Tag: SCIENCE

At the beginning of the month, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the US, at long last, will go back to the moon. At least, some day. Pence didn’t give a date, details, or even a ballpark cost during his speech at the opening of the National Space Council. But he did give a morale…

This story originally appeared on Mother Jones and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. There’s something different about the crop of Democrats running for Congress in 2018. As in previous years, the party has recruited a small army of veterans in high-profile races and in Republican-held districts. There are loads of state legislators, business owners, and government officials.…

A sheen is starting to appear on Rocky Blumhagen’s forehead, just below his gray hair. He’s marching in place in a starkly lit room decked out with two large flatscreens. On both of the TVs, a volcano lets off steam through wide cracks glowing with lava, their roar muffling the Andean percussion and flutes on…

This year, for the first time in my life, I’ll be hosting my family for the holidays. And to their deep disgruntlement, we’ll be celebrating it without a Christmas tree. No, this isn’t some principled stance against the yuletide-industrial complex or a personal front in the war on Christmas. I’m just much more interested in…

I remember the Christmas tree when I was younger. It had these large colored bulbs—they were pretty, but you couldn't touch them. Yes, these were the old style incandescent lights, and they could get wicked hot. They were essentially smaller versions for the bulbs you would put in your lamp. Today, many people still use…

This week, I settled down to watch the first episode of The 100. If you haven't seen the show, I'll just point out that it takes place in the near future (though it ran, on the CW, in the near past). For reasons that I won't get into, there is a spacecraft with a bunch…

In a feat of swagger only NASA could muster, three sunglassed men haul their payload across a lakebed in a 1963 Pontiac convertible. They’re towing what appears to be an enormous bathtub, but is in fact one of the strangest planes ever conceived: the M2-F1. It's a "lifting body," able to take flight without wings.…

Twenty-five particles and four forces. That description—the Standard Model of particle physics—constitutes physicists’ best current explanation for everything. It’s neat and it’s simple, but no one is entirely happy with it. What irritates physicists most is that one of the forces—gravity—sticks out like a sore thumb on a four-fingered hand. Gravity is different. Quanta Magazine…

Maybe you’ve heard: Science has a funding problem. But if you’re looking for a last-minute gift for the science-lover on your list (or just a good place to send your spare change), that problem is now your solution. Donations to science-related nonprofits and charities aren’t just a feel-good stocking stuffer. While President Trump’s science-slashing budget…

Add marijuana to humans, and you get some fairly predictable results: euphoria, hunger, introspection, anxiety, and a whole panoply of other effects. Also known as being high. Most of that complicated reaction is thanks to a single cellular structure known as cannabinoid receptor 1. Your body has CB1 receptors lacing the surfaces of cells in…