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How does air pollution impact your brain?

Image credit: Ionut Stefan We’ve known for some time that air pollution is bad for human health. However, the focus was mostly on the lungs, and to some extent, the heart. After all, airborne pollutants are inhaled through the lungs and can reach the heart through the bloodstream, so it’s not surprising these take the brunt of the damage. But somewhere along the way, it became somewhat mainstream to consider how air pollution might affects brains too. What I found surprising was the recency of

AI Adoption Rate Trending Down for Large Companies

The US Census Bureau conducts a biweekly survey of 1.2 million firms, and one question is whether a business has used AI tools such as machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents or voice recognition to help produce goods or services in the past two weeks. Recent data by firm size shows that AI adoption has been declining among companies with more than 250 employees, see chart below. This presentation may not be distributed, transmitted or otherwise communicated to others in w

Light pollution prolongs avian activity

If the songbirds in your neighborhood are waking you up earlier and chirping well into the evening, blame light pollution. Artificial light touches nearly every corner of Earth’s surface, and a new study shows that it’s messing with birds’ biological clocks. Researchers analyzed a global acoustic dataset of more than 60 million recorded birdsongs representing more than 580 diurnal bird species. The findings, published Thursday, August 21, in the journal Science, show that light pollution has pr

Birds Across the World Are Singing All Day for a Disturbing Reason

If the songbirds in your neighborhood are waking you up earlier and chirping well into the evening, blame light pollution. Artificial light touches nearly every corner of Earth’s surface, and a new study shows that it’s messing with birds’ biological clocks. Researchers analyzed a global acoustic dataset of more than 60 million recorded birdsongs representing more than 580 diurnal bird species. The findings, published Thursday, August 21, in the journal Science, show that light pollution has pr

Using pollen to make paper, sponges, and more

At first glance, Nam-Joon Cho’s lab at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University looks like your typical research facility—scientists toiling away, crowded workbenches, a hum of machinery in the background. But the orange-yellow stains on the lab coats slung on hooks hint at a less-usual subject matter under study. The powdery stain is pollen: microscopic grains containing male reproductive cells that trees, weeds, and grasses release seasonally. But Cho isn’t studying irksome effects like h

Long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution linked to increased risk of dementia

Dementias such as Alzheimer's disease are estimated to affect more than 57.4 million people worldwide, a number that is expected to almost triple to 152.8 million cases by 2050. The impacts on the individuals, families and caregivers and society at large are immense. While there are some indications that the prevalence of dementia is decreasing in Europe and North America, suggesting that it may be possible to reduce the risk of the disease at a population level, elsewhere the picture is less p

James Lovell, the steady astronaut who brought Apollo 13 home safely, has died

James Lovell, a member of humanity's first trip to the moon and commander of NASA's ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, has died at the age of 97. Lovell's death on Thursday was announced by the space agency. "NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades," said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy in a statement on Friday. "Jim's character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the moon and turned a potential t

Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander, has died

Portrait of NASA astronaut Jim Lovell Credit: NASA The following is a statement from acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy on the passing of famed Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. He passed away Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was 97 years old. “NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from

Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell has passed away

Portrait of NASA astronaut Jim Lovell Credit: NASA The following is a statement from acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy on the passing of famed Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. He passed away Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was 97 years old. “NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from

iOS 26: Friends Can't Decide What to Eat? Here's How to Create a Poll in Messages

Apple released the second public beta of iOS 26 on Aug. 7, and the beta brings a new Liquid Glass design, call screening and more features to the iPhones of developers and beta testers. It also introduced a host of new features to Messages. One of the more useful features is the ability to create a poll in the messaging app. Group chats can be chaotic, and sometimes it feels like only a few people are talking. Creating a poll in a group chat is a nice way to let everyone voice their opinion on

Elon Musk Appears to Now Be the Most Hated Person in America, According to New Research

At first, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency appeared to be a joke, designed to keep the billionaire occupied as he pranced on stage next to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. By late October, Musk warned that Americans would have to "endure hardship" if Trump were to win, resulting in some people being "upset." "I’ll probably need a lot of security, but it’s got to be done," he said at the time, referring to his plans to gut government agencies with the help of DOGE. Over

