Fifty years ago this month Gordon Moore published a historic paper with an amusingly casual title: “Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits.” The document was Moore’s first articulation of a principle that, after a little revision, became elevated to a law: Every two years the number of transistors on a computer chip will double. As anyone with even a casual interest in computing knows, Moore’s law is responsible for the information age....
Staying Power Treatment programs against tuberculosis have largely kept the potentially fatal airborne disease under control in the U.S.—the incidence has been dropping steadily since 1992. But the disease’s persistence worldwide and multidrug-resistant strains, created perhaps by incomplete courses of antibiotics, still pose challenges. A study examining data between 1994 and 2003 (the latest available) in California, the state with the greatest number of cases, highlights the issues. Number of U....
During the second and third trimester of pregnancy, the outer layer of the embryo’s brain, the cortex, assembles itself into six distinct layers. But in autism, according to new research, this organization goes awry—marring parts of the brain associated with the abilities often impaired in the disorder, such as social skills and language development. Eric Courchesne, director of the Autism Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues uncovered this developmental misstep in a small study that compared 11 brains of children with autism who died at ages two through 15 with 11 brains of kids who died without the diagnosis....
Music makes life better in so many ways. It elevates mood, reduces stress and eases pain. Music is heart-healthy, because it can lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate and decrease stress hormones in the blood. It also connects us with others and enhances social bonds. Music can even improve workout endurance and increase our enjoyment of challenging activities. The fact that music can make a difficult task more tolerable may be why students often choose to listen to it while doing their homework or studying for exams....
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization shattered the U.S.’s already patchwork abortion coverage. States where it was once incredibly challenging to receive this sometimes lifesaving medical procedure banned it outright. In some states, old laws regained their constitutionality, while in others, lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions were struck down. Interestingly, many states that ban or severely restrict abortion are also failing to comprehensively educate their young people about safe sex....
Should I sleep-train my baby? Should I go back to work? Is television going to fry her brain? Being a parent today can feel like a never-ending run of difficult decisions. There is no shortage of expert advice on which choices to make, but Brown University economist Emily Oster wants to offer something better than advice: information. Instead of advocating certain parenting practices, she aims to equip parents with the tools to make the best decisions for their unique circumstances, using her scientific training....
Shame is one of the scarier emotions. And it has the reputation of a bad boy—toxic and destructive. But maybe shame is less of a growling guard dog in a spiked leather collar and more of a yappy chihuahua. Maybe it’s something less sinister, more everyday, and even something that can be systematically overcome. Enter psychologist Dr. Joseph Burgo, who has been practicing psychotherapy for more than 35 years. His articles and commentary have appeared in such publications as the New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post and writes the blog Shame for Psychology Today....
NETHERLANDS The Ocean Cleanup, an engineering project that plans to take advantage of ocean currents to collect plastic waste, is scheduled to launch this summer off the coast of the Netherlands. The project, led by a 21-year-old, has received millions of dollars in funding and the attention of the public and scientists. UGANDA A new law dictates that parents who fail to vaccinate their children against diseases such as polio and meningitis could face up to six months in jail....
A volcanic eruption in Guatemala that spewed out ashy plumes and scorching-hot lava on Sunday (June 3) has killed at least 33 people, according to news reports. The volcano, known as Volcán de Fuego (Volcano of Fire), erupted just before noon local time. Lava as hot as 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius) sped down the volcano’s slopes and into the surrounding villages, covering roads, burning houses and hampering rescue efforts, Eddy Sánchez, director of the country’s seismology and volcanology institute, told the Associated Press (AP)....
By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A lightning strike killed a woman and injured seven other people on Friday as they hiked in the Rocky Mountain National Park northwest of Denver, a park official said. The group was at an elevation of 11,000 feet (300 meters) on the Ute Crossing Trail when they were hit by the bolt in the early afternoon, park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said. The woman, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene, two people were taken by ambulance to a hospital in nearby Estes Park, and five others drove themselves to the medical facility, Patterson said....
