Science

Neuroscientists Find Two Types of Brain Cells That Help Us Make Memories

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Researchers have discovered two types of human brain cells that physically help us form memories. These cells play a significant role in dividing continuous conscious experience into distinct segments that can be recalled in the future.    As we move from the past, through the present, and into the future, we form autobiographical memories – … Read more

The James Webb Space Telescope will show us more stars than we’ve ever seen before

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You’ve probably heard of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, but do you know what it’s actually going to do? Webb is the most powerful telescope ever built, and its assorted instruments will give us a clearer view of more stars than we’ve ever seen. The observatory, which is currently undergoing calibration to prepare for the … Read more

NASA’s NuSTAR uses ‘nuisance’ light

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After 10 years fighting back photons in its peripheral vision, a NASA space telescope now has a way to use “nuisance light” to potentially increase its science productivity. NASA’s NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) X-ray space observatory successfully gathered information about a super-dense star, known as a neutron star, that was in its peripheral vision. Engineers … Read more

Russian Capture of Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Threatens Future Research

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The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Shortly after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, both governments said that the Russian military had taken over the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. In a tweet, the Ukrainian Ministry of … Read more

The Risks of Russian Attacks near Ukraine’s Nuclear Power Plants

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People around the world watched via livestreamed security camera as Russian forces attacked and took over Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant—the largest in Europe—on Friday morning local time. Amid the shelling and gunfire, a fire broke out at a training facility in the complex and was later extinguished, according to news reports. The incident raised … Read more

Even ‘Mild’ COVID Is Linked to Significant Brain Changes, Large Study Reveals

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One of the largest COVID-19 brain imaging studies to date has shed some unsettling light on the disease’s impact on our brains. Even in those with a mild or moderate case, a SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with “significant” neurological changes and loss of gray matter.    The study looked at the brain scans of 785 … Read more

Amid War, Biden Reluctant to Unleash Clean Energy Rhetoric

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Republicans are calling for more oil drilling. Europe says it’s doubling down on clean energy. But as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues into its second week, President Biden has stayed mum about how tectonic shifts in global markets should affect the future of U.S. energy. Gasoline prices have remained Biden’s consistent focus. He expressed … Read more

Giant Bubbles Expanding From The Milky Way Could Be Explained by a Single Event

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Two sets of giant bubbles that extend thousands of light-years above and below the plane of the Milky Way could have been produced by the same event, in spite of their significant difference in size.   They’re called the Fermi bubbles and the eROSITA bubbles, and astronomers believe they were the result of activity by … Read more

Too much of a good thing: Early impacts delivered iron to Earth but almost wiped out life

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Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute, host of Ask a Spaceman and Space Radio, and author of How to Die in Space. The Hadean era was a pretty wild ride. Earth had just formed, but meteorites constantly rained from the sky, pummeling our young planet for over 700 million years. Those impacts posed a … Read more