Vox's Unexplainable podcast expands to twice a week
More of Vox's Unexplainable podcast is coming your way! Starting today, the award-winning show — which explores mysteries in science and beyond — will publish twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. Unexplainable isn't about finding an answer or defining some phenomenon, but about trying to see the world in new ways, revealing how much there still is to learn, and celebrating the wonder we've yet to discover. A refreshed brand identity reflects this spirit and helps mark the series' expansion.
To kick off its new increased cadence, the show will debunk a favorite myth among us Homo sapiens: Turns out, Neanderthals were smart. During the next few weeks, Unexplainable will take you to the inside of a volcano, to an imaginary planet that feels extremely real, and to meet a scientist who walks butterflies around a lab on leashes. Fans will get the same great work they've come to expect, twice as often.
This expansion was led by senior supervising producer Meredith Hoddinott, along with editorial director Jorge Just, co-host Noam Hassenfeld, senior producer Byrd Pinkerton, engineer Cristian Ayala, and the show's newest member, co-host Julia Longoria, who also hosted the Good Robot audio documentary in the Unexplainable feed.
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Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hidden layer beneath Italy's Campi Flegrei caldera may explain why it's so restless
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A weak layer of crust deep below the floor of Italy's Campi Flegrei causes the caldera to undergo periods of earth-trembling unrest, new research has found. According to the new study, published April 5 in the journal AGU Advances, this layer sits between 1.8 and 2.5 miles (3 to 4 kilometers) deep. It is made of a rock called tuff, which has been weakened by multiple magma intrusions over tens of thousands of years. This tuff, a light rock made of compressed volcanic ash, acts like a sponge for volcanic gases rising from the magma chamber that sits at least 7.5 miles (12 km) below the surface. When these gases begin to saturate the pores in the tuff, they cause the rock to deform and even break, creating earthquakes. This finding could explain the source of Campi Flegrei's regular restless periods, said study leader Lucia Pappalardo, senior researcher at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy (INGV). "Other calderas in the world are characterized by this phenomenon," Pappalardo told Live Science, "[so] we think our model can be extended to other calderas worldwide." The research is part of a larger project with the aim of better forecasting eruptions at Campi Flegrei, which is also known as the Phlegraean Fields and sits west of Naples. Roughly 500,000 people live in an area that would be swamped by boiling pyroclastic flows of hot ash and gas in the event of a caldera eruption, according to Italy's Civil Protection Department. Campi Flegrei has been erupting for at least 47,000 years and last erupted in 1538. But it undergoes periods of significant unrest, one of which has been ongoing since 2005. During these restless periods, the region shakes with frequent, mostly small, earthquakes. One of these minor quakes caused a wall to collapse at the historic site of Pompeii on Thursday (June 5), according to news reports. Pappalardo and her team wanted to understand how the structure and strength of the rocks under the caldera contribute to the volcanic activity. They used rocks drilled decades ago from deep below the caldera's center , subjecting them to a bevy of scientific analysis. They characterized the minerals and elements in the samples and also subjected them to a process called "4D computed X-ray microtomography," which allowed them to observe the structure of the rock samples while they were being compressed until they cracked. This provided information about the rocks' strength and mechanics, study co-author and INGV researcher Gianmarco Buono told Live Science. RELATED STORIES —Italy's Campi Flegrei volcano may unleash devastating eruptions more often than we thought —Were Neanderthals really killed off by Campi Flegrei, Europe's awakening 'supervolcano'? —Supervolcano 'megabeds' discovered at the bottom of the sea As the researchers conducted these tests on samples from different layers of rocks, they discovered the weak tuff layer. "This was unexpected," Pappalardo said. Using computer modeling, the researchers discovered that this layer has likely trapped numerous magma intrusions, or dykes, over the millennia. These intrusions heated and deformed the rock, weakening it. The researchers are now working to understand the ways that material from the caldera's deep magma chamber can rise to the surface, causing an eruption. But despite the caldera's frequent shuddering, there is no indication that a major eruption is imminent, Pappalardo said. "At the moment, our monitoring system is not registering any parameters that can suggest magma movement," she said. "So the eruption cannot be in a short time."
