For more than 50 years, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center used the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS) to classify hurricane strength. This scale, which ranks hurricanes from Category 1 to Category 5, is based on only one metric: maximum sustained wind speed. That wasn’t always the case. Until 2012, the SSHWS also took central […]
Is Climate Change an Existential Threat?
The constant deluge of bad news about rising global temperatures and their impacts can make it feel like the world is ending. Is it? If a 60-mile-wide (100-kilometer-wide) asteroid slammed into Earth tomorrow, it would render the planet inhospitable to nearly all life forms, save for the hardiest extremophiles. This mass extinction event would wipe […]
When Will Genetically Modifying Our Children Go Mainstream?
In late May, several scientific organizations, including the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT), banded together to call for a 10-year moratorium on using CRISPR and related technologies to pursue human heritable germline editing. The declaration also outlined practical steps that countries and research institutions could take to discourage this sort of experimentation, […]
Why Are ADHD Rates So Much Higher in the U.S.?
Chances are, you know someone with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or you might have it yourself. ADHD is a complex condition characterized by symptoms like a constant inability to pay attention, impulsiveness, trouble sleeping, and mood swings. According to the latest data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 7 million children in […]
Did Scientists Detect Life on Another Planet? Experts Weigh in on Bombshell Biosignature Report
Last week, researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) announced they had found something intriguing on a distant exoplanet called K2-18 b: a potential whiff of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a molecule that, on Earth, is produced almost exclusively by microscopic marine life. The exoplanet, located about 120 light-years away, orbits within the habitable zone […]
Has the Dire Wolf Truly Been Resurrected? We Asked the Experts
The single splashiest bit of science news so far this year arrived earlier this week, when Colossal Biosciences announced that its scientists successfully brought back a version of the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus). In the company’s announcement, Colossal has claimed that its three “dire wolf” siblings, Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, are the world’s first examples […]