Black Death Plague That Killed Millions Became Less Fatal because of This Genetic Tweak Reducing the copies of one gene in the bubonic plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, made it less deadly but potentially more transmissible By Rachel Fieldhouse & Nature magazine Scanning electron micrograph of Yersinia pestis, which causes bubonic plague, on proventricular spines of a Xenopsylla… Continue reading Black Death Plague That Killed Millions Became Less Fatal because of This Genetic Tweak
Why Didn’t We Know Randi Weingarten Was a DNC Member?
Teachers’ union boss Randi Weingarten publicly resigned from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) this weekend and the overwhelming response seems to be one of surprise that she was on the committee at all. How is it that education reporters and the media at large rarely, if ever, mentioned that she served as an at-large member of the DNC… Continue reading Why Didn’t We Know Randi Weingarten Was a DNC Member?
These ‘Real-Life Mermaid’ Divers Hold Genetic Clues to Enduring Extreme Environments
Often likened to mermaids in media reports and popular culture, South Korea’s famed Haenyeo (“sea women”) spend much of the day underwater, diving without scuba gear to collect abalone, octopus, kelp and other prized seafood. Admired both culturally and scientifically, they have been plunging into the frigid waters of Jeju Island since as early as… Continue reading These ‘Real-Life Mermaid’ Divers Hold Genetic Clues to Enduring Extreme Environments
Facilitated Communication & Spelling to Communicate (Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nonverbal)
Facilitated Communication & Spelling to Communicate (Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nonverbal) < !- end of Google Analytics Code Snippet by GA4WP–> // tabnab protection window.addEventListener(‘load’, function () { // make all links have rel=”noopener noreferrer” document.querySelectorAll(‘a[target=”_blank”]’).forEach(link => { link.setAttribute(‘rel’, ‘noopener noreferrer’); }); }); ]]> Podcast: Download MYS370: For some people who have profound difficulties speaking,… Continue reading Facilitated Communication & Spelling to Communicate (Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nonverbal)
The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered
Imagine a clock: If the hour hand starts at 10 and four hours pass, the clock will point to 2. But clock arithmetic can be done with any number, not just (as in the case of real-world clocks) the number 12. Boxer, Calegari, Gee and Pilloni only needed to show that their two sets of… Continue reading The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered
‘Enemy of Our Enemy’: Why the Far-Right Calls for a ‘Free Palestine’
The far-left activist who murdered two people outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. last month, and the Egyptian illegal immigrant who hurled Molotov cocktails at pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder this month shouted the same slogan: Free Palestine. In a troubling twist, their anti-Israel messages are being echoed by hatemongers at the opposite end of… Continue reading ‘Enemy of Our Enemy’: Why the Far-Right Calls for a ‘Free Palestine’
Kids See a Lot More Misinformation Than We Think
Aliens live on Neptune. Ancient pyramids generated electricity. Humans don’t cause climate change. You might imagine the typical believer of these claims to be a card-carrying conspiracy theorist, but they could just as easily be a curious nine-year-old with an iPad. YouTube reliably feeds AI-generated videos containing questionable claims like these to children, often in… Continue reading Kids See a Lot More Misinformation Than We Think
Mark Rutte’s Mission To Keep NATO United and Strong
At the White House in March, President Trump asked NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte whether his current position is tougher than his former job as prime minister of the Netherlands. Though “Dutch politics are brutal,” Rutte said, “this job is quite tough.” Rutte, who took over as NATO chief last October, is tasked with steering the… Continue reading Mark Rutte’s Mission To Keep NATO United and Strong
How Much Energy Does It Take To Think?
Researchers don’t know precisely how that load is allocated, but over the past few decades, they have clarified what the brain is doing in the background. “Around the mid-’90s we started to realize as a discipline [that] actually there is a whole heap of stuff happening when someone is lying there at rest and they’re… Continue reading How Much Energy Does It Take To Think?
Would Thomas Jefferson Defund Harvard University?
Thomas Jefferson—author of the Declaration of Independence, our third president, and the founder of the University of Virginia—believed deeply in the power of education to serve a free society. For him, a university was not merely a place to learn facts—it was a training ground for citizens and leaders, guided by reason, liberty, and the pursuit… Continue reading Would Thomas Jefferson Defund Harvard University?