Vox
3 days ago
- Vox
Do kids need a best friend?
is a senior correspondent for Vox, where she covers American family life, work, and education. Previously, she was an editor and writer at the New York Times. She is also the author of four novels, including the forthcoming Bog Queen, which you can preorder here As important as best-friendships can be, they don't always last forever. Amr Bo Shanab via Getty Images/fStop This story originally appeared in Kids Today, Vox's newsletter about kids, for everyone. Sign up here for future editions. Divya met her best friend when she was just 4 years old. They've been through all the phases of childhood and adolescence together, and more than 14 years later, they're still incredibly close, Divya told me. They don't see each other every day, but whenever they get together, it's like no time has passed. 'Every time I look back to that particular friendship, I just feel amazed, and I feel like it's an achievement in itself,' the 19-year-old said. Having a friend like Divya's can be a joy for kids, just as it can be for adults. 'We all would like to have somebody who is there for us through thick and thin, and who knows us deeply and loves us anyway,' said Eileen Kennedy-Moore, a clinical psychologist and host of the podcast Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic. Kids with best friends tend to be less anxious, better able to handle rejection and bullying, and even more engaged in school, Kennedy-Moore said. But when I reached out to a group of contributors from the podcast This Teenage Life (Divya among them) to talk about friendship, one of the first topics that came up was pressure. Adults and other kids alike send the message that everyone needs a best friend, or that friendship should look a certain way, the teens told me. Even Divya gets worried sometimes when she sees other teens post on social media about talking to their best friends every day. She starts to worry: 'Are we even best friends or not?' The good news is that kids don't need a certain kind of best-friendship, or even a best friend at all. 'What kids need is a repertoire of anchors,' people who 'hold you up, that are there for you,' said Michele Borba, an educational psychologist and author of the book Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Thrive. Maybe one friend is for sharing worries, and another is for sharing soccer games, and that's okay. As Brin, 18, put it, 'not all friends can help with every single thing.' Best friends are valuable — but not constant Kids have preferences for one classmate over another as early as preschool, Kennedy-Moore said. They may even use the term 'best friend,' but they don't always understand its meaning the same way older kids do. My 2-year-old, for example, says that his left foot and right foot are best friends. Real best-friendship starts a bit later, often by kindergarten or first grade, experts say. It's a common experience, but not universal — research has shown that about half of kids have a best friend who would also identify them as a best friend, Kennedy-Moore said. Definitions have shifted with time, but today, a best friend is usually 'someone that you can trust will always be there for you, someone you can trust with your intimate secrets,' said Barry Schneider, an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa who studies children's friendships. When teens talked to me about their best friends, many of them emphasized not just common interests, but mutual support: 'She was super helpful, and she was always there when I needed her,' Pratyusha, 18, said of one best friend from the past. As important as best-friendships can be, they don't always last forever. In one study of seventh-grade best friends, only a quarter of best-friendships lasted until eighth grade, and only 1 percent all the way until senior year of high school, Kennedy-Moore said. Kids also go through periods when they have a best friend and periods when they don't — in another study, two-thirds of fifth-graders had a best friend, leaving about 33 percent without. By sixth grade, the share of best-friendless kids had dropped to 17 percent. The kids who gained a best friend had become kinder and more helpful according to their peers, suggesting that building social skills can help children acquire a best friend, Kennedy-Moore has written. As shifting as best-friendship can be, having that one super close relationship can have real benefits, experts say. Some research, for example, shows that having a best friend is protective against depression, Schneider said. Brin, now 18, met their first best friend in day care, and they're still close today. 'This person is like a sibling to me,' Brin said. 'I know that no matter what, I can always go to them for help.' The pressure to pair off But the idea of best-friendship can also be stressful, teens say. Brin remembers taking a mental health survey in elementary school that asked if they had a best friend in the school district. 'That made me feel so guilty for not feeling like I connected to anybody' within their school, Brin said. 'Our world is very set up for partners or couples,' Stella, 19, told me. Teens get the message that certain activities are for two — 'this is for you and a partner, or this is for you and a friend,' Brin said. 