Posts

NASA’s Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, or Ecostress, generated a map of land surface temperatures of Las Vegas and the surrounding community. Recorded at 5:23 pm when heat peaked, the map reveals it radiating out from the city center from red to yellow. The map is a stark illustration of the “urban heat island” effect, which magnifies the dangers of extreme heat in cities. Human activity, vehicles, buildings and streets all soak up more heat (and take longer to cool off) than places that are less developed and have more vegetation....

This increasing demand for batteries rustles up interest in seabed mineral extraction because the deep seafloor may contain enough minerals to support the transition to a low-carbon energy system. However, deep-sea mining—the process of extracting minerals from the ocean below 200 meters—may destroy habitats and cause the loss of marine species. Is mineral extraction initiatives in shallow sea areas the key to meeting mineral demand sustainably? It’s unlikely, according to researchers....

This Muji notebook is a good option if you’re looking for a versatile pad that you can use for writing, sketching, creating lists, and even drawing out a planner. The dot grid is unique: it’s not quite a grid notebook, and not a line one either, nor completely blank. The dots on a grid make it feel like the pages are not structured, while still containing a pattern that will ensure your handwriting is straight....

“Besides almost stepping on a venomous snake and pulling ticks off of ourselves, critters were probably the least of our worries,” Daniels said. “We were doing intensely strenuous work in obscene weather conditions—the heat index is frequently 100-plus degrees. The terrain is very hilly, and hiking up and down hills is tedious, but even more so when the hiking is constantly interrupted by climbing over trees… or forcing our way through endless thickets of thorny vines....

Asoka, a lanky middle-aged guy in jeans and wire-framed glasses, attended the meet-and-greet in Portland, Oregon. He was one of the first to make a reservation for the Model X; he’s got a Tesla Roadster (license plate NV MYEV) but not a Model S sedan. He does have a Honda CR-V for the mix of utility and decent gas mileage. That’s why he was so eager to get in line for the Model X....

As detailed in a safety recall report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, the error involving a communication problem between two in-car chips could potentially cause false forward-collision warnings or automatic emergency braking, putting passengers at risk of being rear-ended by the car behind them if the feature unexpectedly activates during driving. On October 14, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter the company would be releasing a new firmware update to drivers with high safety scores (a metric tracked by the electric vehicles based on average behavior behind the wheel)....

Text messaging is one of the most popular forms of communication, particularly among young adults. According to the Pew Research Center, people between the ages of 18 and 24 send about 110 text messages on a normal day. “The fact that no one can see you, and the fact that you have time to think about what you’d like to say before you send a message are both features that can reduce people’s anxiety about social interaction, and can help them to talk about more personal topics without feeling embarrassed or shy,” says Mila Kingsbury, the lead author of the new study and a psychology doctoral candidate at Carleton University....

Here’s what the world’s foremost experts think are the top threats in 2019: Air pollution & climate change Every time we burn fossil fuels we contribute simultaneously to these two problems. The emissions exacerbate global warming, but they also enter our lungs—where minuscule particles can damage our organs. WHO notes that 9 out of 10 people breathe polluted air every day. This pollution affects more than just your lungs—it contributes to risk of dementia, impairs proper brain development and increases your risk of heart disease and stroke....

Here’s what that actually means. What is the Doomsday Clock? The Doomsday Clock is neither a meaningless art project nor a precise scientific measurement; it’s somewhere in the middle. The graphic was introduced in 1947, when artist Martyl Langsdorf designed a clockface at seven minutes to midnight for the cover of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. She picked the time of 11:53 p.m. somewhat arbitrarily, but the idea was to make people think about how much more dangerous life was becoming in the nuclear age....

“[The drugs] give the bull more resistance and can disguise a limp or an injury, which allows the animal to pass initial tests,” says Ricardo Mirat, a vet at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid. Seriously? As if killing a bull in a “fair fight” wasn’t bad enough, now we apparently should be picking on gimpy bulls. Stacking the deck for the matador, however, isn’t anything new. In 1985 a few bulls lost their balance during a fight triggering accusations of doping (or a long night on the town)....

