When the supersonic Concorde was first created, passengers in the U.S. looked forward to quick trips between major cities on the East and West coasts. But that hope was soon dashed when it was discovered that the Concorde emitted an annoying sonic “boom.” But hope has been rekindled, because a modified version may be quiet enough to fly over land.
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While most of us were shocked and appalled by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, some people made money?a lot of money?from them. A number of transactions in the financial markets indicated clear and specific knowledge about what was going to happen that day. And the reason may the large number of people who were once high up in the CIA and went on to dominate Wall Street and banking.
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In our latest Insight, Particle physicist Beatriz Gato-Rivera writes: “I want to explore the intriguing possibility of whether we could be immersed in a large civilization without being aware of it? Do mountain gorillas know that their ‘civilization’ is embedded in a larger ‘civilization’ corresponding to a much more evolved and intelligent species than themselves?? SETI could really be SETPI: the search for extraterrestrial primitive intelligence, because only primitive civilizations would allow themselves to be detected by external observers.” Subscribers: Listen to Whitley’s interview with Gato-Rivera on this week’s Dreamland.
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Why do so many teenagers start smoking, when adults all around them are trying so hard to quit? It’s not just because they’re rebellious and more easily fooled by advertising, it’s also because of the state of their developing brains.
Shaoni Bhattacharya writes in New Scientist that teens who start smoking are more likely to become hooked. They find it harder to quit later, so they’re more likely to become lifelong smokers (and develop health problems).
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