'It's always expected that you have somebody else with you, or else you're kind of weird, like going to the movies by yourself.' Social media can amplify these pressures. Teens will hard-launch a best-friendship on Instagram just like people announce new relationships, Stella said. Some best friends will post about choosing their outfits together before going out. 'They will post aesthetic pictures, they will take trips,' Divya said. 'It does make me feel like, am I missing out?' Best friends are not mandatory Despite the messages kids get, experts say it's completely okay not to have one particular best friend. 'The best analogy is romantic relationships,' Kennedy-Moore said. 'Can you be happy single? Sure, absolutely, you can have other enriching relationships.' It's important 'to break through all-or-nothing thinking about friendships,' she added. She sometimes talks with kids about tiers of friendship, from kids you talk with at the bus stop to soulmates who know everything about you. 'We might have a math class friend, or we might have a neighbor friend, or we might have a soccer friend, and all of these have value.' For the teens who talked to me, having an official best friend was less important than having people to rely on. 'I don't necessarily feel like I had best friends this year,' Stella, a first-year college student, told me. 'But by the end of it, it was like, these are people that I feel like I can trust.' 'It doesn't really matter if you have the label of best friend, or if you're matching clothes or not, if you're wishing each other happy birthday or not on Instagram,' Medha, 15, told me. 'It just matters that you have someone to help you when you're feeling low, to congratulate you when you're feeling high, when you're very happy, and to keep motivating you all the time.' What I'm reading Some surveys show fewer parents are reading to their kids now than in the past. It could be one reason fewer kids are reading for pleasure. Even young kids see disasters like wildfires and worry about the future of our planet. These early educators are helping to give kids a sense of hope. After HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would no longer recommend Covid vaccines for healthy kids, the agency stated that the shots would now be 'recommended vaccination based on shared clinical decision-making,' meaning kids can get them after talking with their doctor (the shots should still be covered by insurance). My little kid has been enjoying the picture book I Was So Mad, which is relatable for young children because they are always mad at you for telling them not to do cool stuff. From my inbox One of the best parts of writing this newsletter is hearing from young people directly about their lives. If you're a teenager and there's something you'd like to see me cover here — or something you feel like adults always get wrong about kids your age — feel free to get in touch at (if your parents are okay with it, of course). And thanks, as always, to readers of all ages for writing in! (By emailing, you acknowledge that we may use your message in a story, and a Vox reporter may follow up with you. You also agree to Vox Media LLC Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.)
Vox
5 days ago
- Vox
Hurricane season is here. NOAA is in shambles. What could go wrong?
is an environmental correspondent at Vox, covering biodiversity loss and climate change. Before joining Vox, he was a senior energy reporter at Business Insider. Benji previously worked as a wildlife researcher. Hurricane season in the Atlantic has officially begun. And while this year will likely be less extreme than in 2024 — one of the most destructive seasons ever, with the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record — it's still shaping up to be a doozy. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predict 'above-average' activity this season, with six to 10 hurricanes. The season runs from June 1 to November 30. NOAA's 2025 hurricane forecast, by the numbers 60 percent: Chance of an above-normal hurricane season. 6 to 10: Hurricanes expected this season, meaning tropical storms with wind speeds reaching at least 74 mph. 3 to 5: Major hurricanes, or storms with wind speeds reaching 111 mph or higher. 13 to 19: Named storms, referring to tropical systems with wind speeds of at least 39 mph. NOAA says it will update its forecast in early August. At least three of those storms will be category 3 or higher, the forecasters project, meaning they will have gusts reaching at least 111 miles per hour. Other reputable forecasts predict a similarly active 2025 season with around nine hurricanes. Last year, there were 11 Atlantic hurricanes, whereas the average for 1991 to 2020 was just over 7, according to hurricane researchers at Colorado State University. A highly active hurricane season is obviously never a good thing, especially for people living in places like Florida, Louisiana, and, apparently, North Carolina (see: Hurricane Helene, the deadliest inland hurricane on record). Even when government agencies that forecast and respond to severe storms — namely, NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA — are fully staffed and funded, big hurricanes inflict billions of dollars of damage, and they cost lives. Under the Trump administration, however, these agencies are not well staffed and face steep budget