As president, Donald Trump pretty much checks all the warning boxes for an autocrat. Last September Scientific American warned of Trump’s “nonsensical conspiracy fantasies,” that he “ignores the climate crisis” and has fondness for “unqualified ideologues,” whom he would appoint should he become president again. It’s now May and sadly, that all checks out. The…
Have democratic countries merely offshored their emissions to places like this steel plant in Benxi, China? Jon Bower Pollution/Alamy Since 1990, the UK has reduced its emissions by 53 per cent, making it one of the world leaders in climate action. It’s not alone though – Sweden, France and Switzerland are just some of the…
A decade ago astrophysicists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), operated by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, managed to detect subtle ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves, released by a pair of black holes spiraling into each other, for the first time. That impressive discovery—which earned the 2017…
The tiny frog still packs a colourful punch Alexander Tamanini Mônico Resplendent with its blue stripes and golden legs, this newly described poison dart frog may look imposing, but it is only about the size of a thumbnail, measuring just 14 to 17 millimetres from the tip of its snout to its derrière, or cloaca….
Remember VIPER, NASA’s Off-Again, On-Again Lunar Rover? It’s Still in Limbo NASA’s nearly complete yet canceled lunar rover VIPER isn’t going to get carried to the moon by a private space exploration company—but it’s also not quite dead yet By Stephanie Pappas edited by Jeanna Bryner NASA’s VIPER, or the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover,…
A floating solar farm in Huainan City, China is part of the country’s renewable power build-out Imago / Alamy China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, has seen a slight decline in those emissions over the past twelve months, even as demand for power has gone up. This is an encouraging sign the country’s…
Placebo testing has been part of the process since the 1940s. It’s unclear what additional measures would achieve — but it may slow development.
Venus Isn’t (Geologically) Dead A reappraisal of decades-old data suggests that strange circular formations on Venus could be volcanic “rings of fire” created by ongoing geological activity By Elise Cutts edited by Lee Billings The northern hemisphere of Venus, as captured in radar data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft. Some of the circular features seen in…
Illustration of norovirus particles J Marshall/Tribaleye Images/Alamy A norovirus vaccine pill that cuts the risk of infection could be available in a few years, after it showed promise in a trial where people were intentionally exposed to the virus. The highly contagious virus infects the stomach and intestines, causing vomiting and diarrhoea that typically resolve…
On some Martian nights, a subtle, green glow hangs low in the sky, wreathing the horizon in every direction. A visible Martian aurora has finally been observed for the first time, researchers report May 14 in Science Advances. The observation, made March 18, 2024, by the Perseverance rover, is also the first of an aurora…
