Brain Might Not Stand in the Way of Free Will
Advocates of free will can rest easy, for now. A 30-year-old classic experiment that is often used to argue against free will might have been misinterpreted.
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Is the U.S. Moving Toward a Happiness Index?
Talk about the pursuit of happiness. Several cities and states are are already looking into citizen well-being or floating happiness initiatives as a measure of true prosperity. Yet defining, let alone measuring, happiness (and its counterpoint, misery) is no simple matter. Critics scoff at the idea, suggesting that it’s a fool’s errand.
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Starbucks of Ancient America?
In the 1600s, Europeans exploring the American southeast wrote of a purification ritual practiced by the native people, involving dancing, vomiting, and large amounts of what the travelers called black drink. Served from shell cups, the highly caffeinated tea was brewed from the shrub Ilex vomitoria, a species of holly. In a new study, researchers…
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Scientists Define New Limits of Microbial Life in Undersea Volcanoes
By some estimates, a third of Earth’s organisms live in our planet’s rocks and sediments, yet their lives are almost a complete mystery. The recent work of microbiologist James Holden of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and colleagues shines a light into this dark world. In the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they…
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Sikh Temple Shooting: Of Martian Rovers and Terror in Holy Spaces
How do violence, holy spaces, and diversity intersect in America? Terror in holy spaces is not a new facet of American religious history. Church and synagogue bombings occurred during the civil rights movement, including the notorious 1963 attack that took the lives of four young girls in Birmingham, Alabama. Sikh Americans have been targeted and…
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Curiosity Lands Safely: ‘Wheels Down on Mars’
Curiosity, the largest and most advanced spacecraft ever sent to another planet, stuck its extraordinary landing in triumphant and flawless fashion, and is poised to begin its pioneering, two-year hunt for the building blocks of life — signs that Earth’s creatures may not be not alone in the universe. NASA’s $2.5-billion mission involved the work…
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Human Cycles: History as Science
Sometimes, history really does seem to repeat itself. For the past 15 years, Peter Turchin, who studies population dynamics at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, has been taking the mathematical techniques that once allowed him to track predator–prey cycles in forest ecosystems, and applying them to human history. He has analyzed historical records on…
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Eyes Reveal Sexual Orientation
Whether you’re gay, straight or somewhere else on the spectrum, the truth of who attracts you could be in your eyes. Pupil dilation is an accurate indicator of sexual orientation, a new study finds. When people look at erotic images and become aroused, their pupils open up in an unconscious reaction that could be used…
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New Insights Into the Remote Control of Quantum Systems
An international collaboration led by physicists of the University of Vienna shines new light on the question of the resources required for achieving quantum information processing. The scientists demonstrate that less demanding resources, which are easier to prepare and to control, can be used for quantum-enhanced technologies. In the experiment, which is published in Nature…
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Ocean Acidification Disrupting Food Chains
Shellfish respond to increasing acidification in seawater – such as that produced by climate change – by producing lighter, thinner shells. As more and more carbon dioxide is generated by human beings, it becomes dissolved in the oceans, making them more acidic. And according to British, Australian and Singaporean scientists, this is affecting the size…