Opinion September 14, 2024 — 5.00am September 14, 2024 — 5.00am Ever since Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation was released earlier this year, calls for social media bans for young people (up to age 16 is Haidt’s recommendation) have continued to grow. Kids do way less outside than they used to. This week, the
Category: Science and Nature
‘The next threat’: Former UK cybersecurity chief’s warning for Australia
Australia’s recent spate of data breaches has been damaging but will likely pale in comparison to more disruptive attacks on the nation’s hospitals and airlines, according to a warning from the UK’s former top cybersecurity tsar. Tens of millions of Australians have been caught up in data breaches over the past 18 months with customers
News at a glance: Satellite tracks, jailed Russian physicist, and North Korea’s foreign professors
The latest in science and policy… » …
Strong El Niños primed Earth for mass extinction
Extreme weather sparked by ocean shifts set stage for Great Dying 250 million years ago… » …
Hubble Examines a Spiral Star Factory
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo named NGC 5668. It is relatively near to us at 90 million light-years from Earth and quite accessible for astronomers to study with both space- and ground-based telescopes. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a remarkable galaxy. It is around
Testing Europa Clipper’s Solar Arrays
Monika Luabeya Sep 12, 2024 On Aug. 21, 2024, engineers and technicians deployed and tested NASA’s Europa Clipper giant solar arrays. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch Oct. 10, 2024, on the first mission to conduct a detailed science
Residents in San Joaquin Valley breathe chemical pesticides, according to new study
Research from UC Davis Health found that 22% of adults and 10% of children who took part in an air-quality study in California’s San Joaquin Valley were breathing detectable levels of pesticides. That includes one chemical, chlorpyrifos, that is no longer permitted in California. The new findings are published in the Journal of Exposure Science
Ignore antifungal resistance in fungal disease at your peril, warn top scientists
Without immediate action, humanity will potentially face further escalation in resistance in fungal disease, a group of scientists from the across the world has warned. The commentary — published in The Lancet this week — was coordinated by scientists at The University of Manchester, the Westerdijk Institute and the University of Amsterdam. According to the
How an AI ‘debunkbot’ can change a conspiracy theorist’s mind
In 2024, online conspiracy theories can feel almost impossible to avoid. Podcasters, prominent public figures, and leading political figures have breathed oxygen into once fringe ideas of collusion and deception. People are listening. Nationwide, nearly half of adults surveyed by the polling firm YouGov said they believe there is a secret group of people that
Mega El Niños helped kill 90 percent of life on Earth
Low water level of the Guavio reservoir that feeds the Guavio Hydroelectric Power Plant in Gachala, Colombia, on April 16, 2024. Colombia has halted electricity exports to neighboring Ecuador as its hydropower plants reach near-critical levels due to a biting drought. The severe dry spell is associated with the El Niňo climate phenomenon and has