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Scientific American
3 hours ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Neurotic Cats, One-Eyed Aliens and Hypnosis for Liars Are among the Historical Gems Reported in
11 min read Scientific American Dive into the quirkiest and most fascinating tales from Scientific American 's 180-year archive By We're celebrating 180 years of Scientific American. Explore our legacy of discovery and look ahead to the future. Scientists are trained to thoroughly investigate their new ideas. Sometimes, however, their preliminary research can go down strange rabbit holes, leading to interpretations of evidence that are, well, misguided. In reporting on emerging science for 180 years, Scientific American has published straight accounts that were considered legitimate at the time but today seem quaint, quizzical, ridiculous—or, sometimes, prophetic. That's how science works. It evolves. As experts learn more in any given discipline, they revise theories, conduct new experiments and recast former conclusions. SciAm editors and writers have dutifully reported on it all, leaving us with some fun accounts from science history, here for you to enjoy. Know What? Your Phone Can Send Photos On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. April 6, 1895 'When the telephone was introduced to the attention of the world, and the human voice was made audible miles away, there were dreamy visions of other combinations of natural forces by which even sight of distant scenes might be obtained through inanimate wire. It may be claimed, now, that this same inanimate wire and electrical current will transmit and engrave a copy of a photograph miles away from the original. The electro-artograph, named by its inventor, Mr. N. S. Amstutz, will transmit copies of photographs to any distance, and reproduce the same at the other end of the wire, in line engraving, ready for press printing.' — 'The Amstutz Electro-Artograph,' in Scientific American, Vol. LXXII, No. 14, page 215; April 6, 1895 Steam Boilers Are Exploding Everywhere March 19, 1881 'The records kept by the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company show that 170 steam boilers exploded in the United States last year, killing 259 persons and injuring 555. The classified list shows the largest number of explosions in any class to have been 47, in sawing, planing and woodworking mills. The other principal classes were in order: paper, flouring, pulp and grist mills, and elevators, 19; railroad locomotives and fire engines, 18; steamboats, tugboats, yachts, steam barges, dredges and dry docks, 15; portable engines, hoisters, thrashers, piledrivers and cotton gins, 13; ironworks, rolling mills, furnaces, foundries, machine and boiler shops, 13; distilleries, breweries, malt and sugar houses, soap and chemical works, 10.' — 'Whose Boilers Explode,' in Scientific American, Vol. XLIV, No. 12, page 176; March 19, 1881 Want to Crack Open a Safe? Try Nitroglycerin January 27, 1906 'Today the safe-breaker no longer requires those beautifully fashioned, delicate yet powerful tools which were formerly both the admiration and the despair of the safe manufacturer. For the introduction of nitroglycerine, 'soup' in technical parlance, has not only obviated onerous labor, but has again enabled the safe-cracking industry to gain a step on the safe-making one. The modern 'yeggman,' however, is often an inartistic, untidy workman, for it frequently happens that when the door suddenly parts company with the safe it takes the front of the building with it. The bombardment of the surrounding territory with portions of the Farmers' National Bank seldom fails to rouse from slumber even the soundly-sleeping tillers of the soil.' — 'The Ungentle Art of Burglary,' in Scientific American, Vol. XCIV, No. 4, page 88; January 27, 1906 Japanese Tissues Surprise Americans June 19, 1869 'The Japanese dignitaries, says the Boston Journal of Chemistry, who recently visited this country under the direction of Mr. Burlingame, were observed to use pocket paper instead of pocket handkerchiefs, whenever they had occasion to remove perspiration from the forehead, or 'blow the nose.' The same piece is never used twice, but is thrown away after it is first taken in hand. We should suppose in time of general catarrh, the whole empire of Japan would be covered with bits of paper blowing about. The paper is quite peculiar, being soft, thin, and very tough.' — 'Pocket Paper,' in Scientific American, Vol. XX, No. 25, page 391; June 19, 1869 Poor Pluto Is 10 Times Smaller Than Thought July 1950 'The outermost planet of the solar system has a mass 10 times smaller than hitherto supposed, according to measurements made by Gerard P. Kuiper of Yerkes Observatory with the 200-inch telescope on Palomar Mountain. On the basis of deviations in the path of the planet Neptune, supposedly caused by Pluto's