DO YOU HAVE a big tub of pre-workout powder sitting close by? Look at the label. How many ingredients do you recognize?

Protein used to be the “it factor” in fitness supplements. But these products, sometimes called “pre-workouts,” have tweaked their recipes in the past decade. “One new trend is the increasing caffeine content,” says Andrew Jagim, director of sports medicine research at Mayo Clinic Health System in Wisconsin. In 2019, he and two other experts analyzed the chemical contents of 100 widely available pre-workout powders, vitamin supplements, and drinks to understand how consuming them might affect the average exercising adult. While the breakdown hasn’t changed much in the past four years, Jagim thinks some labels are more transparent now. “Historically, companies have listed their ingredients as proprietary blends,” he explains. “From the consumer’s perspective, they didn’t know how much of the ingredients they were getting.”

In general, Jagim says it’s safe to take one serving of a pre-workout before hitting the gym. The bigger question is whether the supplements really up your stamina, strength, and total fitness game. Let’s take a look at some of the helpers.

Beta-alanine

This protein builder counters muscle fatigue and soreness, letting you exercise harder and longer. But you have to take the right amount to feel the effect. In their study, Jagim and his team found that most pre-workouts contain around 2 grams of beta-alanine per serving—half of the recommended daily dose for adults. 

One word of caution: Ingesting more than 4 grams, or even 2 to 3 grams for some people, of beta-alanine at a time could lead to a tingling effect known as paraesthesia. There have even been reports of gastrointestinal distress, dizziness, and symptoms similar to anxiety after taking it on an empty stomach. Taking a lower dose, splitting it throughout the day, or consuming a different form (like a pill instead of powder) might ease any bad reactions. 

Caffeine

As any coffee or Red Bull fiend knows, caffeine gets you into a hyperexcited state by raising your heart rate, respiration, and blood flow. In other words, it warms up your body before you pop a single jump squat. It also fuels you throughout your workout, metabolizing slowly as your blood moves from the digestive organs to the central nervous system and muscles. Caffeine’s energizing effects are mainly caused by its interactions with the nervous system. They’re strongest 30 to 60 minutes after consumption and subside after another hour or two.

Most pre-workouts contain 250 to 300 milligrams of caffeine—equivalent to one to two cups of coffee. That falls under the daily 400- to 600-milligram limit recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But if you’re getting the same stimulant from other sources—energy drinks, soda, lattes with extra espresso shots—you might go overboard. “If you have anxiety or underlying heart problems, it can complicate issues,” Jagim says. He also cautions against giving highly caffeinated pre-workouts, or any caffeine, to kids younger than 16, and against taking them in the evening in case they make it harder to fall asleep.

Creatine

This coveted ingredient contains three nonessential amino acids that are naturally found in the human body, fish, and red meat. A main fuel source for muscles, creatine has all kinds of positive health effects, many of which have been well studied, Jagim says. For starters, it helps prevent muscle cramps, repairs torn tissue, and builds mass after intense interval training and heavy lifting. 

Many pre-workout products fall short of athletes’ creatine needs. On average, Jagim and his team measured 2.1 grams of the muscle-making additive, compared to the minimum of 3 grams recommended per day through diet and supplements. So what else is in these mixes?

Dimethylamylamine

A chemical that’s probably not listed on your pre-workout could be in it anyway. Dimethylamylamine (DMAA) is like a supercharged version of caffeine: It comes from amphetamines, a potent class of drugs that can be misused and result in addiction. The stimulant was often added to fitness supplements until the FDA classified it as a controlled substance in 2013. But some companies still slip in small amounts to get an edge over competitors, Jagim says. You shouldn’t be afraid of accidental “doping”—reports of bad DMAA side effects from pre-workouts are rare. Just avoid products on the FDA’s warning list for health violations.

If you’re still worried about what’s in your pre-workout and how it will affect you, look up the ingredients on a website reviewed by medical experts like examine.com, read the supplement fact label, and check if the item has a third-party certification seal. Or follow Jagim’s DIY approach and mix together three to four items (creatine powder, Greek yogurt, soy protein, or even cold brew) that fit your body’s needs. A store-bought supplement will probably do more good than harm, but in the end, you might spend more than it’s worth.

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Last year, Popular Science celebrated 150 years with an abundance of pomp and circumstance. We paid homage to our founders, poked fun at zany old experiments, corrected the record, and nerded the heck out.

But change is inevitable, even for a magazine with a mighty legacy. In a world that craves newness, our age is showing. As AI upheaves the internet, gene therapy reshapes medicine, and electric batteries bring transportation up to speed, PopSci needs to evolve to keep our readers entertained and informed. People consume far more information than they did a century-and-a-half ago, with vastly different channels—and we’re challenging ourselves to bring rigorous, creative storytelling to as many of those as possible. Our all-digital publication will now be published on PopSci+ first, giving subscribers access to features, galleries, and columns before the entire issue releases on our apps, on your ereader, or on Apple News+.

In other words, we’re making it work, which is why our spring 2023 issue hits exceptionally close to home. When PopSci editors brainstormed its theme last year, we were thinking something along the lines of “hacks” or MacGyver. But the message we landed on is so much stronger. 

“Make it Work” is a nod to all the tinkering and ad-libbing that comes with a scientific breakthrough; a salute to those who won’t quit until they’ve solved society’s most frustrating riddles; an ode to the understated inventions that make life run a little smoother. It’s also a sobering walk on the wild side, where we’re forced to wonder, “What happens if it doesn’t work?” The theme takes us to the “land of lost toys,” where stacks of magnetic tape gather dust; it sends us to the solar system’s edge, where two space probes are wandering beyond expectations. 

We see this kind of do-the-best-with-what-you-got attitude in our online coverage often. Whether it’s a computer scientist fusing mushrooms with motherboards or the simple ways to beef up a password, humans constantly want to make improvements. As a publication that’s lasted 150 years—and would like to survive 150 more—we share the same drive to adapt, succeed, and race to the front. Our new editor-in-chief, Annie Colbert, is taking the steering wheel to get us there; look out for her wise reflections and cultural witticisms in each issue going forward. 

The future looks bright, probably because modern LEDs use a fraction of the energy lightbulbs used to. What should the world upgrade next?

Read more PopSci+ stories.

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If you’re reading this, you’re probably stressed. Never fear: We’ve dug through the evidence to reveal what science really says about finding zen—and holding onto it through tough times.

In 2013, Charlotte Figi made national news by becoming the youngest patient in Colorado to receive cannabidiol (CBD) therapy to soothe her seizures. The five-year-old had struggled with severe epilepsy since infancy, sometimes experiencing 50 or more episodes a day, with little relief from standard drugs and dietary tweaks. By the time her parents started consulting doctors about CBD extracts, she had difficulty walking, talking, and eating without help.

Figi’s neurologist put her on a low dose of a specially bred strain of medical cannabis, later dubbed “Charlotte’s Web.” The effects were almost immediate. The seizures slowed from daily to weekly events, and soon, the kid was living life almost normally. After close to two years of the oral treatment, the doctors decided to wean Figi off other epileptic medications.

Figi’s story represents one of the clearest, most well-documented cases of the healing potential of CBD. (The young pioneer died in 2020, due to complications of COVID-19.) Though people have used the plant-based chemical to treat migraines and other bodily aches for centuries, the science around its efficacy is still inconclusive because it’s tricky to study its direct effect on the nervous system. Regardless, the industry has boomed in the past decade. Today CBD can be found in a range of products—from lattes to bath bombs to dog treats—and is marketed as a cure-all for pain, anxiety, insomnia, and even AIDS.

So, what should a person who’s buying CBD expect? There’s plenty of information out there, but the bottom line is confusing. Here’s an overview of what medical experts say about the ingredient and whether it lives up to its hype.

What is CBD?

CBD is essentially cannabis, minus the strong psychoactive bits. The carbon-oxygen-hydrogen compound can be found in high concentrations in Cannabis sativa and less-potent hemp plants. Sometimes manufacturers mix it with traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the cannabis-based chemical that gets people high, but it generally doesn’t carry the same dopamine-heightening and possibly addictive properties.

Like THC, though, CBD works its “magic” by cozying up to the nervous system. From what molecular scientists know so far, it somehow changes proteins found all over the body that are responsible for managing pain, inflammation, mood, appetite, and even memory. It’s still unknown how extensively it affects that internal chemistry, especially when combined with other ingredients, says Johns Hopkins University food scientist Kantha Shelke.

Is CBD legal?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently updated its regulations to state that it supports further research on benefits, safety, and use of CBD products. For now, the extract is considered a controlled substance if it comes from cannabis plants. It’s treated more like a dietary supplement or food additive when harvested from hemp.

[Related: Cannabis poisoning is on the rise in pets]

That seems relatively straightforward, but throw local laws into the mix and the standards become a lot more unwieldy. CBD is legal to sell and buy in one form or another around the US, though it’s harder to hawk across state lines because of the federal regulations. In places where it’s lawful, the ingredient can be added to any product as long as it contains less than 0.3 percent THC and is marketed correctly. If it’s labeled as a drug it has to undergo clinical tests and win FDA approval before it’s available for public use. The agency has only approved one CBD medication so far: Epidolex, which is used to treat the same genetic syndrome that Charlotte Figi had.

At the beginning of 2023, the FDA announced that it would work with Congress on a new set of CBD regulations, citing potential long-term risks to people’s livers, the male reproductive system, livestock, and more. Once they are passed, the substance will be in a separate class from dietary supplements and food additives. In the meantime, the agency cautions against giving CBD products to children, pregnant and lactating people, and pets.

What are the proven benefits of CBD?

Some of the best research on CBD’s therapeutic effects comes from treating childhood epilepsy (thanks to the Figi family), schizophrenia, sleep deprivation, and anxiety disorders. The chemical has shown strong results in relieving all four of these conditions, with “a clear calming effect,” according to one 2019 analysis. That said, most of the studies exploring this connection don’t include a control group, or a baseline for comparison.

When it comes to looking at CBD for pain relief, the research is even more flimsy. Tests have shown that it can be effective against arthritis in rats, and that it might work as well as opioids for multiple sclerosis and cancer patients. But many of these treatments also included some amount of THC, so it’s hard to say if CBD was the primary cause of relief.

There’s also the question of which forms of CBD are safe enough for consumers but strong enough to make a difference. For neurological conditions like anxiety or apnea, the chemical needs to be absorbed into the bloodstream to have maximum impact. That means it needs to be ingested, inhaled, or rubbed in at high concentrations. But as health reporter Sarah Jacoby wrote in Self while vetting her own CBD buys, many of the proteins that trigger pain and inflammation are located between the skin and veins. So, any cream or gel that wants to counter aching joints and tight muscles needs to be able to get through the dermis but not as deep as the blood vessels. That’s a tall order for any drugstore formula.

Overall, doctors are reluctant to call CBD a pain panacea. But companies keep putting it in gels, goos, tinctures, massage oils, and roll-on creams, and people continue to snap them up. (One market report put CBD sales at nearly $5 billion sales in 2020.) It’s clear that the ingredient is somewhat beneficial to human health—science just needs to understand how much.

Does CBD have any bad effects?

Medical researchers haven’t pinpointed any deadly patterns with CBD use yet. A few case studies have mentioned respiratory failure, but in many of those instances, the patients also had THC in their system. People have complained about nausea and gastrointestinal issues after taking high concentrations of CBD. The Mayo Clinic also mentions fatigue, dizziness, and loss of appetite as possible complications.

[Related: Can you overdose on weed?]

There are concerns that CBD might interact negatively with other drugs, specifically blood thinners like warfarin. But there’s no specific guidance on which medications to avoid mixing with the extract.

How much CBD should people take?

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to calculate safe and effective serving sizes for CBD. Dosing depends on body weight, desired effect, and the way a person is taking it. CBD products often come with suggestions, but those can be misleading, given that the FDA doesn’t test every supplement against its labels and claims. (The agency has issued warnings to dozens of companies who’ve listed incorrect information about CBD and THC levels in their products; see the full list here.)

“With CBD, dosage matters,” Shelke says, as over-indulgence has been associated with ill effects. But without a fundamental understanding of the chemistry of the ingredient, and how the cooking process changes it, it’s hard to come up with scientifically backed dosing recommendations. With the limited information available, Shelke advises to go the “less is better” route with any unregulated CBD products.

Why is CBD so hard to study?

Because CBD is one of hundreds of compounds in hemp and cannabis, it’s tricky to extract and standardize. If the chemical is tainted or alternated in any way during the process, it can have a different set of effects. The way it’s consumed also plays a big part in the reaction. As Figi’s neurologist wrote back in 2014, cooking or smoking CBD means adding heat, which could break down the chemical and make it less beneficial. Pills and edibles, on the other hand, need to be carefully engineered so that they don’t get neutralized by stomach acid.

All that variability, both in the plants and the products that are derived from them, makes CBD more challenging to test for medicinal purposes. It’s also often mixed with THC when treating chronic pain or life-threatening illnesses, so it take many extra layers of research to isolate the purely physical perks from the psychoactive ones.

Is CBD safe to cook with?

Plenty of food brands, restaurants, and cookbook authors are now folding CBD into their recipes. But does the ingredient have the same therapeutic effect when it’s baked in a brownie pan at 360 degrees Fahrenheit or seared in a skillet with sea bass and lemon rinds?

“There are many unanswered questions about the science, safety, quality, and physiological effects of CBD that need to be addressed before one can identify the effects of various chemical reactions on its efficacy,” Shelke says. Part of the issue with cooking with the extract is that the purity and the concentration is often unknown. This makes it even harder to know how it will interact with other ingredients, and whether that combination will help or harm a person. Bottom line: It’s better to avoid highly processed products or prepared meals with CBD, especially if you’re new to the compound.

What’s the best way to see if CBD works for me?

If you’re looking for a supplement to help you go to sleep at night, relieve a light migraine, or unwind after a stressful event, try a low-stakes gummy or topical oil. Be sure to choose a well-reviewed and reputable product, Shelke says: Just because it says it contains CBD doesn’t mean it will live up to its promise.

To treat chronic pain, depressive disorders, or other serious illnesses, get your doctor’s recommendations first. They can take stock of the latest research specific to your needs and also track how CBD works with other prescriptions you’re taking.

[Related on PopSci+: The tasty chemicals flavoring the edible cannabis boom]

As you head into the experience, manage your expectations. Like most wellness products that are backed by tepid evidence, the results can be hit or miss. Stay within the recommended doses on the products’ labels and report any unexpected side effects to your primary-care physician.

The future of CBD seems full of potential, but in present times, there are more questions than answers.

Update (April 19, 2023): This post has been updated with new regulatory information from the FDA.

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Astronomy sheds light on the far-off, intangible phenomena that shape our universe and everything outside it. Artificial intelligence sifts through tiny, mundane details to help us process important patterns. Put the two together, and you can tackle almost any scientific conundrum—like determining  the relative shape of a black hole. 

The Event Horizon Telescope (a network of eight radio observatories placed strategically around the globe) originally captured the first image of a black hole in 2017 in the Messier 87 galaxy. After processing and compressing more than five terabytes of data, the team released a hazy shot in 2019, prompting people to joke that it was actually a fiery donut or a screenshot from Lord of the Rings. At the time, researchers conceded that the image could be improved with more fine-tuned observations or algorithms. 

[Related: How AI can make galactic telescope images ‘sharper’]

In a study published on April 13 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, physicists from four US institutions used AI to sharpen the iconic image. This group fed the observatories’ raw interferometry data into an algorithm to produce a sharper, more accurate depiction of the black hole. The AI they used, called PRIMO, is an automated analysis tool that reconstructs visual data at higher resolutions to study gravity, the human genome, and more. In this case, the authors trained the neural network with simulations of accreting black holes—a mass-sucking process that produces thermal energy and radiation. They also relied on a mathematical technique called Fourier transform to turn energy frequencies, signals, and other artifacts into information the eye can see.

Their edited image shows a thinner “event horizon,” the glowing circle formed when light and accreted gas crosses into the gravitational sink. This could have “important implications for measuring the mass of the central black hole in M87 based on the EHT images,” the paper states.

One thing’s for sure: The subject at the center of the shot is extremely dark, potent, and powerful. It’s even more clearly defined in the AI-enhanced version, backing up the claim that the supermassive black hole is up to 6.5 billion times heftier than our sun. Compare that to Sagittarius A*—the black hole that was recently captured in the Milky Way—which is estimated at 4 million times the sun’s mass.

Sagittarius A* could be another PRIMO target, Lia Medeiros, lead study author and astrophysicist at the Institute for Advanced Study, told the Associated Press. But the group is not in a rush to move on from the more distant black hole located 55 million light-years away in Messier 87. “It feels like we’re really seeing it for the first time,” she added in the AP interview. The image was a feat of astronomy, and now, people can gaze on it with more clarity.

Watch an interview where the researchers discuss their AI methods more in-depth below:

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Years after Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan returned from NASA’s last crewed mission to the moon, he still felt the massive weight of the milestone. “I realize that other people look at me differently than I look at myself, for I am one of only 12 human beings to have stood on the moon,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I have come to accept that and the enormous responsibility it carries, but as for finding a suitable encore, nothing has ever come close.”

Cernan, who died in 2017, and his crewmates will soon be joined in their lonely chapter of history by four new astronauts, bringing the grand total of people who’ve flown to the moon to 28. Today, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency announced the crew for Artemis II, the first mission to take humans beyond low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The 10-day mission will take the team on a gravity-assisted trip around the moon and back.

The big reveal occurred at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in front of an audience of NASA partners, politicians, local students, international astronauts, and Apollo alums. NASA Director of Flight Operations Norman Knight, NASA Chief Astronaut Joe Acaba, and Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa White selected the crew. They were joined on stage during the announcement by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne. 

“You are the Artemis generation,” Knight said after revealing the final lineup. “We are the Artemis generation.” These are the four American and Canadian astronauts representing humanity in the next lunar launch.

Christina Koch – Mission Specialist, NASA

Koch has completed three missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and set the record for the longest spaceflight for a female astronaut in 2020. Before that, the Michigan native conducted research at the South Pole and tinkered on instruments at the Goddard Flight Space Center. She will be the only professional engineer on the Artemis II crew. “I know who mission control will be calling when it’s time to fix something on board,” Knight joked during her introduction.

Koch relayed her anticipation of riding NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) on a lunar flyby and back to those watching from home: “It will be a four-day journey [around the moon], testing every aspect of Orion, going to the far side of the moon, and splashing down in the Atlantic. So, am I excited? Absolutely. But one thing I’m excited about is that we’re going to be carrying your excitement, your dreams, and your aspirations on your mission.”

[Related: ‘Phantom’ mannequins will help us understand how cosmic radiation affects female bodies in space]

After the Artemis II mission, Koch will officially be the first woman to travel beyond Earth’s orbit. Koch and her team will circle the moon for 6,400 miles before returning home.

Jeremy Hansen – Mission Specialist, Canada

Hansen’s training experience has brought him to the ocean floor off Key Largo, Florida, the rocky caves of Sardinia, Italy, and the frigid atmosphere above the Arctic Circle. The Canadian fighter pilot led ISS communications from mission control in 2011, but this will mark his first time in space. Hansen is also the only Canadian who’s ever flown on a lunar mission.

“It’s not lost on any of us that the US could go back to the moon by themselves. Canada is grateful for that global mindset and leadership,” he said during the press conference. He also highlighted Canada’s can-do attitude in science and technology: “All of those have added up to this step where a Canadian is going to the moon with an international partnership. Let’s go.”

Victor Glover – Pilot, NASA

Glover is a seasoned pilot both on and off Earth. Hailing from California, he’s steered or ridden more than 40 different types of craft, including the SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule in 2020 during the first commercial space flight ever to the ISS. His outsized leadership presence in his astronaut class was mentioned multiple times during the event. “In the last few years, he has become a mentor to me,” Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman said.

[Related on PopSci+: Victor J. Glover on the cosmic ‘relay race’ of the new lunar missions]

In his speech, Glover looked into the lofty future of human spaceflight. “Artemis II is more than a mission to the moon and back,” he said. “It’s the next step on the journey that gets humanity to Mars. We have a lot of work to do to get there, and we understand that.” Glover will be the first Black astronaut to travel to the moon.

G. Reid Wiseman – Commander, NASA

Wiseman got a lot done in his single foray into space. During a 2014 ISS expedition, he contributed to upwards of 300 scientific experiments and conducted two lengthy spacewalks. The Maryland native served as NASA’s chief astronaut from 2020 to 2022 and led diplomatic efforts with Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency. 

“This was always you,” Knight said while talking about Wiseman’s decorated military background. “It’s what you were meant to be.”

Flight commanders are largely responsible for safety during space missions. As the first astronauts to travel on the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, the Artemis II crew will test the longevity and stability of NASA and SpaceX’s new flight technology as they exit Earth’s atmosphere, slingshot into the moon’s gravitational field, circumnavigate it, and attempt a safe reentry. Wiseman will be in charge of all that with the support of his three fellow astronauts and guidance from mission control.

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A new JWST infrared image, captured last summer but shared publicly this week, exposes some of the explosive details scientists have been looking for. The telescope used a spectrograph and two of its advanced cameras to record the halo of dust emanating from WR 124. The star is currently in the “Wolf-Rayet phase,” in which it loses much of its mass to surrounding space. The bright white spot at the center shows the burning stellar core; the pink and purple ripples represent a nebula of hydrogen and other ejecta.

Stars of a certain magnitude will go through the Wolf-Rayet transformation as their lifespan winds down. WR 124 is one of the mightiest stars in the Milky Way, with 3,000 percent more mass than our sun. But its end is nye—it will collapse into a supernova in a few hundred thousand years

[Related: This could be a brand new type of supernova]

In the meantime, astronomers will use images and other data from JWST to measure WR 124’s contribution to the universe’s “dust budget.” Dust is essential to the universe’s workings, as NASA explains. The stuff protects young stars and forms a foundation for essential molecules—and planets. But much more of it exists than we can account for, the space agency notes: “The universe is operating with a dust budget surplus.”

The spectacular cloud around WR 124 might explain why that is. “Before Webb, dust-loving astronomers simply did not have enough detailed information to explore questions of dust production in environments like WR 124, and whether the dust grains were large and bountiful enough to survive the supernova and become a significant contribution to the overall dust budget. Now those questions can be investigated with real data,” NASA shared.

As JWST enters its second year of exploration, the observatory will take a sweeping look at galaxies far and near to reconstruct a timeline of the early universe. But individual stars can add to that cosmological understanding, too, even if they aren’t all on a glorious death march like WR 124.

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EACH DAY, some 59 million parcels land on doorsteps and porches and in package rooms across the US. To manage the rising number of e-commerce orders, which amount to almost $1 trillion a year, companies have spread their operations across sea, air, highway, and rail. Few places embody the attendant growing pains better than the Port of Los Angeles, a Pacific nexus of the global supply chain web—and the country’s busiest commercial seaport.

The 7,500-acre facility, which is roughly six times the size of the Navy’s largest shipyard and sits partially on an island in the San Pedro Bay, is almost incomprehensible in scale until you’re above it, says photographer Justin Fantl. Though the scene can feel frantic, his images focus on the “organized design” of the terminals, where goods are lugged to and from boats.

In 2021, the ship, train, and truck hub processed 10.7 million standard containers, a record in its 114-year history. But it also hit bottlenecks as workers struggled to find enough hands, equipment, and space to unload the crush of cargo. As vessels and vehicles lined up, transportation experts found smarter ways to time transfers and reduce congestion. Their systems helped clear the backlog and set up smoother shipments in the future.

↑ The port’s 43-mile-long waterline has two key features: the harbor and the breakwater. The latter, a barrier made of 6 billion pounds of rock, protects the terminals from floods and waves. It also keeps vessels waiting to berth far offshore, so the smog from their engines doesn’t hurt Angelenos’ lungs. This strategy was in full effect in November 2021, when docking delays forced 86 container ships to loiter in the region. Typically, the number rests at a dozen, says Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which works with the city and the Coast Guard to direct traffic to and from the hub.

↑ Of the 31 terminals at the port, seven are dedicated to removing containers with towering cranes. The others are for emergency services, leisure cruises, and other industrial purposes. “There’s only so much real estate,” Louttit explains. “That’s one of the challenges: The number of terminals has remained static, even as the size of the ships has doubled or tripled.” Twenty years ago, vessels would max out at 8,000 standard containers; now they can hold up to 20,000, totaling more than 1 billion pounds of bulk goods.

↑ The average boat trip from China’s manufacturing hub, Shanghai, to Los Angeles spans thousands of nautical miles and takes approximately 15 days. With a little math, planning for a cargo drop becomes anything but guesswork. Louttit’s group tracks vessels departing from East Asian ports and Arctic waypoints to slot them into berths according to their cruising speed. This has drastically shrunk the number of ships waiting in the harbor, down to six at its lowest point.

↑ Auto shipments from Japan and South Korea make up a big part of the port’s business. Each year it gets more than 100,000 shrink-wrapped Nissans, Infinitis, and Mazdas, which the workers drive straight off the boats and into a lot. The cars are mostly distributed to dealerships in Southern California, though recent semiconductor chip shortages and COVID outbreaks on factory lines have diminished stocks.

↑ Dockworkers use cranes up to 200 feet tall to stack containers eight to 10 stories high. Each unit (full or empty) is tracked meticulously through ship manifests and a cloud-based “control tower,” from the deck to the dock and finally the dispatch vehicle. This data helps operations run more efficiently—and feeds the shipping updates that are emailed to customers.

↑ The port has six rail yards and more than 65 miles of tracks that shuttle containers to distribution sites farther inside the city. The lines carry about 26 percent of the cargo that comes to berth, and they will get a boost with a five-track expansion that should be completed next year. Another bonus: The high-capacity trains cut down on exhaust-belching semi trips, especially as the city swaps its diesel locomotives for electric ones.

↑ The American freight train network dates back to the 1830s. The modern supply chain still uses some of those transcontinental lines, but it gets help from logistics management software to choose the most efficient routes and times. In LA, they use a program called a port optimizer to line up transfers between boats, trains, and trucks as tightly as possible. Similar to traffic control in the harbor, this keeps freight cars from waiting at the yards.

↑ In late 2021, President Joe Biden struck a deal with the Port of LA to have it expand to a 24-hour daily unloading schedule. By then, the terminals were already less squeezed—and the bottleneck has further improved in recent months. But getting 18-wheelers loaded up in this bay is only a piece of the puzzle, Louttit from the Marine Exchange says: A shipment can hit snags in other parts of its journey. For example, if a restocking truck pulls up to a Walmart after it closes, what’s the point of working around the clock?

↑ Los Angeles traffic can be a nightmare for commuters and truckers alike. The single suspension bridge between mainland San Pedro and the island holding the terminals is often a pinch point. City officials hope a newly opened byway connecting to the nearby Port of Long Beach will provide relief, but they’re also remapping some highway routes to divert deliveries away from the rush-hour stream. If that doesn’t work, they may have to build a second passage over the inlet.

↑ After facing his own shipping delays during the pandemic (he was couchless for six months), photographer Fantl realized how much work it takes to mange the port’s operations—and keep every step of the supply chain in sync. “People don’t appreciate these bigger systems that allow us to live comfortably,” he says. “The fact that we can get a delivery in a day or two is unreal. I’ve come away with a little patience.”

This story originally appeared in the High Issue of Popular Science. Read more PopSci+ stories.

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HUMAN HEARING has its limits. Frequencies as high as 20,000 hertz (think of an anti-loitering alarm) can cause a pair of young ears to perk up. Any vibes above that fall into the range of ultrasound, meaning they don’t register to us at all. But gadgets like full-spectrum recorders and radio scanners have upped our auditory sensitivity and let us explore new worlds of information. Here are five shrill and mysterious noises that we’ve harnessed in some form.

A singer’s impossible peak

You might imagine Mariah Carey or Maria Callas would top the scales, but Brazilian soprano Georgia Brown set the bar by hitting a G in the high 10th octave. Musical experts later confirmed the note, which translates to about 25,000 hertz, earning Brown a Guinness World Record in 2004.

A medical device’s dramatic whine

Ultrasound machines create energy waves so fast and furious that they can pass through bone, fat, tissue, and other masses. The intensity of the transmissions depends on the medical application: Prenatal checks are usually set at 2.5 million hertz, breast scans at 5 million hertz, and skin-inflammation screenings at 100 million hertz. In some cases, extreme frequencies heal too: Pulses at 1 million to 3 million hertz have proven therapeutic for knee injuries like MCL sprains.

The cosmos’s cryptic message

In general, the universe operates in low frequencies (NASA recently recorded a black hole “screaming” at 57 octaves below the average adult voice). A mysterious radio signal from an unknown extraterrestrial location, though, screeches at such a high pitch that astronomers haven’t been able to precisely measure it. Nicknamed the “space roar,” this intense but diffuse energy wave could top out at 3 billion hertz.

A bat’s remarkable song

A diverse collection of creatures communicate in ultrasound, including katydids and hummingbirds. One species, however, takes it to a whole other level. The clear-winged woolly bat of Southeast Asia has one of the widest vocal ranges ever measured. Its echolocating buzzes can reach 250,000 hertz—more than 10 times higher than a human’s top shriek. Biologists hypothesize that the night flyers are locked in an evolutionary war with tasty moths: The higher the mammals raise their voices, the lower the chance their prey will hear them coming.

The body’s telling thrum

Heart murmurs can be a benign quirk or the sign of a deadly health condition. Family doctors might listen for them with a stethoscope, but a test called a Doppler ultrasound shows these irregular blood flows can whoosh around at up to 410 hertz, which is more than double the usual pitch. As a murmur courses through the arteries in the chest at varying speeds, the frequency of its sound changes, giving cardiologists a clue to the source’s severity.

This story originally appeared in the High Issue of Popular Science. Read more PopSci+ stories.

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Almost three years into the pandemic, the spotlight isn’t just on COVID medicine anymore. While booster shots and take-home antiviral pills gave us new tools to fight the infectious disease, health researchers and drug makers regained momentum in other crucial areas, like organ transplants, STI prevention, and white-whale therapies for alopecia and HIV. At the same time, AI deepened its role as a diagnostic aid, while mental health services got an accessibility boost across the US. We know the pandemic isn’t over—and other pathogens and illnesses are likely lurking undetected—but the progress we make in medical labs, factories, and care centers can help nurse societies back to health before the next storm hits.

Looking for the complete list of 100 winners? Find it here.

Grand Award Winner

AuriNova by 3DBio Therapeutics: A replacement ear that’s made from ear cells

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About 1,500 people in the US are born each year with absent or underdeveloped external ears. Traditional reconstruction techniques might fix the cosmetic issue, but a new 3D-printed ear transplant, called AuriNovo, offers a living substitute. The implant is made with proteins, hydrogel, and a patient’s own cells, giving it far more flexibility than any constructed with synthetic materials; plus, the procedure is less invasive than, say, transplanting tissue from a patient’s ribs. To build the replacement, a surgeon first takes a sample of an individual’s ear tissue to separate and culture the cartilage-making cells. Then, based on a 3D scan of the fully formed ear on the patient, the part is printed with collagen-based “bio ink” and surgically inserted above the jaw. A 20-year-old woman from Mexico was the first to get the implant this June. 3DBio Therapeutics, the New York-based regenerative medicine company behind AuriNovo, hopes to use the technology to one day create other replacement body parts, like noses, spinal discs, and larger organs. 

Paxlovid by Pfizer: The first take-home treatment for COVID-19

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COVID therapies have come a long way since the start of the pandemic, and now include several antiviral drugs and monoclonal antibodies. But Pfizer’s Paxlovid was the first oral treatment for the disease to receive emergency authorization from the FDA, meaning it can be obtained with a prescription. It’s also highly effective: Clinical trials show it reduces hospitalization and death from the virus up to 90 percent more than a placebo. The remedy is a combination of two pills: nirmatrelvir, which prevents the novel coronavirus from replicating, and ritonavir, which causes the body to metabolize nirmatrelvir more slowly. The drug does have downsides—it can interact with other medications and sometimes causes a foul aftertaste. Plus, rare cases of rebound COVID symptoms and positive tests have occurred in people following Paxlovid treatment, although research indicates that the latter might be related to the immune system responding to residual viral RNA. Still, it represents a crucial new safeguard for healthcare providers and the public.

EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lenses by STAAR Surgical: Combining the perks of contacts and laser surgery

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Most cases of nearsightedness and astigmatism, which is blurred vision caused by an irregularly shaped cornea, can be fixed with laser eye surgery. But the procedure requires some corneal tissue to be removed and often leaves recipients with lingering dry eyes. EVO ICL provides an alternative with a minimally invasive new way to correct or reduce both conditions. During the approximately hour-long procedure, a flexible collagen-containing lens is implanted between the iris and natural lens. The implant is meant to sit in the eye permanently, but can also be plucked out by an ophthalmologist if needed. In published clinical trial results, close to 88 percent of patients reported 20/20 or better and nearly all achieved 20/32 or better distance vision after six months. The lenses also block some UV rays for added protection.

Olumiant by Eli Lilly and Incyte: Long-term relief for severe alopecia

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More than 300,000 people of all ages in the US live with severe alopecia areata, a condition that causes the immune system to attack hair follicles, leading to patchy baldness on the scalp and elsewhere. Hair loss in the nose and ears can affect patients’ hearing and allergies, and a lack of eyelashes can leave people vulnerable to eye irritation from dust. Olumiant, the first medication to secure the FDA’s approval for severe alopecia, can help hair grow back over the entire body. It belongs to a group of drugs called JAK inhibitors, which block certain inflammation-promoting enzymes. It was originally greenlit by the agency in 2018 to treat some forms of rheumatoid arthritis, but in clinical trials for alopecia, it helped roughly a third of participants to regrow up to 80 percent of their hair by 36 weeks, and nearly half after a year. Other JAK inhibitors in development could provide alternatives for patients who don’t fully respond to Olumiant.

AIR Recon DL by GE Healthcare: Sharper MRIs in half the time

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Laying motionless for an hour or longer in a magnetic scanner can be a claustrophobic and sometimes nauseating experience. A next-level neural network by GE Healthcare reduces the stress on patients, while filtering out visual noise from movement or faulty processing. The software combs through raw radio-wave data from MRI machines and turns the most accurate bits into high-resolution 3D images. Originally, the AI-reconstructed images had to be stitched together—but the updated tech, which received FDA approval this September, delivers in one go. The speedy precision can cut exam times in half, help hospitals and clinics serve more patients, and possibly improve the rate of diagnosis by giving radiologists a much cleaner view of tissues, bones, masses, and more.

ONE Male Condom by ONE: Latex that works for anal sex

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At first glance this condom isn’t all that different from those by other brands. It’s made from natural latex, comes in three thicknesses, and has a wide range of sizes for best fit. But the contraceptive is the first to also be clinically tested for STI protection during anal sex—and has proven to be extremely effective. In studies involving 252 male-male couples and 252 male-female couples, the condoms had a less than 2-percent chance of breakage, slippage, discomfort, and adverse events (which included urinary tract infections and bacteria and viruses spread during sex). With such a healthy showing, the company earned the FDA nod to label the product as “safe for anal sex.” With widespread availability, there’s hope that the condom can help beat back a record rise in chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and other STIs.

Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech: A one-shot-fits-all approach

Ringo Chiu, AFP via Getty Images

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One of the niftiest features of mRNA vaccines such as Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID shots is that they can be tweaked and scaled up quickly to keep up with an ever-changing virus. This August, the FDA authorized the first bivalent COVID boosters, modified with new genetic data to target both the original version of SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5. Just how much added protection the bivalent shots offer against the latest versions of COVID remains to be seen, although in early results, the Pfizer-BioNTech booster increased antibodies against the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants by up to 11 times, while the Moderna booster did so by up to 15 times. Experts anticipate that the bivalent COVID vaccines, which are available to all adults and children ages 5 and older in the US, could save thousands of lives if the virus surges again this winter. 

