WEIRD SCIENCE
Wildfires that swept through Sequoia National Forest in California in September 2021 were so severe they killed ancient trees that had adapted to survive fires. AP Photo/Noah Berger – By Shuang-Ye Wu, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton Last updated …
This year’s winning illusion was titled The Phantom Queen. Matt Pritchard – By Rich Haridy 2021 Dec 29 – An innovative anamorphic illusion has taken the top prize in the annual Best Illusion of the Year contest. Twisting minds for 17 years the contest …
Hilary Swank in AI thriller I Am Mother (2019). Photograph: Netflix – By John Naughton Last modified on 2021 Dec 25 – Forget about the danger of robots creating a sci-fi-style dystopia. The modern corporation is already doing all of that. In the …
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. – By Katie Hunt, CNN Updated 2021 Dec 22 – The human story — where we come from and how we evolved — …
Humanitarian groups have been calling for a ban on autonomous weapons. Wolfgang Kumm/picture alliance via Getty Images – By James Dawes, Professor of English, Macalester College 2021 Dec 20 – Autonomous weapon systems – commonly known as killer robots – may have killed …
Half a million phones received emergency alerts thanks to system offering a few seconds to take cover. Dr Lucy Jones, a seismologist, describes how an early warning system would work at a news conference in 2013. Photograph: Reed Saxon/AP – By Gabrielle Canon …
New research calls for more rigorous agricultural practices to control the uptake of heavy metals into cannabis plants grown for human consumption. fotovincek/Depositphotos – By Rich Haridy 2021 Dec 15 – A new study led by researchers from Penn State is outlining a number …
A new study has compared the volume of microplastics people consume through water, seafood and salt with the concentrations that cause damage to human cells. endewer1.mail.ru/Despositphotos – By Nick Lavars 2021 Dec 09 – With plastic waste turning up everywhere from Arctic snowfall to …
Vuity eyedrops have gone on sale as an alternative to reading glasses. Cookelma / Depositphotos – By Loz Blain 2021 Dec 14 – The first FDA-approved eye drops to treat age-related blurry near vision (presbyopia) have gone on sale in the US, offering a …
Plastic debris on a beach on Lanai, a sparsely populated Hawaiian island. Matthew Koller, CC BY-ND – Authors Matthew Savoca, Postdoctoral researcher, Stanford University Anna Robuck, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Lauren Kashiwabara, Master’s Degree Student in Biological …