your science briefing for 03.20.2025

LA Times tries radical centrism with its short-lived Klanbot, the violent history of the Moon's dark side, how loneliness and isolation warp our minds, and more...

One of the most prevailing fallacies of our time is that the only way to have freedom of speech is to assume that all opinions are equally valid, existing in a “marketplace” that allows people to make up their own minds. But both pundits and AIs trying to channel this radical centrism often end up trying to soften and equivocate truly horrific groups and ideas with vile track records. For example, a bot used by the now MAGA-aligned LA Times to provide a “both sides matter” take on every topic defended the KKK as a movement that was — wait for it — responding to economic and cultural anxiety of its times. Which, let’s admit, sounds awfully familiar… (The Daily Beast)

The dark side of the Moon looks very different than the side facing us. Instead of seas of gray dust, it looks scarred, rugged, and barren. Now, we think we know why thanks to research from the Chinese Chang'e 6 mission. Just a bit over 4 billion years ago, a large part of it was a vast magma ocean, formed by a gigantic impact that melted the South Pole of our natural satellite for tens of million of years… (Space.com)

For a while, a popular way to describe Gen Z youth adopting the hikikomori lifestyle in the West was to call them NEETs, or Not Employed, in Education, or Training. Rejected by their peers and the world, they spent their days either binge watching their favorite movies and shows, or online. The prototypical incel neckbeard, if you will. Now, much of the media is trying to figure out how so many of them descended into neo-Nazism or fascism, and got a real taste for sadism while developing delusional and narcissistic personalities. Science says it all started with rejection and isolation… (PsyPost)

Have you ever seen a cartoon in which a sly character whispers something discreet, and the words sneak through a crowd right into the ears of his target? Well, a team of scientists and engineers at Penn State managed to create the real life version of that with specialized ultrasonic speakers. The beams they emit create pockets of sounds targeting a specific area or person. One could imagine this technology being used to develop better versions of noise insulation and cancellation. Or to play some very evil pranks on people who don’t know this technology exists… (The Conversation)

This story is basically the plot of The Thing. A scientist in the middle of Antarctica has a breakdown, goes mad, and starts hunting down his colleagues. Only instead of — I’ll have to warn you about spoilers here — a shapeshifting alien creature, it was just very intense cabin fever. Thankfully, the perpetrator has been isolated, apologized to the rest of the team, and appears to be very remorseful. This just goes to show that long term isolation and boredom can do terrible things to the human mind… (Independent)