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Science and Technology

Military Contractors Are in Nearly Every Small Town in the United States

Over the past couple of years I’ve noticed advertisements offering FREE CNC (Computer Numerical Control) Precision Manufacturing Training at local community colleges such as the Nashua Community College in Nashua, New Hampshire, and the Center for Manufacturing Technology, in Woburn,…

What Ideas From the Paleolithic Are Still With Us in the Modern World?

An interview with renowned economic historian Michael Hudson on where our calendar comes from, his collaborations with the late intellectual David Graeber, and the long-lost practice of forgiving debt. By Jan Ritch-Frel Is the order of the modern alphabet connected…

Scientists Successfully Breed Adult Corals to Improve Heat Tolerance

Coral reefs throughout the world have suffered immensely from global heating due to human-caused climate change. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — the largest coral reef system in the world — has experienced four mass bleaching events in seven years, leading to die-offs in up to half of…

Nobel Laureate in Physics 2024 John Hopfield and the dangers of unchecked AI.

U.S. scientist John Hopfield, recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering research in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has issued a troubling warning about the rapid advances in this technology. Hopfield, professor emeritus at Princeton University,…

Software Developers in Oakland Are Putting People Over Profit

How coders are working on creating community participation and democratic design. By Damon Orion The webzine ShiftMag points out that 80 percent of software developers worldwide are unhappy with their jobs, yet 68 percent code outside the workplace as a…

Do Other Animals Have Consciousness? Science Could Force Us to Rethink Our Relationships With Them

The broad consensus is that many species are sentient. By Marjorie Hecht Humans have had relationships with their pets for thousands of years, talking to them, coddling them, and imbuing them with human attributes. But are these animals “thinking,” and…

Book review: Redeeming Africa through Philanthrocapitalism

Aaron Eddens (2024). Seeding Empire: American Philanthrocapital and the Roots of the Green Revolution in Africa. University of California Press, Oakland, California. by Mesay Berhanu Gemechu In his 2024 book, Seeding Empire, Aaron Eddens, a scholar in American Studies and…

Jobs in U.S. Solar Industry Reached Record High in 2023

The future is looking bright for green jobs in the solar industry. According to the latest National Solar Jobs Census, published by the nonprofit Interstate Renewable Energy Council, solar jobs in the U.S. grew by nearly 6% in 2023. By…

Russia’s cancer vaccine to begin clinical trials

After being tested on patients with oncological diseases, the therapeutic vaccine could eradicate a variety of tumours and not just prolong the lives of those affected. Clinical trials of the Russian cancer vaccine will begin in mid-2025, said scientist Alexander…

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly to the stars

The name Yuri Gagarin is known throughout the world as the first man to orbit the Earth. His historic flight took place on 12 April 1961 aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. Less well known, however, is Valentina Tereshkova, the Soviet…

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