gravitational attraction, it used to be estimated that Pluto's mass was approximately that of the earth. Kuiper was the first human being to see the planet as anything more than a pinpoint of light. He calculated that Pluto's diameter is 3,600 miles, and its mass is one tenth of the earth's. It leaves unsolved the mystery of Neptune's perturbations, which are too great to be accounted for by so small a planet as Pluto.' — 'Pluto's Mass,' in Scientific American, Vol. 183, No. 1, page 28; July 1950 Astronomers Fail to Find Factories on the Moon August 27, 1846 'By means of a magnificent and powerful telescope, procured by Lord Ross, of Ireland, the moon has been subjected to a more critical examination than ever before. It is stated that there were no vestiges of architectural remains to show that the moon is or ever was inhabited by a race of mortals similar to ourselves. The moon presented no appearance that it contained anything like the green-field and lovely verdure of this beautiful world of ours. There was no water visible—not a sea, or a river, or even the measure of a reservoir for supplying a factory—all seemed desolate.' — 'The Moon' in Scientific American, Vol. I, No. 49, page 2; August 27, 1846 Widespread Layoffs for Horses November 22, 1919 'Professional horse-breeders still boost for the business; but they are merely whistling to keep up their courage. The days of the horse as a beast of burden are numbered. The automobile is taking the place of the carriage horse; the truck is taking the place of the dray horse; and the farm tractor the place of the farm horse. Nor is there any cause to bemoan this state of affairs. We all admit that the horse is one of the noblest of animals; and that is a very good reason why we should rejoice at his prospective emancipation from a life of servitude and suffering. That, of course, is the humanitarian side of it; the business side is more to the point: the machine is going to do the hard work of the world much easier and much cheaper than it ever has been done. At least 50 percent of the horses will have been laid off by January 1st, 1920.' — 'The Draft-Horse Situation,' in Scientific American, Vol. CXXI, No. 21, page 510; November 22, 1919 Woman Can Eat after Stomach Is Removed January 15, 1898 'The catalog of brilliant achievements of surgery must now include the operation performed by Dr. Carl Schlatter, of the University of Zurich, who has succeeded in extirpating the stomach of a woman. The patient is in good physical condition, having survived the operation three months. Anna Landis was a Swiss silk weaver, fifty-six years of age. She had abdominal pains, and on examination it was found that she had a large tumor, the whole stomach being hopelessly diseased. Dr. Schlatter conceived the daring and brilliant idea of removing the stomach and uniting the intestine with the oesophagus, forming a direct channel from the throat down through the intestines. The abdominal wound has healed rapidly and the woman's appetite is now good, but she does not eat much at a time.' — 'Living without a Stomach,' in Scientific American, Vol. LXXVIII, No. 3, page 35; January 15, 1898 Thomas Edison Had a Crush on Iron January 1898 'The remarkable process of crushing and magnetic separation of iron ore at Mr. Thomas Edison's works in New Jersey shows a characteristic originality and freedom from the trammels of tradition. The rocks of iron ore are fed through 70-ton 'giant rolls' that can seize a 5-ton rock and crunch it with less show of effort than a dog in crunching a bone. After passing through several rollers and mesh screens, the finely crushed material falls in a thin sheet in front of a series of magnets, which deflect the magnetic particles containing iron. This is the latest and most radical development in mining and metallurgy of iron.' — 'The Edison Magnetic Concentrating Works,' in Scientific American, Vol. LXXVIII, No. 4, pages 55–57; January 22, 1898 Baby Bottles Are the Best Way to Drink in Space June 1959 'The problems of eating and drinking under weightless conditions in space, long a topic of speculation among science-fiction writers, are now under investigation in a flying laboratory. Preliminary results indicate that space travelers will drink from plastic squeeze bottles and that space cooks will specialize in semiliquid preparations resembling baby food. According to a report in the Journal of Aviation Medicine, almost all the volunteers found that drinking from an open container was a frustrating and exceedingly messy process. Under weightless conditions even a slowly lifted glass of water was apt to project an amoeba-like mass of fluid onto the face. Drinking from a straw was hardly more satisfactory. Bubbles of air remained suspended in the weightless water, and the subjects ingested more air than water.' — 'Space Menus,' in Scientific American, Vol. 200, No. 6, pages 82, 85; June 1959 Hypnosis Can