Sarah Scoles

3 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Sarah Scoles

No one has launched a nuclear weapon in war since 1945, when U.S. president Harry S. Truman bombed Japan. Support for that decision—the only use of atomic arms in a conflict—has decreased over time. But new research investigating the attitudes of Americans suggests that, in the right scenario, plenty of people would support another atomic assault. Most U.S. residents have no sway over such a cataclysmic decision.

1 month ago | scientificamerican.com | Sarah Scoles

New Mexico’s Plains of San Agustin are otherworldly: Silence, sand and sharp plants reign on the valley floor. Knobbly volcanic rock rises above. Pronghorns’ legs and jackrabbits’ ears break up the landscape. And so, too, does one of the world’s largest telescopes. The plains house the aptly named Very Large Array (VLA)—a radio telescope made of 27 different antennas, each of which looks like a home satellite dish on steroids.

1 month ago | nautil.us | Sarah Scoles

If the eyes are the proverbial window to the soul, language might be the window into the mind. At least that’s what many artificial intelligence researchers and biologists are hoping as they seek to peer into the inner workings of the minds of other animals. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

2 months ago | undark.org | Sarah Scoles

Most people used to think the Crestone Needle, a jagged peak in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo range, was unclimbable. Until, that is, Albert Ellingwood and Eleanor Davis reached its summit in 1916. Looking down, they saw a basin whose pristine nature was marred only by their own camp. The Needle was the last of Colorado’s 14ers — peaks higher than 14,000 feet — to be climbed on record. Today, Ellingwood and Davis would have company up there.

2 months ago | nautil.us | Sarah Scoles

A blur of golden fur and exuberance, the search and rescue dog bolts from a handler’s side and carves a wide arc through a patchy field in Missouri. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . The dog, who is part of an elite urban search-and-rescue team, knows what her duty is: Find a scent trail, locate the person at the other end of the odor, and alert her handler—guiding them to someone who might be lost, trapped, injured, or dead.