Umbilical cord blood transplant for HIV by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Weill Cornell Medicine: The right cells for viral resistance

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There are now three official cases of patients in long-term HIV remission—but this one might be the most promising for the millions around the world living with the virus. In 2017, an unidentified American received a blood transplant packed with genes that were resistant to the pathogen behind AIDS. More than four years later, her doctors at Weill Cornell Medicine confirmed that the procedure at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center had indeed made her free of the disease. The miraculous sample was specifically taken from a relative’s umbilical cord blood cells, which were still in the process of maturing and specializing, making it easier for the transplant to take. Previous attempts to cure the disease depended on bone marrow donations that carry a mutated gene only known in Northern Europeans. This alternative treatment makes transplants more accessible for patients from other ethnic backgrounds, so their bodies can fight HIV in the long run as well.

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by SAMSHA: Streamlining the call for help 

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When you have a general emergency, you might call 911. But for people experiencing a mental crisis, the number has been a lot less intuitive. This July, however, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, run by the US Department of Health and Human Services since 2005, fully switched over to a three-digit code that’s easy to punch in: 988. The shortcut was years in the making, but required major collaboration with the Federal Communication Commission to connect every phone service provider to the alternative number. Since it went live, officials have reported shorter hold times and a 45-percent increase in use compared to August 2021, including on a specialized veteran hotline. The service shakeup also came with $177 million for states and tribes to support the transition in different ways, like alleviating surcharges, setting up call centers, and integrating crisis relief with existing or new emergency responses.

eCoin Peripheral Neurostimulator by Valencia Technologies: A discreet implant for bladder control 

Valencia Technologies

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Pads, vaginal seals, and skin patches can be a burden for anyone who has to deal with urinary incontinence on a daily basis. A new electrode device, about as small as a nickel and implanted above the ankle, nips the issue in the bud in a more private and convenient way. Incontinence typically occurs when the muscles in and around the bladder contract too often or too much. To prevent leaks and constant trips to the toilet, the eCoin sends low-key shocks through the tibial nerve, targeting the pelvic organs and relaxing the bladder wall. A doctor can control the intensity of the pulses with a remote, making the device more customizable for a broad range of patients. Neurostimulators have become a vanguard treatment for different nervous system conditions, including chronic back pain and even paralysis—but few are so adaptable as this.

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Stars love personal growth, but even they have limits. A new composite image from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) illustrates how the youngest members of a cluster in the Milky Way can exert “self control” in a process known as “stellar feedback.”

The action takes place in RCW 36, a cloud of mostly hydrogen ions located 2,900 light-years away from Earth. A group of stars is emerging from super-hot gas there—and leaving a strange pair of voids in its wake. The formation is also pulled together by dense, cool gas, giving it an hourglass-like appearance.

With data collected from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, APEX telescope, and the now-retired SOFIA and Herschel space instruments, a team of international researchers dove into RSW 36’s deserted regions. They learned that the ring of freezing gas (estimated at -430 to -410 degrees Fahrenheit) is being pushed out by the pressure of sizzling atoms in the middle (estimated at 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit). Radiation from the natal stellar bodies also helped clear out raw materials from both sides of the cloud. “This process should drastically slow down the birth of new stars, which would better align with astronomers’ predictions for how quickly stars form in clusters,” NASA explained in a blog post this week.

The pressure and plasma coming out of the hotspots are called “stellar winds,” and act similar to a galactic power washer. The scientists observing RSW 36 think the cold gas could be moving upward of 30,000 miles per hour, which means it’d be cleaning out 170 Earths worth of mass per year. At that rate, the cloud could be free of any fertile bits in the next 1 to 2 million years.

[Related: The Milky Way’s oldest star is a white-hot pyre of dead planets]

The team’s findings, which were published in The Astrophysical Journal in August 2022, indicate that the ruthless “stellar feedback” strategy could be seen elsewhere in the Milky Way and cosmos. Lucky for us, NASA and ESA has the tools to catch the stars red-handed.

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The Orion spacecraft is set to make its closest approach to the moon today, passing behind the orb for a little more than 30 minutes before skimming 80 or so miles above its surface. The flyby will take place at 7:44 am EST, and can be viewed over the NASA Artemis I stream.

Flight controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston had a busy weekend maneuvering Orion between Earth and its satellite. The team performed three trajectory correction burns with thrusters to nudge the capsule into the perfect spot and speed for the Artemis I mission’s milepost. As a result, the vehicle moved into “the lunar sphere of influence,” or more simply put, the moon’s gravitational field.

But the work doesn’t end there. The flyby will require precision in both navigation and propulsion to get maximum assistance from the moon’s gravity (which is only about a sixth as powerful as Earth’s). To enter the optimal elliptical pathway, Orion will use its main engine to push away from the celestial body and essentially, slingshot around it. The spacecraft is currently traveling at 547 miles per hour, though its velocity will change dramatically as lunar forces take over.

[Related: Have we been measuring gravity wrong this whole time?]

At 80 miles from the moon, Orion will snap images of its vantage point with its 16 onboard cameras. Other missions have made closer contact: The US, former Soviet Union, and China have combined for 21 successful lunar landings since the 1960s. But it’s important to remember that Artemis I is forging a path, somewhat literally, to exploring new regions of the moon. It will help NASA scientists finetune their measurements and procedures for sending more space systems, and one day, astronauts, to the satellite’s south pole.

Orion’s route over the next 19 days involves maximum coasting. One of the mission’s objectives is to see how well the capsule will fare in distant retrograde orbit, or DRO. This high-altitude, clockwise movement will bring the spacecraft around the moon 1.5 times—with minimum fuel use. Orion is already loaded with four first-of-their-kind solar arrays, which have been producing enough electricity to run two average-sized US homes. DRO, however, will let it cut down power use and save the energy for instruments and additional trajectory burns.

On the opposite end of its travels, the capsule will edge 40,000 miles past the far side of the moon, which is the farthest any habitable vehicle has gone in space. At that point of the orbit, it will be close to 300,000 miles away from Earth. Orion should hit that milepost in early December, and then start making its circuitous way back home.

Watch this morning’s action here:

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With Artemis I now well underway, NASA is ready to dive into lunar exploration like never before. The game plan includes new tools, new experiments, and new landing sites, all leading up to a new generation of astronauts walking on the moon again.

But modern missions are only possible with the regolith-breaking research of the past, including decades of trial and error by NASA and other space agencies to get us closer and closer to Earth’s satellite. While Apollo might get most of the credit, there were plenty of attempts before the Saturn V rocket made it to the launch pad—and plenty of successes after the program was retired. Here’s what we’ve learned from some of those moonshots.

[Related: Is it finally time for a permanent moon base?]

Pioneer 0 (Able 1)

August 1958

The US Air Force was the first group from any nation to attempt to launch a rocket beyond Earth’s orbit and to the moon. It failed catastrophically: The booster carrying the probe exploded barely a minute after blastoff. Thankfully, the craft was uncrewed and was carrying relatively crude astronomy gear. NASA was created just a few months later. The Air Force ran its space ballistics programs under many different name though the 2000s, until the US government finally established a new military branch called Space Force.

Luna 1

January 1959

The USSR edged out the US in the 1950’s by successfully launching a lunar aircraft—that just kept going. The Soviet machine was essentially a silver ball studded with antennas, but lacking any kind of engine. While it was apparently designed to smash into the moon, it missed the satellite by about 1.5 times the lunar diameter and wound up orbiting the sun instead. That in itself was a milestone first.

Luna 2

September 1959

Luna 2 was successful where Luna 1 failed: The USSR smashed an uncrewed metal sphere into the moon, making it the first time anyone landed anything on the lunar surface. It was also the first time a human-made object touched something else in the cosmos. The mission’s precise final destination isn’t known, but it was somewhere near the northern Palus Putredinis region (which translates to “marsh of decay”), famous for hosting Apollo 15 in 1971.

Ranger 7

July 1964

This space probe, made at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which had recently pivoted to robotic extraterrestrial craft, was NASA’s first success at a lunar impact mission—after 13 straight failures. Before crashing (on purpose) into the moon’s Sea of Clouds plains, the probe took more than 4,300 photos of the lunar surface. The images were used to identify future landing sites for Apollo astronauts.

Luna 9

February 1966

When the USSR’s automatic lunar station touched down on the moon, it was the first artificial object to survive its visit. Airbags helped cushion its impact near a 82-foot-deep crater, though it still bounced around a fair bit before stabilizing. Over the next three days, the craft sent back images through its TV camera system, which were later stitched together into panoramic views. The first “soft landing” on another world was followed shortly by Luna 10, which was the first successful lunar orbiter.

Zond 5

September 1968

The first living things to travel around the moon were the two Russian steppe tortoises (and some worms) aboard a Soyuz capsule that circled the satellite for six days. The unnamed reptiles survived the journey, splashing down in the Indian Ocean before being retrieved by Soviet rescue vehicles. Since then, we’ve launched dogs, an “astrochimp,” and more benignly, baby bobtail squid into space.

Apollo 8

December 1968

Not long after the tortoise brigade, NASA’s Apollo 8 mission put the first people, American or otherwise, in lunar orbit. Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders spent Christmas Eve flying around the moon 10 times in a 13-foot-wide capsule. Anders also famously took the photo “Earthrise” on the trip.

Apollo 11

July 1969

The Apollo missions progressed in quick succession, with the climax being the first steps on the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins logged some choice quotes as they made history in a voyage that was documented down to the last heartbeat. (Fun fact: Because NASA didn’t know whether there were microbes on the moon, the crew had to be quarantined for three weeks after their return.)

Chandrayaan-1

October 2008

India’s first deep-space mission made a big splash. The lunar probe, which kicked an ambitious new program into gear, carried NASA’s Moon Minerology Mapper, which, as a set of 2009 Science papers described, confirmed there were water molecules locked in our neighbor’s craters. Chandrayaan’s engineers lost contact with the machine 10 months into its orbital journey, following a sensor failure that caused it to overheat and killed its power supply. By then, though, the mission had completed 95 percent of its research objectives.

Chang’e 4

December 2018

The Chinese National Space Administration’s lander Chang’e 4 was the first craft to land on the moon’s far side. It touched down in a basalt crater in January 2019 and delivered a small rover, Yutu-2, that’s still exploring to this day. It also had some other special cargo: a cotton seedling that successfully germinated in a chamber on the moon, the first and only plant to do so.

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After a two-and-a-half month delay, NASA’s Artemis I mission blasted off from Kennedy Space Center today at 1:48 am EST. The launch ushers in a new era of human space exploration on the moon.

The launch came down to the wire after engineers discovered another liquid hydrogen leak in the mobile launcher about four hours before the planned go time. This prompted a “red team” to head to the blast danger zone to tighten the relevant valve, after which fueling resumed. The mission hit one more snag when the Range Flight Safety crew had to replace a faulty ethernet switch. The launch was put in a 10-minute countdown hold until a little after 1:30 am EST, when the green light finally came through.

The Orion spacecraft’s journey will cover about 1.3 million space miles and will fly farther than any other spacecraft built for humans. The mission is expected to last 25 days, 11 hours, and 36 minutes, with the capsule scheduled to splash back down on Earth on Sunday, December 11.

Artemis I is the first integrated test of NASA’s latest deep space exploration technology: Orion, the all-powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center. It is the first of three missions, and will provide NASA with more critical information on non-Earth environments, the health impacts of space travel, and more for further research around the solar system. It also showcases the agency’s commitment and capability to return astronauts to the moon.

While Artemis I is uncrewed, three test dummies named Commander Moonikin Campos, Helga, and Zohar are on board to collect data on acceleration, vibration, radiation exposure, and other potential effects on the human body. The mission will also pave the way to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon as early as 2025

[Related on PopSci+: NASA astronaut Victor J. Glover on the cosmic ‘relay race’ of the new lunar missions]

Artemis I was originally scheduled to launch August 29, but was postponed due to weather an an engine bleed. Launch controllers were unable to chill down one of the the rocket’s four RS-25 engines (identified as Engine #3). It was showing higher temperatures than the other engines, and ultimately, the countdown was halted at T-40 minutes.

According to NASA, the engines needed to be thermally conditioned before a super-cold rocket propellant flowed through them before the liftoff. The launch controllers increased the pressure of the core stage liquid hydrogen tank to send a small amount of fuel to the engines and prevent any temperature shocks in the engines. This is the “bleed” the engineers were referring to. But they couldn’t get Engine #3 down to the needed launch temperature.

In a news conference on August 30, John Honeycutt, manager of the Space Launch System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, said that the liquid hydrogen fuel used in the SLS rocket is about -423 degrees Fahrenheit. Engine #3 was about 30 to 40 degrees warmer than the other engines, which all reached about minus 410 degrees Fahrenheit. But the team didn’t find any technical issues with Engine #3, so the launch was rescheduled for the next available window.

During the scrubbed attempt, launch controllers faced several additional issues that were detailed by the NASA recap, including “storms that delayed the start of propellant loading operations, a leak at the quick disconnect on the 8-inch line used to fill and drain core stage liquid hydrogen, and a hydrogen leak from a valve used to vent the propellant from the core stage intertank.”

A second launch attempt was scrubbed on September 3 after the team encountered a liquid hydrogen leak while loading the propellant into the core stage of the SLS rocket. On September 26, another launch attempt was scrubbed as Hurricane Ian approached Florida.

[Related: Why the SLS rocket fuel leaks weren’t a setback]

Tropical weather also had an effect on today’s launch, which was originally scheduled for early November 14. NASA delayed it due to Hurricane Nicole and the SLS remained on the launchpad while the Category 1 late-season storm made landfall only 70 miles away.

“We design it to be out there,” said NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems Jim Free, in a news conference following the storm. “And if we didn’t design it to be out there in harsh weather, we picked the wrong launch spot.”

On Monday, NASA gave the “go” to proceed to launch and detailed their analysis of caulk on a seam between Orion’s launch abort system and the crew module adapter. Additionally, technicians replaced a component of an electrical connector on the hydrogen tail service mast umbilical. The mission passed the final decision gate at 3:22 pm EST on November 15.

“That’s the biggest flame I’ve ever seen,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson about finally getting the SLS rocket off the ground. He also reflected on the legacy of the Apollo missions, and how Artemis will open up a new chapter of lunar research and exploration. “We’re going back, we’re going to learn a lot of what we have to, and then we’re going to Mars with humans,” he said. “It’s a great day.”

About eight minutes into the launch this morning, the space capsule successfully separated from the rocket boosters. Nineteen minutes in, Orion unfurled its four solar arrays, each 63 feet long and embedded with cameras. As it entered Earth’s orbit, it was traveling at a speed of more than 17,000 miles per hour. NASA will share more mission updates throughout the day as the vehicle nears its destination and starts beaming back photos and other data.

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Halloween means ghosts, dog-lins, skeletons, meow-nsters, and hungry bats. But for your animals at home, it’s like any other day—until you stuff them into a ridiculous costume.

While there’s a lot to love about twinning Siamese cats and wiener dogs slathered in (fake) ketchup, mustard, and sauerkraut, your pet will communicate if they’re feeling festive or not. Some furry friends might enjoy the experience of dressing up; others might find it uncomfortable or even frightening. It all comes down to their breed, personality, and level of tolerance, says Amy Pike, a veterinarian at the Animal Behavior Wellness Center in Virginia. 

Take dogs, for instance. Breeds that are used to being groomed and handled a lot, like poodles and Shih Tzus, might not mind voguing in a sweater or a pair of booties for a night. Socialization is key as well. If your puppy was exposed to enough objects and settings before four months of age, they should be more receptive to a costume and a few hours of trick-or-treating. “Just like people, dogs have a spectrum of tolerance,” Pike says. She shares that her old canine would prance around in a taco outfit on Halloween, but the current one won’t even consent to little angel wings.

[Related on PopSci+: Can dogs be introverts?]

Cats, on the other hand, can be more squeamish to the tradition. “They don’t typically wear collars or harnesses, and might be more challenging to [put a costume on],” Pike explains. “But again, there’s a spectrum.” Felines go through a much quicker socialization stage that ends at around 9 weeks of age. If an owner gets them used to accessories early on, they’ll probably be better at going with the flow. (Pike points to MoShow, the furry rapper, as an example.)

With both types of animals, Pike says it’s important to look and listen for distress. Dogs especially use body language and facial expressions to tell you what they want. If a canine is non-verbal, pinning their ears back, tucking their tail down, or wrinkling their brow, those are signs that they want out. Cats, which are not so bent on appeasing humans, will outright refuse to put on your threads. 

The type of costume matters as well. Think of what your pet might feel good in, not just what is trendy, witty, or funny. The material should provide the right amount of coverage so that the animal is not too warm or too cool throughout the evening. Styles should not be restrictive: Your cat or dog needs to have a full range of motion for all four limbs. Finally, if you’re venturing outside, make sure you’re still able to attach a leash to their body or neck.

[Related: Your cat probably knows when you’re talking to it]

And remember, if you’re spooked by the sights and sounds around your neighborhood or at a party, a dog or cat probably would be, too. Loud, motion-sensor decorations can be triggering, so try to avoid them along your route. If your pet doesn’t interact well with kids, don’t take them around during peak trick-or-treating hours. Make sure to have some animal-grade goodies on hand: Positive reinforcement can help your buddy get adjusted to new places, stimuli, and experiences. A puppy will have more fun in a tutu if you reward them with scraps of roasted chicken.

In the end, Pike says to ask yourself, “who am I doing this for?” It’s okay to celebrate Halloween with your furballs, or even use them for entertainment if it’s harmless. Just know that pets aren’t people, so they might not find the holiday as bewitching as you do. 

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WHEN ACTION PARK first opened its gates on a New Jersey ski mountain in 1978, people probably showed up expecting run-of-the-mill amusements: go-karts, a lazy river, maybe a casual wave pool or two. But the 2,700-foot Alpine Slide, a track made of concrete, fiberglass, and asbestos that zigzagged through the funfair, was something else entirely. Riders plopped down on a little sled at the top—no helmets, no straps, no guardrails—and went wherever gravity took them at alarming speeds.

Eventually a park-goer did die on the Alpine Slide, and, after five additional fatalities and countless head wounds, electric shocks, and broken teeth, the entire venue shut down in 1996. New owners repeatedly tried to reopen the cult favorite destination, but after continued safety issues, the park’s operators finally decided to rebrand it a decade later.

While no other attraction can match its brazenness, Action Park lives on in the many rides that push today’s thrill-seekers to the edge of their comfort zones. Remember to read the fine print before you board these rowdy machines.

Most dimensions on a roller coaster

When Japan’s Eejanaika went up in the early 2000s, the steel coaster’s “fourth-dimension” design had to undergo multiple safety upgrades before it could start stealing people’s breath away. While it maxes out at about 75 mph (slow in extreme ride terms), it sends passengers spinning both parallel and perpendicular to the track. The seats rotate 360 degrees forward, backward, and sideways as they plunge down a 213-foot drop and swoop through 14 zero-G rolls. Since Eejanaika opened, barely more than a dozen other new 4D rollercoasters have debuted around the world.

Most sprains after going to the “rodeo”

The mechanical bull at a local dive bar may seem like the adult version of a bouncy house, but it’s a force to be reckoned with. With their aggressive torque, angular jerks, and short bursts of acceleration, the bucking plastic cattle can mangle unsuspecting (and often inebriated) bodies with every snap and toss. A survey of US hospital admissions from 2000 to 2020 estimated that mechanical bulls caused upward of 27,000 sprains, contusions, fractures, and other assorted ouchies. The majority of patients hurt their hands and arms. In other words, an iron grip could be your downfall.

Most distance falling down on your butt

Many visitors who summit Mount Kilimanjaro—that is, the 15-story-high body slide in Brazil, not the ice-capped volcano in Tanzania—chicken out when they see the drop. If you make it up 234 stairs and decide to brave the plunge, you’ll have to do without the padding of an inner tube. As bodies zing down a 60-degree angle at roughly a mile per minute, a trickle of water helps prevent friction burns. Extravagant views of tropical hills and the amusement park below almost make the wedgies worth it.

Most unpredictable carnival attraction

A Tilt-A-Whirl is essentially a giant centrifuge for humans; the clockwise and counterclockwise spinning—mixed with gravity, friction, and shifts in incline—creates what physicists call a “highly unstable” experience. Mathematical models can’t even predict the motion of the cars after a few seconds. So it’s not exactly shocking that the carnival amusement is prone to accidents like displaced cars. A report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission ranks these gyroscopes between Ferris wheels and roller coasters in terms of danger; they were responsible for about 20 percent of ride-related deaths between 1987 and 1999.

This story originally ran in the Fall 2022 Daredevil Issue of PopSci. Read more PopSci+ stories.

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After awarding three climate change modelers with the physics prize last year, the Nobel Committee recognized another trio of theorists in the field this year. Earlier today, it announced John F. Clauser, Alain Aspect, and Anton Zeilinger as the winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for their independent contributions to understanding quantum entanglement.

Quantum mechanics represents a relatively new arena of physics focused on the mysterious atomic and subatomic properties of particles. Much of the research dwells on individual conditions and reactions; however, some experts theorize that two or more, say, photons can share the same state while keeping their distance from each other. If so, an expert can analyze the first sample and assume what the second, third, or fourth ones might be like. 

[Related: Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to scientist who sequenced the Neanderthal genome.]

The phenomenon, called quantum entanglement, could hold answers to how energy flows through the universe and how information can travel over isolated networks. But some detractors wonder if the similarities in states are simply coincidental, or borne from other hard physics variables. Albert Einstein himself was skeptical of the explanation, calling it “spooky action at a distance” and a paradox in a letter to a colleague.

That’s where Clauser, Aspect, and Zeilinger come in. All three have designed experiments that address potential loopholes in the quantum entanglement theory, otherwise known as Bell inequalities. Clauser, an independent research physicist based in California, tested the polarization of photons emitted by lit-up calcium atoms with the help of a graduate student in 1972. His measurements matched those from previous physics formulas, but he worried that the way he produced the particles still left room for other correlations. 

In response, French physicist Alain Aspect recreated the experiment in a way that detected the photons and their shared states much better. His results, the Nobel Committee stated, “closed an important loophole and provided a very clear result: quantum mechanics is correct and there are no hidden variables.”

[Related: NASA is launching a new quantum entanglement experiment in space.]

While Clauser and Aspect looked at entanglement in pure particle physics, Zeilinger expanded on it with the emerging fields of computation and encryption. The professor emeritus at the University of Vienna fired lasers at crystals to create mirroring photons, and held them at various measurements to compare their properties. He also tied in data from cosmic radiation to ensure that signals from outer space weren’t influencing the particles. His work set the stage for technology’s adoption of quantum mechanics, and has now been applied to transistors, satellites, optical fibers, and IBM computers. 

The Institute of Science and Technology Austria issued a statement this morning congratulating Zeilinger, a former vice president in the group, and his fellow Nobel Prize recipients for their advancements. “It was the extraordinary work of Aspect, Clauser, and Zeilinger that translated the revolutionary theory of quantum physics into experiments,” they wrote. “Their demonstrations uncovered profound and mind-boggling properties of our natural world. Violations of the so-called Bell inequality continue to challenge our most profound intuitions about reality and causality. By exploring quantum states experimentally, driven only by curiosity, a range of new phenomena was discovered: quantum teleportation, many-particle and higher-order entanglements, and the technological prospects for quantum cryptography and quantum computation.”

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After pummeling the southeast coast of Florida at a maximum of 150 mph sustained winds, Hurricane Ian is working its way up the Atlantic and showing signs of a resurgence. The record-setting storm is set to reach South Carolina by this afternoon.

Ian first made landfall in Cuba on September 27, taking out the entire island’s power grid (which is still not fully restored). It then barreled over the Gulf of Mexico, gathering speed and power from the abnormally warm waters, and was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane before it breached Florida on September 28. So far, 12 deaths have been reported in the state, and several parts of Lee County have been utterly demolished. The number of mortalities in the area could rise as emergency officials continue search and rescue.

From the Florida coast, Ian crossed over to the Atlantic seaboard, where it’s slowly been moving north as a tropical storm. Yesterday, the National Hurricane Center upgraded it to Category 1 again. It is next expected to make landfall between Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, today around 2 p.m. Eastern.

[Related: What hurricane categories mean.]

“Life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions expected along the Carolina coast this afternoon. Flooding rains likely across the Carolinas and southern Virginia,” stated the National Hurricane Center in its most recent advisory. The governor of South Carolina has declared a state of emergency, but hasn’t issued a mandatory evacuation order or school closures.

While the impact this weekend should not be as devastating as that in south Florida (which experienced a rare “500-year” flood event), Carolinians should take shelter and prepare for potential disaster conditions. Precipitation from the hurricane’s remnants could be seen up the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as well.

[Related: Rare ‘triple dip’ La Niña predicted for 2022.]

Though Ian never reached Category 5 status, its rapid intensification over the Gulf of Mexico made it particularly nasty for Cuba and Florida. This is likely linked to warmer seas and moister air caused by climate change, Vox reported. A quiet hurricane season also left the region’s waters in prime state for feeding a massive system. “We haven’t had another storm yet this season to go through and cool off the Gulf through that mechanism. There’s this pristine Gulf of Mexico from a sea-surface temperature standpoint, and Hurricane Ian has been able to exploit that,” Paul Miller, a professor of oceanography and coastal sciences at Louisiana State University, told Vox.

Ian might not be the last of the year’s major disasters: Hurricane season extends to the end of November in North America, and several weather forecasting agencies have predicted that there will be an above-average number of named storms. Not all will make landfall.

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When it comes to dragons, the human imagination has been stuck in one gear for centuries. Whether it be the Loong dragon of Chinese astrology, the Fafnir of Viking legend, J. R. R. Tolkien’s Smaug, or Westeros’s “fire-made flesh,” the formula of flight, ferocity, and volcanic breath hardly changes. Which leads us to ask, are these storytellers onto something?

The new HBO drama House of the Dragon gave us an excuse to bug some reptile and dinosaur experts, and have them share their scientific interpretations of these magical hellfire beasts.

Riley Black, paleontology writer for PopSci and many others

The House of the Dragon reptiles look pretty ho-hum to me. They are your standard Western dragon we’re all pretty familiar with, pretty much all the same form and likely the same species, and are only about as different from each other as two Komodo dragons. In a show boasting 17 dragons, I would have loved to see some of the many other forms dragons have taken in mythology and folklore, whether that be a many-headed hydra, a legless wyrm, or an Eastern dragon, similar to the Chinese dragons with antlers and fish fins.

In Game of Thrones, Reign of Fire, and Dragonheart, the obvious dragon characteristics include a giant size, leathery wings, and the ability to breathe fire. Some of these traits are more plausible than others. Giant reptiles have soared over the skies, so large that they could travel between continents. Quetzalcoatlus was a pterosaur with a wingspan about 33 feet across. That’s pretty impressive, especially when you consider that this flier was the same stature as a giraffe on the ground. It also flew on wings made up of a resilient membrane stretched out on an extraordinarily-elongated fourth finger, so that’s getting pretty close to traditional dragon territory. Of course, Quetzalcoatlus was pretty light for its size—in the neighborhood of 200 pounds—meaning that those House of the Dragon stars look a little too massive to be airborne. Pterosaur bones are paper thin and were likely much more fragile creatures than the burly dragons on our televisions.

[Related: This dragon-like reptile once soared over Australia]

Fire is a trickier one. We know that some insects can spurt chemicals that combine to burn attackers, like the bombardier beetle does. That might be an evolutionary route that a proto-dragon could take, combining chemicals in the body to create something that burns even if it’s not technically fire. Many snakes and lizards produce venom, after all, and it makes me wonder if there might be a pathway where venom could become more corrosive or take on a different character—with appropriate adaptations in the mouth and throat to not burn or harm the reptile itself. But, no surprise here, spitting actual fire is entirely fantasy and there just isn’t a biological pathway such death breath could evolve. 

If the House of the Dragon CGI designers are looking for inspiration, though, the fossil record offers plenty of options. Mosasaurs, for example, were about as close as we’re ever going to get to “sea dragons.” These marine reptiles were related to monitor lizards; some of them grew to lengths of 50 feet or more, and had tail flukes and streamlined scales. They gobbled up fish, crunched through ammonite shells, and even ate each other during the Cretaceous Period (more than 66 million years ago). The Spinosaurus—with a sail along its back, crocodile-like snout, and paddle tail—and Deinocheirus—a huge herbivore with giant arms tipped in large claws, a hump on its back, and a duck-like face—look akin to a dragon, too. 

I’m just glad that the House of the Dragon reptiles are technically wyverns in that they have two hind legs and arms as wings, rather than having four legs and an additional pair of wings. The second interpretation would technically be a hexapod, and would require some kind of gene duplication event—as happened with our own fishy ancestors—to create another pair of appendages that could be modified into wings, which no vertebrate has done. As fanciful as they are, the Targaryen dragons make a touch more evolutionary sense, even if they are too large and belch fire.

Earyn McGee, herpetologist and founder of #FindThatLizard

Dragons would look really similar to lizards—we have many that already get the dragon name. But they would serve in the role of larger reptiles and predators like Komodo dragons and Nile monitors, and perform those functions in an ecosystem. A smaller dragon would potentially be semi-aquatic. When water is available, it would swim and hunt native fishes. But when the water dries up, it would go into a more terrestrial state. I could easily see them undulating.

Like dragons, lizards are interesting as a whole. People think they just eat insects, but they can be pollinators. There are marine iguanas in the Galapagos that dive into the water to eat seaweed. And then there are the carnivores that eat birds, eggs, and other lizards.

In the Southwest US, we have the Yarrow’s spiny lizard, which sports beautiful scales and designs like a dragon. We also have the Gila monster with its beaded scales and venomous bite. You can’t get much closer to a dragon than that.

Dirley Cortés Parra, paleontologist at McGill University

Marine reptiles were surely sea dragons that evolved rapidly in the oceans back in the Mesozoic Era (between 256 and 61 million years ago). For example, ichthyosaurs, long-necked and short-necked plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs were diverse top predators that had several morphological adaptations for locomotion and feeding. Sea dragons were toothy and efficient swimmers that filled a broad range of sizes and ecologies, reaching up to 45 to 60 feet in body length. Some were highly specialized cutters, crushers, piercers, crunchers, and smashers that were part of complex trophic networks not seen in modern marine ecosystems. Certain species used undulating tails (flattened or with fluke) or paddle-like fins; others had fish-like bodies and specialized flippers to swim and hunt. In terms of reproduction, the sea dragons did not lay eggs on land but gave birth to live young. 

[Related: Virgin births happen surprisingly often in animals]

If dragons were real, I would definitely picture them living in an absolutely fascinating marine ecosystem just like the early Cretaceous oceans, where they would “fly” through the epicontinental oceans full of prehistoric creatures. They wouldn’t have to breathe fire underwater to finish off a fight: Pliosaurs had one of the highest bite forces of any known animal, and could have swallowed a person in just one bite.

Kai Wang, herpetologist at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Mythological dragons would be a very diverse group of organisms. Depending on their habitat and distribution range, there would be distinct types specialized in different environments and possessing different morphological adaptations. For example, the terrestrial, desert-adapting species might have flatter bodies for fitting in rock crevices. The plateau species might be smaller sized with disproportionately shorter limbs and tails for adapting to high elevations. The tropical, arboreal species might have distinctively strong claws and much longer limbs and tails. And finally, the flying species might have a slender body shape.

Sebastian Apesteguia, paleontologist at the Azara Natural History Foundation

It depends on what you call a dragon. Many dragon-like animals existed in the Earth’s history. Some were really big reptiles, similar to the large monitor lizards that live in the Eastern Hemisphere today. Others were clearly not lizards, though we have no physical remains. The giant sister snakes Tren-Tren and Kai-Kai from Mapuche legends perhaps came from real dinosaur bones in Chile and Argentina. The Mokele M’bembe from Congo is clearly not a lizard, and is proposed to be a living sauropod dinosaur. But we have no more evidence than oral tradition yet.

[Related: A giant sauropod skeleton has been found in Portugal]

Let’s remember that dragons were constructed in mythology as humans evolved. Most of them were imagined as lizards with similar characteristics and attitudes. However, no large, flying, fire-making dragons probably existed.

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It’s summer, it’s hot, and these atoms are going for a swim.

For the first time ever, materials scientists recorded individual solid atoms moving through a liquid solution. A team of engineers from the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge, both in the UK, used a transmission electron microscope to pull off the delicate feat. The technique lets researchers view and take images of miniscule things in extraordinary detail. Typically, however, the subject has to be immobile and held in a high-pressure vacuum system to allow the electrons to scan properly. This limits the microscope’s use at the atomic level.

The engineers got around this by tapping a newer form of the instrument that works on contained liquid and gaseous environments. To set up the experiment, they created a “pool” with  a nanometers-thin, double-layer graphene cell. Their “swimmers” consisted of a sample of platinum atoms covered in a salty solution, or adatoms, because they were sitting on mineral crystals. 

Once it was in the liquid graphene, the solid platinum moved quickly. (For context, the looped video below is shown at real speed.) The team tested the same reaction with a vacuum in place of the graphene cell. They saw that the platinum atoms didn’t react as naturally in the traditional setup.

After recreating the motion in liquid more than 70,000 times, the team deemed their methods successful. They published their work in the journal Nature on July 27.

The results could make waves for a few different reasons. One, it “paves the way” for transmission electron microscopes to be used widely to study “chemical processes with single-atom precision,” the scientists wrote in the paper. Two, “given the widespread industrial and scientific importance of such behavior [of solids], it is truly surprising how much we still have to learn about the fundamentals of how atoms behave on surfaces in contact with liquids,” materials scientist and co-author Sarah Haigh said in a press release.

[Related: These levitating beads can teach physicists about spinning celestial objects]

A growing number of technologies depend on the interplay between solid particles and liquid cells. Graphene, which was discovered by researchers at the University of Manchester in the early 2000s, is a key component in battery electrodes, computer circuitry, and a new technique for green hydrogen production. Meanwhile, platinum gets made into LCD screens, cathode ray tubes, sensors, and much more. Seeing how these two materials pair together at the nanometer level opens up a more precise, efficient, and inventive world.

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Galaxies don’t stay static: They twirl, shapeshift, and erupt into novas and kilanovas. That means every time we view a star system, whether it’s 13.5 billion light-years away like HD1 or our home galaxy of the Milky Way, we’re only capturing a little moment of its life.

The James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) new image of the Cartwheel Galaxy, located 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor Constellation, is the perfect example of a formation in motion. Previously documented by Hubble in 1996, its unique ring structure, which probably resulted from a high-speed collision between a large and small star cluster 200 million years back, is already showing signs of growth. Part of this is because JWST can detect stellar details otherwise obscured by cosmic dust. But the image also shows the galaxy in an epically long transition, with natal stars bursting out of its gummy edges.

[Related: What animal do you see in this nebula?] 

With data from the telescope’s Near-Infrared and Mid-Infrared cameras, the JWST team created a colorized composite that exposes fresh regions of upheaval in the formation. As NASA explains on its website, the blue wisps mark pockets of star production, while eye-catching red spokes map loose chemical components like hydrocarbons. The JWST image also identifies a contrast in textures between the core and the extremities of the Cartwheel Galaxy. Viewers can look at “the smooth distribution or shape of the older star populations and dense dust in the core compared to the clumpy shapes associated with the younger star populations outside of it,” according to the NASA post.

