In 2021, the helicopter-like drone known as Ingenuity landed on Mars’ surface. This NASA-built helicopter became the first vehicle to engage in powered flight on another world. Last week, however, NASA announced that Ingenuity had sustained damaged to its rotor blades and can no longer fly. Ingenuity was launched on the same craft that brought …
Continue reading “End of NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Mission”
The nature versus nurture debate on the nature of human intelligence and many other traits is nothing new. Yet in the early decades of the 20th century, the scale was tipped largely in favor of the nature side. Most psychologists believed that intelligence was entirely heritable and that environment did not matter. A child born …
Continue reading “Iowa Orphans and the Nature of Intelligence”
On 5 February 2023, fifty cars of a train derailed in East Palestine, an Ohio town near the border of Pennsylvania. The train cars contained, among other things, vinyl chloride, a substance that raises the risk of developing several types of cancers. The derailment caused an enormous fire that required the evacuation of a three-square …
Continue reading “Almost A Year since the East Palestine, Ohio Disaster”
The lamprey is a type of jawless fish that has been on Earth for a long time. The oldest lamprey fossils are dated to 360 million years ago. There are 38 known species of lamprey worldwide, and many of these are carnivorous animals that feed by burrowing into the flesh of larger animals. Adult lampreys …
Veganuary is a global challenge that takes place during the 31 days of January and challenges individuals to eat only vegan during this time period. This event began back in 2014, initiated by a couple from New Yor City. One year later signups for the challenge numbered 12,800. In 2023, over 700,000 individuals around the …
For the past four and a half years, Julian Assange has been held in Belmarsh prison in the UK. The US has prosecuted him under the 1917 Espionage Act, a law used to target peace activists during WWI. Between 20-21 February of 2024, the High Court will hear Assange’s final appeal to avoid his extradition …
Continue reading “Date Set for Julian Assange’s Final Appeal”
For years, visitors to Yosemite National Park have experienced severe traffic jams when driving into the park. Those wishing to see this treasure of the US can often expect to wait for multiple hours to get to a parking spot. According to the National Park Service, Yosemite receives over 4 million visitors a year, and …
Continue reading “Yosemite National Park to Require Reservations in 2024”
Hydrogen trains are those that use the element hydrogen as their source of fuel. The hydrogen generates electrical energy in a fuel cell when oxygen is added, and steam containing water vapor is the only output. Electrolysis, or the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen, is the process used to obtain the hydrogen for …
Earlier this year, a high school senior in a LA school district was told that she was not allowed to hand out leaflets about the negative impacts of dairy on health if she did not also distribute pro-dairy literature. This requirement was despite the fact that the school already displays pro-dairy posters throughout the cafeteria …
Continue reading “Student Who Criticized Dairy Milk in School Wins Lawsuit”
In the US, stock buybacks – where a corporation purchases its own stock to inflate prices – were illegal throughout much of the 20th century. This practice was banned in the US because it was considered an underhanded way to manipulate the stock market. Enter the 1980s. Amidst a wave of privatization and elimination of …
Green Humanist