Inside the Minds of People, Parrots and Bees

Have you at any time observed a parrot in a odd put? If you hear a flock of squawky, big and vibrant birds and surprise if you happen to be viewing things, you happen to be not. Different species of parrots have escaped from the pet trade and have proven flourishing colonies in metropolitan areas all around the world—Sarasota, Fla. New York Metropolis Surprise, Ariz. Singapore Amsterdam Tel Aviv—they’re just about everywhere. It really is hard not to anthropomorphize. As science author Ryan F. Mandelbaum points out, they’re smart, social, adaptable and assertive. They take in anything at all and breed any where. They’re generally us with wings.

We’re eagerly awaiting the return of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in September. If all goes well, it will release its sample canister to blaze by the atmosphere, open up a parachute and land in Utah carrying a scoop of content from the asteroid Bennu. Our house and physics editor Clara Moskowitz narrates how the seven-calendar year mission has progressed and what to anticipate future.

Experts are locating treasure beneath the seafloor—unexpected, widespread aquifers of fresh water off coastlines globally. As coastal populations develop and anxiety present h2o supplies, these deposits could be a excellent resource of drinkable h2o. Geophysicist Rob L. Evans shares how he served to determine these aquifers and what we know about them so much.

Deadly twister clusters are turning out to be much more typical in the U.S., and Tornado Alley is going eastward. Our sustainability editor Mark Fischetti, with graphics by Matthew Twombly and a map by Daniel P. Huffman, exhibits us how, where and why tornadoes sort and who is most at threat. 

When you really feel “in sync” with another person, that might mirror literal synchronized designs in your brains. A new discipline of collective neuroscience is obtaining surprising similarities in people’s brains as they interact, specially in pairs who have a shut relationship or between powerful academics and their pupils. Our Science of Health columnist and contributing editor Lydia Denworth participated in a brain-scanning experiment to locate out a lot more.

We are going to most likely under no circumstances know just how the COVID-resulting in virus SARS-CoV-2 began circulating amongst people, but our wellbeing editor Tanya Lewis recaps the proof for the foremost theory—a spillover from an infected animal, quite possibly in a Wuhan sector in China—as properly as the possibility of a lab leak.

What is it like to be a bee? Scientists have located that some bugs are incredibly smart. They can rely, learn and train, even come to feel pleasure and pain. Behavioral ecologist Lars Chittka explores the implications of these intriguing discoveries.

Excessive warmth activities are the deadliest climate-related disasters in the U.S., but we are likely to underestimate the possibility. Researcher Terri Adams-Fuller is experimenting with ways to alert and shield persons, specifically in city warmth island environments wherever temperatures rise considerably greater than in the suburbs.

In a pleasant heritage of how ice inspired the contemporary cocktail, Amy Brady, our Assessments editor, describes how bartenders are now striving to improve how they make and use ice. We hope you can read through the article sipping a refreshing cocktail or mocktail. And remember to love this added-extensive summer months difficulty for July and August. Superior luck being cool and hydrated!