The San case highlights the thorny ethics of collecting genetic data. Yet today, to make medicine more equitable, scientists see the importance of sampling DNA from more diverse populations. Most genetic research uses DNA from descendants of Europeans, which means the related medical applications—such as genetic tests to see the likelihood of developing a certain disease, called polygenic risk assessments—can only benefit those populations. In 2018 in the United States, for example, the National Institutes of Health launched All of Us, a research program that aims to collect DNA, electronic health records, and other data, from about one million Americans with emphasis on including many different groups of people....

Nègre and company assert the AirPod can hit 43 mph, by way of MDI’s 5.45 hp compressed-air motor with traditional pistons like an internal combustion engine. At 15-20 miles per hour, they say, the AirPod has a range of 130+ miles per tankful. Sporting a body of plastic composite, the AirPod is just 82 inches long, 63 inches wide and 79 inches high, and expected to come in passenger and cargo versions, each weighing under 500 pounds....

Moments earlier I’d driven through the town of Dinosaur, Colorado. Now, as darkness settled around my car, I thought I spotted a sauropod in the stars through my driver’s side window. I chuckled to myself, feeling silly for seeing dinosaurs where there certainly were none, and chalked it up to the power of suggestion. But, it turns out, I wasn’t just being silly. I was participating in a human tradition that extends back millennia, says Daniel Brown, associate professor in astronomy and science communication at Nottingham Trent University in England....

The panel of 12 legal experts formally termed ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.” They propose adding this to the “Rome Statute,” a permanent treaty-based international court, which would make it official international criminal law that can be tried for in the International Criminal Court (ICC)....

We won’t hear about the results of this study—or even how the two currently-enrolled patients are doing—until an as-yet uncertain date in the future. But it’s definitely true that CRISPR trials are starting to go mainstream. Other trials are planned in the U.S. and our northern neighbor Canada, while the World Health Organization is currently reckoning with the ethics of any kind of human gene editing. It’s important to know that using CRISPR to alter specific kinds of cells in adult humans is nothing like using CRISPR to edit germline DNA, which is what scientists in China did to twins named Lulu and Nana late last year....

As global temperatures rise, humidity is also expected to rise, with warm air able to hold more moisture. This can lead to extremely hot and humid days in the summer. The authors predict that by the 2060s, 250 million people will be exposed to wet bulb temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit), and 750 million will be exposed to wet bulb temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit)....

I don’t live near a reef, so testing the camera on a snorkeling expedition was a bit cost-prohibitive. But with two nieces never shy of a photo-op, I focused my product evaluation on the second most logical application — the household pool. The smartly packaged mask was intuitive to use, and didn’t feel much heavier than a normal mask. A yellow button on the upper right side of the mask snaps pictures and starts or stops video....

Now, there’s another similarity to add to the mix: foreplay. In a paper published today in Scientific Reports, researchers found evidence that dinosaurs had mating rituals much like modern birds. Some male birds today use displays to attract a mate, such as digging or furnishing nests to show how they would provide a safe and impressive home for their offspring. Researchers found evidence in Colorado that dinosaurs did the same thing, scraping the ground to create nest displays, hoping to attract a female to mate with....

The Mavic Air 2 replaces the original, which debuted back in 2019, and features a very similar folding form factor that should be familiar at this point—the company has been refining it since the original Mavic Pro debuted back in 2016. There are, however, quite a few technical upgrades that make it extremely appealing. One of the biggest draws comes from its 34-minute flight time on a single battery charge, which makes it the longest in the DJI’s Mavic offerings....

But looks can be deceiving, especially in space. Markarian 501 is a launchpad for charged particles traveling near the speed of light. From the galaxy’s heart erupts a bright jet of high-energy particles and radiation, rushing right in Earth’s direction. That makes it a perfect natural laboratory to study those accelerating particles—if only scientists could understand what causes them. In a paper published in the journal Nature today, astronomers have been able to take a never-before-seen look deep into the heart of one of those jets and see what drives those particles out in the first place....

Skin cycling is a four-day regimen. On the first night, after you wash your face, you apply a physical or chemical exfoliant to peel off dead skin cells on the top layer of your skin. On the second night, you apply a retinol to unclog pores and increase skin cell production to give your face a more refreshed appearance. The drawback with constantly using an exfoliant and then retinol closely after is that it can irritate the skin....

According to the forum’s hosts, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham and Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn, religion riles its vilifiers when it makes truth claims without evidence — at least evidence that would hold up in a court of science. The conflict seems to stem from a difference in understanding as to what evidence and truth truly are. This discrepancy of perspective was clear in a statement made by Monsignor Albacete: “Religion is a different form of knowledge that has its own evidence....

At Duocon 2022, the company’s 4th annual online language conference, Luis von Ahn, the CEO and co-founder of Duolingo, noted the ways that the app has evolved over the years, and teased where it might go next. The most obvious added features are the ones that make Duolingo more social—including ways for users to follow other people’s progress, or go on “friend quests” together to complete a certain set of lessons....

Scientists found these four new discoveries thanks to data from the now-retired Kepler K2 mission. During its tenure, the Kepler Space Telescope scanned the Galactic Bulge and gathered microlensing signals, a phenomenon that can be used to detect objects, including planets, even when they emit very little light. After analyzing Kepler’s data, researchers found that four of those recorded signals are consistent with those of planets similar in size to Earth....

Anyone who spends time in the woods owns a survival or everyday carry knife (if you don’t, you should). But it’s likely you are not using the blade on your hip to its full potential. Knives can do more than cut, and when you’re in an emergency situation, there are several different ways to use a blade that can save your life. 1. Scrape with the spine Not everyone likes a square knife spine with precise edges....

The SpaceX founder and CEO showed off a spotlight-illuminated spacecraft in Boca Chica, Texas on Saturday, celebrating the company’s progress and laying out his vision for its future. To Musk’s left stood a Falcon 1, the rocket that solidified the company’s place in the new space race when it first reached orbit 11 years ago. Looking forward, Musk insisted Starship’s complete reusability would be the key to opening up the final frontier....

Questions like these have plagued research on physical activity and depression for years, but now we’re starting to have tools that can help us tease out this complex relationship. One new study, published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday, suggests that there really is a causal relationship: Exercising helps alleviate depression. To figure this out, researchers working for the Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium used a clever new method called Mendelian randomization, which allows us to understand causal relationships between modifiable behaviors, such as exercise, and health outcomes....

But perhaps it doesn’t need to feel this way. Our experience of time is flexible, speeding up in some situations and slowing down in others. There are even some altered states of consciousness (such as under the influence of psychedelic drugs, in traumatic situations, or when athletes are “in the zone”) in which time seems to slow down to an extraordinary degree. So maybe by understanding the psychological processes behind our different experiences of time, we might be able to slow things down a little....

Named GeoEye-1, the satellite was launched on September 6 but spent its first month undergoing initial testing. The quality of its pictures may get even better as its owners continue calibrating the onboard camera. Already GeoEye-1 has keener vision than any other commercial imaging spacecraft. It can make out objects on the ground that are only a half-meter — less than 20 inches — in length. Technically GeoEye-1 can take even sharper pictures than this first one — down to a ground resolution of 0....

Safari just keeps getting better: The default browser for Apple’s operating systems adds new features every year, so you could be missing out on some cool functionality if you’re not up to speed with everything it can do. See how many of these power user tips make a difference to your productivity in Apple’s web browser. If you’re struggling to come up with unique, strong passwords, Safari can suggest them for you....