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Ryan Rykaczewski describes one of the most massive migrations on the planet, driven by the sun. Image by Tintinnidguy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

#ExplainTheSun  - The Largest Migration on The Planet

Climate change is shrinking habitat ranges and causing population declines in species worldwide, but one group is thriving in the warmer temperatures: Arctic mosquitoes. Washington Post reporter Rachel Feltman discusses why these insects are booming, and shares other science stories making headlines this week.

Plus, at a Q&A at Facebook headquarters this week, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social network is working on something akin to the “dislike” button that some users have long desired. Slate senior technology writer Will Oremus explores the good and bad of Facebook’s move beyond the thumbs-up.


News Round-Up: Arctic Mosquito Swarms, Our Shrinking Moon, and a ‘Dislike’ Button

At the end of the summer, the polling firm, Latino Decisions, released the results of their 2015 Environmental Attitudes Survey. (You can see the results of the poll, conducted on behalf of the organizations Earthjustice and Green Latinos, here.) Of the Latinos polled, 74 percent said that it was extremely or very important for the U.S. government to “set national standards to prevent global warming and climate change.” Another poll from The New York Times and Stanford University, conducted at the beginning of 2015, found that 54 percent of Latinos rated global warming as being extremely or very important to them personally, compared with 37 percent of White respondents. In fact, poll after poll finds that Latinos in the U.S. are often more concerned about the effects of climate change than other Americans. (Despite their concerns, however, 76 percent of Latinos have never been contacted by an environmental organization, according to the survey from Latino Decisions.)

In many cases, Latinos are also more at risk for feeling the effects of climate change. Take sea-level rise, for example. About 39 percent of all Americans live in coastal communities—but for Latinos, that figure jumps to 49 percent. Nicole Hernandez Hammer, the Southeast climate advocate with the Union of Concerned Scientists, joins Science Friday to talk about her work with Latino communities in Florida regarding climate change. 


Concern for Climate Change Is Great Among Latinos

This week, researchers reported that they had evidence showing that periodically-appearing dark streaks on the sides of Martian hills (known as “recurring slope lineae,” or RSLs) were patches of moist soil. The researchers believe that the water may have been absorbed out of the air into salts in the soil through a process known as deliquescence—though they say there is a slight possibility of the soil being moistened by underground water sources. The water, though both salty and limited in quantity, could be an important ingredient both in future human exploration of Mars and in projects hunting for traces of life on the Red Planet. Georgia Tech planetary scientist James Wray, one of the authors of a paper discussing the research in the journal Nature Geoscience, describes the evidence for present-day liquid water on Mars. 


On Mars, Signs of a Wetter World

Once, there was the ordinary incandescent light bulb. It shone brightly, but wasted much of the energy put into it as heat. Then came the compact fluorescent. And as costs have dropped, consumers have increasingly been switching to light-emitting diode (LED) technology for many lighting applications, in an ongoing search for a more efficient bulb. Now, in work published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report that nanophotonic devices may be able to breathe new life into old incandescent technology. Marin Soljačić and Ognjen Ilic, two authors of the study, explain how they’ve been able to “recycle” some of the incandescent bulb’s wasted heat and re-emit it as visible light, boosting efficiency.

For the Lowly Incandescent Bulb, a Ray of Hope

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people. From WNYC Studios.

News Round-Up: Arctic Mosquito Swarms, Our Shrinking Moon, and a ‘Dislike’ Button

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