Science

The problem with the world
The problem with the world is some of the people on it. These people seem to share many traits and behaviours. They put themselves ahead of everyone else, everything they do must benefit a tiny minority and they always believe themselves to be right. They also tend to have a ridiculous amount of money and generally are very unpleasant people.
By ASHLEY SMITHabout an hour ago in Earth
Your Brain Doesn’t Sleep So You Can Dream. It Sleeps So You Don’t Fall Apart.
1. A flaw that looks like an evolutionary mistake If an engineer designed a wild animal, he probably would not add a feature that makes it lose consciousness for hours every day. Eyes closed. No real-time response. No hunting, courting, or fleeing. To a predator, that animal has washed itself and climbed onto the plate. Sleep researcher Allan Rechtschaffen put it bluntly: if sleep does not provide some irreplaceable vital function, it is the biggest mistake evolution ever made.
By Jina day ago in Earth
From Atoms to Life: The Rise of Complexity
• • • In the previous article, we introduced the first law of evolutionary development: the law of complexity. According to this law, the development of existence involves a continuous movement from simpler forms to more complex and highly organized ones, as new structures emerge from older ones.
By Han Elucidation3 days ago in Earth
These Aliens Were Locked Away for Years… But Why?
These Aliens Were Locked Away for Years… But Why? Governments don't build underground facilities, lock away classified footage for decades, or silence witnesses for no reason.
By kenon mcmillan5 days ago in Earth
I watched a king cobra swallow a banded krait. The “mutual bite” question answered itself.
The flashlight hit the king cobra when most of the banded krait was already down its throat. The last section of tail hung outside, black and yellow bands stretched by the swallow. The tail was still looped around the cobra’s neck. It looked like a rope that had gone slack. The cobra turned into the grass. Beside it, a small duck lay dead with its neck caught in the net. The net was still there, its mesh just wide enough to trap a snake whose head could pass and whose body could not.
By Jin7 days ago in Earth
Nine Geological Names That Look Chinese but Aren’t
Open an old geology textbook. The contents page lists nine terms: 寒武, 奥陶, 志留, 泥盆, 石炭, 二叠, 三叠, 侏罗, 白垩. They use Chinese characters. They do not read like everyday Chinese. Some readers take 寒武 as “cold” plus “martial force,” picture 泥盆 as a basin made of mud, or treat 二叠 as a kind of stacking. Those guesses make sense. The terms were not coined in Chinese. Most followed one route: nineteenth-century European geologists named rock layers after places, ancient tribes, or features of the rock; Meiji-period Japanese scholars translated the names into Chinese characters; late Qing and early Republican Chinese scholars brought the terms into Chinese through Japanese textbooks, students who had studied in Japan, and compiled works. The Chinese names carry two kinds of traces. Some characters record sound. Some carry meaning. Some readings lead back to old Japanese translations. Others lead back to maps of Europe.
By Jin11 days ago in Earth
The Shore That Keeps Moving
Once, my child went to the park by our compound to look for friends to play with. He didn't find anyone, but he lay down quite contentedly on the round archway. I took out my phone to take a picture of him, and he caught me. Lowering his voice, he said, "Don't make a sound. There's a bug on top of the archway (I don't know its name), and it's crawling very slowly." He just lay there, staring at it, as if guarding some enormous secret. I stood beside him for about two minutes. My legs began to ache, and my mind drifted to what we should cook for dinner. Suddenly he said, "It turned." There was a very serious kind of surprise in his voice.
By Jin12 days ago in Earth
International Day of the Wombat
Australia is renowned for its weird and wonderful animals. Each is cute in their own right. Each is endangered in some way, shape, or form. Today, October 22, is International Wombat Day.
By Calvin London14 days ago in Earth
Why Leaves Change Color: The Surprising Science of Fall's Best Show. AI-Generated.
Walk under a maple in late October and the light changes. It turns warm and golden, filtered through leaves that were plain green only a few weeks ago. It feels like the tree is putting on a show. In a way, it is doing the opposite: it is taking its costume off.
By Mitsuru Satou16 days ago in Earth
The Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week. Here's How to See Pieces of Halley's Comet. AI-Generated.
Sometime before dawn this week, tiny pieces of Halley's Comet will hit Earth's atmosphere at about 41 miles per second and burn up in a flash of light. You will not need a telescope, a ticket or any special skill to see them. You just need to know when to look up.
By Mitsuru Satou16 days ago in Earth
All Creatures Great and Small
You probably know that there are five main classes of vertebrate animals – mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Nature is so amazing. The diversity is incredible. Do you know the biggest and smallest in each class?
By Calvin London18 days ago in Earth
Three Laws of Evolutionary Development
• • • We have traced the story of existence from a cloud of hydrogen to human civilization. We have seen the direction: from simple to complex, from formless to structured, from lifeless to conscious. We have seen the pace: accelerating at every stage. We have seen the anti-entropic character: the whole advancing even as the parts decay.
By Han Elucidation18 days ago in Earth