A Modest Proposal: Let's Change Earth's Orbit

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June 18, 2021

Math A Modest Proposal: Let's Change Earth's Orbit What's the worst that could happen? By Maddie Bender

Biology Mockingbirds Are Better Musicians Than We Thought Their complex songs have striking similarities to Beethoven, Tuvan throat singing, a Disney musical and Kendrick Lamar By David Rothenberg

Behavior & Society The Quiet after the Storm After a year of living cautiously and more isolated, here's how to resume public routines By Andrea Gawrylewski

Environment National Park Nature Walks, Episode 7: Into the Wilderness by Canoe Here is our next installment of a new pop-up podcast miniseries that takes your ears into the deep sound of nature. Host Jacob Job, an ecologist and audiophile, brings you inches away from a multitude of creatures, great and small, amid the sonic grandeur of nature. You may not be easily able to access these places amid the pandemic, but after you take this acoustic journey, you will be longing to get back outside. Strap on some headphones, find a quiet place and prepare to experience a thunderstorm—and a lazy day of waiting that storm out—inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. Catch additional episodes in the series here.  By Jacob Job | 28:50

Policy & Ethics Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act--Again By a vote of 7-2, the court declined to overturn the landmark health care law for the third time By Julie Rovner,Kaiser Health News

Behavior & Society How COVID Is Changing the Study of Human Behavior The pandemic is teaching us key lessons about how people respond to crisis and misinformation, and it is spurring changes in the way scientists study public health questions By Christie Aschwanden,Nature magazine

Space Why the Supergiant Star Betelgeuse Went Mysteriously Dim Last Year High-resolution images suggest the star spewed out so much dust that its brightness dropped by two thirds in 2020 By Davide Castelvecchi,Nature magazine

Cognition It's All in the Mix A new form of color blending produces surprising palettes By Stephen Macknik,Susana Martinez-Conde

Public Health From $1-Million Lotteries to Free Beer: Do COVID Vaccination Incentives Work? Doling out cash rewards and lifting mask mandates could increase vaccine uptake, some research suggests By Tanya Lewis

Natural Disasters AI Could Spot Wildfires Faster Than Humans A prediction system undergoes testing as the U.S. West braces for another potentially devastating wildfire season By Jane Braxton Little

Automotive GM Bets Big on Electric Vehicles The automaker will spend $35 billion through 2025 on batteries, cars, even trains By David Ferris,E&E News

Space China Launches Astronauts to New Space Station The nation's first crewed liftoff in nearly five years is the third of 11 planned launches to complete the station's construction By Mike Wall,SPACE.com

Neurological Health Could Mitochondria Be the Key to a Healthy Brain? Some researchers suspect these bacterial ancestors living within our cells may contribute to a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders By Diana Kwon,Knowable Magazine

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Mind, Volume 32, Issue 4

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FROM THE ARCHIVE The Widening Chasm between Research and Clinical Practice Medical progress depends on collaboration between physicians and scientists and on professionals who are adept in both worlds By Rachel Lane | November 2018

QUOTE OF THE DAY "Listen to the mockingbird.... You'll hear that this virtuoso bird isn't just copying other species' tunes. He's sampling them like a DJ." David Rothenberg, distinguished professor of philosophy and music, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Scientific American

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