Humans Have Crossed 6 of 9 'Planetary Boundaries'

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

    

September 15, 2023

Climate Change Humans Have Crossed 6 of 9 'Planetary Boundaries' Scientists analyzed nine so-called planetary boundaries and found humans are currently transgressing six By Meghan Bartels

Dinosaurs 'Weird' Dinosaur Prompts Rethink of Bird Evolution A newly described fossil is as old as the "first bird," Archaeopteryx, and represents a birdlike dinosaur that might have specialized in running or wading instead of flying By Jude Coleman,Nature magazine

Mathematics Mathematician Solves 50-Year-Old Möbius Strip Puzzle A trapezoid was key to discovering the elusive answer to a riddle about Möbius strips By Rachel Crowell

Cognition Trying to Train Your Brain Faster? Knowing This Might Help with That Are you working really hard to learn something? Remember this counterintuitive fact, and you might improve your learning curve. By Karen Hopkin,Jeffery DelViscio | 04:46

Nutrition Food Can Be Literally Addictive, New Evidence Suggests Highly processed foods resemble drugs of misuse in a number of disturbing ways By Marta Zaraska

Consciousness Some Patients Who 'Died' but Survived Report Lucid 'Near-Death Experiences,' a New Study Shows In some cardiac arrest patients, a flurry of brain activity during life-saving CPR may be a sign of a "near-death experience" By Rachel Nuwer

Planetary Science Mysterious Moonquake Traced to Apollo 17 Lunar Lander Base The Apollo 17 lunar lander base is creating small-scale moonquakes on a daily basis By Stefanie Waldek,SPACE.com

Pollution Antarctic Research Stations Polluted a Pristine Wilderness Historical bad practices have left a legacy of pollution in the fragile ecosystem of Antarctica, but efforts are underway to chart a better future By Gemma Conroy,Nature

Artificial Intelligence Scientists Are Beginning to Learn the Language of Bats and Bees Using AI The new field of digital bioacoustics is using machine learning to try decipher animal speak, including honeybee toots and quacks and whoops. By Sophie Bushwick,Kelso Harper,Jeffery DelViscio | 11:10

Consciousness What Does It 'Feel' Like to Be a Chatbot? Generative AI has made giant strides toward machine intelligence. Can machine consciousness be far behind? By Christof Koch

Mathematics Mathematicians Think Saudi Arabia's Ambitious 'Line' City Should Be a Circle Despite efforts to make a planned city in the Saudi Arabian desert sustainable, its layout could create problems    By Manon Bischoff

Anthropology Ancient Human Fossil Trip to Space Raises Questions and Criticism The decision to send hominin bones on a commercial spaceflight has raised eyebrows among paleontologists By Ewen Callaway,Nature magazine

BRING SCIENCE HOME Make Mouthwatering Candy Melt What are the properties of your favorite candies? Use chemistry to test different types--and see what it is that makes your mouth water!  Credit: George Retseck What is your favorite type of candy? Have you ever wondered why you like this candy so much? Is it its taste, how it feels in your mouth—or both? Cooks and food scientists study how substances dissolve or melt to create a unique and pleasant sensation in the mouth and optimize the release of flavor. Would you like to know how your favorite candy works? In this science activity you will study two types of candy and discover what makes them so enjoyable.

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add newsletters@scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us

Scientific American

1 New York Plaza, FDR Dr, Floor 46, New York, NY 10004

Unsubscribe - Unsubscribe Preferences