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Fiction Review by Robin MacArthur How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu William Morrow, 2022 ($27.99) Sometimes a novel comes along that feels so prescient—so startlingly aligned with the happenings of the real world—it seems plausible that the author was attuned not just to scientific foreshadowing but to some divinatory reading of the stars. I felt this reading Sequoia Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark, a dystopian narrative set in the near future about an ancient virus that is uncovered by a scientist named Clara while she is researching melting permafrost in the Arctic....

The holiday season is a time of giving and receiving, reflection on what is and what could be—and perhaps more than a little guilt. We all want to promote world peace and live in harmony, but what does that really mean? What does the intersection of praxis and theory look like? Is it a bumper sticker on your car, an annual donation to an international aid group, a bi-annual religious service attendance of your choice?...

In principle, religion’s emphasis on morality can smooth wrinkles out of the social fabric. Along those lines, believers are often instructed to act selflessly towards others. Islam places an emphasis on charity and alms-giving, Christianity on loving your neighbor as yourself. Taoist ethics, derived from the qualities of water, include the principle of selflessness However, new research conducted in six countries around the world suggests that a religious upbringing may actually yield children who are less altruistic....

Beverly Martinez was sitting at her desk in the office of a California scrap metal recycling plant when she felt the blast rattle her window. One of her co-workers, Leonardo Morales Zavala, rushed through her door, struggling to breathe. “Run!” he yelled. He had just cut into a one-ton tank to recycle it in the yard – a football field away – and out poured a noxious substance. He didn’t know what it was....

“Tipping elements” in the rapidly warming Arctic may add trillions of dollars to the long-term costs of climate change, a new study suggests. As temperatures rise, thawing permafrost may release large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, causing even more warming. At the same time, the disappearance of snow and ice cover—bright, reflective surfaces that help to beam sunlight away from the planet—will cause the Earth to absorb even more heat....

Early birds may get the best worms—or at least the best garage sale deals—but they also tire out more quickly than night owls do. In a new study researchers Christina Schmidt and Philippe Peigneux, both at the University of Liège in Belgium, and their colleagues first asked 16 extreme early risers and 15 extreme night owls to spend a week following their natural sleep schedule. Then subjects spent two nights in a sleep lab, where they again followed their preferred sleep patterns and underwent cognitive testing twice daily while in a functional MRI scanner....

Certain marine species could adapt quickly to climate change by tinkering with their genes. Recent research from the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence off the Labrador Peninsula found that the types of winter skate—a flat, cartilaginous species of fish—were changing their body structure to better suit the area’s warmer waters. But they weren’t evolving. Instead, they were simply switching which genes they chose to “turn on.” “This is evidence that species can adapt over relatively short periods of time in the evolutionary context,” said Paul Bentzen, a professor with Dalhousie University’s biology department....

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. In the BBC radio comedy show I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, panellists are sometimes asked to sing “one song to the tune of another”. Hilarious results ensue when the words of one song fit the rhythm and metre of the other but they have completely different sentiments: Jabberwocky and Jerusalem, for example. The game works because audiences recognise the disconnect between the sentiment of the lyrics and the music....

The United Kingdom’s struggle to leave the European Union is disrupting most aspects of public life, including the policies that underpin its goals on climate change. As Prime Minister Theresa May’s government prepares for Brexit with or without a deal, it is racing to create environmental laws and procedures to replace those it would leave behind. The United Kingdom joined the union of nations in 1973 when the global environmental movement was in its infancy, and its environmental laws grew up around its membership in the compact....

Nematode worms, fruit flies, mice and other lab animals live longer, healthier lives when they eat less than they otherwise would if more food were available. Primates may also benefit, and perhaps humans—which is why research funds are pouring into this phenomenon. But all this raises a puzzling question: Why did creatures evolve such a mechanism in the first place? Researchers have declared the most popular theory doesn’t make evolutionary sense, and they’ve proposed a new explanation in its place....

