Society

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Scientists have come to realize that in the soil and rocks beneath our feet there lies a vast biosphere with a global volume nearly twice that of all the world’s oceans. Little is known about these underground organisms, who represent most of the planet’s microbial…

Another Covid-19 variant is spreading, but there’s an updated vaccine and four more free tests are available for every household in the US—including US territories and military addresses—starting September 25. While you don’t need to panic, it’s good to have tests on hand so you can find out if you have Covid. That way, you…

California governor Gavin Newsom worked late last night, vetoing a law that would have banned self-driving trucks without a human aboard from state roads until the early 2030s. State lawmakers had voted through the law with wide margins, backed by unions that argued autonomous trucks are a safety risk and threaten jobs. The bill would…

Mandiant researchers published findings this week about a newly revealed Chinese espionage operation that used Sogu malware to spy on the African operations of both European and US organizations. The campaign is significant for the scope of its victims, but also because attackers used a classic malware distribution method: thumb drives. The attacks are the…

Over the years, archaeologists have unearthed many offerings at the Templo Mayor, located at the heart of the ancient Aztec, or Mexica, capital of Tenochtitlán and adjacent to contemporary Mexico City’s cathedral. The most recent, the 186th to date, was announced in August: a stone chest filled with objects from the sea and 15 anthropomorphic…

Abby Goldsmith’s science fiction novel Majority tells the story of a group of young people from Earth who get abducted by the Torth, a galaxy-spanning civilization ruled by merciless telepaths. “There’s a galactic empire, and these people are all neurally, superluminally connected,” Goldsmith says in Episode 550 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.…

On the morning of September 11, critical care specialist Anoop Kumar was presented with an unusual situation. Four members of the same family had been admitted to his hospital—Aster MIMS in Kozhikode, Kerala—the previous day, all similarly sick. Would he take a look? He gathered his team of doctors to investigate. Soon they were at…

Gather ‘round, ye readers, I have a question for you: Are you ready for some football? Worldwide, where football is what Americans call “soccer,” there’s always someone, somewhere ready to answer “yes” to this question. In the US, where the start of fall means the National Football League is in full swing, it means watching…

I don’t like to rank ethical issues in a hierarchy, but one problem sits with a weaver’s serenity at the center of a whole web of others: How do we ethically address networked harassment? Two recent articles about the ongoing battle to keep the stalking and harassment nexus of Kiwi Farms offline—one a Washington Post…

Seven years after it left for the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is returning with a celestial souvenir. On the morning of Sunday, September 24, as it passes by Earth the probe will release a canister holding about 9 ounces of space rock. The container will plummet through the atmosphere, its parachute will unfurl,…