New Studies Support Wuhan Market as Pandemic’s Origin Point

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Scientists have released three studies that reveal intriguing new clues about how the COVID-19 pandemic started. Two of the reports trace the outbreak back to a massive market that sold live animals, among other goods, in Wuhan, China and a third suggests that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spilled over from animals—possibly those sold at the market—into … Read more

A mystery in Jupiter’s atmosphere sheds light on solar system’s past

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Jupiter’s atmosphere has a strange composition, but it could be explained if the planet formed farther away from the sun than where it orbits today, a new study suggests.  Scientists have known since NASA’s Galileo mission in the 1990s that the atmosphere of the largest planet of the solar system contains heavier chemical elements, elements … Read more

With ‘Limited Amount of Time Left,’ New IPCC Report Urges Climate Adaptation

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The lowly Bramble Cay melomys, a small Australian rodent, wasn’t the kind of animal that often made the news. But in 2019, it splashed across headlines. The reason? It was the first mammal to go extinct because of climate change. Named for the island where it used to live, the little rodent had been declining … Read more

Mysterious new substance possibly discovered inside Earth’s core

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Earth’s inner core may be filled with a weird substance that is neither solid nor liquid, according to a new study. For more than half a century, scientists believed that Earth‘s deepest recesses consist of a molten outer core surrounding a densely compressed ball of solid iron alloy. But new research, published Feb. 9 in the journal Nature, offers a … Read more

A Major Signal From ‘The First Stars’ May Not Have Come From Space at All

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A signal interpreted as the first light illuminating the Universe may not be from the far reaches of the Universe after all, a new study has found. In fact, it may not even be from space.   Far from being a problem, however, this new finding may just set the Universe to rights. The signal, … Read more

Atlas V rocket rolling to launch pad with GOES-T weather satellite for NASA, NOAA (replay)

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying an advanced new weather satellite for the United States is rolling out to its launch pad today and you can watch a video replay from its morning trip.  The Atlas V rocket is carrying the GOES-T weather satellite for NASA and NOAA to its pad at Space … Read more

Cowboy Culture Doesn’t Have a Monopoly on Innovation

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What does culture have to do with creativity? The answer could be “a lot.” For decades, psychologists trying to understand the roots of creative imaginations have looked at the way two kinds of cultures affect artistic and inventive efforts. Individualistic (sometimes called “cowboy”) cultures encourage people to be unique and to prioritize their own interests, … Read more

New Nuclear Power Plants Are Unlikely to Stop the Climate Crisis

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Last fall my Harvard University class and I went through an exercise to help the students understand how the world might address the climate crisis and keep the average global temperature increase below two degrees Celsius. Guided by John Sterman, a management professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the students pretended to be climate … Read more