| Why 'good' and 'bad' are fickle concepts in historyWhen you simplify history, you obliterate the truth, says Ethan Hawke. | | In 2016, Ethan Hawke and Greg Ruth published the graphic novel Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars. Who were the good guys and bad guys in that era of history? It's not a straightforward question.
The novel includes historical characters like Geronimo, Cochise and General O.O. Howard, all of whom were at times arguably heroes and villains.
"One of the things that I love about studying history," says Hawke, "is that you see that it's not like 'Oh, one thing was bad and one thing was good.' You know, the wrong people won certain battles. The wrong people won certain elections."
| | | | | These tasty little guys are only 90 calories and have as much caffeine as an espresso. Stash a few away in your desk, gym bag, purse, or coat pocket for an energy boost whenever needed, wherever needed. Lucky for you, you can try Verb's top 4 flavors, including their limited edition Gingersnap, for free—just cover $0.95 for shipping. | | Global perspectivesWhat do people around the world think about climate change? | | It's an issue that affects the entire planet, but according to recent report from the European Investment Bank (EIB), not everyone considers climate change to be a major threat to society. Having conducted a global survey of people in China, Europe, and the United States, the EIB found interesting regional variations.
Across Europe, 47% of people view climate change as the biggest challenge in their lives, ranking it above healthcare, unemployment, and terrorism. The percentage is higher in China where 73% of the people surveyed rank climate change as their biggest challenge, but they are also the most optimistic—80% of the citizens believe that climate change is reversible. In the U.S, only 39% see it as a threat.
| | Volcanic island lifespanHow long will a volcanic island live? | | While the process by which volcanic islands like the Galapagos and the Canary Islands formed is similar from chain to chain, the time that any island spends above sea level can vary widely. The age of an island is a key factor in determining the kinds of animals and plants that live and grow there, but the mechanisms that set an island's lifespan are largely unknown.
In a new paper published in Science Advances, scientists at MIT found that an island's age is related to two main geological factors: the speed of the underlying plate and the size of the swell generated by the hotspot plume. Islands on fast-moving plates have shorter lifespans unless they were also created by a large plume.
"The researchers found that this interplay between tectonic speed and plume size explains why the Hawaiian islands persist above sea level for million years longer than the oldest Galapagos Islands, which also sit on plates that travel at a similar speed but over a much smaller plume. By comparison, the Canary Islands, among the oldest island chains in the world, sit on the slow-moving Atlantic plate and over a relatively large plume."
| | Life extensionA new study shows that altering the ISS and TOR pathways in roundworms can extend lifespan by 500 percent. | | A newly published study involving microscopic roundworms may lead to important developments in anti-aging treatments. Previous research showed that altering insulin signaling (IIS) and TOR pathways independently in roundworms resulted in lifespan increases of 100 percent and 30 percent respectively.
Expecting an increase in 130 percent range, the scientists were surprised to find that by altering both pathways in the nematode species C. elegans, they were able to keep the worms alive five times longer.
"'The synergistic extension is really wild,' Jarod A. Rollins, Ph.D., who is the lead author with Jianfeng Lan, Ph.D., of Nanjing University, told Phys.org. 'The effect isn't one plus one equals two, it's one plus one equals five. Our findings demonstrate that nothing in nature exists in a vacuum; in order to develop the most effective anti-aging treatments we have to look at longevity networks rather than individual pathways.'" | | | | | | | Copyright © 2020 Big Think, All rights reserved.
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