Climate change threatens one of world’s biggest fish harvests | Science

The Peruvian anchovy is a small fish with a big impact. Only about the size of an index finger, they make up the single largest fish catch in the world—sometimes up to 15% of the global haul. Nearly all the highly nutritious fish are ground up to feed salmon and other farm-raised species that are … Read more

Omicron leads to fresh wave of scientific meeting cancellations | Science

In a near rerun of early 2020, when dozens of meetings were canceled on short notice because of the pandemic, a handful of scientific societies are once again canceling their in-person meetings as the ultracontagious Omicron variant sweeps across the globe. Although many societies were better prepared for the latest wave because they planned hybrid … Read more

When Will the Sun Die?

The sun gives energy to life on Earth, and without this star, we wouldn’t be here. But like most things in space, even stars have limited lifetimes, and someday our sun will die. You don’t need to worry about this solar death anytime soon, though. Inside the sun, a churning fusion engine fuels the star, … Read more

Lyme-carrying ticks live longer—and could spread farther—thanks to warmer winters | Science

PHOENIX—Fearing a case of potentially debilitating Lyme disease, countless hikers postpone their trips to the woods until winter, when the ticks that carry the disease have disappeared for the season. Or so many people had thought. Research reported here this week at the annual meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology has revealed … Read more

Look up to spot the tricky planet Mercury at its ‘greatest elongation’ from the sun tonight

This sky map shows the view from New York City just after sunset on Jan. 7, 2022. (Image credit: SkySafari app) The flighty planet Mercury, typically a tricky observing challenge from planet Earth, will be at its greatest distance from the sun in our sky Friday (Jan. 7). While Mercury will be shining quite brightly … Read more

Virgin Orbit lands in Times Square NYC to ring NASDAQ bell

NEW YORK — Another kind of countdown hit New York City’s Times Square Friday (Jan. 7) as a commercial spaceflight company celebrated joining the NASDAQ stock exchange. Virgin Orbit, the satellite-launching company founded by Richard Branson, brought one of its 70-foot-long (21 meters) rocket, LauncherOne, to Times Square amid New York City’s first sizeable snow … Read more

Gorgeous HD Footage Shows Humanity’s Final View of The James Webb Space Telescope

We can all breathe a bit easier now. In spite of a launch bedeviled by problem after problem, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is finally in space, making its way to its new home.   And if you needed a little reassurance that this is the case (which is totally understandable), the European Space Agency … Read more

Historical Shipwreck Keeps Moving, Revealing Dangerous Underwater Mudflows

For a ship that sank 80 years ago, the SS Virginia has traveled a fair distance: the oil tanker has moved more than 10 kilometers since it was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1942. The shipwreck, located off the coast of Louisiana, is riding lobes of mud moving over the seafloor. These mudflows occur … Read more

As Biden Sets Ambitious Climate Agenda, U.S. Emissions Rise

America went backward on climate in 2021. U.S. emissions rose 7 percent through the end of October, according to Carbon Monitor, an academic group that tracks emissions. The finding was echoed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which is also projecting a 7 percent increase in energy-related emissions. The increase puts the United States on a steep … Read more

Beth Singler interview: The dangers of treating AI like a god

By Emily Bates Beth Singler, anthropologist of AI at the University of Cambridge Dave Stock We are growing used to the idea of artificial intelligence influencing our daily lives, but for some people, it is an opaque technology that poses more of a threat than an opportunity. Anthropologist Beth Singler studies our relationship with AI … Read more