News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Scientists are on a mission to create a global network of atomic clocks that will enable us to, among other things, better understand the fundamental laws of physics, investigate dark matter, and navigate across Earth and space more precisely. However, to be at their most effective, these clocks will need to be reliably and … Read more
The criminal charges against Harvard University chemist Charles Lieber—and dozens of others ensnared in the U.S. Department of Justice’s China Initiative—have put a spotlight on the Thousand Talents Program (TTP), a Chinese government effort that brought Lieber and other scientists from overseas to China’s universities and research institutes. U.S. authorities have portrayed the program as … Read more
Throughout human history, astronomers have helped people understand what they see in the night sky. These famous astronomers — many of them great scientists who mastered many fields — explained space phenomena with varying degrees of accuracy. Over the centuries, a geocentric view of the universe — with Earth at the center of everything — … Read more
From sea to land to sky, Earth’s systems are contaminated with synthetic substances, and scientists warn it has already pushed the integrity of our planet over the brink. Today, there are about 350,000 human-made chemicals on the market, including plastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, cosmetic chemicals, antibiotics, and other drugs. The fact this number continues … Read more
Scientists are warning of an emerging ‘epidemic‘ of myopia or near-sightedness, having observed sharp increases in the adult onset of myopia among late baby boomers. Based on data collected from 107,442 participants in the extensive Biobank program in the UK, people born in the late 1960s are 10 percent more likely to be near-sighted than … Read more
In less than 24 hours the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will update the Doomsday Clock. It’s currently at 100 seconds from midnight – the metaphorical time when the human race could destroy the world with technologies of its own making. The hands have never before been this close to midnight. There is scant … Read more
For years, entomologists have worried about what appears to be a global decline in insect populations. But data on insect trends can be hard to come by. Scientists have studied relatively few of the some 900,000 living insect species they have named so far, and have yet to name millions more. Now, researchers say one … Read more
As it’s the foundation for all life on Earth, discovering carbon on other planets always gets scientists excited – and the Curiosity Rover on Mars has found an unusual mix of the chemical element that could hypothetically point to the existence of alien life. That’s by no means certain, but it’s a possibility. It’s … Read more
Scientists at universities perform much of the world’s cutting-edge scientific research—often while relying on shaky, homemade computer software written by students and postdocs. Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic organization founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt, his spouse, hopes to remedy that situation by investing $40 million over the next 5 years to … Read more
The signs of death are everywhere, if you look. For years, scientists have rung the alarm bell, warning that grave declines in animal biodiversity around the globe herald the onset of what will be Earth’s sixth mass extinction. Despite the looming weight of evidence to suggest this grim phenomenon is unfolding all around us, … Read more