Portal:Science
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Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into two or three major branches: the natural sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, and biology), which study the physical world; and the behavioural sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies. The formal sciences (e.g., logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science), which study formal systems governed by axioms and rules, are sometimes described as being sciences as well; however, they are often regarded as a separate field because they rely on deductive reasoning instead of the scientific method or empirical evidence as their main methodology. Applied sciences are disciplines that use scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine. (Full article...)
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The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa. Across most of its range it is resident, but in the north some will migrate if the conifer cone crop fails. Some individuals have a tendency to wander, leading to the recolonisation of Ireland in the first decade of the 21st century and to vagrancy to North America. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; like other woodpeckers, they have anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the hammering action. This species is similar to the Syrian woodpecker. (Full article...)
The Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men comprised ten volumes of Dionysius Lardner's 133-volume Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1829–1846). Aimed at the self-educating middle class, this encyclopedia was written during the 19th-century literary revolution in Britain that encouraged more people to read. (Full article...)
Onychopterella (/ˌɒnɪkɒptəˈrɛlə/ ON-ə-kop-tə-REL-ə, from Ancient Greek: ὄνῠξ (ónyx), "claw", and πτερόν (pteron), "wing") is a genus of predatory eurypterid ("sea scorpion"), an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Onychopterella have been discovered in deposits from the Late Ordovician to the Late Silurian. The genus contains three species: O. kokomoensis, the type species, from the Early Pridoli epoch of Indiana; O. pumilus, from the Early Llandovery epoch of Illinois, both from the United States; and O. augusti, from the Late Hirnantian to Early Rhuddanian stages of South Africa. (Full article...)
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Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorological variables that are commonly measured are temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, and precipitation. In a broader sense, climate is the state of the components of the climate system, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere and biosphere and the interactions between them. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, longitude, terrain, altitude, land use and nearby water bodies and their currents. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that the Data Colada bloggers drew attention to the replication crisis by exposing faulty social science research?
- ... that the best novel of American science fiction author Garrett Smith did not appear as a stand-alone book until over 60 years after his death?
- ... that Godwin Obasi has been described as "Africa's gift to the world of climate science"?
- ... that Science Park station was built despite the objections of the operating agency?
- ... that Mary Clutter used her directorial position at the National Science Foundation to require scientific conferences to include women speakers when presenting research done by them?
- ... that E. F. Bleiler conducted research for Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years by reading all 1,835 stories published in science fiction magazines between 1926 and 1936?
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Science News
- 5 November 2024 –
- Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan launch LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite constructed without screws or glue, into space. It will orbit Earth for six months. (DW)
- 10 October 2024 –
- In its annual Living Planet report, the World Wildlife Fund estimates that wild populations of animal species have decreased over 70% since 1970, with some high-biodiversity areas seeing up to 95% declines. (DW)
- 10 October 2024 – Tomb of Christopher Columbus
- Researchers from the University of Granada confirm that bones lying in the Seville Cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain, belonged to Christopher Columbus. (ABC Spain)
- 9 October 2024 – Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is jointly awarded to British computer scientist Demis Hassabis and American chemist John M. Jumper for their work on protein structure prediction, and to American biochemist and computational biologist David Baker for his work on computational protein design. (The New York Times) (Nobel Prize)
- 8 October 2024 – Nobel Prize in Physics
- American physicist John Hopfield and British-Canadian computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton are awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics "for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks". (The Guardian)
- 24 September 2024 –
- Scientists from the University of Waterloo announce that they have positively identified bones found on King William Island in Nunavut, Canada, as those of James Fitzjames, captain of HMS Erebus during Franklin's lost expedition. (CBC News)