Observations
Masks and Emasculation: Why Some Men Refuse to Take Safety Precautions
They think it makes them look weak, and avoiding that is evidently more important to them than demonstrating responsible behavior
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Observations
How a Landmark Physics Paper from the 1970s Uncannily Describes the COVID-19 Pandemic
Phil Anderson’s article “More Is Different” describes how different levels of complexity require new ways of thinking. And as the virus multiplies and spreads, that’s just what the human race desperately needs...
Observations
The Fight against COVID-19 Threatens to Cause Collateral Health Damage
The pandemic is no excuse to abandon chronic disease management and prevention
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Observations
Magnitude 7.1 aftershock disrupts efforts at Japan nuclear plant to stave off hydrogen explosions
As northeastern Japan coped with Thursday's magnitude 7.1* aftershock, the largest since the disastrous March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, the injection of nitrogen gas into one of the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was interrupted as Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) workers evacuated to a safer site, according to the Japan Broadcasting Corp (JBP)...
Observations
Which near-Earth asteroids are ripe for a visit?
In April 2010, amid mounting criticism that his space plan lacked direction, President Barack Obama gave a speech in Florida to lay out a few ambitious goals he had in mind for NASA.
Observations
The dawn of beer remains elusive in archaeological record
NEW YORK CITY—Who brewed—and then enjoyed—the first beer? The civilization responsible for the widely beloved beverage must have been a very old one, but we don't yet know who first brewed up a batch of beer, Christine Hastorf explained in a March 10 lecture at New York University on the archaeology of beer...
Observations
Post-it notes were a Scotch tape scientist's lucky mistake [Video]
Reading this at your desk? Chances are you have both Scotch tape and Post-it notes somewhere in your drawers. Both are made by an adhesive company, 3M, but the sticky stuff on Post-it notes was actually a mistake...
Observations
Ammonia from meteorites could have aided start of life on Earth
Asteroids and comets have long been suspected of helping nudge Earth toward life. The interplanetary interlopers have struck Earth since the beginning, delivering carbon, water, and sometimes organic compounds such as amino acids...
Observations
"Chemical body burden" researchers and advocates raise questions about biomonitoring studies and hazards regulations
WASHINGTON—The catchphrase "chemical body burden," or the presence of hazardous chemicals and their residues in humans, has started to be teased apart by researchers and environmental health advocates in recent years...
Observations
The International Year of Chemistry 2011: The chemical secrets of chocolate revealed [Video]
If it stinks, it's chemistry—that's one memory trick some smart-aleck high-school students might recommend to identify the core sciences. But chemistry goes far beyond noxious fumes...
Observations
X-rays blow up secret to van Gogh's fading sunflowers
The umber tinge accenting the tips of many of Vincent van Gogh's famous sunflowers has vexed conservators and chemists alike, who know that this hue was not what the artist had first daubed on his canvases...
Observations
Beyond the Light Switch: What to do about coal ash?
The aftermath of burning a mountain of coal isn't pretty. It's not just the ash itself; it's also the toxic elements that have been purified by fire out of the "fossilized sunshine." Those toxic elements come along for the ride when the coal ash spills, like it did near Kingston, Tenn., on December 22, 2008...
Observations
Ocean acidification may disrupt the marine nitrogen cycle
Ocean acidification, the result of roughly a third of global CO2 emissions dissolving into the seawater and lowering its pH, has complicated and poorly understood consequences for ocean ecosystems...
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