panda

What time is Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch with GMA host Michael Strahan?

by

Blue Origin’s third crewed mission, which will send Good Morning America anchor Michael Strahan and five other people to suborbital space, is expected to launch early Saturday morning (Dec. 11).  Liftoff is expected from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One at 9:45 a.m. EDT (8:45 a.m. local time or 1445 GMT), but that is subject to … Read more

Two dystopian novels explore how language can be used to control us

by

By Sally Adee Are we really just puppets being controlled by the words of those in charge? Shutterstock/SvetaZi Outcast Louise Carey Gollancz 20 January “YOU’VE exceeded everyone’s expectations.” These are words that Tanta, the hero of Louise Carey’s InScape series, hears often from her boss. The resulting dopamine rush is strong enough to make her … Read more

Boosters Can Help End the COVID Pandemic

by

Opinion The extra shot doesn’t mean that vaccines are ineffective; our bodies just need a reminder | The Coronavirus Outbreak, A man is given a COVID-19 booster shot at Stony Brook University Research and Development Park in Stony Brook, New York on Nov. 17, 2021. Credit: Steve Pfost/Newsday/Getty ImagesOpinion The extra shot doesn’t mean that … Read more

Best mirrorless cameras | Space

by

Mirrorless cameras have been around for a little while now, but are increasingly popular among new and veteran photographers. The reason for that is they lack the mirror and viewfinder prism synonymous with SLR and DSLR cameras. Instead, mirrorless cameras use a direct feed from the image sensor to a small screen in the viewfinder, … Read more

Ultrasurf – The Net Nanny Killer

by

Working as a career network security professional and a parent of three, I always figured that the one thing I would not need to worry about is my kids getting into trouble on the internet on our home PC. Porn sites, blocked. Violence and hate sites, no go. Google safe search, turned on. Instant messenger, … Read more

We’ll never understand the universe while we’re drowning in admin

by

By Chanda Prescod-Weinstein Jay Shaw Baker/NurPhoto via Getty Images THE best bits of being a particle cosmologist are the moments where I feel the mathematical pieces of an idea click into place. When I understand an equation or successfully solve one, I have the same experience I had over 30 years ago when I was … Read more

Flooding Rains–and Blizzard Conditions–Hit Hawaii

by

Hawaii saw record temperatures over the weekend. Not for heat. For cold. Nighttime lows on the island of Oahu plunged to 56 degrees Fahrenheit — breaking a nearly 60-year record for what passes in Hawaii as extreme cold. Saturday’s daytime high was 70 degrees, the lowest on record, beating 76 degrees in 1965. And temperature … Read more

Johnson Space Center rocket park named for former director George Abbey

by

George Abbey now has more than a herd of longhorns to his name at the entrance to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Driving by the Houston home to NASA’s human spaceflight program, past the 35-acre pasture established by Abbey for Texas Longhorn cattle to graze, visitors now come across a sign dedicating Johnson’s Rocket Park to … Read more

The Amazon is turning into savannah – we have 5 years to save it

by

We have been hearing warnings about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest for decades, but experts say a catastrophic tipping point is now just over the horizon. Are they right? And if so, what can we do to pull things back? Environment 8 December 2021 By Graham Lawton The Ecuadorian Amazon Tropical Herping IT IS … Read more

In a First, Physicists Glimpse a Quantum Ghost

by

The wave function—an abstract concept used to predict the behavior of quantum particles—is the bedrock on which physicists have built their understanding of quantum mechanics. But this bedrock itself is not something physicists have a perfect grasp of, literally or philosophically. A wave function is not something one can hold in their hand or put … Read more