To Fix the Space Junk Problem, Add a Self-Destruct Module
Humans have gotten pretty good at launching stuff into space—but way less good at getting stuff back down. Up in lower Earth orbit, along with a thousand-plus productive satellites, there are many more slackers: space junk, cosmic trash, garbage of the highest-orbiting order. According to the European Space Agency’s latest statistics, there are about 29,000…
How to Stop Netflix from AutoPreviewing Inappropriate Kids Shows
Parental controls were not a big thing in my household growing up. Both of my parents had acted in iconic horror films—Jaws and The Last House on the Left—and as such, didn't have much of an argument when I wanted to watch R-rated content. Now, as the parent of a 3-year-old, I'd like to shield…
Why No Gadget Can Prove How Stoned You Are
If you’ve spent time with marijuana—any time at all, really—you know that the high can be rather unpredictable. It depends on the strain, its level of THC and hundreds of other compounds, and the interaction between all these elements. Oh, and how much you ate that day. And how you took the cannabis. And the…
The Physics of the 69-Degree Intersection That Kills Cyclists
Sometimes when I see an awesome analysis on the internet, I just want to make it more awesomer. Really, this should be everyone's goal on the internet—either make stuff or make it more awesome. In this case, it's a post from Singletrack (and also covered by Boing Boing) looking at a particular crossroad in the…
First Man Lifts Off as an Indie Blockbuster—and Lands Perfectly
First Man is a rare bird. It’s a big, adventure movie that goes from the flats of the Mojave Desert to the surface of the moon; and it’s a deft, thoughtful film about overcoming grief. It’s got wrenching performances, and an entire sequence shot in IMAX that looks best on the biggest screen possible. The…
AI Learns a New Trick: Measuring Brain Cells
In 2007, I spent the summer before my junior year of college removing little bits of brain from rats, growing them in tiny plastic dishes, and poring over the neurons in each one. For three months, I spent three or four hours a day, five or six days a week, in a small room, peering…
California’s Water Whiplash Is Only Going to Get Worse
In December 1861, as a California drought was wearing into its fifth year, farmers on the West Coast were all asking for one thing for Christmas: rain. And boy did they get it. For 43 days rain and snow fell across the state, causing rivers to surge their banks, turning the 300-mile long, 20-mile-wide Central…
Scientists Just Solved a Major Piece of the Opioid Puzzle
Click:如何查询手机号是否注册微信 When it comes to tackling the opioid crisis, public health workers start with the drugs: fentanyl, morphine, heroin. But biochemists have a different focus: Not the opioids, but opioid receptors—the proteins the drugs latch onto within the body. These receptors embed themselves in the walls of cells throughout the brain and peripheral nervous system.…
Women Will Dominate—and Dismantle—the Music Industry in 2019
When Ariana Grande issued thank u, next earlier this month, she was staying true to a long-held promise. In a move rarely seen from an artist of imposing status, the album marked the pop enchanter's second studio release in just six months. (Her previous album, Sweetener, dropped last August.) Still, if you've followed the whirlwind…
To Understand the Universe, Physicists Are Building Their Own
Silke Weinfurtner is trying to build the universe from scratch. In a physics lab at the University of Nottingham—close to the Sherwood forest of legendary English outlaw Robin Hood—she and her colleagues will work with a huge superconducting coil magnet, 1 meter across. Inside, there’s a small pool of liquid, whose gentle ripples stand to…