Conventional wisdom holds that the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, once had a large population that crashed after living beyond its means and stripping the island of resources. A new research study[1] my colleagues and I conducted has struck another blow to this notion by using artificial intelligence to analyze satellite...
Space radiation can damage satellites − my team discovered that a next-generation material could self-heal when exposed to cosmic rays
The space environment is harsh and full of extreme radiation[1]. Scientists designing spacecraft and satellites need materials that can withstand these conditions.
In a paper published in January 2024[2], my team[3] of materials researchers demonstrated that a next-generation semiconductor material[4] called metal-halide perovskite[5] can actually ...
Boost your immune system with this centuries-old health hack: Vaccines
There are a dizzying number of tips, hacks and recommendations[1] on how to stay healthy, from dietary supplements[2] to what color of clothes[3] promotes optimal wellness. Some of these tips are helpful and based on good evidence, while others are not.
However, one of the easiest, most effective and safest ways to stay healthy is rarely...
Arborglyphs – Basque immigrant sheepherders left their marks on aspen trees in the American West
Throughout the mountains of the American West, carvings hidden on the trunks of aspen trees tell the stories of the sheepherders who made them as they passed through with their flocks. Most of the men who etched these arborglyphs into the living trees were Basques who, starting with the Gold Rush of the 1840s, had immigrated from the...