New "verbal treasure trove" dictionary captures nuances and uses of Shakespeare"s words
William Shakespeare used the word "dotage" to capture reduced mental ability (as in being blindly in love) rather than as a quaint term for old age, "successes" were really outcomes—one could talk of a "bad success"—and it turns out, the word "ba.....»»
She’s the New Face of Climate Activism—and She’s Carrying a Pickax
Sabotage. Property destruction. For Léna Lazare and her cohort, radicalized by years of inaction on the environmental crisis, these aren’t dirty words. They’re acts of joy......»»
White ants: The Earth"s backboneless backbone
The first thoughts that probably come to mind when you read the words "white ant" are images of house destruction, wood damage, pest control, and spending money! While white ants are in fact a major structural and agricultural pest, they are among th.....»»
George W. Bush uttered "the 10 most important words in the history of economics" in 2008, Warren Buffett says
George W. Bush uttered "the 10 most important words in the history of economics" in 2008, Warren Buffett says.....»»
Words like "this" and "that" act as attention tools across languages, research shows
Words like 'this' and 'that' or 'here' and 'there' occur in all languages. In a study published in PNAS, researchers from Yale University and the Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics (MPI) in Nijmegen show that such 'demonstrative' words are use.....»»
Dolphin cruises help Istanbul treasure its Bosphorus bottlenoses
As the first dolphin fin surfaced from the Bosphorus, a ripple of excitement went round passengers on a free boat ride to see one of Istanbul's most graceful sights......»»
Old videos of chimpanzees suggest they are capable of speech
A small team of speech specialists and psychologists from Sweden, the U.K. and Switzerland has found, via study of old videos, that at least three chimpanzees had learned to speak human words, suggesting that the animals are capable of learning this.....»»
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has made what could be its most astonishing discovery to date: possible signs of ancient life on the Red Planet......»»
Communicating numbers boosts trust in climate change science, research suggests
The intuition to distill hard numbers like "90 percent" into words like "almost all" may help make science and statistics more accessible, but new research shows that isn't necessarily the best way to engage people online......»»
From trash to treasure: Machine learning enhances organic waste recycling
Biological treatment methods such as anaerobic digestion, composting, and insect farming are essential for managing organic waste, converting it into valuable resources like biogas and organic fertilizers. However, these processes often face challeng.....»»
Oura Ring diary: Should there be an Apple Ring?
My diary pieces have so far been limited to Apple products, but I’m writing an Oura Ring diary because I view it as a good test of whether I think a long-rumored Apple Ring would be a good idea. In other words, to answer the question we raised w.....»»
Scientists replicate enzyme that captures carbon
Scientists from King's College London have recreated the active site of Acetyl-CoA Synthase, an enzyme involved in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. The research, carried out in collaboration with Imperial College London, advances our understandi.....»»
Researchers track individual neurons as they respond to words
When processing language, individual neurons respond to words with similar meanings. Enlarge / Human Neuron, Digital Light Microscope. (Photo By BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (credit: BSIP/Universal Images Group v.....»»
Scientists add the human element to long-term flood predictions
To better predict long-term flooding risk, scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a 3D modeling framework that captures the complex dynamics of water as it flows across the landscape. The framework seeks to p.....»»
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition review: welcome to speedrunning 101
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition captures the unique thrills of speedrunning, even if it feels like an introductory course......»»
My Steam library (probably) looks better than yours
There's a treasure trove of customization options within Steam that can turn a bland library into something unique to you......»»
Webb captures a Penguin and an Egg for its two-year anniversary
Today, July 12, marks two years since the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope were unveiled, and scientists have release a new image to celebrate......»»
Archaeologists report earliest evidence for plant farming in east Africa
A trove of ancient plant remains excavated in Kenya helps explain the history of plant farming in equatorial eastern Africa, a region long thought to be important for early farming but where scant evidence from actual physical crops has been previous.....»»
Webb captures a staggering quasar-galaxy merger in the remote universe
An international research group led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and comprising 34 research institutes and universities worldwide utilized the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (.....»»
Five common English words we don"t know the origins of—including "boy" and "dog"
The naming process, the act of naming the items of the world, is as old as the first words spoken by our ancestors. We can reconstruct the stages of this process through etymology, which studies the historical development of the lexicon of a language.....»»
Words such as racist slurs can literally hurt—here"s the science
Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, recently spoke of feeling hurt and angry at racist comments made about him during the UK election campaign. Anyone who's experienced racist or other discriminatory language is likely to know what this is like......»»