Who or what built ChemCam? The Los Alamos National Laboratory: birthplace of the atom bomb, originator of hundreds of spacecraft instruments designed for use by the military, and home to the Center for Earth and Space Science, a division of the National Security Education Center as well as a hub of support for astrophysics. Los Alamos Lab operates under the auspices of the National Nuclear Security Administration, whose mission is to maintain and protect America’s stockpile of nuclear weapons while simultaneously working to undercut the proliferation of such stockpiles elsewhere in the world....

How freezing and warming changes food We all know water becomes ice when it gets cold enough. When it comes to food, that’s a bigger deal than you might think. As H2O freezes, it can expand up to nine percent. When this happens to liquid within your chicken cutlets or green beans, the resulting ice crystals rupture the cells, sort of tenderizing it from the inside. This means, when you’re ready to cook the ingredient, you have to be careful with that other key aspect of food, its texture Like freezing, defrosting changes a food item....

For decades, the conservation community has been advocating for the full and permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a program that uses royalties from offshore oil and gas operations to purchase new public lands and maintain public access. Today President Donald Trump—who has often been criticized by conservation and public land advocates—signed a bill that will do just that. “We’re here today to celebrate the passage of truly landmark legislation that will preserve America’s majestic natural wonders, priceless historic treasures—and that’s exactly what they are—grand national monuments, and glorious national parks,” President Trump said before signing the bill....

“The best part is going to Brighton Beach in the fall. Every week, the water is a little bit colder than the last. Before you know it, it’s 48 degrees!” Bonnie Schwartz Nolan, a management, operations, and financial consultant, swim coach, and successful English Channel swimmer from New York, tells Popular Science. She’s been bobbing in the cold waters off of Brooklyn for over two decades. To train for most marathon swims (a swim over 6....

The crimson disk—called a weight block—in this roller is taller than it is deep, and heavier on its bottom thanks to that silver circle, known as the slug. Those design decisions create uneven rotational forces, causing this model, the Code Red, to sharply swing from the edge toward the center for a strike. Despite the weird shape, the mass in the Phaze III’s green core is evenly distributed, so the sphere travels in a gentle curve through its impact with the pins....

Let’s not waste any time: There’s a jet suit in this year’s Best of What’s New list, yet somehow that’s not even what we dubbed the Innovation of the Year. That honor goes to a NASA probe that is, put simply, the fastest thing ever made by humans. Its destination? A little place known as the sun. There’s no doubting the sheer epicness of this year’s top Aerospace innovations; even the more-practical offerings—a floating virtual assistant for the ISS or an extra-safe helicopter—are so awesome you’ll find yourself casually bringing them up on your next first date or company holiday party....

Why the coloring book? Coloring books for adults are having something of a cultural moment not seen since the sarirical coloring books of the 1960s, with the task heralded for its mindfulness and derided as something merely for children. It’s also totally okay when they’re made for children. this Disney prototype for an augmented reality coloring book is stunning, and I imagine kids and adults alike can both enjoy finding the exact right colors for G....

A year ago, researchers at the University of California Riverside bought a 3D printer to help with their research in zebrafish embryos, but they were dismayed to find that the embryos were dying after being exposed to the chemicals. The researchers decided to investigate whether it was the chemicals causing the problem and if so, which ones. They decided to test proprietary plastics from two different 3D printers–one, called Dimension Elite, which creates an object by melting solid plastic then cooling it into the desired shape, and another called Form 1+ that starts with liquid resin....

If you’re one of the unfortunate few who don’t give a hoot about the Olympics, the biennial onslaught may feel overwhelming. After all, most sports fans don’t care about table tennis or pole vaulting when the games aren’t in session, so why should they get so obsessed all of a sudden? Turns out the appeal of the Olympics is less about the individual sports and more about how the event as a whole caters to different parts of the human psyche....

The late December announcement mentions only the concrete foundations that will support the installation. A February 2018 budget document notes that the Tactical Mobile Over-the-Horizon Radar, or TACMOR, “will support air domain awareness and maritime domain awareness requirements over the Western Pacific region. The project will demonstrate a sub-scaled over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) that is one quarter the size of traditional [Over The Horizon] systems.” The installation, as outlined, will have two sites....