Category: 5. Sci-Tech

Dogs have been man’s best friend for centuries. In recent decades, those furry friends have transitioned into “fur babies,” with many people opting for dog ownership over traditional parenthood. But what does choosing dogs over children say about our society and the way we think about family?

In a study published in European Psychologist, a research team from Eötvös Loránd University suggests that declining global birth rates and increasing dog ownership are related. Although dogs…

In the Peruvian Andes, thousands of years ago, humans were making liberal use of psychoactive drugs.

We know this for a fact: For the first time, direct chemical evidence of these drugs has been found, in residual traces left on the paraphernalia used for their consumption. It’s the earliest known human use of psychoactive drugs in the Andes.

That use was by a culture known as the Chavín who inhabited the region during the Middle-Late Formative Period between around 1200 and 400 BCE,…

Abhi Ghadge, associate professor of supply chain management at Cranfield University in the UK, says there has been “a general kind of negligence” in terms of climate resilience, though that is beginning to change.

Building a detailed understanding of a supply chain can, however, be incredibly difficult, especially for smaller companies. Who supplies their suppliers? Which key raw material is about to become subject to a shortage? Tracking such details requires long-term commitment and…

It’s one of humanity’s oldest questions. Are we alone? Is there life elsewhere in our galaxy or the universe?

Scientists last week made a stunning announcement that they had found the “strongest evidence yet” of life beyond our solar system. A team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope said they had detected…

A promising new material created from plants could help replace the single-use plastics that dominate our everyday lives. Developed by researchers in Japan, this cellulose-based paperboard is durable, waterproof, and fully biodegradable, making it one of the most compelling contenders for a plant-based plastic replacement.

The design here builds on cellulose, the structural molecule found in plant cell walls and already used to make cellophane. Traditionally, cellophane has remained…

Americans, as you may have noticed, like to supersize things. Soda cans are bigger here, and so are hotel rooms, houses, and cars. Here in the U.S., giant pickup trucks and SUVs are the norm; visit any school at pickup time and you’re likely to see Chevrolet Tahoes, Jeep Grand Wagoneers, and Ford Expeditions in the carpool line. It would be easy to pick on the GMC Hummer EV because it’s massive; the battery alone is as heavy as a Honda Civic. But the Hummer EV is such a blast to…

An extraordinary fossil bed in the arid grasslands of the Australian continent, called McGraths Flat, really is the Lagerstätte that keeps on giving.

Just a few years after uncovering a trove of exceptionally preserved fossils, paleontologists have now described a brand new fish species that lived and died during the Miocene, 15 million years ago.

So perfectly intact is this animal that a team of paleontologists led by Matthew McCurry of the Australian Museum Research Institute could…