With 79 moons and a magnetic field 20 times stronger than that of Earth, Jupiter is a unique planet in the context of our solar system. The gas giant is the fastest spinning and most massive of our planets, not to mention home to a virulent storm called the Great Red Spot that has captivated […]
Peculiar properties of a polar planet Read More »
Morning glories bloom in a new year, and riparian trees paint canyon walls green. Sonoran green toads screech as they start their breeding season just as hummingbirds migrate to follow the nectar in new blossoms. Soon, prickly pear cactus fruit will ripen into their famous bright-red flowers. These are just some of the beautiful sights
Diametric disasters: Effects of climate change on monsoons in the southwest U.S. Read More »
“Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know that he was Zhuang Zhou.” Zhuang Zhou wakes up from his dream and finds himself back in his body, but then he comes to the strange realization that he could
Reality check: Are we living in a simulation? Read More »
Suppose Earth’s clock is reset to its very beginning. This would take us back over 4.5 billion years, passing the first human around 7 million years ago and the first microscopic organism 3.5 billion years ago. Then, we let the clock rerun. Would life evolve as it did for humanity, or is our existence a
One data point: Bayesian inference and the likelihood of life Read More »
Lawns have long been the sign of a clean and respectable neighborhood, causing U.S. homeowners to maintain weekly or even daily upkeep on 40 million acres of lawn nationwide. The history and environmental impact of a trim yard, though, suggests the grass is not always greener with traditional lawns. British colonizers initiated today’s concept of
The American lawn: Is the grass always greener? Read More »
If Americans learned anything from the 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, regardless of party affiliation, it was that polls cannot be trusted. Pollsters wildly missed the mark in 2016, with the New York Times giving Clinton an 85 percent chance of winning, FiveThirtyEight predicting a 71.4 percent likelihood, and Reuters gambling
Statistical slip ups: The problems with political polling Read More »
A symphony resounds, stirring feelings of peace and fear, sadness and joy, all in one piece and all without words. This absence of words in a classical symphony, or any instrumental piece, leaves just musical properties as the cause of an emotional response. Intuitively, most would say that fast tempos and loud dynamics create energy
Music, math, and the mind: Why do we perceive musical chords as good or bad? Read More »
Source: Pixabay As Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, the city plans to spend $25 billion to accommodate 33 sports and an estimated nine million attendees. Arenas will be filled with national pride, traditional ceremonies, and lifelong achievements — but what happens to the fame and fortune once the Olympic flame is extinguished? For
The Defeat of Olympians: How Olympic Venues Impact Surrounding Environments Read More »
Two hours, raw ingredients, and a zero-gravity oven. With these resources, astronauts baked the first cookies in outer space. Last December, Luca Parmitano and Christina Koch, stationed at the International Space Station (ISS), baked five chocolate chip cookies from frozen dough to determine cooking times and temperatures in zero gravity and why they differ from
A zero-gravity snack: Astronauts bake the first cookies in space Read More »