolution: Conservatives Are Reviving Traditional Education With a Modern Twist
The classroom subject of “civics” evokes antiquated images of Cold War-era conformity, but Andrew Hart describes a recent teacher workshop on civics with a schoolboy’s exuberance: “It was really refreshing. I was, like, wow.” The weeklong seminar at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia delved into the writings of Aristotle and Cicero, the… Continue reading Civics Revolution: Conservatives Are Reviving Traditional Education With a Modern Twist
Do Beautiful Birds Have an Evolutionary Advantage?
Birds are not merely descendants of dinosaurs — they are dinosaurs. For Yale evolutionary biologist and ornithologist Richard Prum, birds have been a lifelong passion and a window into some of evolution’s most intriguing mysteries. In a wide-ranging conversation with co-host Janna Levin, Prum traces the deep evolutionary origins of feathers, which he argues first… Continue reading Do Beautiful Birds Have an Evolutionary Advantage?
A Comprehensive U.S. Approach Could Help End the War in Ukraine
Donald Trump is disappointed with Vladimir Putin. “The talk doesn’t mean anything,” Trump has said of his phone calls with Russia’s president about ending the war on Ukraine. “We’ll have a great conversation,” he told the BBC. “I’ll say: ‘That’s good, I think we’re close to getting it done,’ and then he’ll knock down a… Continue reading A Comprehensive U.S. Approach Could Help End the War in Ukraine
An AI-Assisted Chat with Dolphins
Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. There are a few animals that pretty much everyone likes: fluffy pandas, cute kittens and regal tigers. Dolphins would probably make the list for most folks; they’re intelligent, playful and have that permanent smile on their face. Watching them darting around in the water kind… Continue reading An AI-Assisted Chat with Dolphins
When Alliances Matter: What the Israel-Iran War Reveals About Alliances Among Authoritarian States
As air raid sirens remain quiet, Israelis and Iranians are looking to repair the damage that was done during the 12-day war in June of this year. For now, the ceasefire between the two enemies seems to be holding. Support from the West played a key role in Israel’s success. In contrast, Iran had no… Continue reading When Alliances Matter: What the Israel-Iran War Reveals About Alliances Among Authoritarian States
Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Just outside the Milky Way
An astonishing fact known for only the past few decades is that every big galaxy in the universe has a supermassive black hole at its heart. Scientists suspected this was the case in the 1980s, and observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, which has peered deep into the cores of galaxies all across the sky,… Continue reading Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Just outside the Milky Way