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Public woefully unaware of nuclear winter threat
Public woefully unaware of nuclear winter threat
Plus: Engineers attached a rocket engine to a Christmas tree and launched it.
Feb 14, 2023
Ask the public in the U.S. and UK if they're afraid of a nuclear winter, and you're likely to get some rolled eyes and a few chuckles if a new report from the University of Cambridge is anything to go on.
The new report reveals that very few of the 3,000 people polled online were aware of the risks of nuclear winter, which is the climatic effects of nuclear war. However, CSER senior research associate Paul Ingram says that in 2023, we are "facing a risk of nuclear conflict greater than we’ve seen since the early 80s."
Before diving deeper into the risks of nuclear winter, let’s look at our video and see what happens when a rocket engine with a Christmas tree is launched.
Good morning. This is Mert, an editor at IE.
This is The Blueprint. Let's dive in.
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VIDEO OF THE DAY
This is how engineers say "Merry Christmas"!
MUST READ
A new report produced by Cambridge's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) found that very few of the 3,000 people polled online were cognizant of the various threats from a nuclear winter. That includes just 1.6 percent in the U.K. who were aware of academic studies about the subject and just nine percent of the U.S. respondents recalling beliefs about nuclear winter that was part of the cultural milieu in the 1980s.
“In 2023, we find ourselves facing a risk of nuclear conflict greater than we’ve seen since the early eighties," said CSER senior research associate Paul Ingram. "Yet there is little in the way of public knowledge or debate of the unimaginably dire long-term consequences of nuclear war for the planet and global populations.”
READ MORE
SCIENCE
Akin to the Ents from Lord of the Rings, there is an idea in modern botany that trees can “talk” to one another through a delicate web of fungus filaments that grows underground. The idea is so alluring that it has gained traction in popular culture and has even been termed the “wood-wide network.”
However, according to Justine Karst, associate professor from the University of Alberta's Faculty of Agricultural, Life, and Environmental Sciences, it could all be nonsense. In a new study, Karst and two colleagues challenge three commonly held beliefs about the abilities of underground fungi called "common mycorrhizal networks" (CMNs) that connect the roots of different plants.
READ MORE
INNOVATION
In December 2021, a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jet trainer became the first tactical aircraft to be controlled by AI.
Since making and maintaining fighter planes is so expensive, air forces today are much smaller than they used to be. This makes it hard to set aside enough of these “flying thoroughbreds” for training.
Engineers now have a tool that can do two things at once, thanks to the progress of artificial intelligence. The "Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft" (VISTA), created by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works classified research laboratory in collaboration with Calspan Corporation, is used at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards to simulate the flying characteristics of various aircraft. Additionally, it includes having autonomy.
HEALTH
Anxiety levels have skyrocketed during the pandemic, leading to a shortage of mental health care providers and long wait times for therapy. However, according to a study from Stanford Medicine, there's an easy and effective way to lower stress levels from the comfort of one's own home.
A five-minute controlled breathing exercise, also known as cyclic sighing, can help reduce anxiety and stress levels. The instructions are simple: Breath in through your nose. When you've comfortably filled your lungs, take a second, deeper sip of air to expand your lungs as much as possible. Then, very slowly, exhale through your mouth until all the air is gone.
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MAIL & MUSINGS
Nuclear winter is an environmental catastrophe that scientists think occurs due to nuclear explosions.
Did you know about nuclear winter before this?
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
Yesterday we asked if you think technology will enable scientists to reveal more about mysteries in history. 79 percent think it definitely will, while 13 percent say “other factors will be more important.”
79%
It definitely will
13%
Maybe, but other factors will be more important
4%
I have no clue
3%
I don’t think so
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
Richard Phillips Feynman, American theoretical physicist.
THINGS WE LOVE
AND ANOTHER THING
Researchers digitally reconstructed the two oldest spinosaurus brains.
Changes in how the heart produces energy may be the earliest signal of cardiac deterioration. (MedicalXpress)
Space cannon could fire payloads to orbit in 10 minutes at Mach 20.
A multi-turn energy recovery accelerator that achieves high beam power with lower power consumption. (Phys.org)
Scientists accomplish 'evolution on demand' by creating shape-shifting turtle robot.
Blazing asteroid lights up the sky just hours after being spotted. (Science Alert)
3D fingerprints: The latest tool in the crime fighting arsenal.
Prepared by Mert Erdemir
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