AI is changing our understanding of earthquakes

"When the biggest earthquake in more than a decade rattled Russia's remote Kamchatka Peninsula in July, seismologists around the world knew within moments. For earthquakes big or small, sensors around the globe detect the tremors and relay that information to researchers, who quickly analyze the observations and issue alerts. Now artificial intelligence is poised to make almost everything about earthquake research much faster — and to rewrite researchers' very understanding of how earthquakes happen."

Knowable Magazine »

You'll remember not clicking this

There's FOMO, and then there's watching a company you almost invested in make headlines six months later. RAD Intel has already raised $50M+, reserved its Nasdaq ticker $RADI, and 10,000+ investors are in. They've grown 4,900% in four years and just doubled sales contracts again. The share price is still $0.81… but not for long. The round's nearly full, and once it closes, that price is gone. If you're reading this, the clock's already ticking. [Ad]

Act before the price jumps »

Why 60 degrees in fall feels different than in the spring

"Picking out what to wear during the fall or spring can be tough. It might be sweater weather in the morning, only to feel more like summer heat by lunchtime. Or temperatures may start out in winter's biting chill and suddenly warm up. It can be difficult to see 60 or 65 degrees Fahrenheit during a morning forecast and accurately anticipate what that will even feel like. There is actually a meteorological and a biological reason why the same temperature can feel different depending on the season."

Popular Science »

Wear marks suggest Neanderthals made ocher crayons

"Two chunks of ocher unearthed at ancient rock shelters in Ukraine were actually Neanderthal crayons, according to a recent study. The pair of artifacts, unearthed from layers 47,000 and 46,000 years old, showed signs of being deliberately shaped into crayons and resharpened over time. A third piece of ocher had been carefully carved with parallel lines. The finds add to the growing body of evidence that Neanderthals had an artistic streak."

Ars Technica »

Plants are the new pets. Treat them accordingly.

Look, not everyone's cut out for pet ownership. Some of us can barely commit to watering a pothos once a week. If your plant track record reads more like a cemetery than a garden, Plantum is the upgrade your crispy fiddle leaf's been praying for. Snap a pic, ID the plant, diagnose the weird spots, get care tips, and even light advice from actual botanists. Plus, it reminds you to water so you can finally break your toxic cycle of neglect. [Ad]

Get a green thumb »

Rats filmed snatching bats from air for first time

"Talk about an in-flight meal. Poised on a human-made landing platform at the entrance of a cave in northern Germany, an invasive brown rat lunges at a bat and yanks it out of the air, after which it quickly becomes dinner. The discovery — documented in infrared above and reported this month in Global Ecology and Conservation — marks the first time researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky."

Science »