Why a Climate Scientist's Libel Case Matters (Op-Ed)
Posted on July 2, 2023
| 7 minutes
| 1361 words
| Fernande Dalal
Seth Shulman is a senior staff writer at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a veteran science journalist and author of six books. This Op-Ed, and other of Shulman's Got Science? columns can be found on the UCS website. Shulman contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Back in 2012, after the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the National Review each published pieces that likened climate scientist Michael Mann to a child molester and called his work a fraud, Mann fought back with a lawsuit, charging them with libel.
[Read More]Blast from the Past: 3 Civil War Cannons Pulled from River
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 712 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
A community in the southern United States reclaimed an important part of its history Tuesday (Sept. 29), when three Civil War-era cannons were pulled up from the Pee Dee River in Florence, South Carolina.
The now-rusty relics once adorned the deck of a Confederate warship, the CSS Pedee, which was built in a shipyard just east of Florence, South Carolina. The cannons, as well as the remains of the ill-fated ship, have been at the bottom of the river for 150 years.
[Read More]Book Excerpt: 'Archaeology From Space'
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 6 minutes
| 1139 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Archaeologist Sarah Parcak studies lost cities of the ancient world. But unlike the fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones — and generations of real-world archaeologists — Parcak peers at temples, pyramids and other remnants of the distant past from great heights, scanning the ground with satellite technology orbiting at altitudes thousands of miles above Earth.
A pioneer in this relatively new field of so-called space archaeology, Parcak shares some of her biggest discoveries in a new memoir, "
[Read More]Crater Lake: Deepest in the United States
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 331 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Crater Lake is formed from the caldera of Mount Mazama. Part of the Cascades volcanic chain, Mount Mazama sits between the Three Sisters volcanoes to the north and Mount Shasta to the south.
The catastrophic eruption of Mount Mazama that occurred approximately 7,700 years ago destroyed the volcano while simultaneously forming the basin for Crater Lake. Eruptive activity continued in the region for perhaps a few hundred years after the major eruption.
[Read More]Elon Musk 'overcome with emotion' after SpaceX's 1st astronaut launch
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 741 words
| Patria Henriques
SpaceX founder Elon Musk(opens in new tab) was choked up with emotion after his company successfully launched astronauts to space for the first time on Saturday (May 30).
"I'm really quite overcome with emotion on this day, so it's kind of hard to talk, frankly," Musk said in a post-launch press conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Saturday evening. "It's been 18 years working towards this goal, so it's hard to believe that it's happened.
[Read More]Gibbons Defend Against Predators With Song
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 615 words
| Patria Henriques
When a white-handed gibbon spots a lurking leopard, rather than high tailing it in the opposite direction, the furry ape will actually draw closer to its foe and belt out a song.
Scientists discovered that wild gibbons [image] in Thailand have crafted unique songs [click here to listen] as alarm calls to other gibbons, a discovery that might shed light on the evolution of spoken language.
The sounds that animals make are traditionally thought of simply as signs of their basic mood.
[Read More]How Words Affect Climate Change Perception
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 495 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Like fashion fads, climate-science words rise and fall in popularity, finds a new study.
And how frequently these scientific words, such as biodiversity and paleoclimate, filter out of journals and into the popular lexicon may influence public perception of climate science, the researchers add.
The study showed that over the past 200 years, the appearance of key climate-science terms in the public vocabulary has followed "boom and bust" cycles. Given the resistance that climate change faces from some sectors of the public, understanding how cycles of word usage affect public views on the reality of climate change could offer insight into improving science communication, the study suggests.
[Read More]Incan Idol That Allegedly Escaped Conquistadors' Destruction Is Real, New Analysis Shows
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 783 words
| Trudie Dory
A basketball-player-size wooden idol that allegedly escaped destruction by the Spanish conquistadors is real — but it may not be quite what people suspected. The statue is even older than thought, and may have been worshipped by the people who came before the Inca.
And belying the grisly lore that surrounds it, the so-called Pachacamac idol was painted with cinnabar, not drenched in blood, the researchers found.
Together, these findings helped verify the idol's authenticity.
[Read More]Photos: Spiritual, Pre-Columbian Cave Art Uncovered
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 219 words
| Patria Henriques
Encounters with EuropeansCave art in Puerto Rico’s Mona Island shows evidence of two worlds colliding: Intricate indigenous carvdin gs were recently discovered alongside 16th-century European graffiti and Christian symbols. [Read the full story here]
Finger-flutingThese indigenous carvings, which predate the arrival of Europeans, were made by people dragging their fingers or tools across the surfaces of the soft limestone caves. Such art is found in many of the caverns below Mona Island.
[Read More]Remembering the Fallen: Memorials Gallery
Posted on July 1, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 942 words
| Trudie Dory
Paying HomageThe monuments in this gallery commemorate fallen soldiers and honor those who were the victims of tragedies such as Sept. 11 and the Holocaust. The haunting memorial above is called the Lion of Lucerne and pays homage to the Swiss soldiers who were massacred during the French Revolution.
The National September 11 MemorialThe National September 11 Memorial lies at the heart of Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. The memorial consists of two shallow reflecting pools located where the Twin Towers once stood and serves as a reminder of those lost in the Sept.
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