JULY 7–10 Upon winning a gold medal, most Olympic athletes have identical emotional reactions—tears of joy, passionate hugs and glowing smiles. Psychologist David Matsumoto of San Francisco State University noticed, however, that after the initial rush wears off, athletes exhibit a range of emotional expressions. He attributes this variation to cultural differences. For instance, Americans are more likely to maintain their jubilant demeanor, whereas Japanese athletes will try to cover up their emotions—say, by neutralizing their joy with a straight face....
Scientists have been skeptical of claims of mathematical abilities in animals ever since the case of Clever Hans about 100 years ago. The horse, which performed arithmetic and other intellectual tasks to delighted European audiences, was in reality simply taking subconscious cues from his trainer. Modern examples, such as Alex the African grey parrot, which could count up to six and knew sums and differences, are seen by some as special cases or the product of conditioning....
HELP FOR TRANS YOUTH As a therapist who has specialized in helping transgender people for 23 years and who is fully aware of the ever growing need to address the issue of transgender children, I was gratified that you chose to make this topic the cover story [“Transgender Kids,” by Francine Russo]. Although in general I thought the article was very well written, I want to point out a couple of flaws....
Vitamin D deficiency has become something of a health bugaboo in recent years, especially after a 2009 study that declared three quarters of U.S. adults and teenagers deficient. Low levels of the vitamin—which is manufactured by the body when sunlight hits the skin and can be found in some fatty fish and fortified food products—have been linked to disparate conditions, such as a sluggish immune system and psychosis. But a new report from the Institutes of Medicine (IOM), released November 30, concludes that the evidence linking vitamin D and calcium deficiency to anything but poor bone health is inconclusive....
Key concepts Chemistry Food science Recipes Introduction Have you ever wondered about the purpose of each of the ingredients in your favorite recipes? For example, why is baking powder used in some muffin recipes? How does the baking powder affect how the muffins look, feel and taste? In this science activity, you will use a scientific method to make some cornbread muffins to find out. And then you can decide on the best recipe to use if you want to make cornbread for New Year’s Day, which is part of a common tradition in the South....
Southern California’s beaches are an essential part of the state’s identity. The sandy, blond shorelines are like Hollywood or the towering redwoods—iconic. They are also an important piece of California’s more than $40-billion annual coastal and ocean economy. But scientists have bad news: Without human intervention, many of the region’s beautiful beaches may disappear by 2100 as sea levels rise. If the Golden State wants to save its golden shores, it will have to add sand to them—and lots of it....
For a recent flight that required a negative COVID-19 test result, I went through a process so silly and laborious that it got me wondering. First, I booked an appointment at an approved testing center, about a 25-minute drive from my home. Upon arriving, I paid $175 to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. I then drove home, downloaded an app and waited 24 hours—all to receive results that, in many other countries, can be obtained in a fraction of the time without ever leaving the house....
From 1915 to 1916 the number of cars and trucks registered in the U.S. jumped from 2.4 million to 3.6 million. In addition, a few hundred thousand vehicles travelled roads across Canada, France, Britain, and the rest of the world. Perhaps an insignificant number compared with the quarter billion registered today in the U.S. alone, but the motor vehicle had already transformed society. Reliable motor vehicles carried people and goods for work, leisure and armies in the field (a major consideration while the Great War was raging in Europe and elsewhere)....
This clustering of tornadoes could be due in part to larger changes in atmospheric patterns wrought by global warming, but there is still much work to be done to find those connections, said study author Harold Brooks, a senior scientist with the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. The findings, detailed in the Oct. 17 issue of the journal Science, are the latest in a series of recent studies suggesting that tornado variability has been on the rise, said Michael Tippett, a senior research scientist with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University....
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Ice over Iceland’s rumbling Bardarbunga volcano has melted to reveal a row of 1-km wide “cauldrons”, possibly due to a sub-glacial eruption, the country’s meteorological office said late on Wednesday. Rumblings at Iceland’s largest volcano system for about a week have raised worries of an eruption that could spell trouble for air travel. In 2010, an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano closed much of Europe’s airspace for six days....