Cure Lying but Not Lack of Ambition February 24, 1900 'Dr. John D. Quackenbos, of Columbia University, has long been engaged in experiments in using hypnotic suggestion for the correction of moral infirmities and defects such as kleptomania, the drink habit, and in children habits of lying and petty thieving. Dr. Quackenbos says, 'I find out all I can about the extent of a patient's weakness. For each patient I have to find some ambition, some strong conscious tendency to appeal to, and then my suggestion, as an unconscious impulse, controls the moral weakness by inducing the patient to further his desires by honest means. Of course, if a man has, like one of my patients, no ambition in the world save to be a good billiard player, he can't be cured of the liquor habit, because his highest ambition takes him straight into danger.'' — 'Hypnotism in Practice,' in Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XLIX, No. 1260, page 20192; February 24, 1900 Aliens Could Have 100 Eyes November 18, 1854 'Sir David Brewster, who supposes the stars to be inhabited, as being 'the hope of the Christian,' asks, 'is it necessary that an immortal soul be hung upon a skeleton of bone; must it see with two eyes, and rest on a duality of limbs? May it not rest in a Polyphemus with one eye ball, or an Argus with a hundred? May it not reign in the giant forms of the Titans, and direct the hundred hands of Briareus?' Supposing it were true, what has that to do with the hope of the Christian? Nothing at all. This speculating in the physical sciences, independent of any solid proofs one way or the other, and dragging in religion into such controversies, neither honors the Author of religion, nor adds a single laurel to the chaplet of the sciences; nor will we ever be able to tell whether Mars or Jupiter contain a single living object.' — 'Inhabitants in the Stars,' in Scientific American, Vol. X, No. 10, page 74; November 18, 1854 New Party Food: Oxygen Cakes February 2, 1907 'Smoke helmets, smoke jackets, and self-contained breathing apparatus generally are used in mines of all kinds, fire brigades, ammonia chambers of refrigerating factories and other industrial concerns. The curious gear is intended to supply the user with air for about four hours. Oxygen can be supplied from a steel cylinder. Some shipping companies absolutely refuse to carry compressed oxygen in steel cylinders, however. Now a new substance, known as 'oxylithe,' has come along. The stuff is prepared in small cakes ready for immediate use, and on coming in contact with water it gives off chemically pure oxygen.' — 'Breathing Masks and Helmets,' by W. G. Fitz-Gerald, in Scientific American, Vol. XCVI, No. 5, pages 113–114; February 2, 1907 Fake News: Wheat Buried with Mummies Can Grow July 23, 1864 'There is a popular belief that wheat found in the ancient sepulchres of Egypt will not only germinate after the lapse of 3,000 years, but produce ears of extraordinary size and beauty. The question is undecided; but Antonio Figari-Bey's paper, addressed to the Egyptian Institute at Alexandria, appears much against it. One kind of wheat which Figari-Bey employed for his experiments had been found in Upper Egypt, at the bottom of a tomb at Medinet-Aboo [Madīnat Hābū]. The form of the grains had not changed, but their color, both without and within, had become reddish, as if they had been exposed to smoke. On being sown in moist ground, on the ninth day their decomposition was complete. No trace of any germination could be discovered.' — 'Mummy Wheat,' in Scientific American, Vol. XI, No. 4, page 49; July 23, 1864 First Picturephone Requires an Enormous Pocket July 1964 'By this month it should be possible for a New Yorker, a Chicagoan or a Washingtonian to communicate with someone in one of the other cities by televised telephoning. The device they would use is called a Picturephone and is described by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which developed it, as 'the first dialable visual telephone system with an acceptable picture that has been brought within the range of economic feasibility.' A desktop unit includes a camera and a screen that is 4 3 ⁄ 8 inches wide and 5 3 ⁄ 4 inches high. AT&T says it cannot hope to provide the service to homes or offices at present, one reason being that the transmission of a picture requires a bandwidth that would accommodate 125 voice-only telephones.' — 'Picturephone,' in Scientific American, Vol. 211, No. 1, page 48; July 1964 Scientific American Returns Bribe Offered by Casino Cheat March 2, 1901 'A correspondent from the city of Boone, Iowa, sends $5 and some sketches of a table he is building, evidently intended for some gambling establishment. There is a plate of soft iron in the middle of a table under the cloth, which by an electric current may become magnetized. Loaded dice can thereby be manipulated at the will of the operator. He desires us