Is Consciousness Part of the Fabric of the Universe?

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September 29, 2023

Consciousness Is Consciousness Part of the Fabric of the Universe? Physicists and philosophers recently met to debate a theory of consciousness called panpsychism By Dan Falk

Astronomy The Loss of Dark Skies Is So Painful, Astronomers Coined a New Term for It Astronomers have a new term to describe the pain associated with the loss of access to dark skies: noctalgia By Paul Sutter,SPACE.com

Climate Change Pangaea Ultima, the Next Supercontinent, May Doom Mammals to Far-Future Extinction 250 million years from now, the emergence of a new supercontinent could render most of Earth's surface uninhabitable for mammals By Jonathan O'Callaghan,Nature magazine

Cosmology Hoʻoleilana, a Billion-Light-Year-Wide Bubble of Galaxies, Astounds Astronomers This enormous structure could help explain processes close to the dawn of time—or it could be a random cosmic fluke By Adam Mann

Basic Chemistry The Chemistry behind Bourbon How does bourbon, "America's spirit," get its distinctive taste and color? By Michael W. Crowder,The Conversation US

Climate Change Our Fragile Earth: How Close Are We to Climate Catastrophe? Lessons from past eras when Earth was a hothouse or a snowball tell us whether we are doomed by climate change or still have time to prevent that fate By Mark Fischetti

Education Two Thirds of American Kids Can't Read Fluently Phonics may be a popular way to teach reading, but it fails too many children By Marion Blank

Neuroscience Autism, Human Connection and the 'Double Empathy' Problem Despite stereotypes, many autistic people yearn for meaningful relationships, but they are daunted by neurotypicals' assumptions about them By Steve Silberman

Engineering Streetlights Are Mysteriously Turning Purple. Here's Why Newly purple streetlights might seem innocuous, but they could affect driver and pedestrian safety By Karen Kwon

Geology Dead Trees and a Mysterious Cosmic Explosion Reveal Bigger Quake Risk for Seattle Washington State's Puget Sound could face previously unknown earthquake risks, according to a new study that has pinned down the date of an ancient earthquake using tree rings and the radiation left by a mysterious cosmic force By Robin George Andrews

Epidemiology Flesh-Eating Bacteria Infections Are on the Rise in the U.S. Here's How to Stay Safe Here's why the CDC is so concerned about deadly flesh-eating bacteria and ways to avoid being infected By Bill Sullivan,The Conversation

BRING SCIENCE HOME Sensing with Your Feet! What objects can you identify with your eyes closed? What if you can only use your feet to feel them out? Try this activity for some sensational results!  Credit: George Retseck How many objects do you think you touch with your hands every day? A lot! Every time you touch something your hands are able to feel how smooth, cold, warm or rough the object is. In fact, your hands and fingers are so good at sensing details of shapes and surface textures that you are able to identify an object just by touch and without seeing it. Here is the challenge though: Do you think your feet are sensitive enough to do the same? Are they able to identify objects just by touching them? Try this activity to find out!

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