Italy is evicting Steve Bannon from the medieval monastery he planned to turn into a far-right training academy, "after reports of fraud in the competitive tender process. "
Amazon devices will soon automatically share your Internet with neighbors. "If you use Alexa, Echo, or any other Amazon device, you have only 10 days to opt out of an experiment that leaves your personal privacy and security hanging in the balance."
Generally not a fan of April Fool's pranks but this LA Times April Fool's food critique, subjecting NYC to the same condescending treatment LA usually gets from the New York Times, is priceless. "For cramped New York, an expanding dining scene"
Trucker blockade in Ottawa is an armed occupation of a G7 capital. "A few strategically placed concrete barriers could’ve changed the course of history, but local officials [didn't] grasp the meaning of the intelligence that was in plain view."
Death by black hole: Astronomers spot flare from “spaghettification” of star, getting a peek behind the curtain of dust and debris that can obscure the phenomenon. “We were able to study in detail what happens when a star is eaten by such a monster.”
13 years ago today, I married the love of my life. Best decision, hands down, I've ever made. Happy anniversary to
@seanmcarroll
Can't wait for our next adventure.
Evidence slowly building for long-term heart problems post-COVID-19. While there are anecdotes aplenty, there's also some solid science behind the worries.
How an internet lie about the Capitol invasion turned into an instant conspiracy theory. According to data from media intelligence firm Zignal labs, at least 411,099 mentions of the lie appeared online in less than 24 hours.
The value of owning more books than you can read. Statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb believes surrounding ourselves with unread books enriches our lives as they remind us of all we don't know.
Inside the heartbreaking conservatorship battle of a 'Star Trek' legend. Nichelle Nichols, the beloved Lt. Uhura on 'Star Trek,' is living with dementia and struggling financially. Three parties fight to control her fate.
Meet the Woman Who Rocked Particle Physics—Three Times. Sau Lan Wu spent decades working to establish the Standard Model of particle physics. Now she’s searching for what lies beyond it.
The National Review: "Donald Trump bears grave moral and political responsibility for inciting the attack. Impeachment and conviction of Trump is an appropriate, and probably a necessary, response."
For the first time, physicists have measured the forces behind why Cheerios clump together in your bowl. It all comes down to gravity, surface tension—and tilt.
#CheeriosEffect
You Should Get Your Flu Shot And Ignore This Supplement Advice. Last year, the flu killed around 80,000 people. When someone tells you not to get the flu vaccine, look at what that person may be trying to sell you.
Level Up: Losing yourself in virtual worlds can have good as well as negative effects. Psychologist
@PeteEtchells
chats with Ars about his first book, "Lost in a Good Game."
Pulsar discoverer awarded Royal Society's highest prize. Astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is only the second woman to be awarded the Copley Medal.
Just Call Him Phil: After 12 years, Clark Gregg prepares to bid farewell to Agent Coulson. Maybe. Ars Technica chats with the actor about his long journey playing the beloved character
The Very Best Schoolhouse Rock Songs by Bob Dorough. "Bob Dorough, the musician best known for writing and performing some of the most beloved Schoolhouse Rock songs, has died at 94."
Utterly ridiculous. And apparently real. Please tell me this isn't real. :( The Department of Energy Is Now Calling Fossil Fuels “Molecules of Freedom” and “Freedom Gas”
Six people swallowed LEGOs and pored through their own poo for science. Conclusion: It takes about two days, or 41 hours, for LEGOs to pass through the body.
Former CDC directors: We ran the CDC. No president ever politicized its science the way Trump has. "We cannot recall over our collective tenure a single time when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence."
BECs in Spaaaace!! A chilling first: Physicists create exotic “fifth form of matter” on board the ISS. JPL built the compact Cold Atom Laboratory to make Bose-Einstein condensates in microgravity.
The LHC has found that the Higgs boson works perfectly in accordance with the Standard Model of Particle Physics' predictions. That's a problem because it leaves us without clues to dark matter and other mysteries.
Ben Franklin’s Abortion Recipe: "The next Morning drink a Quarter of Pint of Pennyroyal Water, or Decoction, with 12 Drops of Spirits of Harts-horn." To colonial Americans, termination was as normal as the ABCs and 123s.
