A sublime landscape: New model explains Pluto’s lumpy plains
The convection thought to drive the area's geology may come from cooling, not heat.
Science // Science & Exploration
What physics can teach us about Pamplona’s annual running of the bulls
New model accounts for speed, density, time dependency, and probability of runners falling.
Rocket Report: SpaceX plans a Falcon 9 flurry, Bill Gates buys into rockets
SpaceX seeks to launch three mission in 72 hours to close out 2021.
Fossil fuel combustion kills more than 1 million people every year, study says
Study examined global exposure to PM2.5, a pollutant linked to many diseases.
Focusing sound vibrations precisely can knock over one Lego minifig among many
The key is a signal processing technique that is akin to ventriloquism.
Rigetti announces 80 qubit processor, experiments with “qutrits”
An 80-qubit processor made by linking two 40-qubit ones.
Current vaccines are enough to fight omicron, but massive wave is coming fast
With just 17% of the US boosted, a massive omicron wave could peak in January.
Pfizer’s anti-COVID drug still looks effective after further analysis
No deaths, ~80 percent drop in hospitalization compared to the placebo group.
A potential hangup for quantum computing: Cosmic rays
For quantum chips, the problems they cause are too big for error correction.
You asked. Ars answers. Here’s how to give an electric eel an MRI
Bonus: Shedd Aquarium vets spill the beans on how to perform knee surgery on a bullfrog.
Omicron is rising rapidly in the US—3% of cases nationally, 13% in NY and NJ
Dr. Tedros: "Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant."
Concerns about sexism in the aerospace industry land at SpaceX
"What will life on Elon's Mars be like? Probably much like life at SpaceX."
There’s a lot we don’t know about ocean CO₂ removal
There are some intriguing ideas, but big questions remain about all of them.
Leaky valve issue forces Boeing to swap out Starliner’s service module
"Ongoing investigation efforts continue to validate the most probable cause."
“The situation is critical”: Minnesota hospitals beg people to get vaccinated
"How can we as a society stand by and watch people die?"
