Nostalgia Evokes Many Things. Even Pain Relief, Scientists Show

The longing and wistfulness of nostalgia can make a person feel many different things. Amidst the memories, both happy and sad, you might even find a unique form of pain relief.   The observation is not new. Beyond boosting wellbeing and improving physical comfort, nostalgia has previously been shown to lessen perceptions of pain. Yet … Read more

People Who Jump to Conclusions Show Other Kinds of Thinking Errors

How much time do you spend doing research before you make a big decision? The answer for many of us, it turns out, is hardly any. Before buying a car, for instance, most people make two or fewer trips to a dealership. And when picking a doctor, many individuals simply use recommendations from friends and … Read more

Breathtaking New Chandra Pics Show Cosmic Objects Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Human vision may be limited to a specific range of wavelengths, but that doesn’t mean we’ll never understand the full complexity of light in our Universe. Instruments can peer into the cosmos in regimes that are otherwise invisible to our eyes, showing us not just the dynamics of the stars, but their absolutely awe-inspiring beauty. … Read more

River pollution: Can the Evenlode show how to clean up England’s waterways?

The Evenlode in Oxfordshire, UK, has been plagued by pollution, but farmers, the water industry and local volunteers are working together to clean it up Environment 2 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan “It’s depressing. It’s something we should be able to put right,” says Mark Purvis, standing next to a brook feeding the Evenlode, a … Read more

Climate fiction has come of age – and these fabulous books show why

As the climate crisis grows, “cli-fi” books are driving action by showing dark, all-too-possible futures, says climate researcher Bill McGuire. Here are some of his favourites Environment 2 February 2022 By Bill Mcguire Cli-fi provides visions of the future that aren’t yet too late to change Jorn Georg Tomter/Getty Images SCIENTIFIC papers, however well-written, rarely carry … Read more

New Maps Show US Flood Damage Rising 26 Percent in Next 30 Years

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Climate change is raising flood risks in neighborhoods across the U.S. much faster than many people realize. Over the next three decades, the cost of flood damage is on pace to rise 26% due to climate change alone, an … Read more

SpaceX double vision: These photos show two Falcon 9 rockets on their pads for back-to-back launches

Two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets stand ready to launch different missions from their Florida launch pads. At right is a Falcon 9 carrying 49 Starlink internet satellites atop NASA’s Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. At left, a different Falcon 9 with the Italian Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 satellite stands atop a pad at … Read more

This Extremely Toxic Lake Could Show Us How Life May Have Survived on Mars

The search for life on Mars is not an easy one. Not only is the red planet difficult to get to, it’s deeply inhospitable to life as we know it. However, there are places on Earth that could show us how life may have been able to survive on Mars – if not now, then … Read more

Waiting Over 5 Hours in ER Is Linked to Higher Death Rates, New Data Show

As emergency rooms worldwide are flooded with a wave of new COVID-19 patients, a large study in the United Kingdom has laid out the deadly consequences of delayed critical care.   Nearly 27 million individuals attended a major emergency room in England from 2016 to 2018, waiting on average just under five hours for a … Read more