Blogs - Page 53 of 87 - This Week in Science

Biology

Are We Living in a New Epoch? Scientists Just Measured How Much We Know

Picture this: A future geologist cracks open the Earth’s crust and finds layers of plastic, radioactive isotopes from nuclear tests, and chicken bones—yes, chicken bones—fossilized into the rock. Welcome to the Anthropocene, a proposed new epoch where human activity has become the defining force shaping the planet. But here’s the real question: How many of […]

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Biology

Can Darkness Erase Time? The Secret Life of Cave Spiders

If you were trapped in a pitch-black cave with no access to the sun, would your body still know when to wake up and when to sleep? Turns out, evolution has been running this eerie experiment for millions of years, and the results are weirder than you’d expect. A team of researchers recently dove deep […]

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Society

How Counter-Terrorism Laws are Choking Civil Society

What do climate activists, LGBTQ+ support groups, and humanitarian organizations have in common? According to counter-terrorism laws worldwide, they could all be threats. Yes, you read that right. Governments have long justified harsh regulations in the name of national security. Still, a growing body of research reveals an unsettling side effect. These laws are being […]

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Announcements

Next Week in Science, February 14, 2025

One thing’s for sure, lots of scientist and scientific support staff will be losing their jobs. We already know about the indirect rate cut, which I need to blog a bit more about because I have mixed feelings. Well, the journals keep publishing at least. Join the Science Adventure: The stakes for science have never […]

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AI

The Slow Creep of AI: How Machines Might Be Quietly Taking Over

What if, little by little, we were losing our grip on power, without even realizing it? This isn’t a hypothetical nightmare—it’s a real concern raised by researchers studying gradual disempowerment, a sneaky form of AI risk that unfolds incrementally rather than explosively. Think of it as death by a thousand paper cuts rather than a […]

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Psychology

Human Judges vs. AI in Criminal Trials: Who Do Jurors Trust More?

In honor of the cracking legal thriller, Juror #2, let’s take a look at some research into the trial process. Imagine stepping into a courtroom, accused of a crime. You glance at the bench, expecting a stern-looking judge in a black robe, but instead, a sleek, glowing AI screen stares back at you. Would you […]

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Announcements

Next Week in Science, February 7, 2025

So we’re watching the news from NSF carefully. The heat on the street is also that HHS is going to be subject to major cut next week. Also, if you haven’t yet, follow us on Bluesky, which is a bit easy for us to keep up in real time. https://bsky.app/profile/thisweekinscience.bsky.social Here’s at least the science […]

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Astronomy

Are We Finally Redrawing the Habitable Zone?

Wait, What?! Alien Planets Smell Like Rotten Eggs? Picture this: You’re floating in space, staring at a beautiful exoplanet orbiting a dim red star. It’s rocky, about the size of Earth, and—if sci-fi movies have taught us anything—it must be teeming with extraterrestrial life, right? Not so fast. Before you start packing for your interstellar […]

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Biology

The Fish That Forgot Where Home Was: How Snapper Are Exposing a Coastal Crisis

Imagine you wake up one morning, and your house is gone. Not just moved or remodeled—completely vanished. You wander your old neighborhood, but everything is unfamiliar. The streets are wider, the buildings taller, and the trees that once lined your block are nowhere to be found. Eventually, you settle somewhere new, but deep down, you […]

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