As the galaxy keeps expanding from the collision point, its “cartwheeling” limbs should become even more noticeable. The process will take a couple more years—anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions—but we might see some evidence of change the next time JWST turns its gold-plated mirrors toward Sculptor. After all, Hubble discovered quite a glow-up when it revisited the constellation 22 years later. While many of the revelations come down to upgrades in space technology and research, at the end of the day, it’s about the stories told by galaxies that never settle.

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At 92 years old, Buzz Aldrin has lived a full life. He graduated third in his class from the US Military Academy, earned a PhD in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and joined NASA at the tender age of 33. Just three years into his career with the space agency, he conducted his first mission—the last of a dozen in the American Gemini series.

The famous lunar landing mission, Apollo 11, came another three years later in July of 1969. All told, Aldrin spent 12 days in space, 2.25 hours on the moon, and countless periods of time flying fighter jets in the Korean War before retiring from NASA and the US Air Force in the 1970s. His work in the upper reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere and orbit earned him a lifetime of celebrity—and now, an exhibit at a Sotheby’s auction. On July 26, several of Aldrin’s personal mementos will be up for bid at the York Avenue Galleries in New York City, some of which can only be “legally owned if acquired from an astronaut,” the fine arts company stated. (Also up for sale in the same week: a nearly intact Gorgosaurus fossil and an actual chunk of the moon.)

[Related: The history of science is up for sale]

Some of Aldrin’s items, including a gold congressional medal and a molded communicate earpiece, will come with a “digital signature” NFT produced with the help of the Ethereum blockchain platform. Blockchain dealings are known to be energy-intensive and detrimental to the environment at large.

Winning bids are expected to range from the tens of thousands to the millions for each collectible. Take a look at five of the Apollo 11-related steals below, and learn about their significance to Aldrin’s life and US space history as a whole.

Item captions adapted from Sotheby’s descriptions.

Apollo 11 jacket

Estimated winning bid: $1 million to $2 million

Among the exceptional artifacts on offer from the collection is Buzz Aldrin’s flown Apollo 11 inflight coverall jacket, serial number 1039, which he wore on the historic mission to the moon and back. The jacket is the only flown garment from the Apollo 11 mission available for private ownership; both Armstrong and Collins’ inflight coverall jackets are housed at the Smithsonian, along with all three crew members’ A7L pressure suits. The practical elements of the jacket can be seen clearly, including reinforced holes in the upper torso through which the medical connections could pass. Buzz’s name “E. Aldrin” is also clearly printed above the Apollo 11 mission emblem with a flag of the US emblazoned on the left shoulder, on the right lapel is the famous NASA “meatball” logo.

Until the tragic Apollo 1 fire in 1967, spacesuits and inflight gear were crafted from highly flammable materials, such as nylon. The fire triggered a review of the suit and inflight garments’ design, which resulted in modifications including the development of a new fire-proof material known as Beta Cloth, a novel technology which was both fire-resistant and tough enough to help protect the astronauts from micrometeroid blasts while outside the spacecraft.

Apollo 11 flight documents

Estimated winning bid: $150,000 to $200,000

Flown documents from the Apollo 11 mission are incredibly rare, and those flown to and used on the lunar surface even more so. It could be argued that the Apollo 11 LM Systems Activation Checklist is the rarest of all, as it was never intended to return to Earth. It contains numerous manuscript notations made by Aldrin while on the lunar surface, and bears a “Jettison” tag adhered to the front cover. Because the Lunar Module had limited fuel, the crew was directed to jettison any non-essential items to lighten the load, placing them in a special bag that was then thrown out onto the lunar surface. Aldrin chose instead to retain this book, which has proved to be an incredibly rich source of information not previously known about the mission, including additional items that were transferred from the command module to the Lunar Module prior to descent (snacks, tissues, and the molded earpiece offered in this sale), as well as numerous notes on the state of the lunar module following their descent.

The checklist contains a wealth of detailed information revealing how Aldrin and Armstrong pressurized the lunar module, opened the tunnel hatch for inspection and looked at the tunnel rim to check for the alignment between it and the command module. There are also circuit breaker diagrams, sections for writing navigational data and records of the pressure of the oxygen tanks, the voltage stored in the batteries, and communication tests between Mission Control and the command and service module.

Mission-saving pen

Estimated winning bid: $1 million to $2 million

This unassuming pen became a vital resource to the astronauts of Apollo 11 when the critical ascent engine arming circuit-breaker switch required for the lunar module to re-ascend from the moon’s surface broke off, placing the lives of all three crew members in danger. While engineers at Mission Control in Houston were trying to solve the problem, Buzz ingeniously used the felt tip pen he had used to make inflight notations (on the various documents in this sale). The pen proved an essential lifeline, as Aldrin and Armstrong could not have used their fingers or and small metal objects onboard for fear of electrocution or potentially shorting the entire electrical system and marooning them on the Moon. Aldrin’s quick thinking and calm, decisive action directly led to the crew’s accomplishment of the goal set out by President John F. Kennedy, “of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” Until now, the circuit breaker switch and pen have been on loan from Aldrin at various museums, including the Museum of Flight in Seattle and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Original Moonman award

Estimated winning bid: $20,000 to $30,000

Presented to Aldrin to commemorate the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in 1984, this “Original Moonman” statuette represents the deep and wide-ranging cultural influence of the Apollo 11 walk. With Aldrin’s permission, MTV chose the image of Aldrin planting the United States Flag on the moon as the symbol for their new award program the concept being inspired by their inaugural broadcast in August of 1981, which featured footage of the Apollo 11 moonwalk, including the famous images of Buzz on the lunar surface, with animated MTV logos in place of the US flag. An indisputable cultural icon, Aldrin’s silhouette from his lunar adventure remains the symbol of the VMAs nearly 40 years later, and is a testament to his indelible place in popular culture.

Army pride

Estimated winning bid: $7,000 to $10,000

Elsewhere in the sale is Aldrin’s now infamous “Go Army Beat Navy Banner,” a hand-stitched piece of fabric which he unveiled during his Gemini XII spacewalks, and is particularly rare for its direct exposure to the vacuum of space. Aldrin remembers the banner fondly: “It just so happens that the annual Army/Navy football game was played in November. Each season cheers of ‘Go Army Beat Navy’ or ‘Go Navy Beat Army’ ring out at the game.” His fellow astronaut Tim Stafford had brought a “Beat Army” sign into space on Gemini 6A and so, as a West Point graduate, Aldrin felt an answer was necessary; “I had this banner made…and carried it with me during one of my spacewalks.” He adds: “Army beat Navy 20-7 that year. I would like to think that my high-flying tribute to Army might have helped the win.”

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ON ANY GIVEN WEEKDAY, the United States Mint can churn out almost 126.4 million pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, 50-cent pieces, and gold dollars from its presses in Denver and Philadelphia. Giant “cookie cutters” punch blanks out of 1,500-foot-long sheets of copper, nickel, and other metals. The discs are then heated, washed with citric acid and anti-tarnishing agents, and struck with presidential silhouettes.

Despite seismic shifts in the very nature of money, the 230-year-old operation will keep on pumping fresh coins into circulation this way. Digital currency is trending, and countries around the world have unveiled bold plans for centralized electronic banks. But the alternatives won’t make physical cash go extinct, at least in the US. The total volume of hard currency in national circulation, including pennies and nickels (which cost more to produce than they’re worth) swelled by more than 5 percent each year over the past decade. Meanwhile, Americans paid with bills and coins in more than a quarter of transactions in 2019. (That number dropped to 19 percent in 2020 due to concerns over COVID spread.)

“People think cash is on the decline, but I expect we will use it for years to come,” says William Luther, an assistant professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University and director of the Sound Money Project, a financial stability and privacy research group. “The US government would have to prohibit banks and retailers from accepting it—or stop producing it altogether—to force everyone to switch to another method.” But that doesn’t mean the country is ignoring technologies that could digitize some of its coffers.

In January of this year, the Federal Reserve released a loose proposal for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that would allow people to instantly send funds to any party through their existing financial accounts, without transaction fees. The plan’s outline, though vague, cites Project Hamilton, a pilot model created by the Federal Reserve of Boston and MIT that combines the accessibility of mobile payment apps with the verification powers of blockchain-like networks. In this system, an encrypted computer code authorizes each monetary exchange, allowing simulated dollars and cents to be drawn from a person’s virtual wallet and re-created in the recipient’s. A database then validates and records the activity to create a permanent, transparent ledger that the sender, the recipient, and any authorizers can look back on. The Federal Reserve would stabilize the value of this money, avoiding the type of volatility that’s common with credit and cryptocurrencies.

Several countries, including China, India, and Jamaica, are already experimenting with CBDCs. But the lack of anonymity with government-run ledgers could keep the idea from really taking off in the US, Luther says. “With cash you have a lot of privacy, so long as no one sees it trading hands,” he explains. “Digital currencies always link back to your [online] identity.”

Still, with President Joe Biden’s recent executive order for more research on a secure CBDC, Luther thinks the technology will probably be a nationwide option soon. “Depending on how quickly Congress and the president want to roll it out, an American digital dollar could be launched in the next two years,” he says.

But the mint won’t feel the ripples of a cashless future for many more decades, if ever. “The cost of producing material money is pretty small,” Luther says. The US government also rakes in billions of dollars each year selling gold bullion and other rare novelties to collectors. “It would be hard to justify a complete move into digital currency unless it improved payment technology in a major way,” Luther notes.

If the mint has any predictions about what CBDCs mean for coins, it isn’t sharing them. “We do not speculate on the future of money,” a representative from the US Treasury Department said in a statement. The Federal Reserve also writes on its website that while it’s considering a CBDC “as a means to expand safe payment options,” such a system will not replace cash. Even if this technology prompts Americans to empty their pockets of change, there will be no stopping the presses that make new Washingtons, Madisons, Jeffersons, and Lincolns.

This story originally ran in the Summer 2022 Metal issue of PopSci. Read more PopSci+ stories.

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After nearly three years of planning, the shortcut for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 988, is going live on every landline, smartphone, and online dial pad in the US. First recommended by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and other national agencies, including the Department of Veteran Affairs, the three-digit number is meant to make 1-800-273-TALK easier and more accessible to use for individuals of any age experiencing a mental crisis. After speaking to the experts on the hotline, they will be connected to local services that best fit their needs, whether it be in-person counseling centers, mobile emergency teams, or substance abuse therapists.

Those seeking help will be able to call or text 988 with any provider they have. Some larger companies, like Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, adopted the shortcut within months of the FCC finalizing its plan in summer of 2020. July 16 is the deadline for every phone provider, including digital-only ones, to connect the three-digit code. The commission also allowed some buffer time for trained staff at more than 180 crisis centers around the country to gear up in case of an influx of messages.

[Related: How to manage your mental health as traumatic events pile up]

The streamlined number comes during a national mental health crisis and stark rise in suicide attempts among teenagers. While the hotline is still largely the same beyond the new 988 option (for example, veterans can still select “1” to be directed to more specificalized counselors), federal groups are pushing states to set aside funds so that callers and texters can get local medical support, therapy, and more. One way states and territories can generate revenue is by mimicking the small 911 fee (anywhere from a few cents up to $2) that most customers already have on their monthly phone bills. But so far, few governments have elected to add this surcharge or create a designated 988 funding pool. Among them, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, and Virginia have passed the most impactful hotline legislation, according to a tracker by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Mental health support groups are still concerned that public awareness around the 988 update is still low. As PopSci and others reported earlier this year, a survey conducted by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that works on suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth, found that 70 percent of 2,000 adult respondents knew little to nothing about the shortcut. Still, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline has seen higher call and text volumes during the pandemic, and officials are expecting even higher numbers once 988 is available for everyone.

[Related: Mental health ‘first aid’ can give bystanders the skills to act in a crisis]

Other mental health and suicide hotlines continue to exist for people with specific needs. The nonprofit Crisis Text Line (741741 by SMS) has long provided a support system for teens and kids, but was recently criticized for sharing anonymized data with a customer service company. Other services provide help in different scenarios, like domestic abuse or PTSD after natural disasters; international crisis centers provide a better range of language options (988 is only available in English and Spanish).

“There is still much work to do. But what matters is that we’re launching,” US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said during a press conference on July 1. “If you are willing to turn to someone in your moment of crisis, 988 will be there. 988 won’t be a busy signal, and 988 won’t put you on hold. You will get help.”

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Everyone wants to know the mostest hot dogs you can eat, but no one dares to ask if there’s a point-of-no-return for scarfing  franks. Luckily, PopSci relishes weird questions, so we found out exactly how far you can push yourself when that barbecue gets a little heated.

The answer unsurprisingly lies in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. The good thing about silly traditions like this one is they provide an easy way to study the extremes of human bodies. Without the incentives of a national title and televised event, it’d be hard to convince grown-ups to crush piles of franks until they puke or pass out. But with piles of data from Nathan’s famous annual showdowns, we can get a somewhat clear answer to how many hot dogs a person can stomach.

[Related: Here’s how many avocados it would take to kill you]

In a 2020 study, James Smoliga, a physiologist from High Point University in North Carolina, crunched the records of 152 Nathan’s competitors to see the max number of hot dogs a person could eat per minute for 10 minutes, which is generally how long the contest runs.

He found that, based on the mass and caloric value of a regular hot dog, plus the stretchiness of the human gut, an adult can handle seven to eight franks and buns tops every 60 seconds. If they hold that pace over the 10-minute span, they can mow through 70 to 80 hot dogs—which, if you’re counting, comes out to around 20,000 calories. After that, the body stops digesting food and starts to shut down. 

In post-game interviews, some Nathan’s champs say they feel sleepy and nauseous once they hit their limits. Thankfully, no one has died at the table in the contest’s four-decade history—though participants have been hospitalized for esophageal tears and for breathing vomit into their lungs. Choking is another common hazard at hot dog contests, and can be particularly dangerous for kids.

It’s important to remember that most professional competitive eaters train their metabolism to be faster than normal. Just because the ceiling at Nathan’s is 80, doesn’t mean every person can consume that many franks and buns. The standard serving size for a beef hot dog in its wrapping rests squarely at one. If you toss a couple extra on your plate and add some trimming, you’ll probably feel stuffed, but your body will otherwise recover after eight or nine hours. Again, that window doesn’t apply for every person: If you have a preexisting condition like high cholesterol, binging on wieners could lead to other pains.

That’s not to say a hot dog binge is ever really “okay.” Salt and fat are the big baddies in processed meats. Companies often cure hot dogs with nitrates, which drives up the sodium count and introduces possible cancer-causing compounds.   

[Related: How to get your grill ready for summer]

In theory, the more hot dogs you eat, the more chance you have of getting sick overall. Franks can be breeding grounds for foodborne illnesses like listeria. While most of the frozen products come precooked, they still need to be heated to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (or until they steam) to kill lurking germs, says Meredith Carothers, a public health specialist from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). She points out that people often forget to wash their hands, clean their grills, and scrub their knives after prepping produce and raw meats at barbecues. To avoid being killed by the first, or second, or third hot dog you bite into, follow the USDA’s tips for food safety.

“We don’t have an official recommendation on eating hot dogs [until you puke],” Carothers says. “If you eat 10 different hot dogs, there’s a risk of one being undercooked. But if you follow the four steps—clean, separate, cook, and chill—it should be safe to eat many.”

Correction (July 4, 2022): The story originally said that 70 to 80 hot dogs amounts to about 3,000 calories. That was a serious underestimate: It should be closer to 20,000 calories.

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If you’re up before dawn on a clear day this summer, check the skies first. Aside from the usual pinpricks of stars, you should find “a parade of planets” tracking the eastern horizon. Mercury, barely visible from the glare of the sun, leads out front, while a clearly ringed Saturn brings up the rear. The five-planet alignment first appeared in early June, and will slowly drift apart by September. It was last seen above Earth in December 2004.

Sky gazers got stellar views of the conjunction on the mornings of June 23 and 24 with the moon neatly positioned between Venus and Mars. The moon will remain near that spot until June 27, catching Mercury in its glow even as it wanes into a sliver. The procession is visible with the naked eye, but binoculars or a small scope can make it easier to identify the different planets and their features.

It’s important to remember that, while the planets do fall in order based on distance from the sun, they don’t actually form a queue as they complete their orbits. The solar system looks flat from the ground, so the patterns in the sky will always seem more linear than they are in space. 

In this event, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible together because their disparate orbits have matched up with Earth’s—something that only happens every 18 years. According to Live Science, Saturn materializes first in the predawn darkness, hemmed by its infamous icy rings. Next comes Jupiter, big, shiny, and unwavering. Mars, tinged in red, and Venus, the brightest object in the sky, soon follow. Finally, for a short window before sunrise, Mercury shows up on the lower left side of the horizon.

[Related: What comes after the James Webb Space Telescope?]

And while you’re rubbernecking the cosmos, NASA suggests hunting for a few star formations that are prominent in summer. That includes the Lyra constellation, M13 great globular cluster, and the summer triangle asterism, all of which can be spotted from the Northern Hemisphere. If you want to plan further out (and are willing to invest in a powerful telescope), save the date for Comet C/2017 K2’s flyby in mid-July.

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When you see a distant star in the night sky, it might twinkle and look like it has five points. This is largely a trick of the eye. Zoomed in, most stars are just round balls of gasses and dust. As they age, heat up, consume other matter, and sometimes explode, they take on more abstract and asymmetrical shapes—unlike the pentagrams you scribble on your notebook.

Now let’s zoom out again, way beyond Earth’s field of view. The imprints of individual stars form clusters—more complex than the constellations you know—which mold the immense systems underpinning the universe. These formations are so vast, it’s hard to even guess where their contours might fall.

That’s why astronomers need Gaia. The space observatory, which consists of two spinning telescopes and three “motion detectors,” is mapping out stars and other celestial bodies across the Milky Way. Since it launched in 2013, Gaia has pinpointed 1.8 billion objects, like a “stellar stream” that’s about a billion years old. The mission produced a near-complete 3D rendering of the home galaxy back in 2018, and continues to churn out data for researchers to tinker with. 

[Related: Astronomers just mapped the ‘bubble’ that envelops our planet]

In its latest haul of knowledge, Gaia shares a more intimate profile of the stars it’s documented. On June 13, the European Space Agency (ESA) posted fresh findings from the project, including a trove of light spectroscopy images and records of tsunami-sized tremors across the Milky Way. 

“The catalog includes new information including chemical compositions, stellar temperatures, colors, masses, ages, and the speed at which stars move towards or away from us (radial velocity),” the ESA wrote on its website. “Much of this information was revealed by the newly released spectroscopy data.”

Beyond surveying hundreds of thousands binary systems, asteroids, quasars, and macromolecules, the space observatory also detected oscillating motions emanating from stellar surfaces. Astronomers call these “starquakes.”

“Previously, Gaia already found radial oscillations that cause stars to swell and shrink periodically, while keeping their spherical shape. But Gaia has now also spotted other vibrations that … change the global shape of a star and are therefore harder to detect,” the ESA explained in its post. One of the project collaborators noted that the measurements could be pivotal for the field of asteroseismology, too.

[Related: Inside the tantalizing quest to sense gravity waves]

Meanwhile, the spectroscopy data breaks down starlight like a prism to reveal the contents, distance, and potential origins of the sun’s relatives. Gaia found primordial Big Bang material in some stellar signatures, along with an abundance of metal in denizens at the Milky Way’s core.

“Our galaxy is a beautiful melting pot of stars,” Alejandra Recio-Blanco, a galactic archaeologist at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in France, said in a statement. “This diversity is extremely important, because it tells us the story of our galaxy’s formation. It reveals the processes of migration and accretion. It also clearly shows that our sun, and we, all belong to an ever changing system, formed thanks to the assembly of stars and gas of different origins.”

Watch the video below for a deeper dive on the new Gaia information—and a teaser of what’s next for the mission.

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Since Europeans started drinking it during the Renaissance, champagne (or sparkling wine, if it’s not made from the region in northern France) has always come with a pop. The very first bottles were probably accidents: wine that had bubbled up after fermenting for too long. Some built up so much pressure, they’d explode.

But once champagne was tamed by Dom Pérignon and other wine connoisseurs, it became all about the bubbles. The drink really took off during the Roaring Twenties, when the wealthy stealthily filled their coupe glasses from gilded bottles of Ayala and Perrier. Today, people are back to drinking from flutes, which better show off the dance of the carbon molecules.

Of course, part of the joy of imbibing champagne lies in the uncorking itself. The tension of teasing apart the wire cage. The pop and the fountain of fizzy booze that follows. The relieved laughter (even though you’ve done this hundreds of times now). All that drama comes from a millisecond-long reaction triggered by supersonic flow. 

In a study published in the journal Physics of Fluid Dynamics last month, engineers from France and India modeled the shockwaves of gas after champagne is popped. Researchers had previously used high-speed cameras to understand how fast the jet of carbon dioxide and liquid moves once a bottle is uncorked. But this group dug a little deeper to break down the champagne’s “interaction with the cork stopper, the eminently unsteady character of the flow escaping from the bottle, and the continuous change of the geometry” of the matter, as they wrote in the paper.

What they learned is that the ballistics of bubbly are powerful—and maybe even dangerous. When the cork on a champagne bottle is wiggled out, the flow seeps out slowly without forming a strong pattern. But in that flash of a second when the cork is yanked up, the flow bursts through, hitting supersonic speeds at the top of the bottleneck. As the gas and pressure rush out, they dissipate in crown-shaped shockwaves (or Mach diamonds), similar to the ones that come off rockets during launch. The final shockwaves look more muted and detached, and are likely the ripple effects of the CO₂ and water vapor’s interactions with the cork.

The findings could prove useful to the development of electronics, submersibles, and even military-grade weapons. “We hope our simulations will offer some interesting leads to researchers, and they might consider the typical bottle of champagne as a mini-laboratory,” study co-author Robert Georges from the Institut de Physique de Rennes told phys.org. Next he said his team might explore how different temperatures and bottle shapes affect the shockwaves.

No word yet on how sabering changes this supersonic sequence. But please remember to always aim the champagne bottle away from yourself and others: That’s basically a miniature missile you’re setting off.

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As the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) pushes to the end of its final alignment phase, perfecting its instruments to capture full-color scientific images, it’s making quite the impact.

A few weeks ago, the JWST team detected a micrometeoroid hitting one of the telescope’s 18 hexagonal mirror segments. A micrometeoroid is a piece of space debris, usually left behind by a comet, that’s just a fraction of an inch long. While the majority of them are innocuous, if they pick up enough speed in the vacuum of space, they can cause damage to flying or orbiting craft. But in this case, NASA engineers concluded that the mirror’s functions stayed intact and that operations could go on as planned.

“After initial assessments, the team found the telescope is still performing at a level that exceeds all mission requirements despite a marginally detectable effect in the data,” the agency wrote on its blog. “Thorough analysis and measurements are ongoing.”

JWST is currently in orbit at Lagrange point 2, about 930,000 miles away from Earth. Given the telescope’s remote location, the team that designed it predicted it would face multiple micrometeoroid collisions. So, they made sure to check its durability with both computer simulations and lab-based stress tests. Still, the engineers noted that the real-life impact was much more serious than any they had practiced.

[Related: A fully aligned James Webb Space Telescope captures a glorious image of a star]

The telescope’s 44-pound mirror segments are made of beryllium, a soft, light metal that’s surprisingly hardy against water, air, and heat. They’re also coated in gold to maximize clarity and reflectivity. NASA didn’t specify if there was any superficial damage on the impacted mirror (it might be hard to tell because we can’t see JWST anymore)—but the agency gave some details on how they adjusted the entire system post-crash.

“Webb’s capability to sense and adjust mirror positions enables partial correction for the result of impacts. By adjusting the position of the affected segment, engineers can cancel out a portion of the distortion. This minimizes the effect of any impact, although not all of the degradation can be cancelled out this way. Engineers have already performed a first such adjustment for the recently affected segment C3, and additional planned mirror adjustments will continue to fine tune this correction.”

As JWST snaps into research mode, the team will use data from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to carefully track meteor showers around Lagrange point 2. That way, they can redirect the mirrors when needed to avoid bombardment. Even then, however, some collisions will be unavoidable. As precious as JWST is, at the end of the day, it’s a next-gen astronomy tool, built to travel far and encounter many unknowns. If Hubble can survive more than 30 years in space, and Voyager 1 for 45, our newest telescope should be able to weather most anything hurtling its way.

Correction (June 10, 2022): The acronym for the James Webb Space Telescope was corrected. Also the word “airborne” was changed to “flying or orbiting” to describe spacecraft accurately.

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In the wake of mass casualty events like shootings, blood centers are among the first lines of defense against fatalities. Trained staff at these facilities collect blood from donors year-round, clean and process it, and then distribute it to regional hospitals and first responders on request. Following storms and other emergencies, they might circulate supplies across the country to help depleted centers keep up with demand. That’s why they need a stockpile of donations before disasters break out—and a steady stream after to replenish the stores.

Blood banks can be especially critical for trauma cases. In most metropolitan areas, it takes about 30 minutes from the time of the 911 call to get an injured individual to a hospital, says CJ Winckler, an emergency medicine doctor at UT Health San Antonio and deputy medical director for the San Antonio Fire Department. Within that time, the patient can lose several pints of blood (on average, adults hold 1.5 to 2 gallons of the stuff). If their oxygen supply runs too low, they can go into hemorrhagic shock.

EMS workers have a few ways of sustaining a person’s vitals—but ultimately, what the patient needs is more blood. “If they’re hemorrhaging, they should receive a transfusion as soon as possible,” Winckler says. If the ambulance already has a cooler of donated blood, the medics can get the process started right away. Once the individual reaches the ER or trauma ward, they could require dozens of additional units, aka pints, depending on their size and the scope of the injury. 

[Related: A new AT&T update could make 911 calls more effective]

In sum, when a crisis emerges, hospitals and first responders need immediate access to loads of blood. And the best way to ensure they’re prepared is by donating on a regular basis, says Adrienne Mendoza, COO of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. When a gunman killed 21 teachers and students at Robb Elementary School on May 24 and injured many others, her team had 15 units of whole blood—as opposed to blood broken down into plasma, platelets, and cells—ready to fly to the scene. “We got the call around noon on Tuesday that something was happening in Uvalde,” she explains. “An air ambulance came by to pick up the units. Then we sent 10 units of O-negative red blood cells for pediatric patients at Uvalde Memorial Hospital.” 

Those resources were available at a moment’s notice because of regular blood donors around the region. (Mendoza’s center has a program called Brothers in Arms that motivates Texans to contribute O-positive blood to store in ambulances, fire trucks, helicopters, and ERs.) But once they used up their cache of units, the staff at South Texas Blood & Tissue had to turn to their local and national networks.

“We’ve had a record number of [walk-in] donations this week,” Mendoza says. “During a good day in the pandemic, we would see about 400 people.” On May 25, the center had 1,100 donors lined up at its eight locations around San Antonio. 

Mendoza’s team is also part of Blood Emergency Readiness Corps, a group that was founded in late 2021 in response to the US donor shortage—and the country’s uptick in gun violence. The corps includes blood centers in 37 states and allows supplies to be quickly diverted to places in crisis. After the Uvalde shooting, organizations in Florida, Oklahoma, and from across the West Coast flew O-negative units over to South Texas Blood & Tissue’s central office. From there, they were shared with children undergoing surgery at two area trauma centers.

Another reason the region’s blood donation network mobilized so quickly is because it had gone through a similar scenario before. In 2017, a mass shooter killed 26 and wounded 22 churchgoers in Sutherland Springs, Texas, just northeast of San Antonio. “We built and planned for another large casualty event, and unfortunately, it happened,” Winckler says, referring to the tight chain between first responders, hospitals, blood centers, and donors in South Texas. 

[Related: Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about donating bone marrow]

While the demand for blood donors will stay high around Uvalde, people across the country should know they can help, too. Even if their blood doesn’t make it directly to the shooting survivors, it will undeniably be used to heal other sick individuals, like premature babies and sickle cell anemia patients. “Everywhere a donor gives, that blood’s going to find a taker,” Mendoza says. “Trauma cases take up a lot of units and can deplete local supplies quickly, but they only account for 3 percent of the need. A lot of people need blood every single day: It’s life-saving and an emergency for them.”

She points out that if every eligible American donated blood four times a year, the country “would never see a shortage.” But at the moment, only 3 percent of the population is giving at a blood center, mobile unit, or drive annually. 

Susan Forbes, a senior vice president at OneBlood, which runs a network of donation centers across Florida, offers similar advice. “It’s so important that people be proactive about being a donor,” she says. “We went through two mass tragedies in the past six years here, with the Pulse and Parkland shootings. The blood supply on the shelves played a role in saving the victims. Don’t wait for a tragedy. It’s the donor who gave yesterday who will make an impact.”

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Lunar phases come and go, but the one passing through Earth’s shadow this weekend will take its time in the limelight.

From Sunday evening to early Monday, our pearly satellite will lapse into a total lunar eclipse, as well as its “super flower blood moon” phase. The first hints of darkness will appear on its surface around 10 p.m. Eastern on May 15. The totality part, when the moon is completely overshadowed, will last from about 11:30 p.m. Eastern on May 15 to 1 a.m. Eastern on May 16.

Total lunar eclipses, which happen when the sun, Earth, and moon land in a neat line, are usually seen twice a year in some regions. The Western Hemisphere will glimpse another one in November 2022—but the eclipse this weekend overlaps with maximum wax, which upgrades it to a blood moon (or what PopSci calls “the most metal moon”). As the orb moves through Earth’s shadow, sunlight refracted by atmospheric gases will bathe it in a penny-like glow. In effect, the moon will loom in the sky for the entire event, and look adequately bloody for at least half of it.

[Related: A total solar eclipse bathed Antarctica in darkness]

The “super flower” bit of the phenomenon is less scientific. A super moon refers to when the satellite’s orbit brings it closer to Earth, making it seem like it’s hanging larger in the heavens. The flower is just a seasonal label for the peak of the lunar cycle in May.

All this combined makes the upcoming eclipse almost unmissable, even with the naked eye. (A telescope or spotting scope will make for more comfortable viewing, but unlike in a total solar eclipse, you don’t have to protect your sight.) If you can’t pop outside for the late-night special, NASA will be live streaming the phenomenon from several cities in North America, Chile, and Italy. Or just check your social media feeds in the morning for the photos and time lapses.

In terms of astronomy, 2022 has been all about the moonshots. As NASA readies its lunar rocket for the Artemis I mission, other scientists have been digging into rock and soil samples from the Earth’s pock-marked companion. Earlier this month, a team from China modeled a process for producing oxygen and water from the moon’s minerals. And just yesterday, researchers from the University of Florida announced that they’d successfully germinated plants in regolith.

Thankfully, you don’t need a spacecraft taller than the Statue of Liberty to appreciate a lunar eclipse—an open window and clear night sky will do just fine.

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Almost two years and two months after the World Health Organization (WHO) called COVID a pandemic, the US officially passed the 1 million death toll for the virus. It is now well beyond any other mass-mortality event in American history, including the 1918 flu pandemic.

“Today, we mark a tragic milestone: one million American lives lost to COVID-19. One million empty chairs around the dinner table. Each an irreplaceable loss,” President Joe Biden shared in a statement early this morning. In respect, he ordered all American flags on public grounds across states and territories, along with those at embassies overseas, to be flown at half-staff through May 16. The White House has not scheduled a live address to discuss the death toll any further. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national agency leading the public health response to the virus, hasn’t commented on the grim figure. Its COVID data tracker still holds US fatalities at 995,474.

The first death of a person from SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible/behind for COVID, was recorded in January 2020 in Wuhan, China. The first person in the US died about a month later in Kirkland, Washington. The domestic figure snowballed that April and May, and hit a new peak at the start of 2021. Even in January and February of 2022, the average daily death count hovered well over 2,000. At current, America has the highest body count from the pandemic—but many experts think other countries severely underestimated their losses. Last week, the WHO announced that the global COVID death toll could be as high as 15 million individuals.

It’s possible that the US passed the 1 million fatality mark even earlier this spring. NBC News reported that the millionth mortality happened before May 4 using data from state health departments, which is often more current and accurate than national sources. But the White House did not confirm or deny the number at the time.

[Related: The 5 phases of COVID’s endgame]

In addition to the unprecedented number of deaths, COVID has sickened millions of people in the US and hampered many of them with long-term disabilities. Last month, the CDC estimated that 58 percent of Americans had been infected by the virus before March 2022, based on antibodies in blood samples taken from around the country. That includes a good chunk of children below the age of 11, many of which are still not eligible for vaccines.

The vast majority of the people who died from COVID in the states and territories were ages 65 and older. The death rate is also slightly higher among male patients than female, and proportionally higher in Black, Native, and Latinx Americans than white and Asian Americans. There were also surges in late 2021 and early 2022 where unvaccinated individuals were dying at faster rates than the rest of the country’s populace. But over the past weeks, the heaviest mortalities have fallen on very old and sick populations, despite their high vaccination rates. (See this STAT News article for a detailed visual breakdown of the 1 million figure.)

President Biden also briefly touched on the need to continue to diagnose, treat, and protect people suffering from long COVID and other post-infection complications, along with those who have dodged the virus so far. “We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible, as we have with more testing, vaccines, and treatments than ever before,” Biden’s statement read. “It’s critical that Congress sustain these resources in the coming months.”

[Related: Masks can work—even if you’re the only one wearing them]

More than a dozen countries, nonprofits, and companies gathered in Washington, D.C. today for the second Global COVID-19 Summit. In her address at the beginning of the meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris said that of the $22.5 billion emergency COVID funds that Congress still needs to approve, “5 billion would be dedicated to continue [US] leadership in helping to save lives around the world,” namely in the form of vaccines and antiviral treatments for nations with low GDPs. “The future, of course, will present other global health crises,” she continued. “But they don’t have to become catastrophes if we do this work together.”

Meanwhile, COVID is still circulating in the US, with new Omicron strains causing infection and hospitalization rates to climb again. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration green-lit a second booster for Americans who are older than 50 or immunocompromised. Discussions are still ongoing on whether to allow another shot for anyone eligible for vaccines, along with the possibility of variant-specific immunizations as the pandemic continues into year three.

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The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator and a pivotal tool in high-energy physics discoveries, roared back to life on April 22 after going on hiatus in December 2018.

A statement from CERN, the organization that runs and houses the 16-mile-long superconductor in Switzerland, explained that its team successfully completed a break-in run of the accelerator on Friday afternoon. The LHC will undergo several more months of tests and preparation before it can collect applicable data on ions, quarks, bosons, and other weird and wild varieties of particles again. The latest experiment consisted of “two beams of protons circulated in opposite directions … at their injection energy of 450 billion electronvolts,” according to CERN’s post.  

“These beams circulated at injection energy and contained a relatively small number of protons. High-intensity, high-energy collisions are a couple of months away,” Rhodri Jones, head of CERN’s Beams department, explained in the statement. “But first beams represent the successful restart of the accelerator after all the hard work of the long shutdown.”

[Related: Inside the discovery that could change particle physics]

First launched in September of 2008, the LHC was temporarily decommissioned in December of 2018 for much-needed repairs and upgrades. This marked the second long-term shutdown in the accelerator’s history. In 2013, the LHC was turned off for two years to have its cryogenic and vacuum systems serviced and a number of its magnets replaced. The system also got a more than 60 percent energy boost, raising the reading of teraelectronvolts (TeV) on each proton beam from 8 to 13. The recent interruption wrapped in similar adjustments. 

