December 2017

In 2017, politics overshadowed science and scientists fought back

12.21.17.

Scientists taking to the streets, enormous icebergs rupturing, a solar eclipse that captured the nation’s attention and new insights into the workings of the universe. 2017 has been quite a year in science. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien joins William Brangham to look back and add some context.
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Artificial intelligence gains an intuition for hunting exoplanets

12.19.17.

For the first time, astrophysicists and computer scientists have partnered together to find planets outside our solar system with artificial intelligence. One of these planets is even the first eighth planet ever discovered in a system other than our own. Chris Shallue, senior software engineer at Google Brain, their artificial intelligence research hub, had just…
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Bears Ears redesignation hurts paleontology

12.15.17.

Last week, President Trump slashed the amount of protected land in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Only a year ago Bears Ears was designated a National Monument by outgoing President Obama “to protect some of our country’s most important cultural treasures, including abundant rock art, archeological sites, and lands considered sacred by Native…
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Particle accelerator enlisted to uncover mummy’s secrets

12.14.17.

On the morning of November 27th, a team of academics carted off the so-called Hibbard mummy from Northwestern University for a 24-hour session with a particle accelerator. The experiment at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory used high energy X-rays to further probe the material composition of various objects embedded in the mummy…
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Cuba travel restrictions hit scientists hard

12.14.17.

In June, President Trump stood in the Manuel Artime Theater in Miami, Florida and tore into the Cuban regime. “For nearly six decades, the Cuban people have suffered under communist domination,” said President Trump to the cheers of the crowd. “To this day, Cuba is ruled by the same people who killed tens of thousands…
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Climate change is part of California’s perfect recipe for intense wildfire

12.14.17.

For more, go to: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/climate-change-is-part-of-californias-perfect-recipe-for-intense-wildfire
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