Dan Riskin's Blog

The Evolution Of Your Obsession With Taylor Swift

“Why do we obsess about celebrities, you wonder?” The answer is the same as usual: Evolution. Robinson, T. J., Brown, X., & Hackathorn, J. (2024). The name’s bond. parasocial bond:…

The post The Evolution Of Your Obsession With Taylor Swift first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Political Polarization Might Not Be All Bad.

Political polarization just seems to make everything worse, but a new paper suggests a silver lining – that having more extreme “outliers” like SNL’s Drunk Uncle might improve the performance…

The post Political Polarization Might Not Be All Bad. first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Why NASA’s Journey To Saturn’s Moon is Freakin’ Awesome.

Roger Peterson and I had a nice chat on CTV’s NewsChannel about NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. Space missions are always predicated on picking a mission that is…

The post Why NASA’s Journey To Saturn’s Moon is Freakin’ Awesome. first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Eerie on Lake Erie: Total Eclipse with Kelsey McEwen and CTV Your Morning

It was unforgettable. But in case I forget, I have this nice video. 🙂

The post Eerie on Lake Erie: Total Eclipse with Kelsey McEwen and CTV Your Morning first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Was Popular Music Better Back in the Day?

It’s certainly more repetitive than it used to be! It’s also more repetitive. Here’s a link to the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...

The post Was Popular Music Better Back in the Day? first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Eclipse Hack: How to Make a Sun-projector With Your Binoculars

If you live in North America, you’re almost certainly going to get a partial eclipse. Here’s how to enjoy that safely. If you haven’t already, you should probably also get…

The post Eclipse Hack: How to Make a Sun-projector With Your Binoculars first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

People Tasted 250 Beers Over 3 Years to Help AI Brew Better.

Here’s a link to the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...

The post People Tasted 250 Beers Over 3 Years to Help AI Brew Better. first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Biotech Breakthrough: Two Dads Will Soon Be Able to Make a Baby With 50-50 DNA.

Here’s a link to the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...

The post Biotech Breakthrough: Two Dads Will Soon Be Able to Make a Baby With 50-50 DNA. first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Ticks, Alcohol, and Sore Eyes

This quiz is easier than most. Put on your eclipse glasses, throw back a glass of wine, and start checking yourself for ticks. This quiz is a roller coaster.

The post Ticks, Alcohol, and Sore Eyes first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.

Running Faster, Swearing More, and Death by Lizard Venom

You’ll like this quiz. It’s not easy to get Dall-E to make an accurate-looking Gila Monster. I saw one once, but I didn’t get a teen to run with it,…

The post Running Faster, Swearing More, and Death by Lizard Venom first appeared on Science News with Dan Riskin.