“The LHC itself has undergone an extensive consolidation programme and will now operate at an even higher energy and, thanks to major improvements in the injector complex, it will deliver significantly more data to the upgraded LHC experiments,” Mike Lamont, CERN’s director for Accelerators and Technology, said in the statement from Friday. While the full potential of the juiced-up LHC remains to be seen, the physicists behind it are aiming to hit 13.6 TeV. That’s close to a third of the energy transmitted by some of the strongest gamma rays recorded in the Milky Way.

[Related: In 5 seconds, this fusion reactor made enough energy to power a home for a day]

Once the accelerator is recharged, CERN will dive into “Run 3” of its particle physics experiments to observe new states of matter like quark-gluon plasma and continue old projects that recreate the conditions from after the Big Bang. When the LHC last left off, it was yielding more data than ever before, including on the famed Higgs Boson, the presence of antimatter (or lack thereof), and the heft of W and Z particles. In the gap since 2018, collaborators have been digging through petabytes of calculations to shed light on long-standing riddles in high-energy physics. For instance, just this January, researchers from MIT pinpointed an ephemeral particle they labeled as X(3872). 

The LHC can also build on findings gleaned from other circular particle colliders in its next phase. In early April, a team of collaborators from across the US used results from the now-defunct Tevatron accelerator in Illinois to come up with the most precise weight of the W boson to date. CERN can now confirm or refute that measurement, which could make waves for the underlying Standard Model in particle physics.

All of which is to say, with the LHC back in swing, the world is about to get more curious and maybe, a little less enigmatic. 

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On April 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted an emergency disease outbreak alert that was not strictly about the COVID pandemic. Over the course of the past two weeks, the medical arm of the United Nations has gathered more than 70 reports of acute hepatitis in the UK, Scotland, and Spain. Yearly, millions of people are diagnosed with acute hepatitis around the world. But these cases alarmed WHO officials because they were in kids between the ages of 1 months and 13 years.

The young patients shared a similar list of symptoms, including jaundice, vomiting, diarrhea, and gastrointestinal pain. At least six experienced complete liver failure and had to undergo an organ transplant. But the source of the disease is still unknown, the WHO stated. Laboratory results ruled out Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E—the viruses that typically cause liver infections.

The tests did, however, detect SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus in several patients. Children are especially susceptible to adenoviruses, which cause sore throat, bronchitis, pink eye, gastroenteritis, and more. The WHO noted that the pathogens have been circulating in the UK, on top of continued COVID outbreaks.

While the WHO alert only covers Western Europe, the US might be on the brink of a pediatric hepatitis surge. Also on April 15, the Alabama Department of Public Health shared that it had identified 9 cases of the disease in children under the age of 10. The first example dates back to November 2021 (the WHO’s earliest record was January 2022). All of the patients tested positive for Type 41 adenovirus, and two required full liver transplants. The news release didn’t mention any presence of SARS-CoV-2. 

Although the two agencies haven’t explicitly linked their cases together, the Alabama Department of Health stated that it’s “discussing similar cases of hepatitis potentially associated with adenovirus with international colleagues.” It also wrote that it’s working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop “a national Health Advisory looking for clinically similar cases with liver injury of unknown etiology or associated with adenovirus infection in other states.” 

[Related: The deadly combination behind the surge of ‘superbug’ fungus outbreaks]

So far, the mysterious disease hasn’t led to any deaths in the US or Europe. But the WHO did strike a cautionary note in its alert. “Given the increase in cases reported over the past one month and enhanced case search activities, more cases are likely to be reported in the coming days,” it stated last week. It didn’t, however, recommend travel restrictions to or from countries experiencing the sudden uptick of childhood hepatitis. 

None of the young patients in Alabama had other underlying illnesses, Karen Landers, a district medical officer, told STAT News. “Seeing children with severe [hepatitis] in the absence of severe underlying health problems is very rare,” she continued. “That’s what really stood out to us in the state.”

The STAT News article also explains that while an adenovirus, not a coronavirus, likely triggered the liver infections, SARS-CoV-2 might have played a secondary role in the outbreaks. Lockdowns and universal mask use over the past two years have kept some infants from encountering common germs that they would otherwise gain immunity to. This could result in more severe reactions to adenoviruses, which can easily infect people via skin or surfaces and are resistant to many disinfectants. 

There are a few ways to protect kids from these infectious agents. As with COVID, teaching them to wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, touch their face less, and share symptoms when they first feel sick can help reduce transmission. On the community level, families, schools, and physicians should keep a close eye on cases and share any notable patterns with local health authorities. Potential outbreaks will then get reported up to policy-making agencies like the WHO and the CDC, who can keep the public informed.

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Now you see it—and now you see it a little less.

The bigfin reef squid of the Pacific and Indian oceans is famous for its glittering, glowing skin, but the petite sea creature can also switch up its look with pigment-producing cells embedded in its dermis. These structures, known as chromatophores, have been studied in depth in cuttlefish and octopuses. And now, marine biologists have a better sense of how they work in squid, too.

In a study published in the journal Scientific Reports recently, collaborators from the University of Minnesota Duluth and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate Studies in Japan experimented with the bigfin reef squid’s camouflaging abilities in the lab. They constructed a fiberglass tank and divided the bottom to make a blue background and a green, algae-filled background to mimic the species’ various habitats. The researchers then placed eight captive-bred adult squid in the vessel, and filmed the creatures with an underwater camera as they moseyed around. To avoid reflections from natural light, the team covered parts of the tank with fabric and only captured data in overcast conditions.

The recordings showed that the squid tweaked their body color each time they moved between the blue background and the green background. In a few cases, they made the adjustment in just a fraction of a second. They also didn’t stop swimming as they changed hues: The animals logged an average velocity of .16 meters per second as they kicked their chromatophores into gear.

The authors of the study noted a number of similarities in differences between the bigfin reef squid and other pigment-producing cephalopods. For one, they hypothesize the squid could be anticipating the different backgrounds, based on how quickly some individuals adapted while crossing from blue to green and green to blue. This is a behavior cuttlefish express while traveling around benthic environments. But the researchers also point out that the squid might have camouflaged more quickly in the tank because of heightened social interactions.

[Related: Slap another cephalopod on the vampire squid’s family tree]

Most importantly, the team concluded that the species activates its color-changing powers in two ways: with a see-through body and internal pigment factories. Previously, marine biologists had thought squid only depended on glassy skin, not chromatophores, to blend into their surroundings. But the bigfin reef squid gravitates from seagrass lagoons to the open ocean as it matures, indicating that it needs multiple strategies to disguise itself from predators through its life cycle. 

The squid species has “a rare combination of semitransparency and the ability to change body color via chromatophores (metachrosis), which enables it to successfully inhabit both pelagic and reef environments,” the authors wrote in their paper. “Therefore, it represents an attractive model organism for studying the ecology, evolution, and neurobiology of versatile, dynamic camouflage.” 

See the first-ever video of a bigfin reef squid changing colors to match its background below.

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Not every owl is a night owl. Of the 200-plus owl species that fly the world today, the vast majority are nocturnal or crepuscular and hunt at dusk, night, or dawn. But a select few are diurnal or cathemeral, meaning they’re most active in the daytime, or really, anytime. 

This can be determined by a species’ habitat, as well as their diet. For example, snowy owls spend their summers in the Arctic, when the sun stays up for 12 to 24 hours a day. They also mainly eat lemmings, chunky rodents that are easier to catch on the tundra while it’s light out. 

[Related: Transform your yard into an owl kingdom]

But what would cause these finely tuned hunters to switch their schedules? A study published today in the journal PNAS traces an “evolutionary reversal” in one of the largest living groups of owls and presents “the first fossil evidence for diurnal behavior” among the birds, according to the abstract.

The research focuses on a well-preserved skeleton from northern China’s Ma Liushu Formation. Measuring about 12 inches from head to toe, Miosurnia diurna is estimated to be 6 to 10 million years old and is related to modern diurnal species such as burrowing owls and Northern hawk owls.

Paleontologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed the size and shape of the extinct bird’s eye, cranial, and lower leg bones and compared them to measurements from modern relatives. The authors found that the morphological features of the fossil jibed closely with day-hunting species from the group Surniini, which includes several North American owls, including the short-eared owl and ferruginous pygmy-owl. 

They also dissected an undigested food pellet in the specimen’s stomach and discovered small mammal bones like the ones extracted from kestrels (a miniature falcon that hunts by day) from the same time period. The two birds might have coexisted in dry, high savannah along the Tibetan Plateau, but “likely used different foraging strategies,” the researchers write in the paper.

In contrast with other ancient owls, whose senses of sight, sound, and even smell were suited to the darkness, Miosurnia diurna seemed to be better adapted for daytime, with large eyes and less-tubular ears that match the traits in grassland owls today. As such, the extinct owl’s environment might have been the main driver behind its behavioral shift: The study goes so far to attribute the night-to-day switch to “steppe habitat expansion and climate cooling in the late Miocene.”

[Related: An ancient era of global warming could hint at our scorching future]

For Jonathan Slaght, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, the details of Miosurnia diurna’s surroundings are almost as interesting as its evolutionary history. “It’s neat that the research shows that there were probably owls in savannahs,” he says (the paleontological record on grassland birds is still relatively patchy). But he also sees similarities between the ancient species and the bird he studies in Siberia, the Blakiston’s fish-owl. Both are part of the diverse Strigidae family, and are outliers in a way. “I feel some kinship,” Slaght says. “By modern standards this is a weird owl, and Blakiston’s fall into that category.” Though fish-owls are crepuscular, they lack key nocturnal features like wide facial discs and silent flight. This might be because they hunt in rivers, not woods, and have a different set of strategies for hooking prey.

Miosurnia diurna’s bones tease its specialized hunting skills—but its DNA could reveal far more. In their paper, the paleontologists mention that the genetic underpinnings of diurnal adaptations “would be a fruitful area of research” for others to explore. But it all points to a much larger question: What made owls become owls? Slaght, for one, isn’t making any assumptions: “I like to see owls being unexpected,” he says. Maybe, that’s what defines them in part, too.

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NASA’s most powerful rocket, called the Space Launch System (SLS), rolled to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on March 18 and is wrapping up its first “wet dress rehearsal” in the next day or two. The moon-bound SLS will shuttle the uncrewed Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I mission (currently scheduled for May 2022) and a crewed capsule with the Artemis II mission (slated for 2024, but likely launching much later). At 322 feet tall and 3.5 million pounds, it’s one of the largest rockets ever built—and will produce 15 percent more thrust than the Saturn V vehicle behind the final Apollo lunar missions.

The wet dress rehearsal involves fueling drills and a mock clocking system, according to a NASA update on the mission page. “Now at the pad for the first time, we will use the integrated systems to practice the launch countdown and load the rocket with the propellants it needs to send Orion on a lunar journey in preparation for launch,” Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for Common Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in the post. The SLS has four liquid-propellent engines and a pair of 17-story-tall boosters that can burn close to 3 million gallons of fuel in under eight minutes—the amount of time it will take to push Orion into low Earth orbit. Those boosters give it enough heft and thrust to carry 59,500 pounds of cargo for hundreds of thousands of miles, earning it the title of a heavy-lift, deep-space rocket.

[Related: Hermes will be NASA’s mini-weather station for tracking solar activity]

Building the SLS has been a decade-long process for NASA and its manufacturing partners. The space agency first shared the rocket’s design with the public back in 2011. Initially, NASA had planned the maiden mission for 2017—but that date was pushed back several times due to issues with the power unit and other parts in the Orion spacecraft. If all goes well with the wet dress rehearsal, however, the vehicle could hit the launch pad for real in another few weeks.

The one downside to the system is that it isn’t completely reusable. At $23 billion, construction expenses have already exceeded the original budget; the cost per-mission is estimated to be around $2 billion. A salvageable vehicle, like SpaceX’s stainless steel Starship prototype, could fly people and payloads over long distances for far less money. But for now, NASA has its sights set on putting its most heavy-hitting rocket a little closer to the moon, and someday Mars.

See some NASA photos from the SLS launchpad rollout below.

Correction (March 21, 2022): The story first incorrectly reported that the SLS rocket is more than double the height of the Saturn V. That measurement was taken from the Saturn V’s height without boosters: All together, the older rocket is actually slightly taller than the SLS.

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With a color palette brighter than a bag of Skittles, you’d think the rose-veiled fairy wrasse would have no trouble standing out. But in the teeming waters of the Indian Ocean, it’s easy for a fish to swim under the radar, even when it looks like it’s ultraviolet.

For decades, the rose-veiled fairy wrasse was mistaken for its relative, the rosy-scales fairy wrasse. The two reef fish both grow up to three inches long, sport the same shocking ombre patterning, and float around the water column like dazed little sprites. But there are some subtle differences. The rose-veiled fairy wrasse has a more rounded tail fin and red-purple crosshatches on parts of its body. The adults of both species also vary in coloration, though it’s hard to tell with the dimness underwater.

[Related: An unknown Galapagos tortoise species may be lurking in museum bones]

These are the little details that helped biologists in the Maldives identify a new type of marine life—one that they were already quite familiar with. The rose-veiled fairy wrasse is a beloved aquarium fish that’s specifically found in twilight reefs, a coral habitat that thrives 100 to 300 feet under the ocean’s surface. The reefs are adapted to low-light conditions, and are generally more preserved than corals in the shallows, which are exposed to human disturbances like climate change.

“Though the species is quite abundant and therefore not currently at a high risk of overexploitation, it’s still unsettling when a fish is already being commercialized before it even has a scientific name,” Luiz Roza, curator of ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences, said in a press release. He worked with researchers from the Maldives, Australia, and the Field Museum in Chicago to publish a species description of the rose-veiled fairy wrasse in the journal ZooKeys.

The paper compares the rose-veiled fairy wrasse specimens with several other species from the same genus, including the rosy-scaled fairy wrasse, which it was once lumped together with. The first species ranges in waters between the Maldives and Sri Lanka; the second lives farther south around the small island chain of Chagos. Both frequent “rubble bottoms scattered with loose coral cover,” according to the research.

The authors also cited photos, videos, and measurements taken from remotely operated submersibles in the twilight zone. Ultimately, they clocked enough visual differences to propose the rose-veiled fairy wrasse as its own species. They gave it the Latin name, Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, after the national flower of the Maldives. (It translates to “rose” in the local Dhivehi language.)

The research was part of a longer expedition called Hope for Reefs, where divers and biologists band together to analyze the biodiversity of the twilight zone in the Maldives. In the process they’re coming up with strategies to conserve the deep-water corals—and all the eye candy living in them.

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As the Curiosity rover continues its decade-long journey across Mars’s Gale Crater, it’s finding a trove of curiosities on the planet’s igneous rock face.

In a image taken on February 24, Curiosity used “the equivalent of the geologist’s hand lens” to document what looks like a water lily, piece of coral, or sprig of broccolini. The “Martian flower,” as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory referred to it in a mission update, likely stemmed eons ago from a flow of mineralized water. Mars researchers think that the surface of Gale Crater has been dry for 3 billions years now—but that it might contain groundwater under several layers of sediment. 

A closer analysis of the botanic-seeming deposit could reveal the substances carried by that water. “Curiosity has in the past discovered a diverse assortment of similar small features that formed when mineralizing fluids traveled through conduits in the rock,” the NASA post reads. Previous samples taken by the rover have tested positive for complex carbon molecules like benzoic acid, nutrients like ammonia, and key earthly elements like phosphorus and sulfur. “Taken together, the evidence points to Gale Crater (and Mars in general) as a place where life—if it ever arose—might have survived for some time,” the Curiosity team wrote in a separate mission update.

[Related: Your ancestors might have been Martians]

When it’s not too busy capturing faux flora, Curiosity is snapping Ansel Adams-style portraits of the laminate Mars landscape. The rover is using two of its 17 cameras to take mosaics of the jagged skyline from the Greenheugh pediment (located near the center of the Gale Crater at the base of Mount Sharp). Those images aren’t just for scrapbooking: They’ll come in handy for gauging solar tau, which is the amount of sunlight that filters through the Red Planet’s atmosphere, and the levels of dust in the air.

Meanwhile, farther northwest in the Jezero Crater, the much newer Perseverance rover is about to set off on a dual voyage with its miniature helicopter companion, Ingenuity. The two robots will take alternative routes to reach the Octavia E. Butler Landing Site, where NASA completed a tricky touchdown last February. From there they will explore a barren river delta, and take wide-angle images and videos with a camera similar to Curiosity’s.

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On the heels of a major update to COVID mask guidelines and risk measures across the country, the US government released a centralized pandemic approach that focuses on lifting bans, ending shutdowns, and bridging the vaccine gap overseas. The new strategies were outlined during the State of the Union address on Tuesday, and published on the White House website on Wednesday. They were largely informed by a roadmap designed by more than two-dozen medical experts, the New York Times reports.

The National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan has four chief targets: increase free supplies of tests and antiviral pills, equip local governments and health care facilities against variants, give schools, offices, and daycares the tools they need to safely stay open, and support international pandemic efforts with vaccines and other resources.

“Thanks to the progress we’ve made in the past year, COVID-19 no longer need control our lives,” President Joe Biden said in the first State of the Union speech of his presidency on Tuesday. “We’ve lost so much with COVID. Time with one another. And worst of all, much loss of life. Let’s use this moment to reset.” 

[Related: Why the FDA paused monoclonal antibody treatments]

The new plan pivots sharply from the cautious attitudes taken by federal and local officials during the Omicron surge at the beginning of 2022. But with fewer people being hospitalized with COVID infections and reinfections, the majority of restrictions have now been lifted. (The country is still seeing a few thousand deaths a week.) The mayor of New York City—the most densely populated place in the nation—said that patrons at restaurants and other businesses might not have to show proof of vaccination starting on March 7. Meanwhile, in early February, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration repealed a vaccine mandate for large private workplaces after the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also quietly updated one of its COVID pages last month to say that universal contact tracing was no longer recommended.

While the White House playbook touches on the need to keep vaccinating Americans (especially those between the ages of 6 months and 5 years), it casts most of its focus on tests, treatments, improved ventilation systems, and variant suppression. Masks also get little mention, though they are still part of the Strategic National Stockpile in case of further outbreaks.

During his State of the Union address, Biden announced a “Test to Treat Initiative” that would allow people to get a free antiviral pill if they come up positive for COVID-19 at a pharmacy, veterans hospital, assisted living facility, or community health center. The preparedness plan states that the “one-stop sites” will be ready by the end of March. The president also said that Pfizer would manufacture 1 million COVID pills this month, and more than 2 million next month. The Food and Drug Administration green-lit Paxlovid for anyone 12 years and older last December, but it has been hard to buy so far.

Internationally, the White House says it will keep to its word of donating 1.2 billion vials of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson vaccines. So far, the US has distributed 479 million doses to 112 countries, mainly in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Pacific islands like Papua New Guinea. The plan also outlines the creation of a health security fund for the World Bank, which will boost global response to COVID variants and other potential pandemics.

[Related: Will the world run out of COVID vaccines?]

Back at home, federal officials will provide “technical assistance” and funds for schools, tribal offices, and other public buildings to improve their air filtration systems. Employers might get incentives for offering paid sick leave to anyone who tests positive for the virus or needs to care for family. All this is a bid to reopen classrooms and businesses—and keep them open for the rest of the pandemic.

“It’s time for America to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again with people,” Biden said in his speech last night. “People working from home can feel safe and begin to return to their offices … Our kids need to be in school.”

Critics of the White House’s recent public health decisions have pointed out that individuals with long-haul COVID symptoms—and those at high risk of serious illness from the virus—are being forced to fend for themselves. “If you’re immunocompromised or have some other vulnerability, we have treatments and free high-quality masks,” Biden responded in the State of the Union. “We’re leaving no one behind or ignoring anyone’s needs as we move forward.” The plan expands on this with mentions of “prioritized treatments and preventative interventions” and “access to boosters.” It further states that the White House will “accelerate research and development of accessible self-tests” to remove some of the obstacles for people with disabilities. 

With the two-year pandemic mark approaching next week, it remains to be seen how much of the country is prepared to return to full speed, and whether the president’s optimistic COVID playbook can actually protect the most vulnerable Americans. 

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Now that every US state minus Hawaii has set an end date for its indoor mask mandates, federal agencies are rejiggering their own recommendations. This afternoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its COVID mask guide so that fewer people need to consider wearing face coverings in public.

Most of the CDC’s changes are based on its community level tool, which measures COVID risks in every US and Puerto Rican county and helps individuals determine the amount of protection they should use depending on where they live, go to work or school, and travel. In light of increasing immunity to the virus and variants like Omicron, the agency overhauled its benchmarks for three community levels: “high” (orange), “medium” (yellow), and “low” (green). Under the new system, 70 percent of Americans are outside of orange zones and can, in theory, stop masking up indoors.

[Related: What to do with your old cloth masks]

The CDC’s guide now only recommends widespread mask use, regardless of vaccination status, in high-risk areas. Previously, this advice also applied to the “substantial” COVID community level, which fell between high and medium. Substantial is no longer marked as a level on the tool.

When the community level tool first launched in early 2021, the categories were defined by case numbers and transmission rates in counties and states. Now the metrics only draw from COVID hospitalizations and occupied inpatient beds in a locality.

“This new framework moves beyond just looking at cases and test positivity to evaluate factors that reflect the severity of disease, including hospitalizations and hospital capacity, and helps to determine whether the level of COVID-19 and severe disease are low, medium, or high in a community,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said in telebriefing this afternoon. “The COVID-19 community levels we are releasing today will inform CDC measures like masking … This updated approach focuses on directing our prevention efforts toward protecting people at high risk of severe illness and preventing hospital and health care systems from being overwhelmed.”

The changes could also signal a shift in how the US government measures surges and distributes resources like rapid COVID tests and N95 and KN95 masks in the future. But some are saying that it will barely make a blip in most people’s day to day. “The new guidance may not have much of a practical impact for many Americans,” Axios’s Caitlin Owens wrote. “As vaccination and booster rates have risen, case counts have become an increasingly less meaningful measure of the severity of the pandemic. Many experts argue that hospitalizations and the amount of severe cases are much better indicators of how serious an outbreak is.”

There are still large pieces of the country labeled orange on the CDC’s community level map. But most of them, like northern Maine, southwestern Oregon, and eastern Kentucky, cover rural zip codes with sparse health care resources, which might explain why they fall under the updated high-risk benchmarks. West Virginia, however, is starkly orange due to a months-long surge in hospitalizations that the governor says is “looking better.”

But even with relaxed precautions, the CDC website states that people should take personal risk into account when deciding whether to mask up in public. For example, under the medium community level guidance, the agency says: “If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about additional precautions, such as wearing masks or respirators indoors in public.” However, it doesn’t identify extra masking protocols for adults and older kids who haven’t been vaccinated. To date, nearly 14 percent of the US population hasn’t gotten a single COVID shot. (The vaccines aren’t available for children under 5 yet.)

Despite the shifting guidelines from the CDC and states, masks are always an option for individuals looking to protect themselves and others from the virus. Different types of face coverings offer different amounts of security. And remember, businesses, school districts, transit authorities, and workplaces might have their own indoor masking requirements independent of state mandates that need to be followed.

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Sometimes gravity unifies galaxies; sometimes it creates strife. But documenting these paradoxical processes is always a feat, even in the age of advanced space telescopes and astronomical modeling.

On February 14, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) posted a Hubble image depicting three galaxies swirling into one. The newborn formation is located 681 million light-years away from Earth in the Cancer constellation. The gravitational force of the triple merger is so intense, it’s packing dust into new stars and causing bulges in the galactic cloud (an effect known as tidal distortion). 

Mergers are a common way for galaxies to grow and shape stars in disparate conditions. (The Milky Way as we know it is likely a result of a merger, based on the massive hump at its center.) The events can either be “gas wet,” meaning the parties involved are cold and gassy, or “gas dry,” where the bodies are older and have used up their gases. Wet mergers have a higher rate of star formation, and often birth bright, elliptical galaxies. 

The merger that Hubble spied in the Cancer constellation has been in progress for more than a century. Labeled IC 2431, it was first discovered in 1896 by French astronomer Stephane Javelle who used a much smaller ground telescope. Though he identified it as a quadruple merger, NASA and ESA researchers think there are three galaxies in the gaseous churn.

Meanwhile, 5,000 light-years away in the Rosette Nebulae, a collision between two passing galaxies is leading to “a firestorm of star formation.” On February 22, NASA and the ESA posted a Hubble shot of the ancient galaxy NGC 2444 yanking at the spiral galaxy NGC 2445 during an eons-long driveby. As NGC 2444 lumbers along, its massive gravitational field is teasing out NGC 2445’s gases, creating a trail of young blue stars. The newborn stellar masses rest at the heart of the smaller galaxy, and are estimated to be one to two million years old. 

But there’s a dark side to this pairing, too. The Hubble image reveals a web of black gases leaking out from the core of the star birth; its origins and components are still largely a mystery. “Radio observations reveal a powerful source in the core that may be spearheading the outbursts,” the ESA writes in its post. “The radio source may have been produced by intense star formation or a black hole gobbling up material flowing into the center.”

The two space agencies plan to scan the formation again once the James Webb Space Telescope is fully operational. Webb’s infrared-light camera should be able to detect more stars that are shrouded in dust and invisible to Hubble’s decades-old instruments. 

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Perseverance has officially survived a year on Mars.

And what a year it’s been, filled with first flights, first digs, first “breaths,” and first meltdowns (don’t worry, it’s all good now). Living up to its name so far, Perseverance keeps zooming along to fulfill its scientific duty. The mission is still one giant experiment, as NASA engineers continue to test and calibrate the sedan-sized rover and its store of instruments. 

[Related: There are no shortcuts when you build a drone destined for Mars]

“It is what I call the ‘land-iversary,’” Jennifer Trosper, Mars 2020 project manager, said during NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s anniversary livestream mission recap on Thursday. “When we were getting ready to land Perseverance, we were four for four for rovers, and we just know that Mars can always hand us something challenging. So even though we were confident, we were humble.”

Percy—as many have come to call the robot—is not the first machine to freely roam the Red Planet. NASA has been sending rovers to Mars since 1997, and the Soviet Union landed two tethered probes there in the ‘70s. But as with any new space mission, the technology on Perseverance marked a drastic improvement, even compared to its most recent predecessor, Curiosity. The 11-year-old vehicle is still running down Mars rocks, though at a location thousands of miles north of Percy’s station at Jezero Crater. China also landed a rover, Zhurong, on the Red Planet in 2021: Its mission is to explore the plains in the planet’s northern hemisphere, while taking plenty of selfies and sound clips.  

As Perseverance hunts for microbial life around a billions-year-old lakebed, the Mars 2020 team is analyzing the raw data it transmits back to Earth. It will be several more years (at least 2030) until they can get a hard look at the soil and stone samples, which will be picked up during a future landing. But Percy is built for long-term science—its power reserves should last another 13 Earth years, or 6.9 Mars years. without refueling. That’s plenty of time for it to uncover the massive pockets of water allegedly hiding under the Red Planet’s surface.

To celebrate the rover’s milestones so far, NASA is hosting a livestream with Mars 2020 engineers this afternoon. But first, let’s reboot our Percy memories with some of PopSci’s top moments.

The big send off

Percy took off from Cape Canaveral on July 30, 2020, on an Atlas V-541 rocket. The launch date was set for when Earth and Mars’s orbits matched up to make the flight between the two planets shorter and easier. The rover was packed with a four-pound helicopter (more on that later) and seven imaging and measuring instruments, making the entire payload worth more than $3 billion. Thankfully, the departure from Earth was a success: Eight hours into the flight, the capsule holding the robot and its accessories broke off from the Atlas and sped toward Mars.

A photo-worthy touchdown

Nearly half a year later, Percy arrived in the Mars’s atmosphere, ready to join its fellow rover Curiosity on the ground. NASA engineers knew the landing would be a challenge, as the spacecraft had hit speeds of more than 12,000 miles per hour during its interplanetary trek. (They even nicknamed the process “the seven minutes of terror.” But the many months of simulated practice in the lab helped: The parachute-assisted descent went smoothly, and around 4:05 p.m. EST, Percy rolled out on the Red Planet’s surface and took its first high-res color images.

First helicopter flight off Earth

The Mars 2020 team had planned to take Ingenuity, the first-ever off-planet helicopter, on its inaugural flight on April 11. But perfecting the speed of its rotors proved a challenge. After all, no one had ever floated an aircraft through Mars’s thin, CO₂-filled atmosphere. On April 19, however, it finally happened: The four-pound, 18-inch-tall helicopter took to the skies for less than a minute. It climbed 10 feet straight up (equivalent to more than 100,000 feet in the Earth’s atmosphere) and came right back down. Ingenuity has since completed 18 flights at various altitudes and trajectories around Jezero Crater.

Creating Martian oxygen

The Red Planet’s atmosphere is thin and laden with carbon dioxide—perfectly fine for a robot like Percy, but not ideal for humans. If people ever attempt to visit Mars (and make the return trip back), they’ll need to make their own oxygen to breathe and help rockets lift off. That’s why Percy was equipped with a toaster-sized box that sucks in carbon dioxide and breaks it apart, spitting out carbon monoxide and keeping only the oxygen molecules. After the first extraction on April 20, the machine, called Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), sequestered about 5 grams of oxygen, which would give an astronaut about 10 minutes of breathable air. Even the modest amount of oxygen marks an important milestone for future Martian exploration.

Poking into the first of many Martian rocks 

Percy roams over a lot of red rock, but it’s looking for particularly interesting ones that might have once bore ancient microbial life. On September 6 and September 8, the six-wheeled pioneer unfurled its arm to drill its very first rock samples from an igneous, gray slab nicknamed “Rochette.” Leaving behind a small hole punch, the resulting rock cores could contain “little atomic clocks” of radioactive isotopes that the Mars 2020 scientists hope will reveal more details about Jezero Crater’s watery past—and if life was once present there.

The Martian rocks that scientists currently have to study are the ones that have fallen to Earth: meteorites. But Percy’s rock collection is the start of what will be a 30-year mission to collect and later send samples to Earth for study. The Mars Sample Return is a multi-mission project, with Percy at the helm. In September 2021, Percy kicked it off when it drilled into the Red Planet’s surface, placed the sample into a tube, and packed up that precious soil for a future pickup flight. So far, Jezero Crater has been a “slam dunk” for collecting samples for the return mission, Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 deputy project scientist, said during the Thursday livestream. While rovers have gleaned plenty of data by studying rocks in the field, back on Earth, scientists have more tools to process and analyze Mars’s characteristics.  

Audio messages from another world

Percy is a selfie queen (in fact, the Mars rovers are notoriously photogenic), but the robot is also a great listener. Over the past year, Percy’s duo of microphones has been capturing the sound of pummeling Martian wind, the clink-clank of the rover’s metal wheels, and the low rumble of Ingenuity as it chops through the air. This symphony of sounds is actually audible data: the pitch, frequency, and way that sound travels informs scientists about the Red Planet’s temperature, density, and the composition of the atmosphere. In October, NASA released an audio diary of the sounds Percy listens to each passing Sol, or day on Mars, unveiling an ethereal soundscape of a world far from home.

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Venus is known as a beautiful and brilliant planet. But, until recently, we hadn’t even seen it in the right light.

Back in July 2020, the Parker Solar Probe snapped the first-ever images of the Venusian surface in full visible light. It took a similar set of images during a February 2021 flyby. Now, astrophysicists have finally analyzed those visuals to get a better sense of the planet’s cloudy atmosphere and shrouded landscapes.

In the report, just published in Geophysical Research Letters, a team from the Naval Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center described two types of light captured by the probe: surface and night glow. The surface glow comes from hot minerals on Venus’s terrain, while the night glow is emitted by gassy molecules in the air. The combination gives the planet a halo-like ring that’s visible to humans (should they ever fly by too). 

[Related: Something is making Venus’s clouds less acidic]

“The surface of Venus, even on the nightside, is about 860 degrees Fahrenheit,” Brian Wood, an astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory, said in a NASA statement. “It’s so hot that the rocky surface of Venus is visibly glowing, like a piece of iron pulled from a forge.”

Parker’s February images were also the first to fully capture the planet’s surface on its nightside. In the process, its cameras detected a wider range of light wavelengths, including some from the infrared spectrum. All together, the visuals help confirm earlier observations from missions like Venera 9 in the 1970s, Magellan in the 1990s, and Akatsuki in 2016. The new analysis concludes that previous temperature readings and topographical maps for Venus are more or less correct. But the flyby images also explain a long-held legend on the “morning and evening star”—the name some skywatchers use for the planet.

“There have actually been many reports of faint emission from the Venusian night side from credible amateur and professional astronomers, dating back to the 1600s,” the authors write in the paper. “This ‘ashen light’ phenomenon, as it has come to be called, has never been successfully imaged, however, leading to the suspicion that the phenomenon may be an optical illusion.”

But amateur and professional astronomers should still gaze into the heavens to see Venus shimmer, the authors suggest. “The excellent dynamic range of the human eye might give the eye an advantage over electronic detectors in discerning something very faint near something so bright, but only reproducible images can provide a truly convincing detection,” they write in the study.

Parker will conduct three more Venus flybys between now and November 2024 (though only one will be on the nightside). Also on the docket are the NASA Davinci and Veritas missions, which will carry a similar set of imaging tools that can detect a wide range of wavelengths.

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Whenever snow hits the pavement in the US, we throw salt on it.

The tradition started with state highway authorities after World War II, and has since been picked up by municipal plow trucks and homeowners. These days, Americans use 25 million tons of salt each year to deice roads and sidewalks after a blizzard or deep freeze. But are we spreading it correctly, and should we be spreading it at all?

Most store-bought versions of deicing salt, or rock salt, consist of plain old sodium chloride. That might seem harmless, given that humans consume it on a daily basis—but as it builds up in soil and water over time, it has the potential to turn nature toxic. The chlorides can spur heavy metals like lead to leach into groundwater, rivers, and more, says Xianming Shi, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Washington State University. More directly, the salt seeps into wells and aquifers, making our drinking water more saline over decades.

Some states, like Rhode Island, have tried to mitigate the issue by mixing in sand with salt or pre-treating highways before a snowstorm. Shi has also worked with authorities in Alaska to implement alternative brining solutions. In 2019, he and his lab developed an additive from discarded grape, apple, and cherry skins that binds with ice when mixed in with rock salt. Though it doesn’t eliminate the use of chlorides, it does minimize it by as much as 30 percent. Their “green chemical” is now being licensed for production by a company in Massachusetts.

[Related: Human activities are making freshwater sources saltier]

But for the ordinary person at home, the eco-friendly options are limited. “There are some ‘organic’ deicers that are chloride-free, but they’re much more expensive than what you’d regularly buy,” Shi says. Plus, there’s an important downside. Mixtures that sub in sugar or nitrogen for chlorides, like the ones made with beet juice, can have a different toxic effect on water: They feed algae and other microbes, leading to hypoxic conditions that harm fish and insects.

Shi’s advice? Be smart—and sparing—about rock salt use. “Homeowners’ practices are not well-informed,” he says. “They apply way too much [deicer].” 

Essentially, the salt should break the bonds between the ice and the pavement to make it easier to shovel, plow, or run a snow blower. Many people throw gobs of sodium chloride on frozen patches, when all they need is a thin layer of crystals or liquid brine. “If you can see salt particles on your driveway or sidewalk, that’s too much,” Shi explains. He also mentions a saline pre-treatment as an option to reduce the use of other chemicals (by up to five to seven times).

