Author archives: Mapping Ignorance

Asteroids and planetesimals regularly bombarded Earth between about 4.6 billion and 3.5 billion years ago, during the Hadean and Archean eons. Because few rocks today are more than 4 billion years old, our understanding of the planet’s environment during that time is limited. However, samples from the moon and its cratered surface hint at the […]

Climate change and sea level rise are altering the chemistry of Biscayne Bay in ways that could threaten South Florida’s coastal ecosystems, water resources, fisheries, and recreation, according to a study led by scientists from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management […]

Isotope analysis of gas from geothermal springs in Zambia could show that a new continental rift is forming . Unexpectedly high helium isotope ratios indicate that a weakness in Earth’s crust has broken through to reach the mantle beneath. This rift could eventually become a new tectonic plate boundary. In the meantime, opportunities for geothermal […]

Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can read genetic code the way large language models like ChatGPT read text. Scanning the genome for biological mutation patterns, the computer model traces pairs of genes back in time to their last common ancestor. It’s the first language model designed for […]

Methane is the second-largest greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. According to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, anthropogenic methane emissions account for nearly 45% of current net warming, making it an important factor in global warming. An international research team led by a scholar from City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) has broken through the […]

Few concepts in physics are as familiar, yet as enigmatic, as time. In Einstein’s theory of relativity, time is not absolute: its passage depends on motion and gravity. But when combined with quantum physics, this relativistic form of time becomes even more counterintuitive. Testing quantum superpositions of time According to quantum theory, the flow of […]

You probably have a member of your family that you’re not related to by blood—a step-parent, an adopted cousin, your mom’s best friend who you grew up calling your aunt. They’re indisputably part of your family, but a DNA test wouldn’t hint at your relationship. Archaeologists are finding that this holds true for families from […]

Wildfires are becoming more frequent and are ravaging new parts of the world due to global warming. A study led by researchers from the University of Gothenburg shows that this change is increasing the vulnerability of thousands of plants, animals and fungi. As global temperatures rise, the incidence of wildfires is increasing in many regions […]

A new study , co-led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, demonstrates that genes associated with autism risk are largely the same across people of different ancestries. The findings, based on one of the largest genomic studies of Latin American individuals to date, provide strong evidence that the genetic architecture […]

Korean researchers have confirmed that underground wireless communication is possible, moving beyond the terrestrial wireless communication they have primarily focused on until now. This opened up a new wireless channel for confirming the survival of buried people in the event of a collapse of an underground facility such as a mine, conducting underground rescue operations […]