to assist him in overcoming some defects in his design. We have returned the amount of the bribe offered, and take the opportunity of informing him that we do not care to become an accessory in his crime.' — 'A Disingenuous Request,' in Scientific American, Vol. LXXXIV, No. 9, page 135; March 2, 1901 That Giant Sucking Sound Doesn't Exist February 21, 1857 'I have been informed by a European acquaintance that the Maelstrom, that great whirlpool on the coast of Norway, has no existence. He told me that a nautical and scientific commission, appointed by the King of Denmark, was sent to approach as near as possible to the edge of the whirlpool, sail around it, measure its circumference, observe its action and make a report. They went out and sailed all around where the Maelstrom was said to be, but the sea was as smooth as any other part of the German ocean. I had been instructed to believe that the Maelstrom was a fixed fact, and that ships, and even huge whales, were sometimes dragged within its terrible liquid coils, and buried forever.' — 'Maelstrom—The Great Whirlpool,' in Scientific American, Vol. XII, No. 24, page 187; February 21, 1857 Small Jets of Air Make Cats Neurotic March 1950 'Neurotic aberrations can be caused when patterns of behavior come into conflict either because they arise from incompatible needs, or because they cannot coexist in space and time. Cat neuroses were experimentally produced by first training animals to obtain food by manipulating a switch that deposited a pellet of food in the food-box. After a cat had become thoroughly accustomed to this procedure, a harmless jet of air was flicked across its nose as it lifted the lid of the food-box. The cats then showed neurotic indecision about approaching the switch. Some assumed neurotic attitudes. Others were uninterested in mice. One tried to shrink into the cage walls.' — 'Experimental Neuroses,' by Jules H. Masserman, in Scientific American, Vol. 182, No. 3, pages 38–43; March 1950
Scientific American
6 hours ago
- Climate
- Scientific American
This Summer's Extreme Weather Explained: Flash Floods and Corn Sweat
Extreme weather is front-page news. But what are the phenomena behind the headlines? By , Andrea Thompson, Fonda Mwangi & Alex Sugiura Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. With summer heat domes slamming down on parts of the U.S. and hurricane season ramping up, you've no doubt seen plenty of extreme weather stories in your feed over the last few weeks. Joining me today to demystify a few of those headlines is Andrea Thompson, a senior news editor for sustainability at Scientific American. Thanks so much for coming on to chat with us. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Andrea Thompson: Thanks for having me. Feltman: So let's go over some of the topics that people might see trending in the headlines a lot, you know, during this time of year. We'll start with flash flooding. Could you tell us a little bit about what happened in Texas and how it was possible for these floods to become so dangerous so quickly? Thompson: Yeah, so flash flood, it's, you know, sort of in the name—it happens really quickly and often takes people by surprise. It happens when you have really intense rains over a fairly small area, usually, over a relatively short time span. And that's basically what happened in Texas. There was between six to 10 inches of rain in three hours, which is [laughs] a lot of rain. And basically, the ground just can't absorb that much water that quickly. And it can be exacerbated by other aspects. You know, in cities you have a lot of pavement and a lot of asphalt, and those are impermeable to water, so water is going to collect even more than it would on, you know, soil. And then topography can play a role, too, and in Texas this was an area with a lot of riverbeds, a lot of steep topography that basically funnels all that water down into one area. And in this case, you know, in one spot, in Hunt, Texas, the water rose 26 feet in 45 minutes on the Guadalupe River ... Feltman: Wow. Thompson: Which is just an incredible amount. And that's because there's just so much rain and it's all being funneled into sort of this one riverbed. And people just don't expect water to rise that much that quickly. And, you know, for reference, 26 feet is more than two stories in a building. And water is also extremely powerful. Just six inches of quickly moving water can knock a person off their feet. Feltman: Mm. Thompson: And the faster the water is moving—the force increases faster than the water's actual velocity ... Feltman: Mm. Thompson: So it's not exponential, but you're getting much more force even for every little step in velocity ... Feltman: I see, yeah. Thompson: They're really hard to forecast, and that also takes people by surprise. So we can say, 'It's gonna rain in this area on this day, and pockets will have, potentially, big downpours