Those who have a stream or open body water on their property should take extra care. Try not to treat the areas directly around it, and be safe with neighboring surfaces that could produce runoff. “You can directly impact that environment in a good or bad way,” Shi says. Cutting back on salt also prevents corrosion on cars, infrastructure, and puppy paws.

Of course, these are short-term solutions—but they’re all we have for the time being. “If you look at the trend [of chlorides in water], it’s almost impossible to reverse,” Shi says. “Basically in 50 years, our grandkids could be drinking saltwater.”

“It’s not just the responsibility of state transportation departments. Homeowners and commercial entities with big lots like Costco need to play a role too,” he says, “It will take a whole village.”

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Orca whales are known to be powerful predators, but the ones off the coast of Western Australia might be the most ruthless of their species.

The individuals in this region are genetically distinct from other populations around the world—and they seem to stand out with their hunting prowess as well. In a just-published analysis of three orca kills in Bremer Bay, marine biologists showed that pods will take down the biggest prey they can find: blue whales. It further supports the idea that orcas may be the only natural predators adult blue whales have.

There’s plenty of documentation of orcas attacking other giant mammals; they’ll regularly prey on young humpback whales and full-sized minke whales. But blue whales are a whole different meal—and then some. Adults can get up to 110 feet long and weigh more than 300,000 pounds, making them the most gargantuan creatures on Earth. Even newborns top the megafauna charts at an average of 23 feet and 6,000 pounds.

But that doesn’t seem to deter the Bremer Bay orcas. In three separately documented hunts from 2019 and 2021, pods of one- to two-dozen individuals were seen attacking solo blue whales, chasing and maiming them over the course of an hour. Once the much-larger prey was too exhausted to swim away, the orcas drowned it and dug in.

[Related: These killer whales go through menopause]

The predators all seemed to have a similar slaughtering strategy. They would take turns tearing at their target’s fins and head, before lining up in formation to ram it to death. In two of the cases, they even tore out the blue whale’s tongue—a meaty appendage that can weigh more than an entire elephant. As is typical in orca society, older females led the hunting parties and were responsible for the bulk of the attacks. After dealing the final blows, pod members of all ages helped push the blue whale’s massive form underwater to share the spoils. Members of other orca groups, along with seabirds, joined in to feed too.

“The killer whales we research off Bremer Bay are rewriting the textbook on what we thought we knew about this species,” Rebecca Wellard, founder of Project ORCA and co-author of the new study, said in an interview with the New York Times. But in the paper, she and her colleagues note that orcas in other areas might occasionally dine on blue whales as well. A 2016 video taken by passengers on a fishing boat off Baja California, Mexico, shows a group of male orcas consistently chomping on a blue whale. It’s unclear whether the victim survived.

Amateurs and experts alike, however, have documented the whale battles off Western Australia. Wellard and her fellow researchers supplemented recordings and testimonies from wildlife cruises with drone footage they took themselves. As a result, they’ve published the most thorough analysis of a behavior that’s surprised even the most veteran whale scientists. 

“Now, with the recovery of some blue whale populations, what we may be seeing is killer whales rediscovering a prey base that has largely been absent for the past 50 to 100 years,” Robert Pitman, a marine biologist from Oregon State University and co-author on the story, told Gizmodo. “We may also be getting a glimpse of what the ocean looked like before we emptied out most of the large creatures.”

Correction (February 1, 2022): Due to a conversion error, the maximum weight of an adult blue whale was incorrectly stated as 300 tons or 600,000 pounds. It has been updated to 150 tons of 300,000 pounds.

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Like many wormy discoveries, this one started with murder.

In 2019, a parasitology lab at the University of California, Riverside, was tipped off by a breeder whose tarantulas were ravaged by a mysterious infection. Side effects included “lethargy, anorexia, and tip-toe behavior,” along with “a white discharge in the oral cavities,” according to the researchers’ recap of the incident. They had the breeder send them a few dead specimens and dug in.

[Related: These worms produce milk, but only when they kick the bucket]

Necropsies revealed that the hairy victims were infected with nematode worms. This massive group of tube-like creatures is known for mooching off plants, insects, and humans—but not so much tarantulas. The investigators shook off the micrometer-sized attackers, reared them, and sequenced their DNA for a solid identification.

Turns out, the spider-killing worms belonged to a species completely unknown to science. The UC Riverside researchers named it Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi in appreciation of Jeff Daniels, the lead actor in the 1990 sci-fi thriller Arachnophobia. Their summary of the species was published in The Journal of Parasitology this month.

In a statement to the university about the designation, Daniels said: “Honestly, I was honored by their homage to me and Arachnophobia. Made me smile. And of course, in Hollywood, you haven’t really made it until you’ve been recognized by those in the field of parasitology.”

As for the tarantulas, their deaths were hardly in vain. The researchers pieced together a thorough life history of the new nematodes, from how they invade their hosts’ bodies to how they reproduce. Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi seems to produce its own eggs and sperm, making it a “self-fertilizing hermaphrodite.” This gives it the ability to hatch dozens of offspring over a relatively short lifetime (an average of 160 larvae in 11 days). 

“Any animal you know of on planet Earth, there’s a nematode that can infect it,” UC Riverside parasitologist Alder Dillman said in a press release. In experiments, his lab found that Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi is lethal to young wax moths and house crickets too. It’s still unclear what the worm’s motive is: It might weaken larger organisms by feeding on them directly, or by passing on harmful strains of bacteria.

The investigators were also unsure of how the nematodes infiltrated the breeding facility. They thought it might have been through the soil in the tarantulas’ enclosures, but couldn’t confirm their hunch without material evidence. For now, they’ll keep their eyes on the suspects and the tip lines open for any more spider homicides.

The post What do you call a tiny tarantula killer? Jeff Daniels. appeared first on Popular Science.

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Late on Friday the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) updated its guide on COVID masks and respirators, emphasizing the fact that N95s and KN95s are more effective against the spread of the virus when worn correctly. This comes during a weeks-long surge of cases in the US, due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The agency’s website now reads: “While all masks and respirators provide some level of protection, properly fitted respirators provide the highest level of protection. Wearing a highly protective mask or respirator may be most important for certain higher risk situations, or by some people at increased risk for severe disease.”

The page also notes: “Some masks and respirators offer higher levels of protection than others, and some may be harder to tolerate or wear consistently than others. It is most important to wear a well-fitted mask or respirator correctly that is comfortable for you and that provides good protection.”

N95 and KN95 masks—also known as respirators—were quickly identified as the safest face coverings early in the pandemic, followed by surgical and cloth masks. For the first many months, health officials asked members of the public to use non-valved cloth masks and save other PPE for frontline workers and severely ill individuals. But now due to increased production and availability, the CDC has removed mention of a supply shortage from its website.

N95, KN95, and surgical masks are made of multi-layered propylene plastic, which is better than cotton and other woven fabrics at filtering out the small aerosolized particles that carry the coronavirus through the air. N95 and KN95 designs have to meet high health standards both in the US and overseas. There are other types of industry-grade, but less-common respirators that provide protection against the virus; the CDC has a full list on its website.

[Related: The ultimate guide to reusing and buying N95 masks]

The changes had been anticipated by several experts earlier in the week. At a press conference on Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky addressed the question of whether the US government would be able to make N95 and other high-quality masks more available in light of the recent Omicron surge. The CDC “continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask. And we do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID-19, and that recommendation is not going to change,” she said. Walensky added that the updated information on the CDC’s website would serve as a guide to “the different levels of protection different masks provide. And we want to provide Americans the best and most updated information to choose what mask is going to be right for them.”

For those wondering how to interpret the recent changes, if you’re living, working, or traveling in settings with a high risk of COVID exposure, you might want to upgrade to a respirator. Just note that they are disposable, so the longer you rewear one, the less effective it’ll be. As the CDC mentions multiple times on its website, a snug, comfortable fit is also important—perhaps more so than the type of mask. Be vigilant of fake N95 masks too: This detailed diagram can help you tell a real model from a counterfeit.

Given that most respirators are sized for adults, they may not be suitable for kids, especially those under the age of 3. The CDC also lists an FDA-approved clear-panel mask for individuals with disabilities and those living or working with them regularly.

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What’s better than enjoying an ingenious piece of art in person? Seeing it at 717,000,000,000 pixels on a smartphone or computer screen.

Okay, that might not be completely true—but it’s certainly a distinctive experience, and one that we can thank state-of-the-art technology for. Last week the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam posted an AI-constructed, ultra-high-res image of “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt. The original piece is nearly 15 feet long and more than 12 feet high and has been under intensive restoration since the early 1900s.

As the story goes, in the 1600s Rembrandt was commissioned by the Amsterdam civic guard to create a sweeping oil painting for their headquarters. The Dutch portraitist constructed a scene with the city’s mayor and his lieutenant—plus 32 other characters, including a dressed-up young lass. The piece is thought to have been completed in 1642, and was moved to the town hall in 1715. Rembrandt was long dead at this point. Without his guidance, the new handlers decided to make a few “edits” to get the painting to their liking: They shaved off a few sections (and subjects) from each of the sides to fit and mount the canvas.

Lucky for art appreciators today, the city commissioned another local painter to draw a smaller reference for the “Night Watch” prior to the hack job. The restoration scientists at Rijksmuseum tapped a form of AI known as neural networks to scale the missing elements from the copy to the original. Another set of algorithms helped them match Rembrandt’s signature light-and-shadow style as they “extended’ the piece back to its full form.

Throughout the two-year-long process, the specialists discovered other secrets hidden in the hefty work. Imaging and mineral scans mapped out traces of calcium, copper, arsenic, and iron, exposing some of the sketches and errors under Rembrandt’s final flourishes. They also noted details that had faded from environmental factors, like smoke.

When the restoration finally wrapped in June of 2021, the team didn’t stop. They swept over the completed painting with a 100-megapixel HD camera, producing 8,439 photos that were then computerized, color-corrected, and stitched together by more algorithms. The laser-sharpened result, shared on the Rijksmuseum website, lets viewers zoom into every .0005-millimeter square at fine resolution. At 717,000,000,000 pixels and 5.6 terabytes, the institution says it’s the largest digital image of an art piece ever.

In a visual sense, this is the closest the public can get to “The Night Watch”—but it allows curators, historians, and neural networks to analyze further aspects of Rembrandt’s work too. Now let’s see if NFT creators will co-opt the technology for their own virtual galleries.

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The US continues to smash pandemic records as Omicron infection rates soar across the country. The seven-day average for COVID cases on January 9 was 677,243—almost triple that of the previous high of 250,512 on January 12, 2021. That peak came soon after the Delta variant was discovered, but months before it was widespread across the states. To date, the country has seen 60,164,525 cases and 836,236 deaths from the virus.

Last Monday, the John Hopkins University tracker posted a staggering single-day count of 1,082,549 COVID cases, mainly out of the Northeast. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) chalked this up to delayed reports from New Year’s weekend—but the daily numbers remained above 700,000 for the rest of the week. Some infectious disease researchers think that the US hasn’t even hit “the maximal period” in hospitalizations and mortalities from Omicron.  

As of January 1, Omicron was projected to account for 95.4 percent of cases in the states with Delta making up only 4.6 percent. While the CDC hasn’t refreshed those percentages yet, cities like Washington D.C. and Chicago as well as states like Texas and Colorado have shared more variant-specific data. The trends indicate that the nation’s death toll will see a sharp rise, particularly for unvaccinated people ages 65 and up. 

[Related: Why it’s so hard to make quick, accurate estimates on new COVID variants] 

But if the last few weeks have proven anything, it’s that kids aren’t as widely immune to the virus as once expected. The number of hospitalizations for individuals under the age of 5 has multiplied since mid-December when Omicron first surged. The uptick has been less severe among older children, as effective vaccines and boosters are now available for some of that population.

The proportion of children hospitalized for COVID is still relatively low compared to other ages: infecting between 1.1 and 4.3 for every 100,000 Americans compared to 200 in 100,000 for the total population. The CDC still published tighter guidelines for masking, testing, and quarantining for schools as students headed back to class after the new year. Some cities and towns have had to close or delay in-person schooling because of outbreaks and staff shortages.

Meanwhile, tests continue to be in short supply across the nation, causing some free facilities to close their doors temporarily. The White House is planning to dispatch 500 million at-home kits through the mail, though the timeline on that is still unclear. For now, health officials are recommending folks follow the CDC’s updated quarantine advice (which has been questioned by a raft of medical experts), swap cloth face coverings for surgical or N95 masks, and confirm negative rapid antigen tests with PCR results.

[Related: If you’re unsure about getting the COVID vaccine, read this]

Scientists across the globe are still trying to pinpoint how Omicron works, whether it causes hidden long-term conditions, and how well the current vaccines work against it. But from seniors to infants, Americans to Antarcticans, no one can assume they’ll be untouched.

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When the US, Europe, and Canada first unveiled the plans for the James Webb Space Telescope in 1997, it sounded like a pitch from an overambitious science student. The contraption would have to schlep a 26-foot-wide mirror across the solar system, while keeping its cool around the radioactive sun. But to build the Next Generation Space Telescope (as it was called at the time), astronomers had to think big. Hubble, the preeminent space telescope, needed a successor—and there were too many open questions about the Big Bang and the expanding universe.

Twenty-four years later, the Webb telescope has smashed a number of records with its design, production, and assembly. Biggest telescope built for space? Check. Costliest tool made for stargazing? Check. Dozens of delays on the way to the launch pad? Check check check.

[Related: The James Webb telescope will soon be hunting for first light]

So it’s fair to say, the stakes are higher than imagined. As the world cautiously waits for the telescope to kick off its decade-long mission (the launch date is currently set for Christmas morning), here’s a look back on what it took to prepare it for this moment.

The post 17 images to count down to the James Webb Space Telescope launch appeared first on Popular Science.

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Nothing is more soul-crushing than an endless trail of receipts after a shopping trip. Except when you have a CVS ExtraCare card—then that experience is almost twice as painful.

Strategy no. 1: Ask the cashier, nicely

In 2016, CVS finally gave its 70 million ExtraCare members the option to go paperless. To do so, customers would have to pull out their rewards card at checkout and give a valid email address to the cashier. From there, customers would receive all coupons in their inbox, resulting in shorter receipts at the register. Members could use the coupons or ExtraBucks by sending them to their cards via a button in the message, pulling them up on a smart device, or less intuitively, printing them at home or at kiosks in the store.

This opt-out method still exists, but the rise in self-checkout counters has made it less accessible these days. That said, if you find yourself at a CVS with a few minutes to spare, go ahead and ask the cashier to make the switch to digital receipts and coupons. It’ll save you from procrastinating and stashing more junk in your drawers.

Strategy no. 2: Download the CVS app

Like with most streamlined solutions these days, this one involves a smartphone. After you’ve downloaded the CVS app (free for both Android and iOS), sync it to your ExtraCare membership by choosing Link to card. You can either add a photo of your card, type in the 13-digit rewards number, or look up the account with your name, phone number, email address, and zip code.

The other plus side of the app is that you can easily look at all the available deals and ExtraBucks before you go shopping. Simply select Deals and Rewards on the home screen and tap Send to card for all the savings you want. They will automatically be applied to your purchase.

What to do with your old CVS receipts

As always, Redditors have found ingenious ways to repurpose their coupons as wrapping paper, for example. Otherwise, you can always plan ahead for next year’s Halloween costume.

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Is there anything dreamier than a giant phantom jelly billowing in the midst of a deep-sea “snowstorm” ? Depends on personal preference. Maybe you’d be more inspired by a whalefish flickering in the calm waters like an infrared sensor. Or a barreleye fish snaking through the inky depths.

These are among the dozens of rare scenes captured by Doc Ricketts, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)’s robotic rover. For the past many months the 12-foot-long, 10,000-pound submersible has been exploring the undersea canyons off central California—a gateway to the Pacific Ocean’s abyssal plain and the many curiosities that thrive on it. 

[Related: A photo gallery of sea creature tracks]

With the rover’s powerful HD cameras and LED lights, MBARI researchers can detect and record wildlife that have hardly ever been glimpsed upon by human eyes. Take the giant phantom jelly, for example. First described in 1910 and identified in the 1960s, the species has been documented in six of the world’s oceans. Still, it’s only been seen 100 or so times—nine of which were by MBARI. The vast majority of the jelly’s body (which can stretch up to 33 feet—about as long as two stacked giraffes) is made up of four “mouth arms” that it uses to wrangle prey and tread water. It doesn’t have tentacles, nor does it seem to sting.

The whalefish was another chance discovery made by Doc Ricketts this summer. MBARI researchers identified it as a member of the Cetomimidae family, a group of deep-sea vertebrates that lack scales and prominent fins. The creatures aren’t related to whale sharks, but are named after them because of the way they hold their mouths open to feed. And though they might look neon-bright in the light, their shocking coloration helps them slip into the blackness of the midnight zone. Marine biologists are still piecing together the whalefish’s anatomical details, but from what they know so far, it enjoys a truly unconventional sex life. 

Of course, no bottom-of-the-ocean adventure would be complete without an animal that looks like it’s made of cellophane. Just this week, MBARI researchers shared a clip of a barreleye fish found more than 2,000 feet down in Monterey Bay. Unlike whalefish, this animal has a working set of peepers that roll all the way back in its head, allowing it to scan above for threats. The green lenses might also help it to spot bioluminescence, even when sunlight invades its environment. The transparent helmet, meanwhile, is filled with fluid, which protects its organs and gives them some wiggle room.

Doc Ricketts is one of two robotic rovers that MBARI owns and operates. The ocean-research center also uses a benthic rover, a mini rover, and multiple other autonomous vehicles to explore Monterey Bay. Check out its YouTube channel for more videos from its deep sea expeditions.

Correction (December 13, 2021): The length of the Doc Ricketts robotic rover was incorrectly labeled as one foot. It’s 12 feet long.

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Year two of the pandemic brought a new flood of security concerns—domestically, internationally, and, of course, digitally. But companies and researchers stepped up their game. The US military demonstrated its most comprehensive anti-drone technology to date in the New Mexico desert; the Los Angeles Fire Department put the first robot firefighting vehicle in the US on the streets; and a router maker launched a partnership to bring top-shelf anti-virus tech to smart devices. It may not be enough to outright guarantee that you’ll sleep peacefully at night, but at least there’s less of a threat of being hacked through the Bluetooth on your alarm clock.

Looking for the complete list of 100 winners? Check it out here.

Grand Award Winner: A ‘cookie jar’ that one-ups online trackers

Mozilla

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Cookies make the internet work a little more smoothly by remembering a user’s browsing habits, but when the data trackers follow individuals across different sites, a useful tool becomes a privacy liability. Firefox, the browser by Mozilla, introduced an optional feature called “Total Cookie Protection,” which in a meaningful way limits the trails of crumbs you leave behind online. Instead of storing all of an individual’s information together, this new approach makes each site keep its tracking in a separate “cookie jar” without pulling data from others. That means you can click “accept” with more abandon when you get pelted by the cookie disclaimers that are now the norm across the Web.

Defeating drones with directed energy

Air Force Research Laboratory

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Small, expendable drones can spy on soldiers, or worse, attack them with explosives. Fighting these machines, many of which are built cheaply or with commercial parts, means looking for a cost-effective countermeasure that can disable multiple drones at once. With the Air Force’s THOR, the military has a new tool to fry an entire swarm. The system emits high-powered microwaves that hurt electronics, but not people or wildlife. Compact enough to fit on in a shipping container or a C-130 cargo plane, this electrically powered weapon can be set up in a few hours—ready to protect anyone nearby.

Letting robotic firefighters tackle the toughest blazes

Howe & Howe/Textron Systems

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Firefighters rush into danger to extinguish dangerous blazes. But what if they didn’t always have to? Newly adopted by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the Thermite RS3 is a robot ranging from 5 to 7 feet tall and 3,000 to 4,000 pounds (depending on the equipment it’s packing) that can help put out flames without risking the lives of firefighters. The remotely operated RS3 rolls on tank treads, sports thermal and optical cameras, and can blast 2,500 gallons of water a minute. In December 2020, the LAFD used its new prize to beat back a blaze from inside a building—after human firefighters had been called to safety outside.

Encrypted biometric security at your fingertips

Yubico

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Physical security keys offer an option for password-free logins or two-factor authentication that don’t require punching in codes or relaying text messages. YubiKey, which has made this kind of useful and buttoned-up hardware since 2008, launched its first biometric fobs in 2021. The key reads a fingerprint, a personalized marker that it stores securely and locally on the device itself. Using the gadget, which comes in both USB-A and USB-C models, for password-less authentication allows it and the fingerprint to work together as a multi-factor check on logins.

Turning bomb craters into better armor

Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Allen/U.S. Air Force

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Analyzing the debris left over after a bomb blast can lead to a better understanding of the explosive, and inform the design of better armor. Fragmentation Rapid Analysis Generator using Computed Tomography, or FRAG-CT, is a tool made by the Army’s Development Command that can process data from a test range 200 times faster than the current method, which involves painstakingly collecting shrapnel and mapping explosions by hand. By collecting 3D images of fragments, the tech can lead to armor designs more capable of resisting blasts, among other vital ballistics insights.

A boat on treads that’s a real amphibian

Iguana Pro USA

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What has a top speed of 50 knots and two sets of retractable treads? A morphing craft called the IG-PRO 31. Built by Iguana Pro, the 32-foot-long vessel is an amphibious motorboat that can pull itself up on beaches and into hiding. Sold to the US Navy in October 2020, the Interceptor offers special forces more options for where to land—and how to get their boat to a safe shelter space once ashore. On terrain, the tracks can pull the craft forward at more than 4 miles per hour. The machine also offers a useful tool for rescue work on sea or the beach.

A double-mirror trick for email tracking

Apple

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Some email marketing techniques rely on invisible pixels—hidden code that lets the sender know if you’ve opened a message or not. A privacy feature included in the iOS 15 update introduces a novel behind-the-scenes process that blocks those sniffers in their tracks. Once the feature is activated, Apple opens the email on its servers first, and then forwards the message to the user, effectively stopping the tools from knowing when (or even if) the recipient opened the email. It’s a clean way to build privacy back into inboxes normally teeming with data collection.

Flood risk from the past and present, mapped for the future

UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment, and Health

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In the face of climate change, knowing where and when water levels have already risen is an invaluable resource. The World Flood Mapping Tool, made for the United Nations, runs in a browser and can show where past floods have occurred, down to the street level, in any given spot on the globe. The tool draws from Google Earth and Landsat data collected since 1985, is accurate within 30 meters, and includes both population and land use filters—both of which should help planners mitigate harm from future deluges. Later versions will include AI-generated risk maps.

A mega router with total smart-home protection

NETGEAR

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Every new internet-connected device in a home has the potential to be a new path around security for a malicious actor. NETGEAR Armor includes antivirus protection in a router, ensuring protection at the connection point between a growing army of smart doo-dads and the outside internet. In addition to using algorithms to learn a user’s normal behavior and flag unusual activity, the system’s security tools also scan outgoing data for logins, social security numbers, and banking info, and block those from reaching prying eyes.

A mobile network and disaster response center, all in a pickup truck

Verizon Frontline

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After a natural disaster, most Americans have to rely on ad-hoc infrastructure to remain connected. Verizon’s THOR is a mobile all-in-one vehicle built for disaster response. The rig can restore cell service on its own 5G or LTE mobile network, which is powered by a small retractable cell tower and satellite uplinks. To help first responders, THOR can also launch a tethered drone or a fleet of winged robots to see the surrounding area, capturing useful real-time information about what is and isn’t passable terrain.

Correction (December 3, 2021): The Thermite RS3 entry has been updated to include Howe & Howe, a subsidiary of Textron Systems, as the manufacturing company. The firefighting robot’s gallons-per-minute specs have also been corrected from 25,000 to 2,500, and its dimensions have been edited to note that there is a range depending on the attachments.

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A hundred years ago, the first Haribo factory cranked up its confectionery machines on the banks of Germany’s Rhine River. Started by 27-year-old Hans Riegel, the business stayed modest and local—until the founder made a marvelous culinary discovery. The exact formula to his bear-shaped success remains a secret to this day, but its recipe includes gelatin, sugar, a copper kettle, a rolling pin, and the magic of thermodynamics.

Haribo Goldbear gummies are now one of the top-selling candies in the world, spawning dozens of copycats and filling hundreds of fingerprint-smudged waiting-room jars. The company has grown out of Riegel’s home city of Bonn with 16 factories across Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. It’s slated to break ground on its first US production facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, in fall or winter.

The company cooks up 100 million gummy bears a day—on top of numerous other mouth-puckering chews. It sells more than 1,000 varieties globally and launches fresh lines every season, like this summer’s limited Passport edition. “Because of the way we produce our candies, we can make a lot of flavors and profiles with agility,” says Lauren Triffler, head of corporate communications of Haribo of America. US gummy fanatics can only choose from a modest 19 options at the moment. The sheer scale of the company makes it a powerhouse for profit, but it also lets it redefine how the candy industry creates certain fruit flavors, says Yael Vodovotz, a food-innovation scientist at Ohio State University. “They follow the trends and make the choices that change tastes.”

Anointing a new flavor to the Haribo lineup, however, takes some confection-making perfection. The company’s food scientists test each recipe exhaustively for aroma, texture, and regional preferences. The last step is key to ensuring a gummy will succeed across multiple markets. For example, Triffler says, Americans and Germans don’t always agree on what a “lemon” candy should taste like, making it tricky to develop a single yellow piece for a mix that suits everyone’s tongues. The company even had to change up Riegel’s famous recipe when introducing Goldbears stateside in the 1980s.

In general, customers in the US and Latin America have more of a sweet tooth than snackers in Japan and Western Europe. But in the past decade or so, Triffler says American candy lovers have shifted to the sour side. “The kids really like the Zing bites and streamers and the Twin Snakes, which is the second best-selling flavor after the bears. You see that change in generations.” Even in the tart profiles, no two gummy recipes are the same. Some candies are covered in crunchy sugar crystals, while others layer distinct textures like marshmallow and gelatin. “There’s always entertainment value in the chew,” Triffler adds.

Experiments aside (the company won’t admit it, but the berry-blue Smurfs are an experiment that just happened to be a convenience store hit), there’s still a lot to learn about the chemistry of gummies. “A firm chew with a burst of flavor and plenty of servings in one bag” is what keeps Haribo customers coming back for more, Triffler says. Oddly enough, a favorite flavor doesn’t need to match up with its real-life fruity counterpart. The strawberry Goldbear is actually a bright lime color, but nobody seems to mind as long as the taste is consistent from bite to bite.

Beyond that, Haribo is quite tight-lipped about what makes their gummies such a culinary delight. But outside of the candy industry, food scientists are upfront about the challenges of crafting gummies. “Most gummy confections contain 5 to 10 percent fruit juice and the rest is sugar water,” Vodovotz says. “There are non-synthetic flavors and dyes, but they’re really still mostly chemicals.”

She switches up the traditional formula and uses freeze-dried fruits and powdered vegetables to design supplements with a gummy-like chew for cancer patients. Compared to the classic candy, these hold much more fiber and plant matter, which creates a jam-like consistency on the insides. Gelatin is a no-go because it’s not gluten-free or vegan—so, Vodovotz gets creative with a variety of gelling agents to account for the acidity and calcium levels of her ingredients. Grapefruit, for example, has a low pH, so it pairs best with agar as opposed to pectin or starch.

While Vodovotz aims to preserve as many natural compounds as possible to give her products a nutritional kick, her snack-y counterparts only borrow a few to spin out their artificial flavors. But there’s potential for this treat to do more than satisfy a sugary craving. “While the industry is associated with indulgence, I think they’re starting to notice that there are possibilities to use gummies as a healthier vehicle,” Vodovotz says.

Triffler points out that Haribo is also tinkering with vegan and gluten-free options. These future candies will hopefully hit the same tender notes that Riegel once simmered up with a modern-day, diet-inclusive twist. And though people’s tastes might change over time, in the end, they’ll always want two things: a gummy they can really sink their teeth into and a departure from the ordinary.

Correction: The article previously misstated that Haribo sells around 1,000 flavors in Germany. That number applies to global sales.

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When the world gives you hydrogen, make juice (a.k.a. electricity).

For centuries, chemists flexed their creativity to harness power from the most abundant element in nature. Their experiments paid off with a slew of technologies, including hot air balloons, rocket fuel, and rechargeable batteries. Today, the US uses another one of those technologies, hydrogen-fuel cells, to generate 250 megawatts of energy daily. And though that’s only a pinprick of the country’s total electric capacity, experts are questioning how carbon-intensive the method is.

Nearly 95 percent of the hydrogen-fuel cell centers in the US rely on natural gas to feed their battery-like circuits. They apply a process called steam-method reforming, where methane from the natural gas (and occasionally, biogas) is forced apart by searing-hot water and pressure to produce hydrogen molecules. That means there’s a heavy greenhouse gas footprint on the front end and a few carbon byproducts on the back end.

[Related: The century-old technology that could unlock America’s renewable future.]

That might make hydrogen less appealing in the grand scheme of climate-friendly energy production—unless you add a little nuance to the discussion. Enter the “hydrogen rainbow,” a color-coded system for describing the many ways to convert the lightest element on the periodic table into energy. Steam-methane reforming and other natural gas-based methods are called gray hydrogen. Anything involving coal is classified as brown and black hydrogen. And nuclear gets the great distinction of being deemed pink hydrogen. (There’s also turquoise hydrogen, which tweaks steam-methane reforming by creating heat from electricity. But it still gets its CH₄ from natural gas.)  

While some of these approaches have been in practice for decades, they’re either too inefficient or difficult to scale to be considered real energy alternatives. Which leaves green and blue hydrogen, the freshest and buzziest categories on the spectrum.

Green hydrogen takes energy from renewables, cyanobacteria, or algae to separate hydrogen molecules from water through electrolysis. Though it ultimately depends on wind turbines, solar panels, biomass, or dams, it’s easier to store and transport and has better geographic range than the original power sources. The method is taking off in the European Union, with a handful of facilities breaking ground in the next year or two, and is just starting to see traction in the US. Materials scientists point out that producing green hydrogen can cost four to six times more than gray hydrogen, but those estimates should fall as reservoirs of renewable energy rise.

Blue hydrogen, meanwhile, is another relatively new concept that’s being tested out by fossil fuel companies in Texas, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It isn’t a distinct method of converting hydrogen to energy, but is rather a cleaned-up version of gray hydrogen. Instead of letting steam-methane reformation emit loads of CO₂, blue hydrogen uses retrofitted natural gas plants with carbon capture machines to rein in the CO2 emissions from early in the steam-methane reforming process. 

But an analysis released earlier this month by Cornell University climatologists outlines three caveats that make blue hydrogen a bigger polluter than it’s marketed as. First, the authors explain, carbon capture is never 100 percent effective (the technology is still very much in development) and would leave out the byproducts of heating water through combustion. Second, it takes energy to power the machines that trap and pull emissions out of the air: The process itself could produce 25 to 39 percent of the CO2 volume it captures. And third, blue hydrogen only tackles carbon dioxide—leaving out methane gas, another heavyweight when it comes to atmospheric warming.

In all, the analysis found that blue hydrogen produces 75 percent to 82 percent of the same greenhouse gas emissions as gray hydrogen. That contrasts previous claims that it could halve gray hydrogen’s carbon footprint.

The paper also notes that both methods are far less efficient than burning natural gas directly for heat. Much of the fuel piped into US gray hydrogen facilities comes from fracking, which might be responsible for one-third of the increase in global methane emissions over the past decade.

[Related: What companies really mean when they say ‘net-zero’]

“Society needs to move away from all fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and the truly green hydrogen produced by electrolysis driven by renewable electricity can play a role. Blue hydrogen, though, provides no benefit,” the authors wrote in their conclusion. “We suggest that blue hydrogen is best viewed as a distraction, something that may delay needed action to truly decarbonize the global energy economy, in the same way that has been described for shale gas as a bridge fuel and for carbon capture and storage in general.”

So, if you look at the hydrogen rainbow through the filter of sustainability, green is the only color that shines through (with maybe a hint of pink). Other smart solutions could help fill out the spectrum in the future—but if the debate over blue hydrogen makes one point, it’s that you can’t slap a new label on a broken idea and re-sell it.

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Picture this: You’re hiking through a redwood forest in Northern California, and you stumble upon a towering trunk with tens of thousands of acorns drilled into it. You might think it’s some Satanic ritual, but in reality, it’s the handiwork of an 8-inch-long woodpecker and its kin.

In fact, it’s what acorn woodpeckers are best known for—they assemble these “granaries” for food storage over generations and centuries, says Sahas Barve, an evolutionary biologist who studies the species with the Smithsonian National Museum of History. And it’s not a one-and-done affair. The caches must be maintained over time to keep dried-out acorns screwed firmly in their holes and rivals like squirrels away. 

The oddly decorated tree is just one example of how acorn woodpeckers work together with family members to increase their odds of survival. In a paper released in Proceedings of the Royal Society B this week, Barve and other bird researchers dug into the species’ intricate cooperative breeding strategies. 

Co-breeding is a common behavior in the animal kingdom where three or more adults will help raise offspring. There are 800 to 900 bird species that use this system, Barve says, including red-cockaded and red-headed woodpeckers. But acorn woodpeckers, which live in much of the Southwestern and Pacific US, take the strategy to the next level: Both male and female relatives (siblings, first cousins, and sometimes parents and progeny) will produce chicks with the same mate, then care for the nest and chicks together. 

That means each bird makes fewer mini-mes and passes on less of its own genes in a breeding season. (Co-breeders usually switch off making babies so there’s a 50/50 split, Barve says. If there’s an odd number of eggs, the woodpeckers find a way to even the score the next year.) In the long run, however, the polygamous perks stack up.

In his study, Barve and his team traced the bloodlines of 499 acorn woodpeckers and found that co-breeding males fathered more chicks in their lifetimes than males in traditional parenting situations. “Males that joined a ‘coalition’ may get access to higher-quality territories, nest every year, and live longer,” he explains. “So they may not gain a lot every year, but cumulatively it’s better.”

Barve does note that there are costs to polygamy that are tough to calculate. But those might be counteracted by kin selection, which is the bonus of helping siblings or their offspring survive to keep some portion of your genes in the pool. “Overall, the benefits of cooperation are likely higher than we previously thought for acorn woodpeckers.”

So, if you do come across an acorn granary out west, spend an extra beat appreciating the master planners that built it. “We don’t generally consider woodpeckers as intricate, social creatures who think ahead,” Barve says. “Now we know better.”

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Home owners in the US will soon have to fight weeds with a different version of Roundup.

Bayer recently announced that it would change up the formula of the popular herbicide for lawn and garden care in 2023. The decision was motivated by questions around glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, and whether it causes cancer in humans and harms wildlife.

The pharmaceutical and chemical company is facing tens of thousands of lawsuits and billions of dollars worth of settlements that claim health and environmental negligence from glyphosate use.

Roundup was first sold as an agricultural weed-killer in the 1970s by the biotechnology company Monsanto (now owned by Bayer). Since then, more than 19 million pounds of it have been sprayed by farmers, landscapers, and gardeners across the world. Nearly 20 percent of that share comes from the US.

Glyphosate, the acidic formula that makes Roundup so effective, is widely used in pest-control agents today. While the compound itself is thought to be non-toxic to humans, some research shows it has a potential to be carcinogenic when mixed with other herbicide ingredients. In the past two decades, more than a dozen studies have been linked glyphosate and Roundup exposure to higher risks of lymphoma in people and animals. Others have found links to male infertility, erratic honeybee behavior, and dwindling biodiversity in marine habitats.

