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What began as a debate over astronomical measurements is on the verge of becoming a full-blown crisis in how we understand the cosmos. Two data sets—one from the newborn universe nearly 14 billion years ago, the other from stars as we see them today—are yielding contradictory answers to a deceptively simple question: How fast is the universe expanding? The gap between answers is only 9 percent, but that far exceeds each data set’s estimated uncertainties....

Elite memory athletes are not so different from their peers in any other sport: They face off in intense competitions where they execute seemingly superhuman feats such as memorizing a string of 500 digits in five minutes. Most memory athletes credit their success to hours of memorization-technique practice. One lingering question, though, is whether memory champs succeed by practice alone or are somehow gifted. Recent research suggests there may be hope for the rest of us....

Key Concepts Light Wave Particle Lasers Introduction You may have heard that light consists of particles called photons. How could something as simple as light be made of particles? Physicists describe light as both a particle and a wave. In fact, light’s wavelike behavior is responsible for a lot of its cool effects, such as the iridescent colors produced on the surface of bubbles. To see a dramatic and mind-bending example of how light behaves like a wave, all you need is three pieces of mechanical pencil lead, a laser pointer and a dark room....

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is planning to require citizens to create accounts with a private facial recognition company in order to file taxes online. The IRS is joining a growing number of federal and state agencies that have contracted with ID.me to authenticate the identities of people accessing services. The IRS’s move is aimed at cutting down on identity theft, a crime that affects millions of Americans....

DZATO, CHINA—It’s a sight to behold on mornings in May and June: Hardy nomads and enterprising villagers from Nepal to western China spread out over the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas, pickaxes in tow, and ascend unforgiving peaks in the thin mountain air. Anyone who can make the journey goes—children, yak herders, pregnant women. By midday, the plateau is dotted with crouched forms combing the grass on their hands and knees....

Getting tested for an STD is a pain. There’s a doctor’s appointment, a week of waiting for results and a wealth of opportunity for embarrassing human interaction. These hassles may be part of the reason STD infection rates are on the rise—so now a clinic in London has begun to reimagine the process for the digital age. Its walk-in facility, called Dean Street Express, seeks to provide a self-service, stigma-free experience that requires almost no eye contact with strangers....

Global carbon dioxide emissions surged to record levels the year after the landmark 2016 Paris climate agreement was signed. Energy-related emissions climbed 1.4 percent to 32.5 gigatons in 2017, the International Energy Agency reported yesterday in its annual survey of global carbon levels. The increase is the equivalent of adding 170 million cars to the road, the agency said. The uptick—coming on the heels of the major international climate deal—signals an abrupt end to several years of stagnant emissions growth and raises questions about the world’s commitment to reducing carbon levels....

Robots already perform many traditionally human tasks, from vacuuming to surgery—and they could soon help care for the sick and elderly. But until they can convincingly discern and mimic emotions, their caretaker value will be severely limited. In an effort to create “friendlier” machines, researchers are developing robotic helpers that can better read and react to social signals. In late 2016 IBM and Rice University unveiled the Multi-Purpose Eldercare Robot Assistant (MERA), a customized version of the Pepper robot developed by SoftBank Robotics in Japan....

The world changed forever some three million years ago, scientists have thought. At that time, for the first time, a ribbon of dry land connected North and South America, as the Isthmus of Panama shook free of the water around it. The new land bridge allowed plants and animals free travel between the two continents, colonizing new worlds. It also changed ocean currents and ushered in an ice age. Now this textbook date is being challenged....

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Even the most devoted cat owners wonder at some point, perhaps waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, whether their cat really loves them. Dog people like to smugly point out dogs’ long history as humankind’s best friend. But research shows cats’ reputation as a cold and aloof pet is undeserved....

In white full-body suits with square veils, amid the steady hum of hives and puffs of smoke, beekeepers appear otherworldly. But their daunting work is crucial to maintaining the many global food crops that require pollination. Day-to-day tasks involve assessing the health and production of honeybee hives: periodically and manually opening each one for inspection, ensuring that the queen is present and laying eggs and that the workers are active, and looking for any signs of pests or disease....

