The Sun’s distance from Earth allows it to be habitable for life. DrPixel/Moment via Getty Images Daniel Brady Mills, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; Jason Wright, Penn State, and Jennifer L. Macalady, Penn State A popular model of evolution concludes that it was incredibly unlikely for humanity to evolve on Earth, and that
Rebecca Ackermann, University of Cape Town; Lauren Schroeder, University of Toronto, and Robyn Pickering, University of Cape Town Here’s how the story of the Taung Child is usually told: In 1924 an Australian anthropologist and anatomist, Raymond Dart, acquired a block of calcified sediment from a limestone quarry in South Africa. He painstakingly
A large majority of Europeans believe in the benefits of science, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey on “European citizens’ knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology”. They want to see those benefits more equitably distributed and are cautious about any potential negative impacts of science. In the survey, conducted in 27 EU Member States,
Flawed thinking can lead us into a lifetime of pointless arguments and bad decisions. Fixing the problem won’t be easy — but we know how to do it. By Frederic Bertley This essay accompanies a separate interview with Frederic Bertley, in which he discusses his strategies for science communication with OpenMind co-editor Corey
Ph. Koshiro K/Shutterstock Daniele D’Alvia, Queen Mary University of London The AI revolution is well under way and two companies – DeepSeek and Nvidia – stand out among those competing to lead it. Outside the financial world, the story might seem distant – but it really does have consequences for everyone. It comes
Yuri Shprits, a space scientist at the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, is on a mission to save our planet. We have known for a long time that much of our modern way of life is threatened by the whims of the Sun. If our star suddenly enters a more active
In 1990, Fried Vancraen visited a German trade show and was captivated by a 3D printer displayed there – so much so that he bought one for his new company, Materialise. Two years later, with the help of EU funding, he took his small Belgian start-up on a journey that would change the
In 1998, in a small park in Zurich, Switzerland, one bug woke up in a new world. The bricks on the roof of a local garden, imported from China, had brought with them a hidden guest: a brown marmorated stink bug. Fast forward to 2024, and the species – Halyomorpha halys – has
The Earth, as we perceive it today, owes its astonishing and ever-evolving terrain to the unceasing ballet of tectonic dynamics that sculpt its visage. These colossal mechanisms, orchestrated by the planet’s inner furnace and gravitational orchestration, serve as the bedrock of geological study. From soaring alpine chains to abyssal oceanic chasms, each geological
Mathieu Ardyna, Université Laval and Juliette Provencher, Université Laval Earlier this year our international team of scientists from the Refuge Arctic consortium departed Iqaluit, Nvt. on a 56-day research expedition in the far north. We were sailing aboard the icebreaker CCGS Amundsen and our main objective was to study the high latitudes of