[Related: Pesticides might be worse for bees than we thought]

In a statement that accompanied the announcement, Bayer wrote that, “this move is being made exclusively to manage litigation risk and not because of any safety concerns.” Last year, the US Environmental Protection Agency released a report saying that “there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used in accordance to its current label.” But a 2015 review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that there was strong evidence of genotoxicity, or DNA damage, from the agent—and limited evidence of carcinogenicity.

In the same statement where it said it would phase out glyphosate for residential use, Bayer noted that it would appeal a 2016 cancer lawsuit by a school groundskeeper in California up to the Supreme Court. Most of the other individuals who’ve sued Monsantor and Bayer over Roundup have been farmers.

In the 1990s, Monsanto started selling special strains of soy and other crops that were genetically modified to resist herbicides. Some experts say this encouraged more indiscriminate spraying of Roundup over the years. A handful of countries, including Vietnam, Mexico, and Germany, have either banned or set a timeline to phase out glyphosate-based herbicides. Some US cities have done the same, but there’s no federal legislation on the table just yet.

Correction August 9, 2021: After further clarification from Bayer, the headline and text of the article have been corrected to reflect that the company is changing the formula of some Roundup products, not phasing them out. The story has also been corrected to state that more than a dozen studies have found a link between lymphoma and glyphosate, not dozens.

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This post has been updated. It was originally published on March 26, 2021.

If you live east of the American Rockies, you’re probably used to seeing Northern cardinals zooming around in all four seasons. That’s right, baby—this species sticks around for the toughest weather, unlike other songbirds that only show up in spring and summer. But the cardinal’s consistency can also make it harder to appreciate. While its lipstick-smear look (scarlet in males and coral in females) is absolutely photogenic, it’s often overlooked by feeder owners and experienced birders because of its constant presence.

From an aesthetic and scientific perspective, cardinal birds are hardly boring. In fact, they’re downright delightful, and I’m here to tell you why.

Northern cardinals defy the boundaries of sex

Earlier this year, ornithologist James Hill found what he called a “one-in-a-million cardinal” in his backyard in Pennsylvania. The bird looked evenly split between female and male feathers, indicating that it was a bilateral gynandromorph. In short, the animal had a rare genetic condition that gave it female sex chromosomes (ZW in birds) on one side of its body, and male sex chromosomes (ZZ in birds) on the other. Biologists have observed a similar effect in songbirds like evening grosbeaks, as well as crustaceans and butterflies. And though this unique effect has popped up in Northern cardinals a handful of times, there’s no telling if the species is more predisposed to gynandromorphism. Field notes simply show that the mixed-sex birds are non-vocal, so they don’t have much success mating. Otherwise, they seem to go through life unbothered.

[Related: Wild birds don’t need your feeders to survive]

They can be other bold colors, too

While the Northern cardinal’s signature is red, there’s sometimes an individual that breaks from the mold. Just a few weeks ago Illinoisian Chelsea Curry reported a cardinal the color of an egg yolk at her feeder. It was oddly reminiscent of another yellow cardinal, seen in Alabama in 2018. In both cases, ornithologists speculated that there could be faulty wiring in the genes that control the birds’ pigmentation. Other experts have suggested that external factors, such as a poor diet or harsh climate, could ultimately affect the quality and color of their plumage. Either way, the anomaly is thought to be rare, so don’t expect the local cardinals to start looking like their highlighter-hued South American relatives anytime soon.

They sound like aliens, but in a good way

If you’ve ever heard a repeated, piercing whistle coming from a tree on your block, it’s probably a Northern cardinal. The males have a number of laser-like songs that would fit into the soundtrack of Die Hard or Stars Wars. But what’s even more fascinating is that the females sing, too. Historically ornithologists believed that the majority of female birds lacked musical chops, but the Northern cardinal is a melodious exception. The female cardinal’s tune has inspired modern scientists to listen carefully to the vocalizations of other common species around the world.

[Related: Bird feeders that will your backyard with song]

Someday there might be more than one Northern cardinal species

The cherry crested birds in Arizona don’t quite match their ruby-feathered cousins in, say, outside the White House. Researchers from the American Museum of Natural History have identified 19 types of Northern cardinal across the continent, including six near the US-Mexico border in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. Individuals in the Southwestern populations don’t look the same, sound the same, or live in the same habitat, which means they hardly ever cross boundaries to mate and swap genes. This leads to greater rift in the species, and over time, it could require new branding for Northern cardinals. Some experts even argue that the split is past due.

The post 4 unexpected facts about the Northern cardinal, a bird you should know better appeared first on Popular Science.

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ON A CHILLY EVENING IN BERLIN, Suk-Jun Kim’s research has him eavesdropping in a stranger’s bedroom. Four family members are gathered around the bed, swapping nostalgic stories. Kim gently asks them to hum together. Their voices start off flat and hesitant, but after a few seconds, they fall into the same key and rhythm. The group erupts in laughter.

Kim has made the same suggestion in town halls, homes, and refugee camps dozens of times while studying how simple tones evoke deep emotions like hope. But no matter where Kim, a senior lecturer of music composition at the University of Aberdeen, records the thrum, he finds that it releases tension. “You feel a sense of calmness,” he says. “It means the atmosphere is settling.”

Kim isn’t a psychologist or neurologist, but he has some pet theories about the factors at play here. He believes the soft noise reminds people of all that’s familiar, from the drone of traffic to soothing childhood lullabies. “Even if you don’t remember your parents humming, you can imagine it,” he says. “It’s the archetype of love.”

Then there’s the therapeutic effect it has on the body. To make the vocalization, you must close your mouth and fill it with a pleasant vibration (imagine a yogi drawing out the m in om). The sound waves resonate through the jaw, sinuses, and brain, which physicians think might increase airflow and stabilize the heartbeat.

That can provide a measure of calm during sad or stressful times, or in moments of terror. “Sometimes people hum to thwart scary thoughts and build a cocoon of safety,” Kim says. “So on one end it can be serene and intimate, and on the other dark and otherworldly.” Either way, the composer finds it more soothing than any sonata or serenade he’s ever heard. Everything feels fine when the world is humming along.

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Five popular spray-on sunscreens were recalled in the US due to possible carcinogen contamination.

In a statement reposted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday, Johnson & Johnson said it voluntarily removed some of its Neutrogena and Aveeno aerosol sunscreens from stores after internal and independent researchers detected small amounts of benzene in samples. The pharmaceutical giant also recommended people discard the products if they already have them at home.

[Related: Your summer guide to sunscreen]

Benzene is a naturally occurring compound that’s found in fossil fuels and wildfire smoke, and is used in pesticides, lubricants, soft drinks, dyes, and more. Johnson & Johnson didn’t disclose how the foreign matter got into the sunscreens, but noted that the amounts were too low to be toxic. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the maximum allowances for benzene are .004 milligrams per kilogram of air or 5 parts per billion in water. Anything more can cause headaches, vomiting, irregular heartbeats, convulsions, or even death. Multiple studies have shown that chronic inhalation—largely through cigarettes, tailpipe emissions, and air pollution—leads to higher risks of leukemia and reproductive disorders in humans and animals.

Last year the FDA issued a warning about benzene in hand sanitizer, causing two companies to stop selling their products. Otherwise, there have been no benzene-related recalls in the US since 2017.

Johnson & Johnson’s decision came after the consumer-protection lab Valisure tested 69 sunscreen brands for benzene and found detectable levels in 27 percent of the batches. In the report, which was published online in May, the authors asked companies to be proactive and recall the concerning goods. They also pressed the FDA to reevaluate its benzene concentration limits for drugs and cosmetics, citing public health issues and marine ecosystem damage.

[Related: What makes a sunscreen reef-safe?]

Anyone who has a bad reaction after using one of the five sunscreens should talk to their doctor and submit a report to the FDA’s MedWatch program. The list includes any SPF count of:

• Neutrogena Beach Defense 
• Neutrogena Cool Dry Sport 
• Neutrogena Invisible Daily
• Nuetrogena Ultra Sheer
• Aveeno Protect + Refresh

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Last night 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde made Scripps National Spelling Bee history—and introduced the world to a stunning piece of nature.

Avant-garde’s winning word was Murraya, a genus of flowering citrus tree that comes from eastern Asia and Australia. Charles Linnaeus, the first botanist to formally describe the plant, gave it a Latin name inspired by one of his Swedish botany students. And it sounds more like Maria than Mariah (though the contest did end on a high note yesterday).

The official Scripps definition mentioned that the plant, commonly known as orange jessamine, has “pinnate leaves” and “imbricated petals.” Pinnate means that the leaves grow all around the stem. They can either be even (on the same line) or odd (more staggered). Imbricated, meanwhile, means that the petals overlap with each other on one edge, forming an endless twist like the Penrose stairs.

While orange jessamine is a tropical species, it’s shown some hardiness in regions around the US. Most residents keep it as an oversized house plant to enjoy the citrusy scent and protect its delicate blossoms from freezes. Those in balmier areas might also prune it to make 6- to 10-foot-tall hedges. The fruits, which resemble cherry tomatoes, attract an array of insects and birds. They might not be all that tasty to humans, but they’re used in health foods and medicines in some Asian cultures.

Most large botanical gardens have Murraya growing in their exotic collections. If you’re so compelled to see one in person, head over in warmer months when the plant’s in full bloom. It should smell just as sweet as Avant-garde’s spelling bee victory.

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After 17 years of social distancing in the dirt, the Brood X cicadas are ready to spread their wings and party.

The harmless, surprisingly edible insects are a staple sound and sight in summer, but their numbers vary year to year in the US. The more slow-growing kinds, known as periodical cicadas, are grouped into “broods” based on when and where they burrow out of the ground. Entomologists have been tracking the animals’ life cycles since the late 1800s, which is how they know it’s Brood X’s turn to surface. With three species and billions of individuals, “it’s one of the biggest graduating classes on record,” says Chris Simon, an ecology and evolutionary biology professor at the University of Connecticut. This year’s phenomenon will stretch over 15 states in the eastern half of the country and last through late June.

Residents in Georgia, Virginia, and Maryland may already be seeing the red-eyed critters chilling on their doorsteps and plants. But the exact timing depends on local weather: “Temperature and rainfall are the cicadas’ cues to emerge,” Simon says. To find out when they’ll start appearing by you, plant a soil thermometer eight inches deep near the base of a tree. As soon as the wet ground hits 64 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s a go.

After tunneling out, the young cicadas, known as nymphs, have to clear one last hurdle before they officially become adults. They spend a day or two pumping their wings up with fluid and waiting for their exoskeletons to harden. They turn from white to black as they finish the process. “This is the best time to see them,” Simon says. “They’re still weak flyers, so they stay on shrubbery, the sides of the house, and even car tires.” The insects are also highly vulnerable to predators like birds at this stage—many will be eaten after glimpsing the sun’s rays.

The ones that survive, however, will wrap up their molts, leaving their shells stuck to everything. They then crawl to the treetops and enter the dating scene. Males kick off the courtship by vibrating specialized membranes on their abdomens to make their signature buzzes. When a female likes what she hears, she flicks her wings, prompting her potential mate to switch up his tune and dance closer. The mating sequence ends as the female lays her eggs in a twig or stem. The larvae hatch six to 10 weeks later and move to the ground to start the whole cycle over.

Beyond providing vibes on hot summer days, cicada songs can help identify the different species in a brood. “We just drive around and listen and map them that way,” Simon says. It takes an expert ear to pick out individuals, but with Brood X, there are a few mainstream performers that everyone can learn. (Check out Simon’s website for a field guide with sounds.)  

As much as we know about periodical cicada schedules—the next big US emergence is expected for 2024, when a 13-year brood and 17-year brood will overlap—there are still plenty of mysteries buried underground with these insects. “How do they count time?” Simon says. “For the first year of their lives they feed on roots, so they can probably tell when trees drop their leaves.” After that it might be a combination of environment and genetics.

[Related: You should start eating insects. Here’s how.]

There’s also the question of how the insects are faring as rainfall, drought, and deforestation intensify across the country. Some broods have gone extinct in the past century, and there are signs that others are shrinking. That makes it doubly important for people to take a beat to notice the creatures in rural, suburban, and urban zip codes. Simon and her collaborators are asking the public to log their Brood X sightings on the new Cicada Safari app. And if you’re not in a state that’s part of this year’s emergence, know that one brood or another is always above, around, on below you.

The post What we know—and don’t know—about Brood X cicadas appeared first on Popular Science.

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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is struggling to keep up with a growing demand for services in its cash- and staff-strapped healthcare facilities. A report by The New York Times has uncovered serious kinks in a recent expansion of the VA system under the Mission Act, which was enacted last June and aimed to add third-party options for veterans seeking help closer to home. So far, though, the network has been patchy, especially in rural areas of the country. Experts say the agency will need to add several million dollars of funds to serve everyone who’s enrolled and is projected to enroll. (The program is currently limited to members of the military who served on or after 9/11.)

Yet one thing the Mission Act doesn’t tackle head-on is mental healthcare, which the VA says is more in demand than ever. Between 2005 and 2017, the U.S. saw a six-percent jump in suicides in the military population, from 5,878 to 6,139. Veterans now account for nearly 14 percent of the national suicide rate, with an average of 16.8 deaths a day. The statistics are even more dire for women and LGBTQ individuals who’ve enlisted.

Just last week, the House discussed a new bill that would provide grants to therapists, psychiatrists, and other mental health experts outside of the VA system for better on-demand treatment. The legislation has sponsors on both sides of the aisle, but it isn’t due for a vote until next year.

Meanwhile, VA officials have expressed exasperation over the lack of resources for suicide screening, prevention, and supportive care. The department says it delivered mental health services to 1.7 million patients last year—but with a population of 18 million veterans or more, there are plenty of people falling through the cracks. And while the system has been steadily hiring staff and opening new clinics to extend its reach, growth has been slow in the long run.

But upgrades to the system might help turn those statistics around. The VA budget line for mental health services is increasing year to year, and “telehealth visits” via video calls are growing vastly more popular. Experimental technologies could also open up access to therapy. For example, scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina are tinkering with a small body camera that live streams a veteran’s anxiety attacks. The device would use metrics like heart rate and sweat gland activity to trigger a call between a patient and their doctor for real-time treatment.

Those who can’t find what they need with the VA might turn to nonprofits, which are often run by veterans themselves. But even these groups have to fight for resources as they try to serve an ever-younger population. One benefit to the demographic shift, though, is that mental healthcare is becoming less of a stigma and more a priority—even if the system doesn’t quite reflect that.

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Blowing spit bubbles might seem silly or immature, but when you’re a tiny aquatic creature just trying to catch a breath, there’s a good reason for it.

A few summers ago, Kurt Schwenk noticed a splashy new behavior while watching baby tree frogs shimmy around a tank. “One came to the surface and did something strange,” the University of Connecticut evolutionary biologist says. “When it swam away it left a bubble behind.” Schwenk and his graduate student Jackson Phillips had planned to feed the tadpoles to salamanders for a study, but they quickly switched course. They thought the bubble could be a clue to how young amphibians flex their developing lungs without breaching the water’s surface.

To test their idea, Schwenk and Phillips set out for the New England swamps to collect tadpoles of four different species, along with spotted salamanders, diving beetles, and pulmonate snails. They also mail-ordered African clawed frogs, which were bred to have see-through skin. They then filmed each subject with high-speed monochrome cameras (capturing 30 to 1,000 frames per second) backlit with LEDs to see what was happening in the water, as well as the creature’s respiratory tract.

The videos, published with a recent paper in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, helped Schwenk and Phillips come up with a timeline for the tadpoles’ breathing process. As amphibians grow, their gills morph into lungs. That transformation eventually forces them to stick their heads above water to gulp in air, but their puny bodies present a challenge. Water molecules form tight bonds with each other—a common physical property known as surface tension—so it takes a considerable amount of mass to break them. A half-inch tadpole barely stands a chance.

That’s where “bubble sucking” comes in. The delightful term, coined by the UConn scientists, refers to the tadpoles’ surface-tension hack: They blow a pocket of air onto the waterline, then wait for it to fill up with oxygen. Once it’s ready, they pull it back into their mouths and force it down to their lungs with a single inhale. This process is called buccal pumping, and is unique to amphibians. Humans, in theory, could bubble suck, Schwenk says, but we’d have to open our mouths to compress gas into our lungs—a feat that’d be difficult mid-swim.

Mammals aside, Schwenk and Phillips found that snails and beetles also form bubbles, but with their butts instead of their mouths. And while the collaborators didn’t film any fish, they think the behavior is much more widespread in larvae as they breathe and filter feed. “The fundamental lesson is that surface tension really represents a physical barrier to these animals. So now we should anticipate special adaptations,” Schwenk says. He notes that he’s seen twists on the adaptation, too: Gray tree frogs, for instance, perform a “double suck” as they approach adulthood, and mature green frogs sometimes “bubble suck for the hell of it.” Even so, there’s a method to the madness, and we’ll be waiting for the next round of filming to find out the details.

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If you think 25 days of Christmas is a marathon, you have to try Diwali. This festival of lights, celebrated by millions of people across Southeast Asia, the West Indies, and other parts of the world, spans the month of October this year (the timing depends on the Hindu lunar calendar).

For some observers, the holiday starts with the nine days of Navaratri, which marks the rise of the goddess Durga as she battles demons and protects the planet from carnage. But the main Diwali dates typically fall in late October or early November, with clay lamps, firecrackers, and fairy bulbs gleaming from temples, markets, and homes. Revelers don their finest clothes, cook up giant feasts, swap gifts, visit temples, and scope out extravagant displays with friends and family. Basically, it’s a more colorful version of Christmas.

But with all that celebration comes plenty of consumption. Fast fashion, single-use dinnerware, fossil fuel-based air and car travel—like most holidays, Diwali has become more about the spirit of spending. The negative environmental impacts, however, run counter to Hinduism, which encourages humans to thrive with nature, not despite it.

Of course, the best way to enjoy traditions and still be eco-conscious is to adopt a few green practices. Start with feasible changes in your own life, then bring your loved ones and community on board. The steps can be as small as swapping out a plastic spoon or as big as curbing fossil fuel use at your place of worship. Take a look.

Consider eco-friendly travel

If connecting with family is the most important part of Diwali for you, try to make sustainable travel your top priority. Planes, cars, and other modes of transportation make up more than a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions here in the U.S. Unfortunately, carbon-neutral options are next-to-nonexistent for those shuttling between relatives on multiple continents (unless you’re looking to sail the open seas for weeks)—so the next best alternative is to choose an environmental-minded airline.

For domestic flights in the states, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines have received high marks for their carbon offset, waste-reduction, and clean-energy programs on the ground. For international flights that cover Southeast Asia and the Middle East, those honors go to Emirates and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. In-country travelers in India should scope out SpiceJet or the national railway system, which connects 29 states and offers more sightseeing perks than any plane.

You might also consider buying credits to mitigate carbon emissions elsewhere to cover those released during your trip. There are plenty of options, and you can make your purchase through your airline or a nonprofit that manages multiple green initiatives. Doing so should only set you back a few dollars.

Handle your lights wisely

It wouldn’t be a festival of lights without the golden glow that lasts all holiday season. In fact, Diwali gets its name from the decorative lamps, or “diyas,” used to attract the goddess Lakshmi and the good will she brings. Traditionally, the beacons are made of clay and butter, but many modern versions run on coin batteries.

The lamps themselves don’t have a big environmental footprint—unless they’re disposed of incorrectly. Hindu rituals often end with offerings along rivers and water bodies, which may, in turn, pollute drinking sources and wildlife habitats. Aminta Kilawan-Narine, co-founder of the Hindu-activism group Sadhana, has seen this first-hand during cleanups around New York’s Jamaica Bay. “People think because diyas are made of clay, it’s okay to leave them outdoors,” she says. “But they take longer to decompose than we think. And as they break into sharp pieces, they can hurt the animals in the refuge.”

When hosting an outdoor ceremony or celebration, Kilawan-Narine suggests using more natural materials like flowers. Or, “just make an offering in your heart,” she says. LED fairy lights, meanwhile, are an efficient, reusable choice for gatherings at home. For extra oomph, hosts can hand out sparklers instead of noisy, chemical-laden firecrackers.

Think about food (or the stuff it comes on)

If you’re cooking for a dozen-plus people, chances are you won’t want to be doing the dishes after. Single-use utensils make life easier, but they also create tons of landfill waste. “Serving food to the community is an Earth-honoring tradition,” Kilawan-Narine says, “but it irks me when I see it being given out on [plastic foam].”

She’s got a point. Plastic foam is one of the least biodegradable materials, with a lifespan of up to 500 years. Clear plastic plates and cups are slightly better, but still bad, followed by paper, which takes a few decades to decay. Compostable products can break down in two months or less, but only when placed in an actual compost pile.

One old-school method to try is naturally sourced banana leaves. They’re sturdy enough to hold wet dishes like fish and vegetable curries, and big enough to serve multiple courses on. Some Asian countries are even subbing them in for plastic packaging at supermarkets and restaurants. You can pick them up by the pound online or at international groceries.

And, although it sounds messy, you can ask guests to eat with their hands. It’s the norm in most Diwali-celebrating nations—just be sure to have a few sets of silverware to accommodate individuals with disabilities (and germaphobes).

Don’t stop when Diwali ends

In the end, the point of making mindful lifestyle changes is to make sure they have an effect that lasts. If you’re willing to carry your sustainability campaign beyond the Diwali season, the Alliance of Religions and Conservation has a hefty green guide that you can take to your temple or local cultural center. It includes case studies and tips on how to build a rainwater-collection system, donate surplus food, plant an organic garden, work with an energy auditor, and make the leap to solar or wind power. As more institutions in the U.S. and overseas make these upgrades, it’s easier to ensure the wellbeing of the planet we’re celebrating through this festival of lights.

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The biggest truth bomb in Between Two Ferns: The Movie comes in the first minutes of the mocu-mentary, when Zach Galifianakis, playing his boorish self, trades jabs with Matthew McConaughey, playing his cool, Lincoln-cruising self.

“I’ve got three kids; I’ve got a wife,” McConaughey says at the height of the ill-fated interview. “What have you got, besides two ferns?”

Galifianakis doesn’t have a comeback—the ferns are his greatest friends and possessions. They represent his dream of leaving public-access TV to host a late-night talk show that people will love him for. But to win the contract from a Murdoch-esque Will Ferrell, he has to travel the country to film 10 more celebrities, including Paul Rudd, Tiffany Haddish, Peter Dinklage, and Chance the Rapper.

Of course, wherever Galifianakis goes, so does his greenery. For the first time in Between Two Ferns history, we see the eponymous plants venture out of the studio, from Chicago, to Kansas, and finally to stifling Los Angeles. Which makes us curious: With all that mileage, how do the fronds stay looking so gorgeous?

We asked our burning fern questions to production designer Susie Mancini, who joined Galifianakis’s crew for the movie.

Are the ferns real?

Mancini confirms that the majority of the ferns in the film are all-natural. “Real plants look much better on camera,” Mancini says. “Fake plants move in a different way; they catch light differently. It would take away from the reality and also the joke.” The only exceptions are the ferns in the Matthew McConaughey scenes. As the trailer reveals, the interview ends with a pipe exploding in the studio—nearly drowning the actors and the plants. So, the designers went with plastic props: unlike seaweed, ferns don’t hold up well under 10 feet of water.

How many ferns are there, really?

Not that it’s a big secret, but there are way more than two ferns in the movie. Mancini says her team kept a roster of 10 Boston ferns at the ready wherever they traveled, in case one was looking under the weather or met an untimely demise. “Sometimes we made Frankenstein ones by cutting off dead parts and attaching new leaves,” she says. “They couldn’t always keep up.”

It took thorough vetting to select each leafy cast member. Mancini and her colleagues would tour local nurseries to find plants that matched the exact measurements, structure, and color profile they desired. “We had to keep it classic—the iconic look on black with two pops of green,” she says. Sometimes, the process took weeks.

What kind of ferns star in the film?

The main species that we see in both the web series and the movie is the Boston or sword fern. It’s a tropical plant, originally found throughout the Americas, Africa, Polynesia, and the West Indies, so it isn’t native to the tiny North Carolina town where the show is filmed. That said, its adaptive, easygoing nature makes it a popular ornamental plant in many places, including the homes of well-to-do Bostonians during the early 1800s (hence, the common name). The ferns can grow to up to three feet wide and seven feet tall if treated with proper respect.

There are a few scenes where Mancini had to sub in a doppelgänger fern, like when Galifianakis sits down with David Letterman. “We couldn’t find the right species in upstate New York; I was freaking out,” she says. “Then we came across another amazing fern outside the boutique hotel we were at. It had smaller leaves, but I don’t think you will notice.”

Are ferns divas?

When Mancini nabbed the job, she dove right into researching “the weird world” of ferns. But she learned plenty more along the way, as she and the crew consulted with nursery experts to create specific water, soil, and sun regimens for each filming location. They even bought portable humidifiers for the plants.

The designers also had to custom build a double-decker trolley for Galifianakis to tote his ferns around in the movie. Sometimes the actor would put them in the front seat of his SUV; sometimes he’d lay them down in the extra bed in his hotel room. “They’re like a character, a real person,” Mancini says.

And while she appreciated the humor of the ferns on set, she doesn’t think she can ever put one in her home. “They stressed me out; they became an obsession,” Mancini explains. They might look low maintenance on screen, but as with celebrities, it takes an army to meet their long list of demands.

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By her count, Johanna has been admitted to the hospital for bipolar disorder 10 times in the past year. In most of those cases, she walked into the ER herself. And in every case, she landed back at her father’s house, feeding butterflies in the backyard, weaning off medications, and starting the process again.

Monte is trapped in a cycle, too. After skipping his medications, he experienced a psychotic break that got him arrested. He went through several more fits in jail, and at one point, was tear gassed by guards in his cell.

Over the course of five years, psychiatrist and filmmaker Kenneth Rosenberg shadowed Johanna, Monte, and a handful of other patients, nurses, and doctors through the morass of Los Angeles’s psych wards. Some look like traditional hospitals, save for the leather restraints and iso chambers. Others are less medically equpped. The resulting documentary, Bedlam: An Intimate Journey Into America’s Mental Health Crisis, premiered at Sundance last year. It airs publicly for the first time tonight on PBS.

Bedlam focuses on the buckling US health care system and how it fails to treat individuals with extreme psychiatric complications. Named after England’s notorious asylum, the film outlines a history of medical misfires, starting with lobotomies in the early 1900s, underfunded community centers in the ’50s and ’60s, and the lapse to prisons through the ’80s and ’90s. “The biggest jails in America are the biggest psychiatric facilities,” Rosenberg says midway through the documentary. In California, one in four incarcerated people have some type of mental illness.

Rosenberg’s work on Bedlam is motivated by personal experience: His sister Merle was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression in her early 20s. His parents hid her condition and refused to admit her to psychiatric care, even after she jumped through a window and broke multiple bones. Ultimately, she passed away in their home at an early age, causing Rosenberg to regret his own decisions in handling her care. “I just wish there were a happier ending to her life,” he says in a raw moment.

Shame, as Bedlam shows over and over again, is what keeps patients from taking their prescriptions and getting the treatment they need. It’s also what keeps the country from acknowledging their existence in the first place. “People get frustrated. People give up on their own family members. People give up on themselves through suicide,” Colin Dias, a psychiatrist in the LA County health system, says in an interview with the film crew. “So what makes you think society isn’t going to get frustrated and give up?”

In a time when America’s medical facilities are struggling to stay afloat, Bedlam lays out how broken the system really is. When multiple Los Angeles hospitals closed down in the 2010s, patients were left on the street in paper gowns. When Monte was promised help after his next arrest, he spent four months waiting in jail for proper medical care. His hardships pushed his sister Patrisse Cullors to co-found Black Lives Matter, and last year, she and her fellow activists lobbied Los Angeles to reinvest $2 billion from a jail into a new mental health care center. The vote went in their favor, 4 to 1.

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Welcome to PopSci’s at-home science projects series. On weekdays at noon, we’ll be posting new projects that use ingredients you can buy at the grocery store. Show us how it went by tagging your project on social media using #popsciprojects.

When a gray whale swims from Alaska to Mexico in December to start a family, it doesn’t stop for a single meal or snack. Instead, it survives off the foot-thick layer of fat it gains after eating oily krill all summer long. The cache lasts for months, giving the 90,000-pound creature the energy it needs to make the long trek and keep a stable body temperature the entire way.

Lots of animals have fat reserves deep in their bodies, but marine mammals (with the exception of sea otters and polar bears) keep theirs right under the skin to insulate them against ice-cold waters. The tissue, known as blubber, isn’t too different from the shortening you use in pie crusts and cookies. In fact, you can go ahead and experience blubber’s warming powers for yourself by dipping a finger, or two, or 10 into the creamy ingredient. The whole process takes about five minutes, but you’ll probably double that time just trying to scrub the stuff off your hands. Still, the satisfaction for you and the seal pups (read: kids) will be worth it.

Stats

• Time: 10-15 minutes
• Difficulty: easy

What you’ll need:

• Vegetable shortening
• A big bowl you can submerge your hands in
• A spoon
• Two trays filled with ice cubes
• Paper towels
• Timer

Instructions

1. Fill your bowl halfway with water and dump in the ice cubes. You’ll want the surface to be pretty icy for that true Arctic feel.

2. Have everyone plunge their hands in to test the temperature. Time how long you can stay submerged for. The water will already be chilly, so you might find it tough to last longer than a few seconds.

3. Cover everyone’s hands in shortening. Use a spoon and spread it evenly so you can really feel the fat’s insulating effect.

4. Take a second plunge into the ice bath. Again, time how long you can stay underwater. You should be able to last 30 seconds or more before the pain and numbness set in.

5. Wipe off the clumps of shortening with a paper towel. This will save you some time when you rinse your hands and also prevent you from clogging up your drain. The shortening will get pretty greasy once you start rubbing it, so apply a generous amount of soap before sudsing up under warm or hot water. A bit of dry sugar can help cut the grease, too.

How it works

Blubber, like shortening, consists of large fat molecules that are hard for heat to pass through (meaning they have low thermal conductivity). So, it traps a lot of the warmth the body produces, similar to a thermos, says Shawn Johnson, vice president of veterinary science and medicine at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California. If a whale or sea lion dives down to deeper, colder waters, its metabolism will respond by burning more energy to raise its internal temperature. Blubber ensures that all that hard work isn’t lost through simple physical processes like heat transfer.

Fat isn’t the only way animals stay toasty in the ocean. Sea otters and fur seals, for example, catch air between their hairs to create an insulating bubble above the surface of their skin, says Dani Crain, a PhD candidate studying marine mammal anatomy at Baylor University. This is why sea otters are constantly grooming themselves: They’re circulating air through their incredibly dense pelts.

Blubber has many other undersea uses, too. It helps marine mammals retain their shape, whether it be the smooth torpedo likeness of a dolphin or the absolute roundness of a seal. It also provides protection against shark bites, Johnson says, and could have some self-healing properties. And as described with the gray whale, it serves as a rainy-day fund for calories, though we don’t recommend waiting out the pandemic on a shortening-only diet.

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Welcome to PopSci’s at-home science projects series. On weekdays at noon, we’ll be posting new projects that use ingredients you can buy at the grocery store. Show us how it went by tagging your project on social media using #popsciprojects.

Silly Putty is a toy most anyone can appreciate. Pinch it, bounce it, stretch it, slap it on the side of your face—it does whatever you want it to do, with little complaint.

But the chemical properties that make Silly Putty so bendy and durable are shockingly complex, as are its ingredients. The list is long and includes tongue twister-like names like polydimethylsiloxane and boric acid. Sounds tough to replicate at home. Or is it?

This experiment lets you turn two common goods (cornstarch and dish soap) into endless hours of non-Newtonian fun.

Stats

• Time: 5 minutes
• Difficult: easy

What you’ll need

• ⅔ cup of cornstarch
• ½ cup of dish soap
• Spoon
• Small container or bowl
• Food dye (optional)

Instructions

1. Pour the cornstarch and dish soap into a container. Add a few drops of water to help the goop bind, then fold it all together with a spoon.

• Note: Your putty will have a slight hint of color if you choose dish soap that’s green, yellow, or another hue.

2. Mold the putty with your hands until most of the starch and soap is used up. If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, squeeze in some extra soap. If the mixture is too liquid, sprinkle in some more starch.

3. Play with it. When you’re done, store it in a cool, dark place until you’re ready to mess with it again.

How it works

In terms of chemistry, dish soap and cornstarch are perfect partners; they’re like a couple that hits it off after the first blind date. Dish soap is a surfactant, meaning its molecules have polar opposite ends—a positively charged head and a negatively charged tail. This causes it to stick to compounds such as oil and link up with the long carbon chains found in cornstarch, says Keisha Walters, a polymers scientist at the University of Oklahoma. (Flour, she explains, is way more processed, so if you substitute it for starch in this experiment, the putty will fall apart.) With a little water to help fire up the bonding process, the soap and starch form a sometimes-liquid, sometimes-solid that consistently snaps back to its shape.

Besides dish soap, surfactants are found in a number of things you eat, drink, and put on your body. “They help us stabilize orange juices and non-dairy milks so that the foods don’t separate into liquids and gross oils,” Walters says.” They’re in our ice cream and condiments, and our cosmetics and toothpaste.”

If you’re still scratching your head over this chemical reaction, Walters suggests testing out some other non-toxic mixtures. “The understanding deepens as you play more.” So go ahead—try as many twists on Silly Putty as you want. It was made to stretch your imagination anyway.

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For some species, neighborhood pride is more about survival than sentiment. Many creatures travel hundreds of miles to find resources before returning home to mate. How do they know where to go? Signature smells and magnetism help migrators, but some parts of the process are a mystery.

Aquatic animals generally just follow currents to open waters, but aromatic awareness comes in handy when it’s time to reverse course to reproduce. Lake sturgeon, for one, hatch in the pebbled depths of Wisconsin’s Kewaunee River and wend up to 100 miles to the Great Lakes, where they mature for a decade or two before the big paddle back. Less than 4 percent settle somewhere new. “They imprint on the river they’re born in,” explains Jessica Collier, a biologist at the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Green Bay. Sturgeon may use their whiskerlike barbels to sense proteins in the water, allowing them to sniff out their route.

Species covering larger distances can tap Earth’s magnetism instead. Arctic terns fly 12,000 miles from pole to pole; loggerhead turtles cruise 8,000 miles from Japan to Baja; and bogong moths flit 600 miles across Australia to winter in caves. The bugs are so precise that they often mate and die on the same stretch of rock where they were born.

Still, the moths don’t rely entirely on the planet’s pull, says Eric Warrant, a zoologist from Lund University in Sweden. He likens them to hikers handling a compass: They set a course with cardinal directions, then adjust based on visual landmarks. But even this multisensory system doesn’t tell the whole story. “Their parents have been dead for three months when they’re ready to take wing,” Warrant says. They’ve never been taught where to go yet somehow inherit the instinct to seek specific waypoints.

Cracking these gene-driven impulses will provide a fuller picture of how more animals navigate, as well as help us assess if DNA-encoded intuition can withstand human changes like dams and light pollution. And if we do get in the way, research can offer ideas for how to help critters get where they’re going.

This story appears in the Spring 2020, Origins issue of Popular Science.

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Follow all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage here, including a tutorial on making your own mask, a guide on where to go swimming, and advice for visiting the dentist.

Many US states have seen a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, which makes a crowded Fourth of July fireworks show an inherently risky place to be—even if you’re not concerned about long-term hearing damage. Without a vaccine, social distancing is still the best way to fight the pandemic.

