As someone who spent my childhood moving from epidemic to epidemic with my virologist father and epidemiologist mother, I am surprised at the degree of certainty expressed by both optimists and pessimists regarding their predictions of the COVID-19 epidemic. . .   Read More

Six date-palm trees in Israel have sprouted two millennia after their seeds came into existence. As Sarah Zhang writes for The Atlantic, the collection of seeds recently planted all germinated in ancient archaeological sites and have been radiocarbon dated back to around A.D. 00047. The plants, named Adam, Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, . . .   Read More

Complexity Explained is a new project that distills key aspects of complexity science, also known as complex science systems, into an easy-to-digest, interactive visual explainer. The explainer is also available as a free booklet, downloadable at this link. . .   Read More

In a piece for The New York Times, Dennis Overbye describes the remarkable images of the sun captured by the new Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii. Our closest star, never before seen in such detail, now resembles a “boiling pot of popcorn” thanks to the 158 inches . . .   Read More

In a Long Now talk on dark matter and dark energy, theoretical astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan said that “we simultaneously know quite a lot, and not a lot” about the key ingredients of our universe. What we do know is that dark energy makes up about&. . .   Read More

Peter Brannen, writing in The Atlantic, details why a popular claim being made on social media isn’t true—not to downplay the impact of the fires, but to educate audiences on how the various systems of our planet interact   Read More

Earlier this month, a study appeared in Science that found that a global reforestation effort could capture 205 gigatons of CO2 over the next 40-100 years—two thirds of all the CO2 humans have generated since the industrial revolution:

The restoration of trees remains among the most effective strategies for climate change mitigation. We. . .   Read More

Primatologist Elizabeth Lonsdorf shares the story of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, two of the three ‘Trimates’ who revolutionized the field of primatology with their studies of gorillas and chimpanzees.

From the Conversation at The Interval, “Growing Up Ape: The Long-term Science of Studying Our Closest Living Relatives” by. . .   Read More

Earlier this year, The New York Times published a profile of philosopher Bruno Latour on the occasion of the publication of his new book, Down to Earth. “He spent decades deconstructing the ways that scientists claim their authority,” Ava Kofman writes. “Can his ideas help them regain that authority today?”

What journalists, scientists and other. . .   Read More

The rings of centuries-old trees are offering scientists a more complete picture of climate change and the role of humans in causing it. . .   Read More