Bridget Alex, Discover
About 5,000 years ago, 30 goats changed hands between Sumerians. To record the transaction, a receipt was carved onto a clay tag, about the size of a Post-it. Simple geometric signs represented the livestock and purveyor. The indents of circles and semicircles denoted the quantity exchanged.
Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Air & Space
Two newly published papers underline how important the process of panspermiathe transport of organic material and possibly even microbes through spaceis to astrobiology. The first paper, by Michel Nuevo from NASA's Ames Research Center and colleagues, shows how DNA-related molecules (sugars of DNA and their derivatives) can be produced in space when ultraviolet light hits mixtures of water ice and methanol.
Ross Pomeroy, RealClearScience
In 2017, the total deer population in the United States was an estimated 33.5 million, down from 38.1 million in 2000. Hunters should rejoice over their excellent shooting, and then get outside and kill millions more.This macabre call to arms might unsettle anyone whose heart ached at viewing the plight of poor Bambi, but it's a prescription that's sorely needed, for at their current population, deer are ravaging ecosystems across the country.
Eben Kirksey, The Atlantic
When the nurse slipped the IV needle into his arm, Matt Sharp was calm. Yes, he knew the risks: As one of the first humans ever to receive the experimental treatment, he could end up with mutant cells running amok in his body. But he was too enamored of the experiment's purpose to worry about that. For two decades, Sharp had been living with HIV. He'd watched the height of the AIDS crisis claim dozens of his friends' and lovers' lives. Now, he believed he was taking a step toward a cure.
Robin George Andrews, Nat Geo
This year, California has been no stranger to highly destructive wildfires. One such conflagration was this summer's Carr Fire, which burned through nearly 230,000 acres, destroyed 1,079 homes, and killed at least seven people.The Carr Fire also engaged in some meteorological sorcery on July 26, as it conjured up an intense fire vortex: a blazing funnel with winds reaching 143 miles an hour and temperatures up to 2,700F.