But if a fireworks-free holiday feels untenable, you have options. Cities like New York and New Orleans are spreading their entertainment out over multiple locations so viewers can stay isolated. Smaller towns are streaming their events on YouTube, or putting out safety guidelines for DIY displays. You can browse your local news or social media groups to learn what’s happening near you—but we’ll give you some general ideas to help with the planning.

In person

If you live in a densely populated city, chances are you’ll be treated to an even grander celebration than usual. At the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for instance, the US Air Force and Navy will conduct flyovers just before sunrise (which they will broadcast online and on TV). The night will end on a 10,000-burst fireworks display that can supposedly be seen within a three-mile radius of the Washington Monument. The D.C. mayor is urging residents to watch the revelry from their rooftops or stoops. Other cities will host ticketed drive-through shows or smaller entertainment in multiple neighborhoods. See Town & Country for descriptions of events in major metropolises across the country.

Online

There’s no better tool for distancing than the World Wide Web. Local governments know this better than most: They’ve shifted to Zoom and Facebook for council meetings and school graduations in the past months and are now doing the same for Fourth of July parties. Places like Coconino County in Arizona are going fully digital with “shoe box parades” and pre-recorded concerts. And if you have a virtual reality system, you can find drone-filmed, 360-degree shows for free on YouTube. To enjoy with the entire family, set up a makeshift projector in your living room or yard and get to streaming.

Private shows

While you shouldn’t start setting fire to the night sky on your own unless you have experience with pyrotechnics, it is an option in every state except for Massachusetts—with some restrictions. In Colorado, for instance, it’s legal to light up ground spinners, glow worms, and cone fountains on private property. (Size and chemical limits do apply.) Meanwhile, in Hawaii, you’ll need a permit for every 5,000 crackers you combust. Your neighborhood might have further rules like noise ordinances, so be sure to reach out to the fire department for a full list and to give them a heads-up of your plans. The American Pyrotechnics Association has a guide to smart, safe DIY displays as well. And please, put the alcohol aside if you’re choreographing the show.

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Remember in elementary school when the birds you drew always looked like Golden Arches? Well, unless McDonald’s is paying you for that advertising, it’s time for a little artistic self-improvement.

One way to step up is by getting into science illustration. Drawing in nature is fun and soul-stirring—take it from the rich white boys of the Hudson River School—but it also requires some knowledge of (and love for) biology. The subtleties in a mushroom’s gills or dragonfly’s wing membrane can make all the difference when you have to give your subject a name, and mastery of shapes can make or break a final masterpiece. A small lump attached to an even bigger lump and two twiggy limbs could be a snow bunting. Or a snowman.

An illustrator’s kit, however, can make the learning curve a lot smoother. Fill it with specialized guides, or keep it general until you have a better grasp on what and where you like to sketch. Either way, you should start assembling it now so that come spring (the sexiest season for wildlife), you’ll be ready to impress your third-grade art teacher again.

Quality pencils

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Every illustrator has a preferred medium. John James Audubon used a shotgun and oil paints. Maria Sibylla Merian used a well-pressed leaf and printmaking machine. But in the field, the cleanest, most basic options work best. The cedar-graphite combination in Blackwing pencils provides a smooth stroke that’s easily rubbed away with the attached banded eraser. A metal and matte finish also gives them a debonair look (the natural wood color is a personal favorite).

Drawing book

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There are plenty of good field guides to choose from to ID North American birds—but few that teach you how to draw them from scratch. The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds comes from a celebrated, trusted author and walks you through the basics: general body types, feathers, proportions, and additional context clues. The tutorials are easy to absorb and remember, and you can draw in the book or in your rain-proof journal. Practice with your morning cup of coffee near the feeder and build up to multi-hour outings at a nature center or hawkwatch.

Rain-proof cover

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Speaking of that rain-proof journal … you may be better off toting around your favorite, worn-in sketchbook in a water-resistant cover. Rite in the Rain offers a soft but hardy one that’s filled with pockets and slip-free slots for all your key tools. It only fits pads up the eight inches long, but generally, that’s better for portability when you’re just doodling. You can even slip in specimens you’ve collected (legally) to study up close at home.

Portable microscope

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It might feel over the top to tote around a microscope outdoors, but the Carson pocket device with 60 to 120 times zoom is just small enough to make you feel prepared and cool. Use its LED-lit lenses in lieu of a naturalist’s hand lens; the rigid acrylic base means you can peep at tardigrades and tiny anatomies while sketching at the same time. If you have access to a medical or biological lab, you can also run your subjects under a scanning electron microscope to record the sharpest details. The only downsides are that they have to be dead, and that the machines cost thousands of dollars.

Virtual illustration class

Cornell illustration course

The halls of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, are covered in stunning nature murals, thanks in part to its scientific-illustration school. Even if you aren’t a student, you can take their virtual weekly classes, which run for about two months each spring and fall semester. The botanical series is particularly thorough: It’s offered at three different levels and covers flowers, vegetables, and landscape compositions. You won’t, however, earn any official Ivy League credits.

Duck stamp

Federal Duck Stamp

While it’s not something you can make lines or colors with, the Federal Duck Stamp is a crucial tool for any nature-loving artist, simply because it ensures that wild places and things stick around. Proceeds from the hunting license (you don’t have to be a hunter to buy it) go back to conserving wetlands and parks, many of which are free to public use. If you’re feeling competitive, you can enter the annual summer contest to vie to get your waterfowl art on a future stamp.

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It’s going to be a good while before fans can pack the bleachers and seats at sporting events again. But as teams mount their summer comebacks in empty arenas and stadiums, some leagues have found alternative ways to keep viewers from suffering awkward silences during the action. Here’s what you can expect to hear when you tune into pro games, starting this week.

Soccer

Return date: Already back, but the quarterfinals starts July 30

While several European soccer clubs opted to blast pre-recorded cheers in stadiums and telecasts, Major League Soccer decided to skip the fake theatrics and lean hard on improved camera technology for faster tracking and tighter shots. The results have gotten positive reviews so far: Sports commentators and writers say they like the natural soundtrack of players yelling across the field and coaches shouting spittle on the sidelines. Some even chided Fox Sports for layering white noise and chants on top of the games. But hey, that’s one way for the network to avoid fines for profanities.

Baseball

Return date: July 23

One of the features that makes the video game MLB The Show 20 feel so darn realistic is the ambient noise. Now, the line’s about to become even blurrier as stadium engineers pipe in the same recordings during live games. ESPN reports that baseball teams will have access to 75 sound effects from the simulation to use throughout the system. They’ve already tested the effect during exhibition games, and there’s some question as to how well it will be picked up by TV and radio broadcasts. But combined with walk-up music and announcer chatter, the crowd sounds should make for a more typical baseball experience.

Basketball

Return date: July 25 for WNBA; July 30 for NBA

The NBA may follow the same route as the MLB by lifting crowd sounds from its premiere video game series. Last month The Athletic reported that league officials were working out the specs with the creators of NBA2K. No further details have been released, but all of the games will be contained to the basketball pandemic “bubble” in Disney World in Florida, which makes the logistics slightly easier. The arena itself looks similar to a standard NBA court, sans benches, open scoring tables, and a typical stats box and replay-monitor setup. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also floated the idea of using apps to blast fan sounds from home, but again, audio aesthetics seems to be a low priority for getting the season off the ground, given the rash of COVID-19 cases among players in training camp. The WNBA, meanwhile, is also playing in a tight-knit “bubble” in central Florida and hasn’t been explicit about in-game aesthetics. Some social media users have joked that the broadcasts will sound like this:

Hockey

Return date: August 1

How much muffled mask yelling can NHL fans handle during the Stanley Cup qualifiers? So far, the league hasn’t shared any plans to stream crowd noises in its two arenas in Toronto and Edmonton, Canada. This might seem like a missed opportunity, given how rowdy hockey games can get, but viewers can still expect their favorite broadcasters to liven up the airwaves from well-distanced perches. New camera angles and the sweet sounds of slap shots—those will be a pandemic bonus.

Football

Return date: September 10

Given that the NFL’s big return is still a ways out, the league has some time to see how faux soundtracks perform for other sports before weighing its options. As of now, all 32 stadiums will host games through the season, and some are considering putting a limited number of fans in the seats. So it looks like the decision of noise making will fall to each team, even the ones that can’t be trusted to spin quality tracks.

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Tequila inspires strong opinions in people, just like the Beatles, goat cheese, and the 1988 Detroit Pistons. Some can’t stand the smell or taste of it; others relish every sip and wait for the “tequila!” feeling to hit.

But the fact is, tequila and its smokier sister, mezcal, have never been more popular outside of their Mexican homeland. The spirits rocketed to the top of the US drinking charts in 2019, and are projected to surpass rum in buying volume in the next few years. And while they both may be mainstream at this point, there’s still a lot consumers don’t know about the distillation process. Here are five essential questions and answers about the fiery desert libations.

Am I basically drinking cactus juice?

Tequila and mezcal come from the fermented sap of agave plants, which look cactus-y but belong to a completely different botanical family. In fact, they’re more closely related to asparagus than to prickly pear or cholla. Mezcal can be made from a variety of agaves, but tequila needs to be distilled from blue agave, a species endemic to the dry highlands of western Mexico. The succulent fans out like aloe vera, with stalks that grow up to 16 feet tall. Some plants live longer than half a century.

Is there a worm? Can I eat it?

Distillers (and maybe philosophers) have debated this question for years. Tequila makers will say that mezcal makers planted the worm in their bottles to make it a trend; mezcal makers will say that tourists started it by dropping bugs into their drinks. Either way, DNA analysis shows that some mezcal and tequila products do contain bits of maguet moths and agave snout weevils. It’s safe to consume either flavoring—Indigenous Mexicans have been doing it for ages—though the moth is apparently the tastier of the two. No confirmation on whether eating a whole caterpillar or grub actually causes hallucinations.

Can I make my own tequila?

Cultivating blue agave requires a lot of time and labor, so it’s not the best booze hobby to get into, says Brandi Cannon, a former parasitic-plant researcher, who helped found and run Black Botanists Week. What’s more, the plant requires specific growing conditions that are mainly found in Jalisco, Mexico. It thrives in sandy soils well above sea level, needs full, glaring sun, and also prefers quick, heavy bouts of rain. The succulents require about a decade to mature before their shoots are sugary enough to produce aguamiel or “honey water” for tequila. In the 16th and 17th centuries, European colonists exported agave across the Atlantic but were only able farm it in greenhouses.

Should I drink tequila and mezcal if I’m on a diet?

The clearer the liquor, the less unhealthy it is—that’s the rule, right? Tequila and mezcal have a slight edge over grain-based alcohols because agave has a low glucose and sugar content. Blanco or silver tequila is bottled up right after it’s distilled, making it the purest option; respado or gold tequila is aged in wooden barrels for months or years, giving it a darker color and sweeter, milder flavor. The process also adds congeners, a chemical byproduct that may be responsible for more intense hangovers. In general, diets like keto and paleo suggest drinking tequila and mezcal over beer or wine, though they do suggest skipping the margarita mix. But consuming undiluted liquor with a high ABV level (40 to 60 percent) comes with its own consequences.

Is my love for tequila and mezcal killing the environment?

As the global demand for agave hits a fever pitch, growers in Mexico are racing to bulk up their harvests by cutting up the succulents before they fully flower. This puts pollinators like the lesser long-nosed bat (a.k.a tequila bat) at risk, Cannon says, while limiting uses for the rest of the plant. In addition to cooking the piña or heart of the agave for syrup and liquor, Mexicans use the wide leaves to craft fibers, medicines, biofuel, and accessories for rituals. Cannon notes that mass farming practices have led to a dip in agave genetic diversity, resulting in less hardy, more disease-ridden crops. So, what’s the individual drinker supposed to do? Instead of drumming up a private boycott, Cannon recommends connecting with desert-based sustainability groups like Tequila Interchange Project to learn about the ripple effects and support research and restoration. “Agaves are part of a deep web,” she says. “People might yell, ‘Save the plants!’ But we need to also pay attention to the animals and cultures that are connected to them.”

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It’s been a few months since the US had a big produce recall, but the country now has another doozy on its hands.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) have warned people in all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., to throw out old onions they have in their kitchens. The advisory comes after Thompson International, a large-scale grower based in California, recalled red, white, yellow, and sweet yellow onions for salmonella contamination. More than 600 cases in 43 states have been traced back to Thompson so far, with no reports of deaths. Canadian officials are investigating a possible outbreak in the lower provinces as well.

The onions in question were shipped between May 1 and August 1 of 2020. Because some retailers re-label wholesale products (Food Lion and Kroger are two examples), the FDA suggests getting rid of any onions you have in stock to be safe. Exceptions include veggies sourced from local farms or grown in home gardens. Foods with raw onions, like wraps, tacos, and salads, should be tossed as well.

Last week, the FDA and CDC launched what they call a “traceback investigation” to learn exactly how salmonella got into Thompson’s supply chain. The foodborne illness stems from a common bacteria, Salmonella enterica, that can be found in everything from dairy, to pre-cut fruit, to live animals like salamanders and turkeys. It often shows up as an 8- to 72-hour bug, marked by diarrhea, vomiting, and terrible stomach pains. In more severe cases, it could result in hospitalization or death.

Seeing that Thompson recalled all its products, it should be OK to buy fresh onions going forward. Still, it’s best to stay vigilant until the FDA and CDC say otherwise. If you encounter raw onions at a restaurant or in takeout, look out for classic food-poisoning symptoms. If you prep meals at home with newly purchased onions, avoid eating them raw. It also helps to clean your cutting and cooking surfaces thoroughly (though you should be doing that anyway).

Worse comes to worse, you could use this time to branch out to similarly pungent—or flavorful—produce. Scallions, which are misleadingly called spring onions, taste smooth and earthy; chives work well as a garnish and dressing; and shallots and leeks, which belong in the same family as onions, carry any dish when roasted, pickled, or sauteed in butter. It might feel like the world’s growing smaller when a kitchen staple is recalled, but think of it this way: You’re eating in season, just like nature intended.

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Follow all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage here, including the latest on how flu season will affect the pandemic, ways to tell if your symptoms are just allergies, and a tutorial on making your own mask.

After a few weeks of confusing guideline updates and whiplash-worthy retractions, Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joined other public health experts from the White House to clear the air at a Senate testimony yesterday.

The panel included the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Brett Giroir, and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci. The four men spoke for three hours about the quest to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine—possibly as early as the end of the year—while clarifying some of the science behind how the virus spreads between people. They also hit on the importance of getting the flu shot early this winter, with Redfield noting that the CDC will stockpile 28 million extra doses for kids and adults. Here’s a quick recap.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be free for the American public

Redfield and Fauci both agreed on December as the earliest possible release date for a vaccine in the US. But even then, only limited quantities would be available for individuals in at-risk populations (those who are 60-plus, undergoing chemotherapy, have compromised immune systems, etc.). By Redfield and Fauci’s estimates, the general public wouldn’t have access to the vaccine until spring or summer of 2021.

Once it’s fully tested, approved, and released, Fauci said the vaccine will be distributed for free. “We have been assured that in fact, the American public will not have to pay for the vaccine,” he told Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Other panelists touched on the need for thermoregulated facilities in rural hospitals so they can store vaccine vials and ensure that no corner of the country goes unprotected.

The CDC is running a national study to learn how many people are immune to the novel coronavirus

After updating the panel on the latest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the US, Redfield mentioned that the CDC is working on several studies to understand how the virus is spreading across the country. One of those includes an analysis of antibody-test data, which will be released in the next few weeks. On first glance, he noted, more than 90 percent of the country’s population still seems to be uninfected. “Preliminary results appear to show that most Americans have not been infected by the virus and are still vulnerable to the infection, serious illness, and death,” Redfield said.

Fauci also hit on this point later in the testimony, when countering Senator Rand Paul from Arkansas’s claim that parts of the country are close to achieving herd immunity. “If you believe 22 percent is herd immunity, you’re alone in that,” the doctor said, while discussing antibody rates in New York City. Shortly after, he struck down the idea that “cross-reactivity” from other pathogens could help boost the body’s defenses against the novel coronavirus: “There was a study that came out recently that preexisting immunity to the common cold does not cross react with COVID-19.”

The FDA promises to make the entire vaccine-approval process public

A handful of senators drilled down on contradictory information put out by the federal government in recent weeks on how COVID-19 is spread, whether asymptomatic patients should be tested, and why masks are important in countering the virus. Senator Patty Murray from Washington mentioned that she was pushing for the formation of a task force to investigate “political interference into our public health agencies.” The CDC and FDA have been criticized in the past months for changing their messaging based on the White House’s whims, rather than basing policies on scientific knowledge. Just last week the CDC finally acknowledged that SARS-CoV-2 is airborne (a fact that virologists and immunologists have been touting for months), then quickly retracted the statement.

Hahn promised full transparency on any moves by the FDA to greenlight a vaccine. Once a drug passes phase 3 of large-scale clinical trials, he said, it will be reviewed for Emergency Use Authorization, which is a fast-tracked version of the administration’s usual approval process. At that point, the public will have a chance to comment on the trial results and medical recommendations. “In the end,” Hahn said, “FDA will not authorize, or approve, a vaccine that we would not feel comfortable giving to our families … I will fight for science, I will fight for the integrity of the agency, and I will put the interest of the American people before anything else.”

Depression and substance use are on the rise, and the CDC wants to help

Last month, the CDC released the results from a survey on mental health and substance abuse in the US in the past months. The general outlook was dire: At least 40 percent of respondents 18 years or older said they’d experienced an increase in anxiety, symptoms of post-traumatic stress, suicidal thoughts, or alcohol and drug consumption due to the pandemic. Young adults, essential workers, and Hispanic and Black individuals showed some of the highest rates.

In response, the department launched a new mental-health program that pools together medical and non-medical resources for veterans, unemployed family members, people suffering from addiction, and school-aged kids. Redfield highlighted the last group in particular. “Many people may not realize that over 7 million children get their mental health services in the context of schools,” he said. Without in-person learning, students may not get the help they need.

If you’re having thoughts of self harm, call 1-800-SUICIDE or message Crisis Text Line.

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<<< More Election 2020 coverage right this way. >>>

In the throes of a pandemic, the 2020 US election has a different feel.

Last night, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden went to head to head in an extraordinary first debate, hosted by the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Everyone in attendance (family, media, and campaign staff only) was masked up and tested for COVID-19 prior to arrival. The candidates didn’t shake hands when they took the stage, again to limit transmission of the virus.

The pandemic cropped up multiple times during the 90-minute debate—but it wasn’t the only science issue on the table. Here are five important takeaways about the candidates’ platforms and priorities in public health, the environment, and more.

The future of the Affordable Care Act looks murky.

Passed and signed by then-President Barack Obama in March of 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been subject to plenty of change in the past decade. But recent proposals to revise the law, which provides insurance coverage for at least 20 million people in the US, could be more impactful.

In July the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) ruled that more companies could refuse to provide contraceptive coverage for employees on the grounds of religious freedom. SCOTUS will face another big decision regarding the ACA when it takes on a lawsuit filed by 18 states and the Trump administration this November. The case argues that the policy is unconstitutional because it forces the American people to enroll in insurance without offering necessary tax relief.

Mention of the ACA came early last night, with Biden arguing its importance during a global pandemic. “There are 100 million people who have pre-existing conditions, and [their insurance] will be taken away,” he said. Trump countered with the fact that he signed an executive order last week that protects patients with pre-existing conditions from being denied coverage. The text of the plan doesn’t outline how those protections differ from those already provided by the ACA.

Read President Trump and Biden’s full health care platforms online.

The US still needs a pandemic-response plan.

As the candidates dove deeper into the debate, they hit on the past, present, and future of the current coronavirus crisis. Last week, the US COVID-19 death toll passed 200,000, a number that the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) estimate would be the upper limit for mortalities in the country. The daily case rate has taken a dip since the peak of the first wave in July, but epidemiologists expect another spike in the winter months ahead.

President Trump assured the public that a vaccine would be out this year, contradicting the “Operation Warpspeed” timeline set by the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC), which slates initial doses for January of 2021 at the earliest. “We could have the answer by November 1,” the president said. “We have the military logistically all set up [to distribute the drug].”

Biden noted that the back and forth between the White House and public health agencies like the CDC has seeded distrust in Americans. He cited polls showing that at least half of the country is wary of getting vaccinated for COVID-19, and also pointed out that better guidelines on mask wearing could have helped save lives earlier in the pandemic. President Trump responded that the casualty rate would have been worse if it weren’t for his international-travel ban, which mainly targeted China. The US’s first outbreaks, however, likely stemmed from Europe.

Neither candidate offered specifics when grilled on how they’d counter the virus and all its ripple effects over these next few months. Shutdowns stood out as a hot-button issue, as the two debaters went back and forth on the effectiveness of closing down schools and businesses to limit community spread. Trump also noted that he’s speaking at two large rallies this weekend in Wisconsin, but downsized the threat of viral spread because they’re being held outdoors.

The pandemic has exposed the effects of systemic racism in the US.

The event then veered into issues of race, equality, and police brutality. On the topic of how systemic social issues affect public health, Biden pointed out that Black and Latino people have suffered the toughest losses from COVID-19, largely due to imbalances in medical care and resources. “One in 500 African Americans will have been killed by COVID-19 by end of the year” if the country doesn’t take direct action, he said. Neither politician addressed the outbreaks on tribal reservations in Western states.

You can’t talk about climate change without talking about the economy.

With an entire discussion question on climate change, both Trump and Biden had plenty of time to expand on their plans to deal with carbon emissions and major storms and wildfires that have ravaged the country this year. Trump agreed that humans are responsible for global warming (in part), but he doubled down on his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Accord. He also noted that he wants to grow billions of new trees to make the air and water cleaner for Americans—a correlation that isn’t quite scientifically sound—and give more tax incentives to electric vehicle makers and buyers.

Biden, for his part, summarized a $2 trillion proposal, which he stressed was different from the “radical” Green New Deal, to combat the climate crisis, resolve environmental justice issues, and jumpstart economic recovery. “We can get to net zero energy by 2035,” he said, referring to the benchmark for carbon-free power sources set by many other countries. To reach that goal, the US would have to rebuild much of its utility infrastructure, invest in new engineering, weatherize homes and offices, and add charging stations along every highway. This movement, Biden said, would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, while saving the country billions in damages from storms and wildfires exacerbated by climate change. He pointed specifically to the floods that washed out cropland in South Dakota and other Midwestern states last year, costing some farmers their properties and livelihoods.

Trump also spoke to the disastrous wildfire situation on the West Coast. “We need forest management,” he said, in reference to prescribed burns and selective logging. “The floor is covered with dead trees.” Back in March, the US Forest Service put a temporary hold on prescribed burns due to the pandemic.

COVID-19 could throw voting into a tailspin.

In preparation for this virus-plagued election season, nine states have switched to mostly mail-in voting, while 36 others are allowing residents to request mail-ballots, no questions asked. The goal is to keep people’s civic rights intact, while also keeping them from flocking to tight spaces and swapping pathogens. Poll workers, who are typically 60 years of age and older, would be particularly vulnerable.

But the focus on mail-in voting has raised all sorts of questions. President Trump highlighted a few of them last night, stressing that the potential for fraud and miscounts is higher when an election is mainly conducted over paper and post. This conflicts with statements made by F.B.I. Director Chris Wray. It would “be a major challenge for an adversary” to forge or change enough ballots to shift the outcome of the election, he told the Senate Homeland Security Committee last week.

Biden conceded that tallying mail-in ballots can be difficult, especially with the US Postal Service’s strapped budget, which is causing major lag in deliveries. But he also pointed out that as long as voters drop their ballots into a mailbox on time, their choice should matter, even if the envelope arrives in local election offices after November 3. The most foolproof option, however, is to fill out and return the ballot as soon as it arrives. Early voting could be the one boon in this extremely uncertain election process.

The first vice presidential debate is on October 7 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The next presidential debate is on October 15 in Miami, Florida.

Correction: The article previously misidentified the university hosting the debate as Case Western. It is Case Western Reserve.

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Navy SEALS swear by them. Power lifters and Spartan racers crank them out by the hundreds. Even Hall of Famer Jerry Rice mixes them into his workouts like hot sauce.

Plenty of non-scientists sing the praises of the burpee, a quick-flowing combo move that first turned up in army fitness tests in the 1940s. Some say it’s the best total-body exercise a person can do to build upper-body strength, improve stamina, and shred fat (a purported 200 to 300 calories in a half-hour sweat span). But does research support that?

There aren’t many studies comparing burpees to other types of high-intensity training, says Steve Bingley, an exercise physiologist and co-founder of Century Strength and Conditioning in Sydney, Australia. There have been experiments looking at the average number of burpees athletes can do, and how burpees stack up against battle ropes in elevating metabolic rates. Otherwise, the science around the supposed silver-bullet exercise is lacking. “Right now we’re doing them because they feel hard and use multiple muscles, and that’s it,” Bingley says.

According to Bingley, the lack of a standard burpee makes it a tougher area of study. The move has spawned countless iterations in the past eight decades, including some that skip the push-up or make it harder by adding a Superman leap to it. And while that could make it more attractive to fitness geeks, it also leads to a scattershot of outcomes.

Regardless, Bingley is a big proponent of the exercise. “If you do burpees over and over again, it’s going to improve your mobility, flexibility, cardiac health, and upper- and lower-body strength,” he says. “And that’s with minimal equipment, space, and instruction.” But what makes them so excruciatingly effective? Bingley’s been chasing that question for four years now. In 2019 he led a study that compared max oxygen uptake and muscle fatigue from two carefully designed workouts for the Australian Olympic boxing team. After putting 24 participants through a battery of weight room tests, the researchers concluded that burpees required more exertion than shuttle sprints (a popular exercise among athletic trainers) and led to twice as much muscle fatigue in the upper body.

That’s still a far cry from saying that burpees are the stuff of superhumans. “For a normal Joe Blow who wants to get back into the green mini skirt from college, sure, a burpee might get their heart rate going,” says Corliss Fingers, the director of strength and conditioning at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. With nearly three decades of experience in the field, she’s trained athletes in 20-plus sports—and has yet to find one catch-all exercise that kicks everyone’s butts. “If I have a college player who’s trying to get in shape after a muscular injury, I’m going to throw them in the pool because there’s less impact. I’m not going to assign them 20 minutes of burpees or two minutes of plank,” Fingers says. (She does mention that she prescribed burpees for her virtual COVID-19 workouts. But that’s where the endorsement ends.)

[Related: A beginner’s guide to becoming buff]

Gideon Akande, an iFit trainer and Chicago Golden Glove boxing champ, takes a similarly cautious approach to burpees. For the casual gym goer, burpees might be the best way to hit multiple body parts in a limited amount of time. But there also needs to be some latitude for injuries and experience levels. “If you can’t take the impact of hitting the floor, for example, a caterpillar move—where you walk your hands out from your toes to a push-up position—could work better,” Akande says. “Substituting high knees or mountain climbers for the jump also helps.”

Akande personally prefers skater exercises for quick-service cardio. “Lateral movements are left out of a lot of workouts; they really test your balance,” he says. He’s a fan of planks, too, but cautions that it’s more important to focus on form, not stamina. “Most people misunderstand the plank. They think the longer they can hold it, the better they are at it,” he explains. “They risk hurting themselves by using upper traps and stressing the lower back.” To nail the position, press the palms directly into the ground, squeeze the abs and glutes, and breathe regularly, Akande says. “Even 30 seconds of bracing all the muscles is better than sagging down for a minute.”

For those who want to try the burpee life but don’t know where to start, Akande recommends working on your push-ups first. Practice going through the motion with your hands against an elevated surface like a wall, desk, or ottoman, keeping the elbows tucked in and the glutes and core held taut. Then try a modified version on your knees, holding your entire body in line and your center of gravity in check. Make adjustments every time you do a rep to increase efficiency and avoid injury.

Meanwhile, for those who want to feel the full burpee burn, Bingley suggests sticking to the original push-up version (see video above). “When you go from an upright jump to a horizontal plank and push-up, the change in position and pressure causes your body to pump more blood. Even if you do it slow and controlled, you’ll get a challenging workout.” Just make sure to kick the feet back after the hands are set for the plank—otherwise, Bingley says, there will be less gain and more (wrist) pain.

[Related: How to stretch for any type of workout]

Whatever pro athletes and trainers think of the move, Bingley still stands by it, both as a trainer and a scientist. “It’s like pushing shit up a hill, trying to get academics excited about studying burpees,” he says. “But we need to learn more about isometric variables, like arm and torso length, and build a better profile of this exercise that’s captured the world. Even my mom knows what a burpee is. That’s crazy.”

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The morning after a storm, you wake up to crisp air, brilliant sunshine, and a dead bird laying outside your window.

On closer inspection, the bird is still breathing and moving slightly. But it needs help right away. What do you do?

Unless you have experience with wildlife rehab, you likely won’t be able to diagnose an injured bird. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get it to safety. For a smaller bird, all you need to do is grasp it gently around the body, put it in a soft paper bag, and place it where it won’t get stepped on or attacked by a pet, as senior conservation biologist Kaitlyn Parkins explains in the video below. (Don’t use a box because if the bird tries to flap its wings against the rigid sides, it might hurt itself.) Then give it some time to recoup in the dark, where it’s not too stressed out about what’s happening around it. Every species has a different diet, so don’t try to feed it seeds or worse, bread.

If you start to hear some movement in the bag, that means the bird was in shock and is now ready to go. Take it to a tree-filled area, away from traffic if possible, and tip the bag over on the ground to let the animal fly out. If it doesn’t exit willingly or has trouble using its wings, it might have a more serious injury. In that case, look for a wildlife rehabilitator in the area or contact your local animal control agency.

For a larger bird like a hawk or woodpecker that might try to sink a beak or talon into your skin, call in an expert right away. If they can’t get to you quickly, calm the animal down by dropping a towel over its head: It should stop struggling once its sight is obscured. You can then hold it by the body (again, avoid picking it up by the wings or legs) and move it into a box or pet carrier. Bunch the towel up against the sides to keep the bird from whacking itself against unforgiving cardboard or plastic. This video from the Southeastern Raptor Center in Auburn, Alabama, shows the step-by-step—albeit with a stuffed owl.

Now that your avian patient is safe, let’s take a minute to understand how it ended up on the ground. Every fall and spring, tens of millions of birds migrate through the US to get to their winter or summer homes. The journey exhausts them, and they often have to make overnight stops in cities and suburbs, especially when there’s rain or heavy winds on the forecast.

Sadly, they don’t always make it back into the skies the next morning. Many migrating birds get confused by bright lights and glass windows, and end up crashing into high rises, sport stadiums, college dorms, and people’s houses. Some smaller species, like Anna’s hummingbirds and brown creepers, might die on impact. Others might be temporarily stunned, left with a broken limb, or suffer permanent brain damage.

While glass collisions are common during migration, they happen year-round, so keep an eye out. If you notice lots of dead or injured birds outside certain windows at your home, office, or school, it may even be time for an architectural update. You can space out stickers, put up tape strips, or invest in panes covered in ultraviolet patterns that birds can see but people can’t. And for any feathered travelers you can’t rescue, call a museum, Audubon group, or university in your area to see if they’re collecting data and specimens to better understand the killer problem.

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Formed by millennia of rain trickling through bedrock and ice, these recesses act as time capsules for anthropologists, biologists, and climatologists, who search them for precious remnants of life predating even the dinosaurs. Today, caving also attracts nyctophiles seeking calm darkness and self-trained cartographers looking to draw a more complete picture of the planet’s past and present.

Austria-based photographer Robbie Shone dropped into his first “cold, dirty hole in the ground” with an experienced friend while studying landscape art 20 years ago. Since then, he’s descended hundreds of times with cameras and flashbulbs strapped to his back, all to document the surprising diversity of subterranean structures. With each image, he aims to depict caves as places of “safety and beauty,” instead of the stuff of nightmares.

Shone spent around three weeks with an American expedition in the Tongzi cave system in eastern China. After dozens of miles, the limestone maze gave way to a 65-foot-tall gallery, where heavy rocks have dropped from the ceiling to form what the photographer describes as a “bed of Legos.” Standing inside the space, it’s difficult to comprehend its volume: Even the most powerful headlamps, Shone says, can’t penetrate the pitch-black roof, which human eyes have likely never seen.

Lush forests and heavy rainfall in Papua New Guinea make the country’s underground expanses look like Swarovski showrooms. During monsoons, acidic water drips down through the limestone, forming calcite-crystal stalactites on the ceiling. Gina Moseley, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Innsbruck in Austria (and Shone’s fiancée), explains that stalagmites on the ground store clues about the region’s climate and vegetation that could date back half a million years.

This self-portrait depicts Shone posing in the back of a long quartzite cave under Venezuela’s tabletop mountains, known by locals as tepuis, or “houses of gods.” He’d tagged along with an Italian team of microbiologists who were sampling bacteria from the underwater rocks and lakes to, among other things, study topics such as antibiotic resistance. The damp recesses under the tepuis house a rare network of organisms, known as stromatolites.

The Gouffre Berger system in France descends to a nadir that sits 3,500 feet below sea level, about the height of three and a half Eiffel Towers. To get there, cavers spend at least 15 minutes paddling through a freezing, 10-foot-deep river. As Shone’s fellow explorer illustrates here, a waterproof camera bag can serve as a flotation device. In heavier rains, the porous limestone in the well-documented system allows the eroding water to surge to the roof, continuing to slowly carve the rock in the process.

Shone’s companions take in the view in this “fire room,” one of the world’s largest chambers, during a trek in Borneo. The dramatic rift marks where three bodies of water once converged over thousands of years. Gray limestone walls smeared by red, iron-oxidized patches make for a multicolored backdrop. The journey here has its harrowing moments: Snakes, scorpions, and ginormous spiders chased the entourage as they embarked on their day-long hike from the system entrance.

Glacial caves fill with water during the day and then freeze solid overnight, giving climatologists a limited window of time to drop in and study their eccentric, constantly shifting features. Two years ago, Shone and a pack of Welsh researchers had to wriggle down the silky, narrow walls of this chute in Switzerland to measure how quickly the ice was shifting due to the region’s rapidly changing climate. “I guarantee this geology is no longer there,” Shone says.

This story appears in the Fall 2020, Mysteries issue of Popular Science.

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Weeks after allegations of forced hysterectomies and other surgeries at an ICE detainment facility in Georgia made the news, more than a dozen women are coming forward to say that they were forcibly subjected to inhumane medical practices while in US custody.

A group of OB-GYNs and nurses from Creighton University, Baylor School of Medicine, and other institutions submitted a report to Congress detailing abuse and misconduct against 19 patients from the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, dating back to 2017. The five-page report, acquired by the Los Angeles Times, cited pathology and radiology scans, prescriptions, consent forms, and transcripts from phone interviews.

The report named Mahendra Amin, an OB-GYN in Douglas, Georgia, as the doctor accused of the unpermitted, unnecessary, and unethical procedures. Amin has run his own rural practice and worked with local hospitals for decades, but was not board-certified when he treated the women being held by ICE, according to GPB news, a local NPR affiliate.

Board certification is a voluntary but popular process in the American medical community that holds approved practitioners to particular standards and ethics set by a national organization. All authors of the report for Congress are board-certified.

After an Irwin County Detention Center nurse shared her concerns about the hysterectomies with human rights groups, legislators called for an investigation into the facility’s medical activities. A senior official from ICE also stated that it would launch an internal review. The agency confirmed in late September that Amin, who may have treated up to 60 women, many of whom were Latin American, Caribbean, and African, would no longer be seeing detainees.