like this,' but you can't even say, usually, a few hours out, 'It's going to bring exactly this much in exactly this place,' because these are such small features in the atmosphere that, you know, weather models just can't pick them out that far in advance. So that also is an aspect in terms of people sort of being caught unawares. Feltman: Well, let's end on—not a fun note for people who are experiencing it but something that at least [laughs] feels more fun to talk about. Everyone is Googling 'corn sweat.' Everybody was talking about corn sweat last summer, and now corn sweat is back. So what is corn sweat actually [laughs]? Thompson: Yes, and it's, it's not just the actor who's in the new Superman movie [laughs], which—I've had lots of jokes about that [laughs]. So basically, there are heat waves in the summer. They happen all the time. And some heat waves, especially if you're in, say, the western half of the country, they tend to be a drier heat; in the eastern half of the country, where it's wetter, you have a lot more humidity. Feltman: Swampy. Thompson: Yes [laughs]. You know, this is especially true around the Gulf Coast, where you have this really abundant source of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. You know, the level of humidity can be affected by how wet a season has been—so we've had a pretty wet summer in the East, so everything is just really saturated with water, so when it's hot there's a lot of water to evaporate, or transpire, from plants. And that's what's happening with corn and some other crops in the Midwest. You know, these crops cover huge amounts of land, and when there's heat they transpire water vapor into the air, and that raises the humidity, and they call it 'corn sweat,' which is a very funny term but [laughs] very grabby. But the Midwest is kind of notorious for these really high humidity levels, whereas when we think of humidity, we think of, like, 'Oh, Florida,' or places like that ... Feltman: Mm-hmm. Thompson: But no, the Midwest can get really humid in the summer because of this phenomenon. Feltman: Well, and I feel like I ask you about this almost every time you come on, but it hasn't stopped [laughs] being important and useful: What can people do to keep cool in the summer and stay safe? Thompson: Absolutely, so one of the keys is sort of being aware of the level of risk for you or your loved ones, neighbors. Young children, older people, people who take certain medications or have certain illnesses, especially heart disease, are more susceptible. People who work outside are much more susceptible to heat illness. So it's important to be particularly aware for those people. Generally, you want to avoid any strenuous activity outside in the middle of the day, when the sun is at its highest and temperatures are at their highest. Staying hydrated, wearing loose clothing, light-color clothing is really helpful. Being in the shade as much as possible. You know, if you have access to air-conditioning, being in that [laughs] as much as possible. And we actually also have a story on how to keep your home cool that includes—you know, air-conditioning is obviously kind of the gold standard in terms of keeping things comfortable; it also has the added benefit of pulling humidity out of the air. But there's a lot you can do with fans in terms of keeping a home relatively cool, and part of that is because the motion, the air currents that it generates, means there's more air moving over the surface of your skin, so that is carrying heat away from your body, and it's also carrying sweat away, which sweat is basically the way our body naturally cools itself. So it's helping that process along. You can also do things like making sure to seal any drafts, making sure your, like, your windows are very nice and sealed. You can put up blackout blinds, or if you don't even have those, you can even just do good old-fashioned aluminum foil on the outside to reflect some of the solar heat. I've done a little bit of that myself in my apartment [laughs]. You know, and there are other tips like that to basically just minimize the amount of heat coming into your apartment and maximize the amount of cooling that is happening for you. Feltman: Well, thank you for that advice and for filling us in on these important issues in weather, and thanks so much for coming on to chat. Thompson: Thanks for having me! Feltman: That's all for today's episode. If you have any questions about the weather you'd like Andrea to answer for us in a future episode, let us know by sending us an email at ScienceQuickly@ We'll be back on Friday with a fascinating conversation on the future of artificial intelligence—and why you shouldn't freak out if your favorite chatbot starts talking about its own sentience. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news. For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. See you next time!
