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Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

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Knowable Magazine explores the real-world significance of scholarly work through a journalistic lens. A digital magazine from Annual Reviews.

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Some linguists who analyze spoken language say interjections like “hmm,” “pff,” and “ach” offer insights into what makes complex language possible. 📝 Learn more about this in our recent article republished by SAPIENS.

SAPIENS

Huh? The Valuable Role of Interjections

Science writer Bob Holmes says utterances like "um," "wow," and "mm-hmm" aren’t useless—they keep conversations flowing.

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👀 On our radar: Great coffee with fewer beans ☕ 💬 “Physicists have discovered a technique that can produce the perfect cup of coffee with up to 10 percent fewer beans.” ✍️ @npub1r3tu...9t86, @npub1rx28...kamt 🔗

New Scientist

How to make great coffee with fewer beans, according to science

Physicists have determined that the ideal technique for pour-over coffee can use up to 10 per cent fewer beans to make a cup just as flavoursome

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Of the roughly 1 million named insect species on Earth, about 400,000 are beetles. And that’s just the beetles described so far. Scientists typically describe thousands of new species each year. So — why so many beetle species? Entomologist Caroline Chaboo: “We don’t know the precise answer.” But clues are emerging. 🔗 "Why are there so many beetle species?"

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

Why are there so many beetle species?

Diet played a key role in the evolution of the vast beetle family tree

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As glacial cliffs break off and destabilize frozen landscapes, glaciologist Richard Alley focuses on the fractures. The work could improve predictions about future sea-level rise. #WorldWaterDay 💧

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

The race to understand polar ice sheets

As glacial cliffs break off and destabilize frozen landscapes, glaciologist Richard Alley focuses on the fractures. The work could improve predicti...

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Our collective arachnid aversion could be causing us to overlook something even scarier: Spiders may be disappearing. #WorldEnvironmentalEducationDay

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

Everyone should start counting spiders

Our collective arachnid aversion could be causing us to overlook something even scarier: Spiders may be disappearing.

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The same taste receptors found on the tongue are in the stomach, intestines and elsewhere, too. What are they doing there? Well, a lot.

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

Gut feelings

The same taste receptors found on the tongue are in the stomach, intestines and elsewhere, too. What are they doing there? Well, a lot.

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A parasitic fungus takes over the brains of flies and controls them for its own sinister ends. Here’s the science behind the horror. Learn more about this in our recent article republished by Popular Science.

Popular Science

Night of the zombie insects

A parasitic fungus takes over the brains of flies and controls them for its own sinister ends. Here’s the science behind the horror.

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#COMIC: Using tools from fields like fluid dynamics to better understand how groups of people move around can improve flow and make large gatherings safer.

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

Bustling through the physics of crowds

COMIC: Using tools from fields like fluid dynamics to better understand how groups of people move around can improve flow and make large gatherings...

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Scientists are scouring garbage sites around the world for bacteria, fungi and even insects that harbor enzymes that could be harnessed for breaking down various polymers. It’s early days, but if the efforts can be efficiently scaled-up, such biological recycling could put a dent in the plastic waste problem.

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

The living things that feast on plastic

Scientists are scouring garbage sites around the world for bacteria, fungi and even insects that harbor enzymes that could be harnessed for breakin...

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