There Is a 100 Percent Chance That Your Body Is Deeply Contaminated With Dangerous Substances

Image by Getty / Futurism Developments The start of this year marked more than a quarter of the way through the 21st century. And though 2025 might not be full of flying cars and robot servants, there are a few sci-fi tropes that ended up panning out: novels like George Orwell's "1984," and Phillip K Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" are alive and well as real-world police use expansive surveillance networks to bust criminals before they even do anything wrong, while the sex robot m

So far, only one-third of Americans have ever used AI for work

On Tuesday, The Associated Press released results from a new AP-NORC poll showing that 60 percent of US adults have used AI to search for information, while only 37 percent of all Americans have used AI for work tasks. Meanwhile, younger Americans are adopting AI tools at much higher rates across multiple categories, including brainstorming, work tasks, and companionship. The poll found AI companionship remains the least popular application overall, with just 16 percent of adults overall trying

Going chain-free with the Priority Apollo gravel bike

In combining a belt drive with a gravel bike, Priority Bicycles has put a smart idea into action with the Apollo Gravel. The execution is mostly there, although the Apollo is perhaps best described as a fantastic commuter bike with a solid gravel upside—as long as the road isn't too rough. The Apollo Gravel comes in both aluminum and titanium frames. I tested the $1,999 aluminum model; the titanium version retails for $3,999. The aluminum version weighs in at 24 lb (10.9 kg), about a half-pound

Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

“It’s not just the tailpipe y’all,” joked one Electrek commenter, alluding to the black discolorations on alloy wheels visible proof of a less infamous city pollutant: brake dust. For decades, exhaust emissions have been the focus of city-air cleaning initiatives, but a new wave of research indicates that the real story goes far beyond the muffler. Image credit to rawpixel.com | License details A trailblazing study by EIT Urban Mobility, surveying the busy streets of London, Milan, and Barcelo

Electric cars produce far less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

“It’s not just the tailpipe y’all,” joked one Electrek commenter, alluding to the black discolorations on alloy wheels visible proof of a less infamous city pollutant: brake dust. For decades, exhaust emissions have been the focus of city-air cleaning initiatives, but a new wave of research indicates that the real story goes far beyond the muffler. Image credit to rawpixel.com | License details A trailblazing study by EIT Urban Mobility, surveying the busy streets of London, Milan, and Barcelo

You Don’t Want to Know Where Scientists Just Found 27 Million Tons of Plastic

Despite the hundreds of millions of metric tons of plastic floating in our oceans—not to mention the microplastics in our saliva, blood, breast milk, and semen—researchers have been unable to account for all the plastic ever produced. A new study has just tracked down a large portion of it. Researchers from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University claim to be the first to provide a real estimate of ocean-polluting nanoplastics. Their research indicates that

The AI bubble today is bigger than the IT bubble in the 1990s

The difference between the IT bubble in the 1990s and the AI bubble today is that the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 today are more overvalued than they were in the 1990s, see chart below. This presentation may not be distributed, transmitted or otherwise communicated to others in whole or in part without the express consent of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Apollo”). Apollo makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the accura

Millions Of Americans Are Being Advised Not To Go Outside

In the wake of massive wildfires in Canada's Manitoba province, people thousands of miles away are being warned to stay indoors thanks to the noxious ash and smoke that's traveling on the wind to their homes. As flagged by Newsweek, people who live in eight American states (and four Canadian provinces) are now under air pollution warning — and as an air quality map shows, the regions impacted have tens of millions of residents. According to AirNow — which publishes a real-time, color-coded air

This ‘Molecular Shield’ Might Stop Pollen Before It Wrecks Your Nose

Every year, pollen seasons grow longer and more intense—to the great misery of those suffering from pollen allergies—myself included. There’s only so much one can do with antihistamines or hot towels, and no amount of protective measures—masks, firmly shut windows, you name it—appears to offer any protection from the endless sneezing, runny noses, and itchy eyes. But what if, by spraying something akin to a nasal spray, you could thwart the onslaught of those pesky allergens before they latch o