cuts. Hundreds of government employees across these agencies have been fired or left, including those involved in hurricane forecasting. What could go wrong? Why forecasters expect more hurricanes than average this year The primary reason is that Caribbean waters are unusually warm right now, Brian McNoldy, a hurricane expert at the University of Miami, told Vox. Warm water provides fuel for hurricanes, and waters in and around the Caribbean tend to be where hurricanes form early in the season. If this sounds familiar, that's because the Caribbean has been unusually warm for a while now. That was a key reason why the 2024 and 2023 hurricane seasons were so active. Warm ocean water, and its ability to help form and then intensify hurricanes, is one of the clearest signals — and consequences — of climate change. Data indicates that climate change has made current temperatures in parts of the Caribbean and near Florida several (and in some cases 30 to 60) times more likely. The Atlantic has cooled some since hitting extremely high temperatures over the last two summers, yet 'the overall long-term trend is to warm,' said McNoldy, a senior research associate at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. The Caribbean is currently far hotter than average. Courtesy of Brian McNoldy The other key reason why forecasters expect an ample number of hurricanes this year has to do with a complicated climate phenomenon known as the ENSO cycle. ENSO has three phases — El Niño, La Niña, and neutral — that are determined by ocean temperatures and wind patterns. And each phase means something slightly different for hurricane season. Put simply, El Niño tends to suppress hurricanes because it causes an increase in wind shear — the abrupt changes in wind speed and direction. And wind shear can disrupt hurricanes. In La Niña years, meanwhile, there's little wind shear, allowing hurricanes to form, and they're often accompanied by higher sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic. Right now the ENSO phase is, rather unexcitedly, neutral. That means there won't be the high, hurricane-blocking wind shear of El Niño, but the conditions won't be as favorable as they are in La Niña. This all leads to more unpredictability, according to climate scientists. The government says it's prepared. Is it? When publishing the NOAA hurricane forecast last month, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees NOAA, said 'we have never been more prepared for hurricane season.' Climate scientists have challenged that claim. They point out that, under the Trump administration, hundreds of workers at NOAA have been fired or otherwise pushed out, which threatens the accuracy of weather forecasts that can help save lives. FEMA has also lost employees, denied requests for hurricane relief, and is reportedly ending door-to-door canvassing in disaster regions designed to help survivors access government aid. 'Secretary Lutnick's claim is the sort of lie that endangers the lives of people living along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and even those further inland unable to escape the extensive reach of associated torrential rains and flooding,' Marc Alessi, an atmospheric scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental advocacy group, told Vox. 'Notwithstanding the valiant efforts of dedicated career staff, this administration has taken to actively thwarting the vital scientific work at agencies including NOAA that communities rely on to stay safe throughout hurricane season.' According to Alessi, a handful of National Weather Service offices along the Gulf Coast — which is often hit by hurricanes — currently lack lead meteorologists. 'Missing this sort of expertise in the face of a projected above-average hurricane season could lead to a breakdown in proper warning and evacuation in vulnerable communities should a storm strike, potentially leading to more deaths that could have otherwise been avoided,' Alessi said. As my colleague Umair Irfan has reported, the National Weather Service is also launching weather balloons less frequently, due to staffing cuts. Those balloons measure temperature, humidity, and windspeed, providing data that feeds into forecasts. 'They've been short-staffed for a long time, but the recent spate of people retiring or being let go have led some stations now to the point where they do not have enough folks to go out and launch those balloons,' Pamela Knox, an agricultural climatologist at the University of Georgia extension and director of the UGA weather network, told Irfan in May. 'We're becoming more blind because we are not having access to that data anymore. A bigger issue is when you have extreme events, because extreme events have a tendency to happen very quickly. You have to have real-time data.' The White House is also trying to dramatically shrink NOAA's funding, proposing a budget cut of roughly $2 billion. In response to the proposed cuts, five former directors of the National Weather Service signed an open letter that raises alarm about what funding and staffing losses mean for all Americans. 'Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life,' the former directors wrote in the letter. 'We know that's a nightmare shared by those on the forecasting front lines — and by the people who depend on their efforts.'
