During a briefing from the Oval Office this week, President Donald Trump revealed his administration’s plan for “Golden Dome”—an ambitious high-tech system meant to shield the U.S. from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missile attacks launched by foreign adversaries. Flanked by senior officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the project’s newly selected leader, Gen.… Continue reading Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Probably Can’t Work, According to Science
Competition Between GPs and Pharmacies Is Hampering Service Integration
Community pharmacies are mentioned as part of the government’s recently released 10-Year Health Plan, which aims to build an NHS in England that is “fit for the future.” The plan describes shifting from treating to preventing illnesses and from acute to community-based care—two areas that community pharmacies are well poised to support. In fact, most… Continue reading Competition Between GPs and Pharmacies Is Hampering Service Integration
Could Catholics Colonize Mars? (And More Weird Questions)
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