The New Yorker-Science & Technology

"A far-out search for life, Can birds talk?, Falling in love with iPhone photography."

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and contributors.  Accessed on 19 October 2024, 1354 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

 

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In today’s newsletter, a far-out search for life, and then: • Political paranoia in North Carolina after the hurricane • Can birds talk? • Falling back in love with iPhone photography The Woman Who Helped Send a Spacecraft to Europa A frozen “ocean world” is the likeliest place in the solar system to foster alien life. Louise Prockter and her colleagues persuaded NASA to send a mission there. By David W. Brown Photograph by Chandan Khanna / Getty Just after noon on Monday, a SpaceX rocket stood on the same launchpad that once sent men to the moon. Hurricane Milton had recently ripped across Florida, whipping up winds of a hundred miles per hour in Cape Canaveral, but now the skies were a featureless blue. From a restricted viewing area not far away, Louise Prockter, a graceful scientist with sandy hair, glanced at a countdown clock and then back at the rocket, which carried her lifework. “Surreal,” she said softly. “This just doesn’t feel real.” There were three minutes until ignition. Keep reading From the News Desk  The Lede Outrage and Paranoia After Hurricane Helene It’s common for natural disasters to create confusion and distrust. These are significant things in North Carolina, where Trump and Harris are within a point of each other. By Jessica Pishko If you know someone who would enjoy Science & Technology, please share it. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up. Editor’s Pick  Annals of Zoology How Scientists Started to Decode Birdsong Language is said to make us human. What if birds talk, too? By Rivka Galchen The New Yorker Festival takes place October 25-27th in New York City. The scientist and musician Jaron Lanier and the sociologist Sherry Turkle join The New Yorker’s ideas editor, Joshua Rothman, for a conversation about what makes humans unique in the age of artificial intelligence. Use the code TECH20 to save 20% » From the Archive  A Reporter at Large The Martian Chroniclers From 2013: What is the enduring allure of Mars? And who are the Earthlings who have theorized about the red planet through the years? By Burkhard Bilger Our Columnists  Open Questions Do They Really Believe That Stuff? According to a new book, America’s political derangement has psychological roots. By Joshua Rothman  Infinite Scroll How I Fell Back in Love with iPhone Photography A new feature on the camera app Halide allows you to take pictures without Apple’s A.I. optimization. By Kyle Chayka Cartoon by Will McPhail P.S. Climate-related disasters are getting worse every year, and the places that are destroyed by those disasters face challenges long after the news cycle moves on. In 2021, Sarah Stillman reported on the cleanup crews—a growing group of laborers trailing hurricanes and wildfires the way farmworkers follow crops, contracting for big disaster-recovery firms, and facing exploitation, injury, and death.

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