A recent study published in the Journal of Glaciology that found the Antarctic ice sheet is expanding because accumulated snowfall is outpacing melting glaciers has drawn sharp criticism from many climate scientists. While it does not contradict the science on global warming, it has pried open a long-standing debate about how warming is effecting the largest ice mass on the planet. The study, led by Jay Zwally, a glaciologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, contradicts findings from years of research concluding that there’s a net ice loss in the Antarctic....

People who describe themselves as being politically liberal can better suppress a habitual response when faced with situations in which that response is incorrect, according to research that used a simple cognitive test to compare liberal and conservative thinkers. Tasks that require such “conflict monitoring” also triggered more activity in the liberals’ anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region geared to detect and respond to conflicting information. Past research has shown that liberals and conservatives exhibit differing cognitive styles, with liberals being more tolerant of ambiguity and conservatives preferring more structure....

Which Switch? Brainteaser There are three on/off switches on the ground floor of a building. Only one operates a single lightbulb on the third floor. The other two switches are not connected to anything. Put the switches in any on/off order you like. Then go to the third floor to check the bulb.* Without leaving the third floor, can you figure out which switch is genuine? You get only one try....

By Heidi Ledford of Nature magazinePsychologist David Elkins had modest ambitions for his petition. He and his colleagues were worried that proposed changes to an influential handbook of mental disorders could classify normal behaviours as psychological conditions, potentially leading to inappropriate treatments. So they laid out their concerns in an open letter, co-sponsored by the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C. “I thought, ‘Well, maybe we’ll get a couple or maybe 30 signatures’,” says Elkins, an emeritus professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif....

The designation “mountain man” conjures an image of a rough, bearded, possibly grimy white man living ruggedly and adventurously amid trees, snow, deer and the occasional bear. Although most people who live in the U.S.’s mountain states today do not reflect this narrow, stereotypical extreme, the peaks that surround them may shape personality traits that resonate with the persona. Findings published in Nature Human Behaviour on September 7 suggest that mountainous landscapes may promote openness to new experiences among the people who live in them....

Scarlet fever, a disease that struck fear into the heart of parents when cases surged in the days of yore, appears to be making an unexpected and puzzling comeback in parts of the world. England and Wales have seen a substantial rise in scarlet fever cases starting in 2014. The number of cases tripled from 2013 and continued to increase in 2015 and 2016, with England and Wales last year recording the highest number of cases there in a half-century, British scientists reported Monday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases....

Devastating rainstorms and blistering temperatures have Japanese authorities fretting over the next Summer Olympics and how to keep athletes and attendees safe as climate scientists predict a possible repeat. A heat wave with temperatures reaching 105 degrees Fahrenheit has scorched Japan this week, following deadly floods earlier this month that unleashed landslides onto hill-perched homes. The heat persisted yesterday, colliding with celebrations marking the two-year countdown to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo....

2021 turned into a big year for state climate action. Massachusetts passed a net-zero emissions bill. Washington state enacted a cap-and-trade law and a low carbon fuel standard. In North Carolina, a Republican-led Legislature passed a bill that requires a 70% reduction in power-sector emissions by 2030. And in Illinois, the country’s sixth largest carbon emitter, the governor signed legislation that could close all privately owned coal plants by 2030. The raft of climate laws is notable for coming in the first year of the Biden administration....

After several successful flights of a kilometer in a closed circle, made during the last few days of 1907, in which he managed to cover this distance, though not without the wheels of his machine lightly touching the ground at one or two places. M. Henri Farman finally, on January 11, at last made two unofficial flights without coming to earth except at the end of each. Two days later (on Monday, January 13) before the officials of the Aero Club of France, he repeated this performance for a third time, and won the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize of 50,000 francs ($10,000) for the first flight by a heavier-than-air machine of one kilometer in a closed circuit....