ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 547

Arctic Sea Ice Sets New Record Low For This Time Of Year

Environment





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The arctic is warming much quicker than the rest of the planet. tuthelens/Shuttersock

Last year it was reported that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as anywhere else in the world, and as the region heats up, the ice continues to melt. This January and February saw the Arctic sea ice shrink to the lowest extent ever recorded by satellite for both months, making it a satellite-record low for two months in a row.

Mountains On Pluto May Be Topped With Methane Snow

Space





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The enhanced color images on the right show the brighter regions that may be caused by methane snow. NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

This week in Pluto news, scientists think they may have found evidence for methane snow on the tops of a mountain on the dwarf planet.

In images returned by the New Horizons spacecraft, a bright material can be seen on the uppermost slopes of one mountainous region. And it’s thought that this material may be methane snow that condensed from the atmosphere, resting on the top of the mountains and coating it in this reflective material.

Artificial “Octopus Skin” Can Emit Light And Crawl Around

Technology





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This could be the future of so-called "soft robotics." Larson et al./Science

The mimic octopus is a truly bizarre dweller of the deep. It possesses the ability to rapidly change its skin color and texture in order to camouflage itself against its environment. In addition, it can imitate the behavior of several different animals, allowing it to “run,” slither like a snake, and even act as a jellyfish.

Taking Richard’s Allusions: Poetic footnotes to Brief Candle in the Dark

Richard Dawkins reads poems alluded to in the poem he wrote and read at his 70th birthday celebration.

Recorded Oct 11, 2015.

Videography/Chromakey- Steve Shives (www.youtube.com/steveshives)

Editing- Stephanie Guttormson

http://www.richarddawkins.net

Climate Change-Ruined Crops May Cause Half A Million Deaths In 2050

Environment





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India and China are likely to be hardest hit by changes in diet. Radiokafka/Shutterstock

The first-ever assessment of how global warming might affect the quality of people’s diet – and subsequently their health – has come to a disturbing conclusion: By 2050, climate change could cause over half a million deaths due to poor diet. Reduced crop productivity, due to either an increase in severity of droughts or floods, for example, would have an impact on the composition of diets, which in turn would affect millions of people’s bodyweight.

Revolutionary New Cell Type May Hold Key To Treating Heart Failure

Health and Medicine





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Could this new research begin to turn the tide on the world's number one killer? CLIPAREA I Custom media/Shutterstock

Around 610,000 people die from heart disease in the U.S. every year – that’s one in every four deaths. It’s proving to be a particularly difficult medical problem: Damage to the heart is almost always irreversible, as heart cells cannot regenerate themselves.

Here’s How Space Alters Your Body

Space





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U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to Earth on Tuesday after 340 days in space. NASA/Scott Kelly

Spending time in space is a privilege reserved for only a few humans, but it comes at a cost: living in microgravity has several negative effects on human physiology.

A Massive Volcanic Eruption May Have Tipped Mars Over

Environment





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The Tharsis region of Mars (center of image), taken by the Mars Global Surveyor. NASA

An ancient volcanic eruption on the Red Planet produced so much lava that it caused the entire planet to tip over. This remarkable finding, detailed in a study in the journal Nature, provides another startling example of how volcanoes can change a world.

10 Amazing Photos Taken By Scott Kelly On His Year In Space

Space





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Scott Kelly returned to Earth yesterday. NASA/Scott Kelly

Commander Scott Kelly has just returned from his 340-day mission aboard the ISS. The record breaking mission has seen Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko spend almost a year in space, and scientists hope to gain an insight into what long stays in microgravity do to the body, with views on missions to Mars in the future.

Mysterious “Magic Island” On Titan Disappears In Latest Cassini Image

Space





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The feature is found in Titan's second largest sea. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell

Saturn’s moon Titan continues to be one of the most fascinating places in the Solar System. Alongside its Earth-like weather system and possible underground ocean, it is the only place other than Earth known to have bodies of liquid on the surface. And in one of its seas, a mysterious feature is puzzling scientists.