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Toponium Found By CMS!

Toponium Found By CMS!

Apr 10 2025 | comment(s)

The highest-mass subnuclear particle ever observed used to the the top quark. Measured for the first time by the CDF experiment in 1994, and subsequently confirmed by CDF and D0 in 1995, the top quark is the heaviest elementary particle we know of, and it is a wonderful physical system per se, which has been studied with momentum in the past thirty years at the Tevatron and at the LHC colliders. 
The top quark
The Government Wants More Coal To Get Energy Costs Down - Is That Bad For The Air?

The Government Wants More Coal To Get Energy Costs Down - Is That Bad For The Air?

Apr 08 2025 | comment(s)

President Donald Trump is about to sign an executive order restarting coal leasing on federal lands while classifying coal as a critical mineral. 

Social media critics, and academics being quoted in media, are declaring the end of the world due to American pollution. Are they correct?
How Proposition 65 Made Products More Expensive Even Outside California

How Proposition 65 Made Products More Expensive Even Outside California

Apr 07 2025 | comment(s)

When the Proposition 65 referendum, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, was being debated, concerns about abuse and high cost were dismissed by the lawyers behind it with the assurance that lawyers wouldn't decide what products would be deemed carcinogens, the state would abdicate that to France's International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Duckweed Science May Lead To Food That Farms Itself

Duckweed Science May Lead To Food That Farms Itself

Apr 07 2025 | comment(s)

Duckweed split into different species 59 million years ago, when the climate was more extreme than even the most aggressive climate simulation produced now.

A new study, genome sequences for five duckweed species, reveals how duckweed can essentially farm itself, and because it can double in mass after two days what that might mean for the future of food science.
French Chicks Impacted Most: Activists Set Their Sights On Banning Tebuconazole

French Chicks Impacted Most: Activists Set Their Sights On Banning Tebuconazole

Apr 04 2025 | comment(s)

A French team conducted experiments using sparrow chicks and write in Environmental Research that their tests led to slower growth, with females impacted most. 

They targeted the common fungicide tebuconazole, popular on food crops because it can stop everything from necrotic ring spot to blights, mildews, and smuts. They compare it to the popular weedkiller glyphosate, which they claim has caused a decline in birds in Europe, despite scientists showing the top reason for bird population changes in various areas has been land use changes and not the use of pesticides lacking an Organic™ label.
Life-Size Sculptures Uncovered In Pompeii Debunk Myths About Ancient Women

Life-Size Sculptures Uncovered In Pompeii Debunk Myths About Ancient Women

Apr 04 2025 | comment(s)

Visitors to the site of Pompeii, the ancient Roman town buried (and so preserved for thousands of years) by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, don’t often think to look beyond the city walls. And it’s easy to understand why: there’s plenty on offer within this monumentally well-preserved town, from jewel-like wall paintings of myths and legends like Helen of Troy, to the majestic amphitheater and sumptuously stuccoed baths.

But step outside the gates for a moment, and you’re in a very different – yet no less important – world.

The Problem With Peer Review

The Problem With Peer Review

Apr 02 2025 | comment(s)

In a world where misinformation, voluntary or accidental, reigns supreme; in a world where lies become truth if they are broadcast for long enough; in a world where we have unlimited access to superintelligent machines, but we prefer to remain ignorant; in this world we are unfortunately living today, that is, the approach taken by scientists to accumulate knowledge - peer review - is something we should hold dear and preserve with care. And yet...
Mammals On The Ground Before The Dinosaurs Were Gone

Mammals On The Ground Before The Dinosaurs Were Gone

Apr 02 2025 | comment(s)

For decades, natural history books have taught that when a catastrophic asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, it wiped out the dinosaurs and gave mammals – until then mostly small, tree-dwelling creatures – a chance to flourish on the ground​. It’s the classic “mammals rise after dinosaurs fall” narrative.

Yes, We’re Living Inside A Simulation

Yes, We’re Living Inside A Simulation

Apr 01 2025 | comment(s)

Reporting Live From The SmartZero City Conference, Taipei

Reporting Live From The SmartZero City Conference, Taipei

Mar 28 2025 | comment(s)

What are sustainable cities, and can we build them? I put my Institute Fellows’ decades of experience together with the content of this fine conference, and conclude: (1) A sustainable city will attend equally to innovation, to human opportunity and dignity, and to the Earth. (2) Cities are not yet doing that. (3) There are obstacles.