As lawyers, medical experts, journalists, and congress people continue to gather evidence on the claims, it’s important to remember that the US has sanctioned race-based sterilization in the past century. Black and Indigenous individuals were subjected to forced hysterectomies through much of the 1900s, and 32 states passed sterilization laws targeting mentally ill and incarcerated populations. The last legal forced sterilization in Oregon, for example, was performed less than 40 years ago. The practice was also allowed in West Virginia until 2013.

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The end-of-the-year holidays serve as a great time to catch up with family and friends—even if that’s happening via 4G and webcams this year. And boy, is there a lot to catch up on from 2020.

Once you get through health check-ins and life updates, you might find these conversations veering into news topics. Don’t resist when that happens: Even if you’re sick of hearing about ballot recounts and developing vaccines, there’s always a chance you’ll see things differently after chatting with someone you’re close to. The discourse might also give you the opportunity to counter misinformation, and keep it from spreading to other platforms and people.

The news you focus on doesn’t have to be so dark and dismal, either. There’s been a good deal of scientific progress throughout the pandemic, and you can make sure that others get to learn about it. We’ve got four big-time headlines to get you going.

The world’s understanding of COVID-19 keeps getting clearer

Medical experts have spent the bulk of 2020 designing lab cultures, swabbing nasal cavities, and logging coronavirus patients’ respiratory rates in hopes of outmaneuvering the disease that’s now taken more than 1.4 million lives. But the deluge of data can be bewildering to members of the general public. One day you wake up to stories on how masks protect the wearers; the next day you’re hit with reports suggesting the opposite. This is the way the scientific process works. Small-scale studies done in different settings, on different communities, at different moments in time help researchers get a better picture of patterns and prognoses. Results may conflict when other groups will re-test them with new methods, but eventually they’ll drive the research toward firmer questions and answers.

In such cases, it’s best to tell your family and friends to avoid interpreting individual studies and follow more authoritative advice. That could include their family physician, state health department, or a national agency like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which evaluates the latest data to help inform public health guidelines. Of course, sometimes governments change their stances, too. But for the most part, they cast a critical eye on the research so they can save lives and let everyone know how to act.

The US hasn’t make much progress on climate change—and it really has to start

In addition to a global pandemic, 2020 brought record wildfires and hurricanes to the western and southern US. Regional temperatures are still running too hot or too cold, and Arctic ice is shrinking down to historical lows. That’s all to say that, whatever 2021 brings, it better include action against climate change. That means we need federal and state policies that stimulate green infrastructure and put pressure on polluting industries to clean up their acts. But there’s also plenty of space for personal improvement.

During lockdown, many of us learned to live with less—less excitement, less socialization, less trips out into the world—for the sake of the common good. Those are lessons we can continue to carry with us once COVID-19 is no longer a threat. Cutting down on car trips, refusing disposable utensils with takeout, growing your own food—these are all miniscule drops in the bucket when it comes to reversing the effects of greenhouse gases and deforestation. But with the country backsliding after four years of regulatory rollbacks, even small personal changes will help show that Americans still care for the future of the planet. Keep discussing what’s necessary or not when it comes to the stuff you consume. It’ll give you plenty to do until the US government gets back on track with its climate goals and innovations.

Racism is undeniably a public health issue

Say it louder for the people in the back. Even the American Medical Association agrees that racism has severely harmed the health of the people in this country for centuries. Whether it’s a petrochemical plant in a largely Black neighborhood in Louisiana or the forced sterilization of immigrants and migrants, the threads run far, wide, and deep. Some have been exposed during the pandemic through the disproportionate deaths in Latinx, Indigenous, and African American communities. Others will become more clear as hate crimes continue to take a toll on non-white people’s mental wellbeing.

Talking to loved ones, especially those far away, can draw out more examples of how racism persists in the day to day. Recognizing conflicts and issues is one of the best ways to tackle unconscious biases. That can help untangle the knot that racism has created in health care and other public services across the US.

Is there life on Mars (or Venus or Europa)?

Outside of Antarctica, the only human-touched terrain that didn’t get hit by SARS-CoV-2 this year was the moon. In fact, the lunar body gave earthlings a cause to celebrate after NASA confirmed the presence of water on its cratery surface. That’s still quite a few degrees away from detecting life, but the findings excited planetary scientists who’d been working toward this question for ages. Similarly, researchers posited a few new ideas for tracking down signs of life on Venus and Jupiter’s moon Europa. Meanwhile, NASA launched its latest Martian rover, Perseverance, over the summer, and also pulled off two unprecedented rocket missions with the commercial giant SpaceX. Next year is bound to bring many more conversation starters in terms of interplanetary exploration and travel.

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In 2008, Koronis Pharmaceuticals wrapped up the second phase of trials for a new HIV treatment described as a “mutation booster.” PopSci soon wrote about the intriguing procedure, which would supposedly introduce mistakes into the virus’s DNA and cause it to self-destruct: “In the movies, this technique, known as lethal mutagenesis, would create a supergerm, but in real life it’s spawning a powerful new class of antiviral drugs.”

The therapy failed to trigger viral suicide, and experiments ceased. HIV deaths have fallen sharply thanks to prophylactic medication, safe sex, and drugs that keep the pathogen from replicating, but the virus continues to elude one-shot methods. “It plays a cat-and-mouse game with the immune system,” says Bali Pulendran, a professor of immunology at Stanford University. HIV mutates at breakneck speed, throwing off any specialized response human cells create to fight in.

Regardless, Pulendran thinks our bodies may hold the key. In 2020 he and his colleagues used careful doses of HIV to trigger a flood of antibodies in a monkey’s reproductive tract. Most subjects were protected for six months. And back in 2019, another group effectively cured a patient by giving him stem cells endowed with a rare, beneficial gene mutation.

All these tiny breaks in the case could add up over time. “I wouldn’t be surprised if in a decade we have a vaccine with 50 percent protection,” Pulendran says. (That’s on par with the flu shot.) Paired with existing stopgaps, that could be what it takes to outmaneuver the powerful germ—no sci-fi cure-alls required.

This story appears in the Fall 2020, Mysteries issue of Popular Science.

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There’s a gift for every occasion, even somber ones like death. But when it comes to shopping for a person who’s grappling with a recent loss, your gut might tell you to buy something that helps them forget the pain. That isn’t necessary, says Kathryn Shear, the founding director of Columbia University’s Center for Complicated Grief. Such gestures can even be detrimental to the healing process. “The one thing we know about grief is that it’s permanent. The past is always with us, and it’s not a negative thing to hold onto it.”

Instead, Shear recommends finding objects that nudge the person to think of the one(s) they’ve lost in a comforting way. “It’s a really great thing to consider when purchasing presents,” she says. “Anything you can do to honor the dead helps.” As long as you have a close relationship to the griever and know their preferences well, a thoughtful, sentimental gift could bring the bittersweet joy they need right now.

Something they can “flip” through

Amazon

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When was the last time you held a photo album? With smartphones and digital cameras, the plastic-covered scrapbooks have become less common and practical—but the effect is still wonderful. You can recreate the magic with a touch-screen picture frame that scrolls through images automatically or lets the user flip through them with a finger. Pre-fill it with a few candids to get the trip down memory lane started.

Something they can hold

Parting Stone

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Coming home with a dear one’s remains stuffed in a piece of pottery can feel cold and awkward. Where do you put them? How do you mourn with them? A set of Parting Stones can make the answers to those questions much more straightforward. The New Mexico-based company binds cremated ashes (new or old) into a clay-like material, then bakes them into multi-colored stones that a person can clutch, carry around in their pocket, or arrange in a garden. The process takes a minimum of six weeks, plus you’ll need to ship in the remains, so make sure to plan ahead and ask for permission.

Something they can draw warmth from

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People have been lighting candles during vigils, funerals, and other somber ceremonies since the times of the ancient Egyptians. While each culture and religion has its own reasons for the practice, the overall sentiment is the same. Candles bring light, warmth, and room for contemplation, and their scents can be emotionally evocative. In fact, smell is a powerful tool for memory; we often search for it in a person’s belongings long after they leave or pass away. A simple candle-making kit lets you add your own fragrances, so you can get closer to the ones you miss by mimicking their favorite perfume or a place where you spent time together.

Something they can share

Amazon

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For people who are struggling to communicate their feelings, writing letters can be a form of therapy. A bright box of postcards might help a mourner open up about their grief, even when they feel disconnected from everyone around them. Choose a theme that suits their aesthetic, whether it be ethereal, botanical, or heroic. And while you’re at it, pick up a book of postcard stamps and support USPS.

Something they can hear

Songfinch

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Music is a beautiful way to memorialize the deceased, but unless you’re an avid composer, you might not want to risk crafting a clumsy ode. Songfinch makes the process as easy as possible. All you need to do is jot down a few memories and details about the person who’s passed on, choose a style, sound, and artist, and wait seven days for a rough cut to be emailed to you. Each song runs about three minutes long, and you can tack on more verses and make edits for an extra free.

Something they can unwind with

Etsy

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There’s a reason why so many old Hollywood movies romanticized music boxes. It’s a clever piece of engineering that wraps a ton of soothing elements—music, spinning gears, mechanical feedback—in one palm-sized memento. You’ll want to pick a song that serves up a pang of nostalgia (Moon River? Harry Potter? Princess Mononoke?), but also one that recipients won’t get sick of too quickly. And of course, you can personalize it to make it more of a remembrance piece with photos, initials, locks of hair, and so on.

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Since December 2018, Popular Science has followed extreme adventurer Victor Vescovo around the globe as he worked to be the first human to touch the deepest point in all five oceans. In chronicling his quest, dubbed The Five Deeps, we uncover the technologies, discoveries, and controversies that come with diving to into this largely unexplored world beneath the surface. This way for all of our coverage.

When explorer Victor Vescovo completed his Five Deeps expedition at the end of August, few people questioned the lengths he’d gone to break multiple diving records.

Vescovo’s goal was to visit the deepest point of each ocean, and he succeeded in nine short months. On his last dive he delved 5,550 meters into the Molloy Trench in the Arctic—but it was his second-to-last that’s now provoking controversy.

In May, Vescovo traveled 10,928 meters to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, a new low for any human or submersible. Fellow deep-sea explorer James Cameron, though, insists that the headlines are wrong. In an interview with PopSci, the film director, who did a solo dive in the same swath of the Mariana Trench in 2012, says it’s impossible that Vescovo ventured deeper than him.

“I’d like to set the record straight: The bottom of the Eastern Pool where Victor and I both dove is deadass flat,” Cameron explains. “That’s not just my finding; that’s the finding of the Woods Hole scientists who surveyed that part of the hadal zone.”

Cameron’s Challenger Deep dive measured 10,908 meters (revised from the initial report of 10,898) and was also hailed as a record at the time. Prior to his descent, in 2009, a research team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ran a robotic vehicle along a 50-mile stretch of the trench. Their findings showed only a two- to three-meter decline in the seafloor. Vescovo, meanwhile, logged a 20-meter drop.

Vescovo, who responded quickly to Cameron’s rebuttal, tells PopSci that seismic and tectonic activity could have changed the trench over time. He also notes that he dove repeatedly in the Eastern Pool and drew up to five depth measurements with each descent. The resulting data, he says, demonstrates that there could be at least one small depression in the area.

Of course, there are a number of other explanations for the competing stats—the biggest being how the two teams measured depth. For Cameron’s dive, scientists depended on a formula that uses conductivity, temperature, and density readings from the surrounding water column to determine pressure, then meters traveled. Vescovo’s collaborators did the same, but backed it up with the latest-available sonar system, the Kongsberg EM 124. The transmitter shoots out 1,600 sound beams to map the seabed and calculates distance from how long it takes the noise to travel. Before Five Deeps, the EM 124 had only been deployed for mineral and oil exploration.

But sonar has its downsides: It can overestimate depth by penetrating loose sediment on the seafloor and be skewed by the slightest bit of temperature change, says Mark Zumberge, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who wasn’t involved in either mission. Cameron saw this when he cross-checked Woods Hole sonar maps during his Mariana Trench dive.

Vescovo, for his part, says his system was corrected in multiple environments to minimize those kinds of deviations. “My science team is adamant that we’re not working with false actors. The sonar we used is much further ahead than the EM 120 [used by Woods Hole]—it’s like an iPhone versus a flip phone.”

Cameron agrees that the Five Deeps measurements might be more reliable. “They dove in the Eastern Pool three times, so they stand a better chance at getting an accurate depth,” he says. But he does note that there could be errors in both teams’ readings. “If I was off by 10 meters and he’s off by 10 meters, who knows. It all loops back to the great unknowability to the ocean.”

Either way, the larger scientific community doesn’t seem to care which “gentleman explorer” (as Cameron refers to himself and Vescovo) is correct. “Using pressure to measure depth only gets you an inferred number,” says Andy Bowen, a principal engineer at Woods Hole and adviser on the 2012 Challenger Deep expedition. “Really, the only direct way to get the depth of the Mariana Trench to the exact meter is with a seven-mile-long measuring tape.” Still, he does see Cameron’s point about the Eastern Pool figure. “It’s difficult to understand how another visit to the same place would produce a significantly different number,” he says. “It’s hard to change physics.”

From Zumberge’s perspective, the best way to settle the debate is to look at both teams’ raw readings and see how they translated depth. “If two groups have traveled to the bottom of the ocean, it comes down to how they calibrated and converted their pressure measurements,” he says. His response, when asked if he’d be interested in assessing the data (which Vescovo says Five Deeps would be happy to release), was tepid, however. “There’s not a great scientific interest in how the ocean floor varies in a few meters,” he explains.

All of which leads to the question of whether “deeper” is even important. “It’s unfortunate that there’s this focus on a .001 percent difference,” Vescovo says, adding that there’s no “supreme court” to pick a clear winner. “Our accomplishment doesn’t take away from the fact that James was the first person to reach the bottom of the Eastern Pool. His tech broke through barriers that helped us improve ours.” Cameron gives similar props to the Five Deeps crew for “the safe execution of their incredibly ambitious mission”—but he also stands by his original findings. “At the risk of sounding like sour grapes, it’s important for the public to know that the one deepest point in our world’s oceans is a flat, featureless plain.”

To confirm if that point is 10,928 meters, scientists and explorers would have to pour more resources into an already well-probed part of the Mariana Trench. “It’d take corroboration by other vehicles and instruments, plus data taken over a series of years,” Cameron says. In the meantime, he hopes the headlines will shift to other exciting marine research, like the galaxy-wide search for hydrothermal life. It’s easier to measure the distance to Jupiter’s moons than the distance to the bottom of the ocean, after all.

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With little more than a month left in its term, the Trump Administration has kept up its streak of implementing policy changes that put water, air, climate stability, public health, and wildlife in danger. Last month, for example, the Bureau of Land Management put out a call for oil- and gas-drilling leases in a long-undisturbed piece of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And earlier in November, the US formally broke from the Paris Agreement, which set urgent carbon-reduction goals for countries big and small.

That leaves the onus on the Biden administration to settle old lawsuits, pass new executive orders, and reinterpret federal decisions to get environmental standards back on course. The to-do list is long, but legal experts and conservationists are hopeful it can all get done. “There’s a consistent trend in shortcuts from the Trump administration, which means these rules have been done terribly,” says D.J. Gerken, program director of the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). “The challenge is, there’s just so much; they went after every environmental rule at every angle. Thoroughly unwinding the damage will take time.” Others point out that the next four years should be an opportunity to shape stronger, science-based policies that safeguard the planet, no matter who’s in office. “We can’t be catering to any politician’s agenda or doing incremental changes,” says Osprey Orielle Lake, executive director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network. “We need systemic change.”

Here are four important environmental laws that the Trump administration tried to dismantle, and how they can be revamped for 2021 and beyond.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Damage sustained: Critical

Passed by a near-unanimous vote 50 years ago, NEPA may be one of the most powerful laws in American history. It ensures that every department of the government weighs environmental impacts in its decision making, both in the US and overseas. This also makes it a giant burden for industries—and the Trump administration seemed to agree. In January of this year, the White House finalized an exemption that allows agencies to classify a broad stroke of activities as “negligible” to nature. That in turn, allows developers and other stakeholders to avoid the typical scientific reviews that NEPA demands, says D.J. Gerken, program director of the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC).

At the time, the Department of Justice sidestepped a court injunction that would have stalled the rule change. It argued that it was up to the agencies to decide if they wanted to rewrite their NEPA guidelines. That finally happened last month, when the US Department of Agriculture announced it would exempt all timber sales in national forests spanning 2,800 acres or less from environmental review. “That would have covered every logging project in the Southeast over the past 30 years,” Gerken says.

Still, the rule change should be easy to reverse, in part because it’s illegal. The Biden administration can argue that categorical exclusions don’t account for long-term effects of projects, which is a must under Congress’s chosen definition of NEPA, Gerken explains. They will also need to address the Trump administration’s directive to cut climate change out of the environmental-review process. Fixing the act might require a few steps, but the work is high priority, Gerken says. “If NEPA is broken, nothing else works.”

Clean Water Rule

Damage sustained: Critical

The Clean Water Rule of 2015 helped expand the historic Clean Water Act by specifying which natural features fall under federal protection. In theory, it covers 20 million acres of wetlands and other small water bodies that aren’t considered “navigable,” but do provide important habitat and drinking sources. That scope, however, has been contested since almost day one. Several states sued the federal government to avoid applying the more detailed rule, and in the end, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed it.

Then the Supreme Court of the US weighed in … sort of. In April of this year, the justices ruled 6 to 3 to apply the Clean Water Act to a case of groundwater pollution in Maui, Hawaii. The water source in question wasn’t technically navigable, but it did eventually connect to the ocean. This leaves the door open for a broader definition of protected features—an argument that the SELC and other environmental groups hope the Biden Administration will take up. “The Clean Water Rule has to get fixed,” Gerken says. It’s already starting to impact places like Georgia, where a 12,000-acre titanium mine near a federally protected swamp is barrelling forward.

In the end, the onus of repairing and enforcing the Clean Water Rule will fall to the EPA, Gerken says. “Rules to protect water get enforced unevenly, and that’s a major issue for environmental justice,” he explains. “Restaffing the agency and its regional offices with stronger leaders and scientists who will stand up for communities should make a big difference out of the gate. You don’t need rule changes for that.”

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards

Damage sustained: Moderate

Fuel-economy standards for trucks and cars were set long before the connection between carbon and climate change became obvious. So, in 2010, the Obama administration cut a deal with the auto industry to update nation-wide targets to 54.5 miles per gallon for all new passenger vehicles by 2025. Most carmakers were on pace to hit that threshold, says Deborah Sivas, an environmental law professor at Stanford University, but the Trump administration’s new target—40 miles per gallon by 2026—might stimie that progress, since car companies now don’t have to meet such a stringent goal. “The industry needs about a five-year lead time to design and prep the assembly lines,” she explains. “The extent to which these things yo-yo between administrations means there’s no business certainty for them.”

To lock in targets, states like California have hammered out their own fuel-economy standards with automakers. The Trump administration tried to overwrite those state-specific deals, but the decision is currently held up with a lawsuit, which the Biden administration could easily settle in court. As for the national guidelines, Sivas envisions “a new drawing of standards and negotiating of margins to get back on track,” as well as a bump in electric vehicle production. With transportation belching out 28 percent of US carbon emissions, fuel economy will have to be a big part of the new administration’s climate plan. “The government needs to create a regulatory market through policies and subsidies,” Sivas says. “In the end, that’s what’s going to move the ball for industry—just like how these car companies got on board in California.”

Antiquities Act

Damage sustained: Moderate

A year into office, President Trump used the 1906 Antiquities Act to downsize Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah by millions of acres. While many past commanders in chief have used the law to found and expand public lands, only a handful have used it to shrink existing tracts—and under very different circumstances. (Woodrow Wilson, for instance, redrew the boundaries of Mount Olympus National Park during WWI so that the army could harvest timber for fighter planes.)

The Trump administration’s move aligns more with mining and drilling interests. But policy experts argue that it’s illegal anyway. The Antiquities Act states that the president can “declare” and “protect” areas as national monuments, not the other way around. “If Congress wanted monument making to be a two-way valve, they would have said so,” says John Ruple, a professor in land, resources, and environment law at the University of Utah, who’s loosely involved with lawsuits against the Bear’s Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante resizing. “Silence is golden.”

Once he takes office, Joe Biden can easily issue a new executive order to restore the monuments—and make them even bigger. “I don’t think anyone would challenge that,” Ruple says. None of the stripped-off acres have been developed, which means there’s still time to preserve them for research, recreation, and cultural use, just as the Antiquities Act intended.

Correction: The story previously stated that Woodrow Wilson tinkered with the boundaries of a national park during WWII. It should be WWI.

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For the first time in more than a century, New York City’s Times Square will be nearly empty on New Year’s Eve. No chorus of cheap noisemakers. No awkward selfies with the Naked Cowboy. No families swapping hot chocolate to stay warm and awake until the ball drops.

This year being in crowded places is out of the question, but if you’re planning to stay in with your closest circle, you can still recreate some of the midnight suspense in the safety of your home. Tuning into a live stream is probably the easiest way, whether it be in Times Square or a First Night celebration in your local city—but you can also go all the way with a DIY ball drop, music show, and more.

Here are five of the most entertaining and easy-to-put-together ideas the internet has to offer.

Make your own classic sparkly ball or piñata

If you haven’t packed away your Christmas lights yet, here’s another reason to procrastinate. Pull out a few strands and raid your recyclables to build a quick, smash-proof New Year’s ball. The simple craft, courtesy of the Hallmark Channel, should take under an hour to assemble. A power drill will speed up the process, but you can use a simple hammer and nail if the young ones are begging to help out.

To add a special pop to your countdown, give HGTV’s confetti pinata a spin. A warning, though—this one involves a lot of tape, so if you’re letting kids partake, you might want to set some boundaries to avoid a sticky mess. You can fill the final creation with iridescent film, like in the video, or something more silly such as homemade Silly Putty or growing dinosaurs.

Let the kids do their own DJ set

You don’t need to be as talented as the Jackson Five to make music as a family. With apps like Crayola DJ and websites like BeastBox, kids can spin their own tunes and learn something about pitch, rhythm, and personal expression while they’re at it. It beats listening to the same lonely-trumpet version of “Auld Lang Syne” year after year. If you’ve got more of a singing household, try a karaoke software like Kanto Player or a TikTok challenge that really spans the ages.

Nothing says “Happy New Year!” like giant bologna

We stole this idea from the town of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, home to the annual New Year’s bologna drop. You’ll never top the 200-pound meat that was suspended on a crane over revelers in 2018, so focus on quality over quantity with your chosen charcuterie, and turn your 2021 countdown into a cooking spree. Depending on what your local butcher or deli has to offer, you might want to fry the bologna and drop it on your family as a pile of sandwiches.

Celebrate with flame-free and pet-approved fireworks

Setting off fireworks at home can be dangerous and even illegal. This sticker-and-ribbon version from Kids Craft Room is a reusable DIY that swaps pyrotechnics for a more gentle colorful display. Plus, a papercut is the worst injury you’ll get making it. If you have skittish pets, know that they’ll probably be grateful, too.

Discover a world of New Year’s traditions

A New Year’s Eve party may be customary in the US, but different cultures celebrate the holiday in special ways—and not always at the same time of the year. Take a tour of some international traditions, including Japanese soba noodles, Ethiopian flower arrangements, and the Bulgarian ritual of survakane, where kids (gently) beat adults with sticks to usher in good luck. Share the history of each culture as you explore so you put these practices in the context of the people who’ve enjoyed them for decades.

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While most people had their eyes fixed on the once-in-a-lifetime Christmas Star last month, University of California, Irvine staff research associate Sicco Rood found and photographed another rare sight in the night skies.

Most evenings Rood can step into his front yard in Southern California and see the nebulous tracks of the Milky Way run over Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. But on this late-December day, the clouds blocked out the stars and planets, leaving only the moon to shine brightly against the drizzly mountains.

Around 7 p.m., though, Rood noticed a bizarre prism curving over the western horizon. He set his Pentax K-50 on a tripod and took a two-second-long exposure to capture the spectacle. It was a lunar rainbow—a hard-to-see phenomenon in which sunlight reflecting off the moon is filtered through water droplets in the air. This causes the white wavelength to bend and separate into multiple colors.

To witness a lunar rainbow, you need to be in a place untouched by light pollution and have all the right atmospheric conditions. In Rood’s case, his yard set the perfect stage. The state park belongs to the International Dark-Sky Network and follows strict protocols for curbing the glare on the ground at night. Combine that with a nearly full moon and west-to-east winds blowing unusually heavy rain clouds closer to the desert, and boom: a post-dinner rainbow.

“We see so many interesting things out here in Anza-Borrego, I’m looking up as well as down,” Rood says. “I’d always imagined seeing a snowbow in the mountains. But never a moonbow.”

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The United States Postal Service (USPS) unveiled the designs for its next-gen delivery trucks this week, and the result marks a jarring shift from the cramped cabs that zigzag neighborhoods today. The agency announced it was contracting Wisconsin-based company Oshkosh Defense to build a fleet of up to 165,000 vehicles in the next 10 years. The first wave of trucks is expected to arrive in 2023, transporting packages and letters through rain, sleet, and snow in style.

The new trucks are built for capacity, comfort, and carbon efficiency, USPS officials explained during a press conference on Tuesday. “Our vehicles travel streets and roads in all types of conditions in every community across the county,” said Kristin Seaver, the agency’s chief retail and delivery officer. “[The future models] will provide improved safety and ergonomic features, additional cargo space for packages, and other critical components designed for the unique work our carriers do every day.”

Social media, however, was less than kind to the winning concept, which comes with a $482 million contract for now. Some compared the truck’s colossal windshield to a side profile of Butthead. Others pointed out similarities to Nicolas Cage’s forehead.

Jokes and hot takes aside, it’s worth digging into the necessary upgrades that USPS is making with its new fleet. Let’s take a look.

Smaller carbon footprint

The Next Generation Delivery Vehicles, as they’re officially called, will rock battery-powered motors or internal combustion engines with an improved fuel economy. As a baseline, the 30-year-old Grumman LLV model the agency uses today has an average fuel economy of 17 miles per gallon. USPS officials said they aim is to have a largely electric fleet by the end of the decade.

[Related: GM will only make electric cars after 2035]

Better road safety

Driving a mail truck might not seem so dangerous—until you consider all the kids, bikes, and runaway pets that postal carriers have to dodge on their routes. The new vehicles come with a back-up camera, 360-degree camera, and blind spot sensors in the side-view mirrors to better protect both drivers and pedestrians. An automatic parking brake and front and rear bumper sensors should help prevent further mishaps.

More room for Amazon packages

From 2019 to 2020, USPS saw a 19-percent bump in package deliveries and an 11-percent dip in mail deliveries. Much of that can be chalked up to pandemic shopping habits, but the agency is thinking of it as a long-term trend. To prepare for an onslaught of commercial shipment, the next-gen vehicles will have a walkthrough cargo space that rivals that of UPS, FedEx, and Amazon Prime trucks. No more squeezing through awkward window slots for postal carriers.

Weather-proofed, to some extent

Did you know that the Postal Service’s current delivery trucks don’t have air conditioning? (They do have central heat, but it’s not very reliable, according to people on the job.) The Oshkosh Defense design incorporates a cooling system that runs off the engine, making it so that carriers can catch a chilly breeze in the toughest summer conditions. No word on if the tires will be upgraded to all-season and all-terrain.

[Related: A first look at Amazon’s electric delivery vans]

And finally, that mega-tall windshield

Sadly, the agency didn’t expand on the distinctive glass-heavy design during the press conference. But as Curbed reporter Alissa Walker points out, beyond making the truck more aerodynamic, it adds a few layers of safety through simple physics. She writes:

“The jutting lower lip of this USPS truck, as weird as it looks, is a transformative, life-saving feature. Should you be hit by this (very slow-moving, usually) vehicle, you’ll likely be struck on the legs, throwing you up onto the convex hood, where you’re a lot likelier to roll off to the side instead of under the wheels. You’re almost surely less likely to be killed.”

A sky-high windshield also eliminates most blinds spots in front of the vehicle. The results might look funny, but in the end, they should help taxpayers save time, dimes, and lives.

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Absurd as it sounds, this video of a stingray snacking on shellfish may be the most soothing scene that’s floated across our screens this year.

But for the marine biologists who captured the recording, the listening experience is more than just an ASMR thrill. Shark and ray researchers from Florida Atlantic University used a battery-powered camera with a hydrophone (the underwater equivalent of a microphone) to eavesdrop on captive spotted eagle rays. Their goal was to see if they could infer how the flat-toothed predators crushed their prey without disturbing their dinner time.

By measuring the frequencies of the pops, cracks, and crunches in the clips, the team correctly guessed the rays’ meal, which included a menu of hard clams, banded tulip snails, and six other mollusk species, in more than 400 feeding events. They also gauged the intensity of shell fractures from the sounds to determine their unique method of munching, says Catherine Lamboy, an author on the study, which came out in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology earlier this month. With their fused dental plates, the predators had little trouble snapping the shellfish to get to the meaty insides. But the eight-foot-long rays didn’t always get it on the first try. “Sometimes they’d put the mollusk in their mouth the wrong way and then have to spit it out,” Lamboy explains.

The biggest takeaway from the research, however, was less about the hungry sea creatures and more about the underwater recorders. As Lamboy and her colleagues wrote in their paper, the success of their experiment shows that acoustic monitoring could play a hefty role in solving looming marine mysteries, like that of the dramatic disappearance of many shark and ray species. “The technology lets us gather knowledge on predators without dragging people, noise pollution, and tons of plastic equipment into the ocean,” Lamboy says. “This is both critical in preserving ecosystems and limiting our influence on animal movements and behaviors as we study them.”

But as Lamboy points out, recording wildlife in the wide open ocean won’t be as seamless as doing it in a sand-bottomed tank. Conditions at sea are never constant: The slightest tweaks in pressure, temperature, and salinity can change how sound travels through the water. There’s also the issue of the cost of pricey equipment like the Cyclops camera system used in the study and damage from the wet, salty elements.

[Related: Was megalodon a real-life monster or a myth?]

Still, the benefits of a hands-off approach seems to outweigh the technological trickiness. Lamboy can see hydrophones coming in handy to study how sharks (her main research group) “hear” and hunt their prey. She’d also like for all the recordings to end up in some sort of digital library, so that whale, fish, and mollusk scientists can come together to create a big-picture soundscape of the ocean. “We can use it to understand the anthropogenic effect on our planet’s waters,” she says. “But we can also enjoy the experience while we’re at it.”

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There are certain sights that people have grown habituated—and even numb—to in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We may have forgotten what it’s like to read someone’s facial expressions now that we’re always masked up in public. And we’ve probably grown accustomed to sanitizer dispensers greeting us in every school, store, and office.

Point is, the status quo has changed dramatically from last March to this March. Even if life slips back to normal with vaccinations, some scenes and symbols will always be inseparable from this global health disaster we’ve been fighting. Let’s take a look at 12 from around the US.

The extra-long swab used in early COVID-19 tests became somewhat of a meme in the first months of the pandemic. People described a tickling sensation in their brain, or even a stabbing pain, after getting brushed by a health care worker. But the intimidating length of the swab was important: Because the virus attacked the respiratory system, it could leave an imprint anywhere between the nasal passage and the back of the throat. Today, most tests use a simple saliva strip to collect a cell sample, albeit with weaker results.

Most folks are familiar with the pom-pom-like illustration of the coronavirus shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But what does the pathogen look like in real life? Epidemiologists at the National Institute of Health took microscopic scans of Sars-CoV-2 in action to see just how the spike proteins on its surface infiltrate and bind to cells in various human organs. The colorized results helped boost public knowledge about how viruses form, operate, and ultimately, mutate.

The phrase “deep clean” took on a new meaning in the pandemic, especially in the early months, when there was little understanding of how the virus was transmitted. Municipal workers and custodial staff used disinfectant wipes, sanitizing sprays, and even UV lights to prep mass transit and other public spaces for reopening. Not everyone had the same kind of personal protective equipment as specialized hazmat teams: Last April, New York City reported dozens of COVID-19 deaths among janitors.

The 2020 wildfire season didn’t stop for COVID-19. In fact, it burned harder than ever in California, with two giant blazes blanketing the counties around the Bay Area. Fires in the southern half of the state, plus Washington and Oregon, lasted through much of summer and fall, creating heavy plumes of smoke that could be seen all the way from space. The particles also blew east, resulting in smoggy, scarlet sunsets over the Midwest and Northeast.

While the slate of COVID-19 symptoms is long and mysterious, many patients seem to come down with pneumonia or worse, go into respiratory failure. Studies on some of these deadly cases show that the virus makes a beeline for lung tissue, causing the cells to grow, inflame, and even clot. Now, patients hospitalized for the virus automatically get a CT scan as part of their diagnostic test. Medical researchers in Canada and elsewhere are also using artificial intelligence to detect more subtle signs of disease in the lungs.

After an initial hiatus last spring, the NBA and WNBA took a dramatic approach to make sports happen again. Both leagues set up isolated player-only facilities in Florida where all training, games, and rest would take place. To bring fans in on the action, the NBA adapted Microsoft Teams’ video chat software to 17-foot-high digital screens, giving the appearance that there were raucous people in the stands. Other leagues settled for cutouts and streamed-in sounds until they could open their stadiums and arenas for real.

A year into the pandemic, school reopening continues to be a hot-button issue across the country. Some districts have chosen to stay completely online, while others have tested hybrid learning where kids rotate through classrooms and at-home lessons. College campuses small and large did the same, drawing on deep resources to mandate testing in dorms and among staff. For schools that did let students return to their lockers and desks, however, there were some common precautions: masks, physical barriers, and ventilation to help keep infection rates across the community low.

It took Anthony Fauci 52 years to become a household American name. He’s been working for the National Institute of Health since 1968, and became the director of the allergy and infectious diseases division in 1984. That role catapulted him to the front of the country’s COVID-19 response last year, even as other government entities tried to suppress and alter science-backed recommendations. Fauci continues to help lead the Biden administration’s coronavirus task force.

Last May the US passed the 100,000 death mark for COVID-19. Then in September, 200,000. In December, 300,000. The mortality rate picked up so quickly that by the presidential inauguration this January, the count had pushed beyond 400,000. The 500,000 mark came soon after on February 23, 2021. It’s the highest number of lives lost of any country in the world.

It took the world a while to catch on to wearing a mask every day last spring, due to questions around how effective they could be at blocking out SARS-CoV-2. But we now know that there’s a hierarchy: KN95, cloth, and then surgical. Still, disposable face coverings are cheap to buy and easy to distribute, and now they’re piling up as litter and trash. The impacts of the extra plastic have yet to be measured, but environmentalists are already seeing the telltale blue swatches wash up on beaches everywhere.

With jobs, schools, and community services shuttered, the US hunger crisis hit a drastic peak in 2020. Estimates from Feeding America hold that at least 50 million adults and children struggled to secure three square meals a day during the pandemic, all while farmers had to dump their overflowing stores. The impacts of this have been seen at donor-supplied pantries across the nation. The San Antonio Food Bank, for instance, has had nearly twice as many people lining up at its doors each day since COVID-19 started to spread.

Amid social distancing and coronavirus concerns, protesters around the globe found secure ways to demonstrate their First Amendment right in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. But in many places, police showed out in full force as well, often equipped with riot gear and crowd control weapons. Epidemiologists and physicians fretted that the rampant use of tear gas would damage people’s lungs and make them more vulnerable to long-term COVID-19 symptoms.

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