Scientific debate is important for the questions it raises, not the early conclusions it reaches. “Even when Darwin’s teaching first made its appearance, it became clear at once that its […]
Search Results
You searched for: energy
As the economy seems to ask for ever-more productivity, coffee’s limited ability to keep us concentrated have become clearer.
If the industrialized and industrializing nations of the world do not commit to reducing fossil fuel emissions in the coming years, Earth will cross a climate change threshold by 2036.
There’s plenty of gas, dust, planets and rocky bodies out there. Could some combination of them explain dark matter? Image credit: Chris Blake and Sam Moorfield, via http://www.sdss3.org/surveys/boss.php. “When a […]
Statesmen and philosophers have grappled with the question of what it means to live a good life for millennia. The question of what it means to be a good company is certainly newer but perhaps no easier to answer.
If you’re binge-watching through the night, chances are you’re not getting enough sleep. That means you’re probably not nearly as productive or happy as you should be during the day. Take a crash course in story structure and self-control in order to quash your addiction.
Physicists at the University of Cambridge have found a theoretical foundation for the existence of wormholes, which are tubes that connect two different points in space-time.
Bottling doesn’t necessarily result in a more severe explosion of negative emotion down the line. According to studies which gave participants pillows to punch, actively expressing your anger makes you more aggressive.
The New York Supreme Court struck a blow to the oil and gas industry today when it ruled that towns can use zoning ordinances to stop landowners from engaging in hydraulic fracturing, more colloquially known as fracking.
General relativity sure does make some counterintuitive predictions. “They say the universe is expanding. That should help with the traffic.”–Steven Wright Each week on Ask Ethan, I take a dive […]
In around 540 BC, the world’s most efficient postal service belonged to the Persian Empire. A message could travel at a speed of roughly 200 miles a day. Today, we […]
If so, why, and if not, why does it feel that way? “The brighter you are, the more you have to learn.” –Don Herold With the seasons about to turn to […]
How the demons and angels of our greatest minds advanced science. Image credit: Luis Royo Fantasy Art, via Photobucket user mikenolan78. When most people think of Einstein, they think of […]
“[M]aybe decades or millenniums from now — here or someplace yet to be imagined — science on Earth, circa 2014, will look like nothing more than a good start.”
Clean energy. GREEN energy. Energy that can solve global warming. Environmentalists are all for it. And as a direct result, no matter what the benefits, conservatives are absolutely against it. […]
According to Duolingo founder Luis von Ahn, 800 million poor people around the world are trying to learn English to better themselves and improve their economic conditions. But most language lessons are expensive. His solution: Duolingo, a free app that runs on smartphones and computers.
In my post last week I linked to some work by Evan Selinger, a philosopher at the Rochester Institute of Technology who has been thinking hard about the ways seemingly […]
And what are the odds that it’s out there? “Since stars appear to be suns, and suns, according to the common opinion, are bodies that serve to enlighten, warm, and sustain […]
The most common source for radioactive dating depends on our Universe being active. “Life exists in the universe only because the carbon atom possesses certain exceptional properties.” –James Jeans Here on […]
A new international study that looks at how different species’ bodies evolve over time has found that as humans have acquired more brain power, they have lost power in the brawn department.
Why do young concertgoers shout their lungs out like they’re auditioning for a slasher flick? It’s partly because screaming is a customary ritual for such an event. It’s also because screaming is a primal form of sociological expression.
Coal is essential for creating steel, cement, and agricultural fertilizer, i.e. the pillars of modern society.
Does space stretch or does new space get created, and what does that mean for the conservation of energy? “If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch […]
The northeast Asian nation most famous for Genghis Khan is raising its profile on the world stage by courting foreign investment, boosting its worldwide diplomatic presence, and adopting a self-sufficient energy policy.
More and more often, societies around the world are facing a conflict that puts us all at risk. People reject scientific evidence when it does not fit their worldviews […]
Every prediction it’s ever made has been verified, except for one. “These neutrino observations are so exciting and significant that I think we’re about to see the birth of an entirely […]
We observe our Universe as it is today: 13.8 billion years old and full of galaxies. What would we see 100 billion years from now? “It is always wise to look […]
If cars were powered by thorium, a super-dense energy source far more compact than coal, your mode of transport could last over 100 years between fueling stations.
In an exciting development for electric cars, Elon Musk, the C.E.O. of Tesla Motors, has announced on the company’s blog that he’s making all of Telsa’s patents public in the […]
NASA today released this image of Gliese 832c, the closest potentially habitable exoplanet. From NASA: This planet is only 16 light years away — could it harbor life? Recently discovered […]