Wildfires are challenging air quality monitoring infrastructure

Ten years ago, Tracey Holloway, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, would have said that air pollution in the United States was a huge success story. “Our air had been getting cleaner and cleaner almost everywhere, for almost every pollutant,” she said. But in June 2023, as wildfire smoke from Canada spread, the air quality dropped to historically low levels in her home state of Wisconsin. Just last month, the region’s air quality dipped once more to unhealthy level

Air pollution may contribute to development of lung cancer in never-smokers

Now, a study published on July 2 in Nature has uncovered compelling genomic evidence that points to air pollution—and other environmental exposures—as a potential major factor behind this growing public health concern. The study was jointly led by researchers at the University of California San Diego and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “We’re seeing this problematic trend that never-smokers are increasingly getting lung cancer, but we haven’

Air Pollution May Contribute to Development of Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers

Now, a study published on July 2 in Nature has uncovered compelling genomic evidence that points to air pollution—and other environmental exposures—as a potential major factor behind this growing public health concern. The study was jointly led by researchers at the University of California San Diego and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “We’re seeing this problematic trend that never-smokers are increasingly getting lung cancer, but we haven’

Where is my von Braun wheel?

In 1962. There — that answers the clickbaity title right away. NASA had viable designs for rotating wheel space stations that could have given astronauts artificial gravity. Then, the Apollo program effectively killed them. While NASA’s lunar focus delivered the historic moonshot, it dismantled a promising engineering effort at Langley Research Center that might have revolutionized human spaceflight. That decision set us on a half-century trajectory of small, zero-gravity stations that continu

Ars reflects on Apollo 13 turning 30

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Oscar-winning film, Apollo 13, director Ron Howard's masterful love letter to NASA's Apollo program in general and the eponymous space mission in particular. So we're taking the opportunity to revisit this riveting homage to American science, ingenuity, and daring. (Spoilers below.) Apollo 13 is a fictional retelling of the aborted 1970 lunar mission that became a "successful failure" for NASA because all three astronauts made it back to Earth a

xAI faces legal threat over alleged Colossus data center pollution in Memphis

After thermal imaging appeared to show that xAI lied about suspected pollution at its Colossus supercomputer data center located near predominantly Black communities in Memphis, Tennessee, the NAACP has threatened a lawsuit accusing xAI of violating the Clean Air Act. In a letter sent to xAI on Tuesday, lawyers from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) notified xAI of the NAACP's intent to sue in 60 days if xAI refuses to meet to discuss the groups' concerns that xAI is not using the re

More Than 40% of Employees Are Using AI at Work, a New Poll Says

AI is rapidly becoming an integral part of the US workplace. And more than 40% of US employees are using artificial intelligence tools at least a few times a year at work, and that rate is nearly double what it was two years ago, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll asked participants how often they use AI in their work role. In 2023, 21% of US employees reported using AI at least a few times per year. That number almost doubled to 40% in the latest polling by Gallup. According to the rese

Topics: ai gallup poll times use

More Than 40% of Employees Are Using AI at Work

AI is rapidly becoming an integral part of the US workplace. And more than 40% of US employees are using artificial intelligence tools at least a few times a year at work, and that rate is nearly double what it was two years ago, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll asked participants how often they use AI in their work role. In 2023, 21% of US employees reported using AI at least a few times per year. That number almost doubled to 40% in the latest polling by Gallup. According to the rese

Topics: ai gallup poll times use

Inside a Dark Adtech Empire Fed by Fake CAPTCHAs

Late last year, security researchers made a startling discovery: Kremlin-backed disinformation campaigns were bypassing moderation on social media platforms by leveraging the same malicious advertising technology that powers a sprawling ecosystem of online hucksters and website hackers. A new report on the fallout from that investigation finds this dark ad tech industry is far more resilient and incestuous than previously known. In November 2024, researchers at the security firm Qurium publishe

Elon Musk's favorability among Republicans dropped 16 points since March, Quinnipiac says

Elon Musk, during a news conference with President Donald Trump on May 30, 2025 inside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. Elon Musk's official role in the Trump administration recently came to an end. Many Republicans won't be sad to see less of him, according to the results of Quinnipiac University's latest public opinion survey. While a majority of Republicans still hold a favorable view of Musk, the number fell to 62% in the poll out Wednesday, down from 78% in March, Quinnip