Steven Saus [he/him] @StevenSaus@faithcollapsing.com

From 24 Jul: Nuclear power’s reliability is dropping as extreme weather increases - Enlarge / Cooling water is only one factor that limits the productivity of nuclear power plants. W... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/climate-events-are-the-leading-cause-of-nuclear-power-outages/ #climate-change #energy #nuclear-power #science

From 13 Jul: Our brains “read” expressions of illusory faces in things just like real faces - Enlarge / This wall in an old town in Tuscany, Italy, illustrates the phenomenon of facial pareidol... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/our-brains-read-expressions-of-illusory-faces-in-things-just-like-real-faces/ #cognitive-psychology #face-pareidolia #pareidolia #psychology #science

From 05 Jul: Did lead poisoning cause downfall of Roman Empire? The jury is still out - Ancient Rome’s emperors did some pretty bizarre stuff—bursting into uncontrollable ... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/did-lead-poisoning-cause-downfall-of-roman-empire-the-jury-is-still-out/ #ancient-rome #archaeology #chemistry #gaming-&-culture #lead-poisoning #science

From 07 Jul: Cluster full of black holes may be spitting out stars - As we carefully map the stars of our Milky Way, we’re able to identify features that tell us... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/cluster-full-of-black-holes-may-be-spitting-out-stars/ #astronomy #black-holes #science

From 14 Jun: Wikipedia’s Surprising Power in Shaping Science: A New MIT Shows How Wikipedia Shapes Scientific Research - If you were in high school or college when Wikipedia emerged, you’ll remember how strenuousl... https://www.openculture.com/2021/06/wikipedias-surprising-power-in-shaping-science-a-new-mit-shows-how-wikipedia-shapes-scientific-research.html #science #wikipedia

From 01 Jul: How a 17th-century illustration is helping archaeologists find Viking ships - In 1650, a Danish physician and antiquarian named Ole Worm conducted the first survey of a Viking... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/how-a-17th-century-illustration-is-helping-archaeologists-find-viking-ships/ #archaeology #gaming-&-culture #science #the-kalvestene #viking-ships

From 26 Jun: All the major players spent time in the Denisovan cave - Enlarge / Neanderthals and Denisovans probably enjoyed the view from Denisova cave, too. At variou... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/denisovans-were-the-first-hominins-to-arrive-at-denisova-cave/ #ancient-dna #archaeology #denisova-cave #denisovans #homo-sapiens #human-ancestors #human-evolution #human-migration #mitochondrial-dna #neanderthals #paleoanthropology #paleolithic #science #stone-tools

From 24 Jun: The human family tree keeps getting more complicated - It’s long past time to stop thinking of humanity’s nearest relatives as forming a famil... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-human-family-tree-just-keeps-getting-more-complicated/ #biology #evolution #human-evolution #neanderthals #paleontology #science

From 05 Jun: Reducing poverty can actually lower energy demand, finds research - Ethiopians carrying jerrycans of water. As people around the world escape poverty, you might expec... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/reducing-poverty-can-actually-lower-energy-demand-finds-research/ #climate-change #science

From 31 May: Building a better edible - Enlarge / “Digital generated image of popsicles organized into rainbow colored pattern on pink... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05/building-a-better-edible/ #edibles #science

From 19 Jun: The efforts to make text-based AI less racist and terrible - In July 2020, OpenAI launched GPT-3, an artificial intelligence language model that quickly stoke... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-efforts-to-make-text-based-ai-less-racist-and-terrible/ #gpt-3 #machine-learning #open-ai #policy #racism #science

From 10 Jun: Biggest health insurer plans to deny ER bills if it doubts you had an emergency - Enlarge / UnitedHealth Group Inc. headquarters stands in Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S., on Wednesday,... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/biggest-health-insurer-plans-to-deny-er-bills-if-it-doubts-you-had-an-emergency/ #acep #american-hospital-association #emergency-medical-care #health-insurance #hospitals #policy #science #unitedhealthcare

From 21 Apr: Trump EPA sidelined its own scientists when rewriting fuel economy rules - Enlarge / Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The Trump administration effectively muffled scie... https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/04/trump-epa-sidelined-its-own-scientists-when-rewriting-fuel-economy-rules/ #cafe-standards #epa #greenhouse-gas-emissions #policy #science #trump-administration

From 18 Apr: The humble shrub that’s predicting a terrible fire season - If you’re kind of judgmental when it comes to plants, you might describe the chamise plant... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/the-humble-shrub-thats-predicting-a-terrible-fire-season/ #california #climate-change #science #wildfires

From 16 Apr: Arkansas House passes unconstitutional bill putting creationism in schools - Enlarge / The Arkansas state capitol. Last week, the Arkansas state House of Representatives passe... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/arkansas-representatives-passes-a-bill-to-allow-creationism-in-schools/ #creationism #evolution #government #law #policy #science #science-education

From 06 Apr: Things We Saw Today: A New HIV Vaccine Trial Shows Promise - And now for some truly good news: a new novel vaccine for HIV has shown promise in initial trials ... https://www.themarysue.com/a-new-hiv-vaccine-trial-shows-promise/ #aids-hiv-activism #covid-vaccine #science #vaccines

From 19 Mar: Alkaline “Real Water” linked to liver failure in kids—and reports are rising - Enlarge / Images of Real Water’s “alkalized“ products, which the FDA now says you sh... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/complaints-mount-after-5-kids-suffer-liver-failure-linked-to-alkaline-water/ #alkaline #liver #ph #poisoning #real-water #science #water

From 10 Mar: COVID herd immunity may be unlikely—winter surges could “become the norm” - Enlarge / Empty vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are seen at a first-come, first-serve drive-th... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/covid-19-could-become-a-persistent-seasonal-plague-experts-warn/ #covid-19 #immunity #infectious-disease #pandemic #public-health #sars-cov-2 #science

From 09 Mar: Russia turns away from NASA, says it will work with China on a Moon base - The heads of the Chinese and Russian space agencies signed an agreement on Tuesday to work togeth... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/china-and-russia-say-they-will-work-together-to-build-a-lunar-station/ #artemis #china #nasa #roscosmos #science

From 27 Feb: Atlantic currents seem to have started fading last century - Enlarge / The Gulf Stream, as imaged from space. The major currents in the Atlantic Ocean help con... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/02/atlantic-currents-seem-to-have-started-fading-last-century/ #currents #earth-science #gulf-stream #oceanography #science