Roadmap details how to improve exoplanet exploration using the James Webb Space Telescope

A new step-by-step roadmap describes how to improve the efficiency of data gathering with the JWST to benefit the astronomy community at large. “Our hope now is that a large-scale community effort guided by the roadmap can be initiated to yield deliverables at a timely pace,” says MIT Associate Professor Julien de Wit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech […]

Everything You See Is a Computational Process, If You Know How to Look

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In the movie Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr challenges the physicist early in his career: Bohr: Algebra is like sheet music. The important thing isn’t “can you read music?” It’s “can you hear it?” Can you hear the music, Robert? Oppenheimer: Yes, I can. I can’t hear the algebra, […]

How to make an old antibiotic 100 times more potent

Scanning electron micrographs at 10,000× magnification of vancomycin resistant E. faecium E155 cells. Left: untreated cells, middle: cells treated with bacitracin, and right: cells treated with next-generation bacitracin. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2315310121 Nathaniel Martin, Professor of biological chemistry, wondered what would happen if you took an antibiotic that […]

A harmless asteroid will whiz past Earth Saturday. Here’s how to spot it

An asteroid will whiz harmlessly past Earth this weekend. With the right equipment and timing, you just might spot it. Called 2024 MK, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth Saturday morning, passing by at about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the moon. It was first spotted two weeks ago by […]

A harmless asteroid will whiz past Earth Saturday. Here’s how to spot it

In this artistic rendering, two asteroids fly past Earth. An asteroid will whiz harmlessly past Earth Saturday June 29, 2024. With the right equipment and timing, you just might spot it. Called 2024 MK, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth at 9:46 AM EST (13:46 GMT) passing by at about three-quarters […]

A harmless asteroid will whiz past Earth Saturday. Here’s how to spot it

An asteroid will whiz harmlessly past Earth this weekend. With the right equipment and timing, you just might spot it. Called 2024 MK, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth Saturday morning, passing by at about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the moon. It was first spotted two weeks ago by […]

How to Exercise Safely During a Heat Wave

THIS ARTICLE IS republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. When summer starts with a stifling heat wave, as many places are seeing in 2024, it can pose risks for just about anyone who spends time outside, whether they’re runners, people who walk or cycle to work, outdoor workers, or kids playing sports. […]

How to Take the Perfect Soccer Penalty

The penalty was invented in England on February 14, 1891. It was the last minute of an FA Cup quarter-final between Notts County and Stoke City when a defender for County stopped a shot on the line with his hand. Stoke were awarded a free kick just centimeters from the goal-line, and the goalkeeper, as […]

How to Avoid Getting Sick This Summer

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. As flowers bloom and temperatures climb, many are eager to get back outside. But while the sun may be shining, there is a dark side that can make the great outdoors not so great. Gangs of germs are lurking in the woods, in […]