Humans are not yet done cooking. We’re continuing to evolve and adjust to the world around us, the records of our adaptations written in our bodies.

We know that there are some environments that can make us unwell. Mountain climbers often succumb to altitude sickness – the body’s reaction to a significant drop in atmospheric pressure which means less oxygen is taken in with each breath.

And yet, in high altitudes on the Tibetan Plateau, where oxygen levels in the air people breathe are notably lower than lower altitudes, human communities thrive.

In an advance that could revolutionize biomarker detection, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light have developed a novel technique called femtosecond fieldoscopy. This method enables the precise measurement of minute liquid quantities, down to the micromolar level, with unmatched sensitivity in the near-infrared region.

There are ways of cooling the planet, and then there are cool ways of cooling the planet. Spending decades grinding up something approaching a quadrillion dollars worth of diamonds into dust, and then dispersing the powdered gemstones into our atmosphere? That falls into the latter. Contrary to what you might…

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I’m getting old, and I need something to rely on.

Keane.

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A study says live gigs could increase well-being by 21 percent.

Love this article from Our World in Data which describes how far we have come as a species and what challenges remain ahead. “Very few think the world is making progress. In this article, we look at the history of global living conditions and show that the world has made immense progress in important aspects.”

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The data in this article uses a previous release of the World Bank’s poverty and inequality data in which incomes are expressed in 2011 international-$.

The World Bank has since updated its methods, and now measures incomes in 2017 international-$. As part of this change, the International Poverty Line used to measure extreme poverty has also been updated: from $1.90 (in 2011 prices) to $2.15 (in 2017 prices).

This has had little effect on our overall understanding of poverty and inequality around the world. But because of the change of units, many of the figures mentioned in this article will differ from the latest World Bank figures.

Arctech Solar says it has signed a 2.3 GW tracker order from Saudi Arabia, where it will supply trackers designed for the region’s desert terrain and high winds.

A short pulse of voltage rebuilds lost capacity in lithium-silicon batteries, but may not work with others.

Laboratory testing has revealed that some negatively-doped, ‘n-type’ tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and heterojunction (HJT) solar modules are susceptible to ultraviolet (UV) light-related damage and degradation. That could mean trouble down the line, if modules in the field begin to show UV-related performance loss. Manufacturers are implementing solutions at cell and module level.