Neuromarketing and the Battle for Your Brain
WIRED · 11 minWe are constantly bending and being bent to the will of others—and neurotechnology may be enabling new methods for those seeking to bend others to their will.
Science
Curated by our editorsStories to fuel your mind
DNA From Beethoven’s Hair Unlocks Medical and Family Secrets
The New York Times · 7 minIt was March 1827 and Ludwig van Beethoven was dying. As he lay in bed, wracked with abdominal pain and jaundiced, grieving friends and acquaintances came to visit. And some asked a favor: Could they clip a lock of his hair for remembrance?
With Ships, Birds Find an Easier Way to Travel
hakaimagazine.com · 4 minWhy fly all the way across the ocean when you can chill out by the pool?
Glen Canyon Revealed
hcn.org · 26 minWhat comes next for Lake Powell?
My Left and Right Eyes See Slightly Different Colors. Is That Normal?
VoxI asked several visual perception experts to find out.
Popular with Pocket readersStories from across the web
JWST gets best view yet of planet in hotly pursued star system
Nature Publishing Group · 3 minYou have full access to this article via your institution. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have confirmed that the planet TRAPPIST-1b probably has no atmosphere.
There Is Still Plenty We Can Do to Slow Climate Change
Scientific American · 7 minAfter several years of agreements and plans to limit global warming, we are still way off track. This is one of the basic conclusions of the recent report put out by the world’s most authoritative body on climate science: the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
What the longest-lasting Mesoamerican cities all had in common
Popular Science · 4 minThe idea of a “lost city” may feel like an ancient legend or the plot of a movie, but some of the world’s abandoned cities were bustling not too long ago.
Change Is Always About Identity
greg-satell.medium.com · 6 minIn an age of disruption, the only viable strategy is to adapt. Today, we are undergoing major shifts in technology, resources, migration and demography that will demand that we make changes in how we think and what we do.
How Did the Universe Begin?
discovermagazine.com · 6 minOur growing knowledge of physical laws has allowed us to rewind the tape on the universe, tracing its evolution back to within a fraction of a second after the Big Bang.
What does cancer smell like? These animals can sniff it out
National Geographic · 6 minNext time you’re irritated that ants have gotten into your kitchen, you might take a moment to consider their extraordinary powers of perception. These tiny animals can detect markers of illness, such as cancer.
Cosmic rays passing through Great Pyramid help reveal hidden corridor
Big Think · 5 minOf the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only one is left standing: the Great Pyramid, located on the Giza plateau in Egypt. Built by the pharaoh Khufu about 4,500 years ago, it was the tallest human-made building on the planet until it was eclipsed in 1889 by the Eiffel Tower.
Mitochondria Transplants Save Rats from Cardiac Arrest
Scientific American · 5 minHealthy mitochondria, those tiny cellular structures high school biology teachers often tout as “the powerhouses of the cell,” are a necessity for producing energy in the body—but new research supports the idea that they are more than just adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–pumping machines.
How Two Approaches to Nuclear Fusion Could Create Endless Clean Energy
Bloomberg · 7 minThe day when humans can harness the same energy that lights the stars could come sooner than you think — getting there would unleash plentiful electricity without emitting greenhouse gases.
Why we need a new economics of water as a common good
Nature Publishing Group · 12 minYou have full access to this article via your institution. Water is the lifeblood of our planet — essential for keeping humans and every plant and animal alive. It helps to circulate carbon and nutrients in the air and in soils, and regulates climate.
These aircraft could change how we fly
MIT Technology Review · 5 minThis article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review's weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.
Humans Started Riding Horses 5,000 Years Ago, New Evidence Suggests
Scientific American · 4 minWe may never know when a human jumped on a horse and rode off into the sunset for the first time, but archaeologists are hard at work trying to understand how horses left the wild and joined humans on the trail to global domination.
This psychoactive plant could save lives—and everyone wants to cash in
National Geographic · 15 minAloïse Amougha clearly recalls the night 30 years ago when a spirit visited him and changed his life. “You have to plant iboga,” it instructed. “And with that iboga, you have to heal the world.”
NASA Budget Request Is a 'Soft Cancellation' of Venus Mission, Experts Say
Gizmodo · 5 minLast week, NASA released its budget request for 2024 with a proposed total of $27.2 billion, of which $3.383 billion would be allocated towards planetary science. However, the space agency only requested $1.
The Dwarf Planet on Our Doorstep
Nautilus · 8 minCeres is the biggest thing between Mars and Jupiter. But that didn’t make it easy to find. Darkly orbiting the sun from within the heart of the asteroid belt, it’s long been a spark for scientific imagination.
Starseeds: psychologists on why some people think they’re aliens living on Earth
The Conversation · 4 minThere’s a new group of people on Earth who believe they’re aliens.
Mathematician wins Abel Prize for ‘smooth’ physics
Nature Publishing Group · 4 minYou have full access to this article via your institution.
Mystery of Ancient Space Superstorms Deepens
Scientific American · 9 minWhen the Hydro-Québec power grid collapsed on March 13, 1989, the outage plunged the entirety of Quebec—more than six million people—into darkness for several hours. The event was triggered by a ferocious storm, but the tempest wasn’t of Earth’s making.
NASA wants new 'deorbit tug' to bring space station down in 2030
Space.com · 4 minNASA aims to develop a spacecraft capable of steering the International Space Station (ISS) to a controlled destruction in Earth's atmosphere when its time in orbit is up. We first learned about this plan on Thursday (March 9), when the White House released its 2024 federal budget request.
Climate Freeloaders Are Destroying the Planet
WIRED · 6 minAlaska isn’t supposed to be an inferno—but its summers are now so warm that apocalyptic wildfires are almost inevitable.