Only 10 to 15 percent of people are left-handed. @popsci@flipboard.com explains the science behind it. Does the fediverse mirror the world? Vote in our poll!

flip.it/TdSpII

#Science #Biology #Evolution #Handedness #Genetics

Why are most people right-handed?

A mix of biology, environment, and evolution helps explain our rightie-dominated world.

^{Clarissa Brincat (Popular Science)}

• I am right-handed (74%, 188 votes)
• I am left-handed (15%, 38 votes)
• I am ambidextrous (7%, 18 votes)
• Something else — explain in the comments (2%, 7 votes)

Saying goodbye to comet A6 Lemmon. It's getting very low, and clouds are increasing in southern New Mexico.

It was a remarkable run of many clear nights.

This is a single exposure on a fixed tripod.

There's a blurred silhouette of a power line, and satellite trails in this image. They belong in the frame because this is the world we have created. It's getting increasingly difficult to escape to pristine nature.

Perhaps the phrase 'pristine nature' is now an oxymoron?

When is the first No Kings General Strike?

We all need to help with community building and boosting civic engagement. These activities have atrophied for decades, and it shows.

#NewMexico #Comet #Photography #Astrophotography #Technology #Astronomy #Science #Nature #Politics #USpol #Fascism #MAGA #ClimateChange #Trump #Musk #Anthropocene

New Technology from Japan

Spectrum Editor Gwendolyn Rak wanted to learn about new technology at Japan’s biggest tech expo, so she tried out Timekettle’s translating earbuds. #Ieeespectrum #science

For the first time ever, astronomers have unveiled the shape of a star’s explosion at its earliest stage.

The feat was achieved by ESO's Very Large Telescope just a day after the detection of this supernova, as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface.

This brief initial phase wouldn’t have been observable a day later. This will help shed light on how massive stars go supernova.

eso.org/public/news/eso2520/

Illustration: ESO/L. Calçada

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

Insects on the space menu

Long before humans reached orbit, insects had already shown they could handle the hurdles of spaceflight. Light, highly adaptable and nutritionally rich, these resilient animals present an attractive option for European researchers studying reliable food sources for long-duration missions.

#news #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2

Another perspective on our pale blue dot -- this time from the #ISS

📷 :images.nasa.gov/details/iss073…

#SolarSystem #Earth #astrophotography #space #Science #NASA #ESA #astrodon #astronomy #view #night

Apparently this Lovelace disruption labs idea is in the air again. I like the idea of labs with junior researchers given more independence and resources for longer time periods, but I don't think it'll be as disruptive as hoped for if they do this. 👇

jameswphillips.substack.com/p/…

The proposal is for 15 year fellowships, and junior researchers will be "mentored, but not controlled, by groups of senior custodians who ... will also contribute to recruitment, renewal decisions and resource allocation". If resources and jobs are in control of seniors, then they are in control whether you call it that or not.

I think these things if they're created will give some really great jobs for a hand selected few, but those few will be selected based on ideological alignment with those who already control the majority of funding in science. The 15 year timescales will help, but it'll be a missed opportunity to do something better and actually disruptive.

#science #academicchatter

Lovelace vision document: ARIA's proposed twin - a network of new research laboratories using different organisational principles

‘You will not concede me Philosophical poetry. Invert the order! Will you give me poetical philosophy, poetical science?’ Ada Lovelace

^{James W. Phillips (James W. Phillips' Newsletter)}

I find this remarkable:

The Dresden Codex, one of the few surviving Mayan manuscripts, contains tables that give highly accurate timings of solar eclipses over more than 700 years, from 350 CE to the 12 century.

science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv… #history #science #astronomy

A dance of two pairs!

While the two Magellanic Clouds shine upon the Atacama Desert in #Chile, two Auxiliary Telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer point up to the sky.

Just like our cosmic neighbours move around the Milky Way, the Auxiliary Telescopes can be moved along rails and arranged in different configurations when observing the sky.

Read more: eso.org/public/images/potw2545…

📷 J. Looten/ESO

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophotography #astrophysics #space #science

This is what the band of the Milky Way would look like at night if your eyes could see radio waves. A hidden beauty.

It's a new image created by the Murchison Widefield Array, which scanned the sky in 20 radio "colors" over frequencies from 72 to 231 megahertz.

icrar.org/gleam-x-galactic-pla… #space #science #nature #tech

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a @STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating. She's writing circles around us from beyond the grave.

statnews.com/2025/11/07/james-…

#dna #science

James Watson: From DNA pioneer to untouchable pariah | STAT

The complicated story of James Watson, whose landmark DNA discovery with Francis Crick was later overshadowed by his deeply offensive remarks

^{Sharon Begley (STAT)}

This week's comic is about how easily conventional wisdom gets turned on its head by bad faith actors, especially in a media environment lacking responsible editors.

#health #science #food #consumers #media #disinformation

#knowledge #wissen #history #Geschichte #wissenschaft #science #physik #physics

Rätsel um blaue Aurora
Erste genaue Höhenmessung des seltenen blauen Polarlichts wirft neue Fragen auf 🤓

scinexx.de/news/geowissen/neue…

Neues Rätsel um blaue Aurora - Erste genaue Höhenmessung des seltenen blauen Polarlichts wirft neue Fragen auf - scinexx.de

Das seltene blaue Polarlicht überrascht erneut. Höhenmessungen mit einer speziellen Hyperspektralkamera zeigen, dass das Maximum dieses Polarlichts in

^{Nadja Podbregar (Scinexx - Das Wissensmagazin)}

Researchers uncover AI bias against older working women - AI is perpetuating inaccurate gender and age stereotypes, influencing everything from hiring practices to workplace perceptions.

#AI #women #science #workplace #bias

news.stanford.edu/stories/2025…

Researchers uncover AI bias against older working women

^{news.stanford.edu}