Scientific American
12 hours ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Spellements: Wednesday, July 30, 2025
How to Play Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle! The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain four letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display. The dictionary we use for this game misses a lot of science words, such as apatite and coati. Let us know at games@ any extra science terms you found, along with your name and place of residence,
Scientific American
2 days ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Spellements: Tuesday, July 29, 2025
How to Play Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle! The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain three letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display. The dictionary we use for this game misses a lot of science words, such as apatite and coati. Let us know at games@ any extra science terms you found, along with your name and place of residence,
Scientific American
2 days ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Summer Meteor Showers, Short Summer Days and Ancient Arthropods
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. It's been a while, but we're finally back with our usual science news roundup. Let's catch up on some of the science news you might have missed in the last week or so. If last Tuesday seemed to fly right by, that's probably because it was a little shorter than usual. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service says that July 22 was around .8 milliseconds short of the standard 24 hours. That's slightly less dramatic than the almost 1.4 milliseconds that were missing from July 10, and scientists anticipate another ever-so-slightly truncated day on August 5. Now, while there were plenty of headlines about these missing fractions of a milliseconds, it's not actually news that the Earth's rotation varies in speed. The length of a single rotation—also known as a day—is impacted by factors such as the movements of our planet's liquid core, variations in the jet stream and the gravitational pull of the moon. One 2024 study even suggested that melting polar ice has decreased Earth's angular velocity enough to slow rotations down. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. In fact, earth's days have generally been trending longer if you look back at the last few billion years. Research suggests that at various points in the time before our species evolved, days were minutes and even hours shorter. But we always get our shortest days in the summer, and there have been some especially short ones over the last few years. Scientists aren't totally sure why that's been happening, but they expect the spike to flatten back down soon, according to reporting by The Guardian. Speaking of the movement of celestial heavenly bodies: two meteor showers are set to peak on the same evening this week. In the overnight from July 29 to 30 both the Southern delta Aquariids and the alpha Capricornids will be reaching the height of their activity. While the alpha Caricornids aren't known for dropping loads of visible objects, they do sometimes produce bright fireballs—plus they can be seen from anywhere on the planet. Meanwhile, folks in the Southern Hemisphere will also get a great view of the Southern delta Aquariids, and people farther north could catch some activity if they look southward. There will also be some scattered meteors from the Perseids, which will ramp up in activity next month. With the moon in a waxing crescent phase, conditions should be good for spotting meteors—as long as it's not too cloudy. So set an alarm for the predawn hours on Wednesday and go outside to take a peek. Now let's head back down to Earth. Last Monday the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue chief resigned. Ken Pagurek, who spent more than a decade with the FEMA branch and served as its chief for about a year, reportedly told colleagues that his decision was motivated in part by the delayed response to Texas's recent catastrophic flooding. The Department of Homeland Security recently implemented a policy that requires Secretary Kristi Noem to personally approve any spending over $100,000. CNN reports that Noem took more than 72 hours to provide authorization for Urban Search and Rescue teams to deploy in Texas. According to the New York Times, Noem also failed to renew agreements with call center companies whose contractors would have answered calls from disaster survivors. The contracts lapsed in the aftermath of the flood, when many people were still in need of help. The Times reported on July 5, FEMA received a bit more than 3,000 calls and answered about 99.7 percent of them. On July 6, with hundreds of the contractors responsible for answering phones suddenly fired, FEMA reportedly received 2,363 calls and answered about 35.8 percent of them. And according to the Times, those contracts weren't renewed until July 10. When asked for comment on Pagurek's resignation by ABC News, a DHS spokesperson doubled down on the new spending policy, defending the agency's decision not to 'hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight.' Let's pivot to some health news. According to a study of nearly 1,000 people published last Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, the COVID pandemic may have made our brains age more quickly—regardless of whether we got sick. First, the researchers analyzed imaging from more than 15,000 healthy individuals collected pre-pandemic to establish a baseline for normal brain aging. The team used this data to train machine-learning models to predict a person's brain age based on certain structural changes. The researchers then applied those models to brain scans from 996 other subjects, all of whom had received two brain scans at least a couple of years apart. About half of the participants had received both scans prior to the start of the pandemic, so they served as the control group. The scientists were then able to look at scans taken before and after the pandemic to assess the rate of brain aging. While only folks who got infected with COVID between their two scans showed a dip in some cognitive abilities, signs of brain aging, such as the shrinkage of gray matter, were accelerated across the board. The effects were most pronounced among men, older individuals and people from more socioeconomically deprived backgrounds. The study authors pointed to a number of aspects of the pandemic—including increases in stress, alcohol consumption and economic insecurity, along with decreases in physical activity and socialization—that they believe may have made our brains age more quickly. We don't yet know what the implications of these changes might be or whether they're reversible. Speaking of brains—and to end our show on a fun story because you know I love to do that—let's talk about ancient sea critters. A recent study focused on the extinct species Mollisonia symmetrica, which lived around half a billion years ago, suggests that the ancestors of spiders and other arachnids may have started out in the ocean. In studying fossilized remains of the tiny creature, scientists found that its brain was basically backwards—at least compared to other arthropods. The layout is more similar to the way modern arachnid noggins are arranged, which suggests that spider brains may have first evolved in the sea. That's all for this week's news roundup. We'll be back on Wednesday to talk about some of this summer's hottest topics in the world of weather. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