Disney+ drops teasers for "Andor" and "Willow" TV series at Star Wars Celebration. Also: news on The Mandalorian S3, Asoka, and kid-centric series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Neutrinos may help us understand how matter prevailed over antimatter. An idea called "leptogenesis" has gotten support from a large neutrino detector.
ICYMI: Extreme heat of Vesuvius eruption boiled victims' brains, exploded skulls. New analysis of human remains shows many victims didn't suffocate from gas or ash as previously assumed.
Two women detained in MT by CPB agents for speaking Spanish at a convenience store, have settled their lawsuit. "The reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here"
This. 100%. Frankly, there are certain friends and family members I will never trust again after the last 3-4 years. They've shown me what they *really* value, and just how low they're willing to stoop.
thanks to the Ancient Earth Globe, you can now travel 750 million years into the past ages of the Earth, without leaving your house. "You don't even need a lab; just go to the interactive map built by paleontologist Ian Webster."
Alabama upholds a 1993 ban on yoga in school citing fears of the practice spreading Hinduism. (It also banned the use of the word "namaste.") Alabama is the only state with such a rule.
#namaste
This one is personal: Dan was a friend.... Mourning a philosophical giant: Philosopher Daniel Dennett dead at 82. Part of the "New Atheist" movement, Dennet was best known for work on consciousness, free will.
C is for Capillary Condensation: Physicists solve 150-year-old mystery of the "Kelvin equation" governing sandcastle physics. “This came as a big surprise. I expected a complete breakdown of conventional physics.”
Invisible Rube Goldberg Machine 🤯"Scientist Masahiko Sato uses glass, oil, and refraction to create an invisible Rube Goldberg machine." (Turn on subtitles for overview of the science.)
Not showing their faces, as usual. Patriots? No, terrorists. (image: Ku Klux Klan members hold a march in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 9, 1925. Bettmann/Corbis, via NPR)
White nationalists shouting “RECLAIM AMERICA” through my neighborhood.
This isn’t Charlottesville.
This is Washington, DC.
The group is called Patriot Front, and they’re marching near Union Station
@WUSA9
#breaking
@CBSEveningNews
Meet the Astronomer Who Has Chronicled the Field for 16 Years. For 16 years, Virginia Trimble read every astronomy paper in 23 journals. Now, her review papers are part of the canon.
Ian Sinks Florida 'Dome Home' Built to Survive Hurricanes. A house built from geodesic domes off the coast of Florida was designed to withstand gale-force winds and powerful storm surges but not sea-level rise
The surprisingly complicated physics of why cats always land on their feet: Ars chats with physicist Greg Gbur about his book, "Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics."
W00t! I can't wait for this! Math with Bad Drawings: The Book. "Why architects use triangles. Why people buy lottery tickets. How to evaluate schools statistically. Why the economy collapsed in 2008. Why there aren’t giants."
@davidmweissman
I definitely expected him to be this bad as a president. I was less prepared for the GOP Congress' abdication of their sworn responsibility to uphold the Constitution. Thought at least a few would have integrity/a spine.
A heavy metal mission: Ars takes a clean room tour of JPL’s asteroid-orbiting Psyche spacecraft. The spacecraft will launch this August and reach its namesake asteroid in January 2026.
Reality check: No, physicists didn’t make a real wormhole. What they did was still pretty cool: they squeezed wormhole-like behavior out of qubits. Still, "Don't hold your breath about sending your dog through a wormhole."
Elon Musk says no primates died as a result of Neuralink’s implants. A WIRED investigation now reveals the grisly specifics of their deaths as US authorities have been asked to investigate Musk’s claims.
The Fading Battlefields of World War I a century later. "the visible physical damage to the landscape remains as evidence of the phenomenal violence and destruction that took so many lives so long ago."
Decline and Fall of a Galactic Empire: Apple drops first teaser trailer for TV adaption of Asimov’s "Foundation" series. "The empire will fall. Order will vanish. This rash of events is rushing to meet us."
Study: It only takes a few seconds for bots to spread misinformation. Just six percent of bots on Twitter accounted for 31 percent of bad information. So bots play a disproportionate role in spreading false stories online.