Strange, dark, and hot ice could explain Uranus and Neptune’s wonky magnetic fields

Superionic ice could be responsible for those planets’ odd, off-kilter magnetic fields, which have been puzzling scientists for some time. AntonMatyukha/Deposit Photos If you were to put your tap water under the same pressures and temperatures that exist in the center of the Earth—yes, the bone-crushing, flesh-searing ones—it would turn into a weird,...

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CEPP could boost the biggest climate policy in US history—if it survives the Senate

The "carrot and stick" approach could contribute up to a third of the emissions reductions associated with the BBB, which wraps in the CEPP. Kindel Media from Pexels When it comes to passing game-changing climate policy in the US, there’s always some opposition. Even as the climate crisis gets more dire, and the clock is ticking to do something about...

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The best sleep position for minimizing aches and pains

'Tis a bleak morning yet again when you're still finding a sleep position that doesn't bring you pain. Ba Tik/Pexels This post has been updated. It was originally published on June 7, 2021. American adults are in pain. A 2018 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of its own survey data estimated that 50 million US adults cope...

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Heavy rains in drought-stricken states could be dangerous

The Dixie Fire burned nearly a million acres in California. The damage might multiple with new natural disasters. Cecilio Ricardo/USDA Forest Service Amir AghaKouchak is a professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science at University of California, Irvine. This story originally featured on The Conversation. A powerful...

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Watch a team of robots launch and target a missile

The MADFOX Royal Navy autonomous boat. Royal Navy A small boat launches a missile, a drone overhead spots a target, and the missile flies where it is supposed to.  The exercise was a clean execution of technique, the kind of demonstration sailors train for. What set apart this particular demonstration is that every part of it, from the robot...

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Can I get a COVID booster shot? And everything else you need to know.

Some people have already begun receiving third doses, and the timeline is different depending on which shot you got first. Unsplash On Friday, the Center for Disease Control authorized booster shots for many people who had received Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The decision follows the FDA’s authorization of booster shots and mix-and-match...

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How to protect your smartphone privacy

No mysterious, shady strangers allowed. Markus Winkler / Unsplash This story has been updated. It was originally published on April 19, 2017. You’ve beefed up the security for your online accounts, so you feel confident sticking your smartphone in your pocket and heading out the door. But many consumers don’t realize that the software in their...

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You can stop bots and spammers from calling you so freaking much

Another day, another barrage of calls from unknown numbers. Alex Nemo Hanse / Unsplash This story has been updated. It was originally published on August 23, 2019. Your smartphone is a lot of things—a way to communicate with your loved ones, a tool to share your world, an occasional gaming console—but a vessel for ads and marketing campaigns...

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A newly discovered planet orbiting a dead star offers a glimpse of Earth’s future

White dwarfs are small stars that are slowly cooling off because they no longer burn nuclear fuel. W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko A team of astronomers found the remains of a dead star, known as a white dwarf, with a surviving exoplanet that resembles Jupiter. The team used a technique called microlensing, in which astronomers wait for...

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If you want sustainable clothes, focus on the farms

The fashion industry at a whole is an environmental nightmare, but some brands are hoping to fix that by allowing shoppers to invest in regenerative cotton. Carsten Vollrath from Pexels These days, you might notice more brands than ever flouting “sustainable,” “organic,” or “natural” fabrics in their product line-up—but clothing can be easily greenwashed....

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