25 articles from SATURDAY 13.8.2022
Angela Rasmussen on Covid-19: ‘This origins discussion is the worst thing about Twitter’
Did Sars-CoV-2 emerge from a Huanan market stall or a lab? For the American virologist, who has been abused online for defending a ‘natural’ origin, the evidence is clearAngela Rasmussen studies the interactions between hosts and pathogens and how they shape disease. Before the pandemic, she worked on the emerging viruses that cause Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), Ebola, dengue and...
B.C. poet illuminates pages of popular scientific magazine with verses about the nature of light
Donna Kane's musings about starlight in the sky above Rolla, B.C., inspired her to write a poem weaving together science and imagery. Her poem has now been published in Scientific American, which has millions of...
Altruism is supposed to be a selfless act. So why did helping a stranger leave me feeling so foolish? | Martin Love
Helping a hitchhiker should have given me a warm glow of generosity, but ended with me feeling like a gullible shmuckWhat’s the most money you’ve ever given a complete stranger? £20, £30, £50… maybe more? I’ve always been free and easy when it comes to handing out small change on the street, but a couple of months ago I found myself in a different league altogether. I gave a man I had...
Satellite data finds landfills are methane 'super emitters'
Landfills are releasing large amounts of planet-warming methane gas into the atmosphere from the decomposition of waste and are a significant contributor to such emissions in urban areas, a study suggests.
World's biggest ice sheet could cause massive sea rise without action: study
The world's biggest ice sheet could cause "several meters" of sea-level rise over centuries if the global temperature rises more than 2°C, according to a British study published Wednesday.
How brain surgeon Henry Marsh went from doctor to patient: ‘I blurted out the question we all ask – how long have I got?’
For years, the author and neurosurgeon dismissed symptoms of prostate cancer. Then he finally got the diagnosis he’d been avoiding …It seemed a bit of a joke at the time – that I should have my own brain scanned. I should have known better. I had always advised patients and friends to avoid having brain scans unless they had significant problems. You might not like what you see, I told...
These Canadian startups are taking quantum computing mainstream
For years, quantum computers have mostly been the focus of academics and government. Now, experts say we could be near a turning point where the technology is closer to...
US astronaut Jessica Watkins sets sights on Moon... and Mars
If you had the choice, would you rather go to the Moon or Mars?
'Dead fish everywhere' in German-Polish river after feared chemical waste dump
Thousands of fish have washed up dead on the Oder river running through Germany and Poland, sparking warnings of an environmental disaster as residents are urged to stay away from the water.