March 2018

Where will the Chinese space station fall? Good estimates will come “only in the hours just before re-entry.”

03.31.18.

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Chinese space station, Tiangong-1, which is spiralling in an uncontrolled descent into the atmosphere. Two years ago, the Chinese announced that they had stopped communicating with the station and were monitoring its descent. Now, it is set to finally plunge into the atmosphere likely sometime this weekend. WATCH:…
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How does the Facebook News Feed work? An interview with Dan Zigmond, head of Facebook News Feed analytics.

03.30.18.

Who or what determines what’s in your Facebook News Feed? It’s a complex algorithm that aims to put what interests you most at the top of the queue. Increasingly, Facebook is focused on trying to determine what content is fake, junk, or misleading–and sending it to the bottom. But the purveyors of this content…
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Growing antibiotic use, new organ found, James Webb delay: this week in science

03.30.18.

Here’s a look back at this week in science, with stories you don’t want to miss. Antibiotic use growing, fueling resistance News from the front lines of the fight against superbugs is not good, folks. A new report out this week shows that total antibiotic consumption by humans around the world has gone up 65%…
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Global antibiotic use is on the rise. What does this mean for superbugs?

03.29.18.

As we’ve covered before, the main driver of antibiotic resistance is the overuse of antibiotics. The more antibiotics are out there, the more exposure bacteria get, and the more likely they are to evolve defenses. Now, a new report has found that global antibiotic usage is up 65% from 2000 to 2015–how does this impact…
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Mr. Trash Wheel made Baltimore laugh, then clean up its waterways. Can fun messaging improve environmental work?

03.28.18.

Baltimore’s harbor is infamously polluted. One organization has a number of initiatives to try and clean up the waters and make them swimmable by 2020. Their most successful project features a prankster water wheel that collects garbage. Connecting with people on environmental issues may be as easy as making them laugh. A harbor in need…
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Got Ink? The Tattoo That May Save Your Life

03.23.18.

The recent South By Southwest (SXSW) showcased a lot of new tech. Among some of the most fascinating notions getting a lot of, well, ink was a mashup of digital technology and healthcare that puts some real skin in the game for those pushing the “quantified self” trend. The big idea? A color changing tattoo…
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