Is the United Nations about to appoint Malaysian astrophysicist Mazlan Othman as the ambassador to extraterrestrial intelligences? Yesterday, the Sunday Times published an article claiming that Othman is expected to announce her proposed new role at a meeting of the Royal Society next week. According to the article, the plan to make Othman and the UN's Office for Outer Space Affairs which she heads, the first point of contact will be debated by UN scientific advisors before heading to the general assembly. Turns out though that the newspaper, and dozens of other media outlets that rewrote the same story, may have jumped to some conclusions. Today, Othman emailed The Guardian, "It sounds really cool but I have to deny it." Besides, if aliens really do reach out, it's likely that the scientists who receive the message will likely call Paul Allen first.
"UN plan for 'alien ambassador' a case of science fiction?"
Researchers successfully revived ancient microbes, some more than 100 million years old, that were buried in the seafloor. During an expedition to the South Pacific Gyre, the scientists from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and their colleagues drilled into the ocean sediment almost 6,000 meters below the surface. “Our main question […]
My family stopped wiping down all our groceries to “disinfect” them a couple months ago, mostly because of hygiene exhaustion. Then in May, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention clarified its own Web page about how COVID-19 spreads to state that “based on data from lab studies on COVID-19 and what we know about […]
I’d totally go.
Even after months of working from home, you’d be forgiven for thinking the whole experience still doesn’t quite feel…well, normal. In addition to all the obvious environmental changes of handling your 9 to 5 from your den or dining room table, the technological aids you didn’t realize you loved back at the office probably don’t […]
Running a small business drops a lot on to the plate of just one person. And between juggling a dozen tasks that need to get handled daily, it’s no surprise that there are a dozen more equally vital tasks that can just as easily go overlooked. While posting to social channels and making web posts […]
The importance of reading is well documented. About half of America’s unemployed between 16 and 21 years old are functionally illiterate. And there’s an almost direct line between how much you read and your earning potential, with the richest Americans three times more likely to read than those with a household income below $30,000. However, […]