A common neurotransmitter that conveys signals among brain cells reverses its normal function to accommodate new neurons in the brain. Since the remarkable 1998 discovery that people can grow new neurons well into old age, researchers have wanted to know how the newbies integrate themselves gracefully into existing neural networks without causing interference. Studies in embryonic rodents and monkeys suggested that the neurotransmitter GABA, which normally inhibits neurons from firing, may instead be stimulating young neurons to fire....

Synthesizing complex molecules is a notoriously fiendish art—and a daily toil for many chemists. But Marty Burke, a chemist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says that he has found a way to create a machine that stitches molecules together at the touch of a button. “We could bring the power of synthesis to non-specialists,” says Burke. In his system, described today in Science, a computer controls a system of pumps and syringes to push around solutions containing compounds that can be clipped together like building blocks to create a wide variety of larger, more complicated molecules....

“You should be very proud of me. It’s an honor, and you will see the results, and everybody will be happy…. whatever you do, head high, with a goal, never be without [a] goal, always have a goal in front of you and always think, ‘what for.’” –Final letter to his wife by Ziad Jarrah, September 11 terrorist who crashed Flight 93 into a Pennsylvania field Police have an expression for people who put themselves into circumstances that force officers to shoot them: “suicide by cop....

Famed as the world’s longest-living rodent, the wrinkly faced naked mole rat has won Science Magazine’s Vertebrate of the Year award, confirming that the contest is based on more than just looks. The naked mole rat, a subterranean rodent native to East Africa, can live up to 30 years, roughly nine times longer than mice of the same size. With two yellow buck teeth protruding from a pale, hairless body, the mammal may not be an eye pleaser, but it has an alluring longevity-related adaptation that has gripped researchers in recent years: It seems to be immune to cancer....

Humans can survive unprotected in space for a few minutes before the air in their lungs expands, gas bubbles out of their blood and the saliva in their mouths begins to boil. In contrast, a tiny animal, reaching 1.5 millimeters in length, can survive for days in the harsh environment. Known as tardigrades, or water bears, they are found all over the world, from the sediments on the ocean floor to the lichens on mountaintops....

DNA and RNA, the two major modern forms of genetic code underpinning all of earthly biology, could have coexisted in strict pairings on our planet before life arose here, scientists in England, Scotland and Poland say. Using a hydrogen cyanide–based chemical system intended to mimic conditions in Earth’s early history, the researchers made four bases, the molecular “letters” of the genetic alphabet. Strung together, these bases form gene sequences that cells translate into proteins....

Imagine a quiet night like any other. Suddenly, your infant’s cries break the silence. Fully loaded with emotion, the sound triggers an urge to stand up and run to your infant’s room. But, considering that your spouse is a musician and you are not, who will be the first to reach the crib? According to Dana L. Strait and a team of researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois, the musician should win the race....

Congress has announced that it is close to a deal on government spending that would, for the next two years, eliminate the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration. The deal offers a respite from the partisan battles over government spending that culminated in October with a 16-day government shutdown, and it would give a budgetary boost to science agencies in 2014, rather than another set of cuts. The proposal was unveiled December 10 by Democratic and Republican negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate....

Key concepts Geology Water-holding capacity Soil types Introduction In the summer you might see colorful flowers, fresh tomatoes and yummy berries in the garden. But who is watering them? Maybe you wonder if they get enough—or too much water. Should they get water every day, twice a day or once a week? Should they be soaked or is frequently providing small amounts of water better? Unfortunately there is no general rule because much depends on the type of soil....

Amateur and federal investigators can extract a lot of information from this massive trove, including the locations and identities of Parler users. Although many of those studying the Parler data are law enforcement officials looking into the Capitol insurrection, the situation provides a vivid example of the way social media posts—whether extreme or innocuous—can inadvertently reveal much more information than intended. And vulnerabilities that are legitimately used by investigators can be just as easily exploited by bad actors....