Scientific American

Author:

“Today in Science:  5 charts show climate progress toward Paris Accord.”

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents.

Accessed on 25 November 2025, 0359 UTC.

Content and Source:  “Scientific American-Today in Science.”

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQcqtkJlZlhMFvZznnxDNqScsGW

URL–https://www.scientificamerican.com.
 
November 24, 2025—Progress toward the 2015 Paris climate accord’s goals, brain-decoding devices and the catastrophe driving a decision to move a capital.
—Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor

TODAY’S NEWS
Digital background depicting innovative technologies in (AI) artificial systems, neural interfaces and internet machine learning technologies

iStock/Getty Images Plus
  • AI-enhancements could enable improved neurotechnology such as brain-computer interfaces and wearables for people with paralyzed limbs. Ethicists are raising autonomy concerns. | 10 min read​
  • Iran plans to move its capital, possibly to the country’s southern coast, because Tehran has run out of groundwater. Overuse has destroyed the city’s aquifers. | 2 min read
  • Personalized mRNA vaccines, tailored to target a patient’s unique tumor mutations, could revolutionize cancer treatment. Funding cuts could doom the therapies. | 19 min read
  • China is set to launch a Shenzhou-22 spacecraft tomorrow to rescue three stranded astronauts. | 2 min read
  • The pill version of a blockbuster GLP-1 weight-loss medication, semaglutide, failed to slow Alzheimer’s progression in an initial analysis of two clinical phase 3 trials. | 2 min read
More News
Rediscover the joy of science with a subscription to Scientific American. Today in Science readers get special discounts!

TOP STORIES

Vital Climate Accord Turns 10
Five new charts by Scientific American graphics editor Amanda Montañez illustrate paradoxes as the world progresses toward goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, an ambitious global accord to mitigate climate change. It is both true that nations have made meaningful strides in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming and that huge leaps still are needed to avoid the worst outcomes, reports Scientific American news reporter Meghan Bartels. Participants currently attending this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Brazil are noting recent surges in renewable energy developments as well as advances in battery technology for storing power for nighttime use. Similar progress is needed in the transportation, agriculture and land use industries.
How it works: Outcomes of the Paris Agreement, if nations continue to follow through, are estimated by 2100 to reduce the annual number of extremely hot days in the U.S. from 118 to 88, or even as low as 58 if we can limit warming to just 1.3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
What the experts say: Despite many unmet global goals in the past decade, even incremental progress toward “net zero”—when the quantity of tons of emissions removed from the atmosphere cancels the quantity of tons emitted—is crucial. “Every ton matters; every tenth of a degree we avoid matters; every year matters,” says Costa Samaras, an energy policy expert at Carnegie Mellon University.

Amanda Montañez; Source: “Ten Years of the Paris Agreement: The Present and Future of Extreme Heat,” Climate Central and World Weather Attribution (data)

WHAT WE’RE READING
  • Europe’s cookie nightmare is crumbling. | The Verge​
  • This pig’s bacon was delicious. But she’s alive and well. | Grist​
  • Why is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. so convinced he’s right? | The Atlantic

MONDAY MATH PUZZLE
  • Below is a five-by-five chess board with the central square poked out. Place a knight, bishop, rook or queen in the upper-left corner and find a path that ends at the bottom-right corner that visits every square on the board along the way without repeating. With which piece or pieces is this possible? If a bishop, rook or queen glide across squares on the way to a stop, those intervening squares count as visited. Pieces cannot land on or glide over the hole. The knight hops, so only squares it lands on count as visited, and it can also hop over the hole. Click here for full rules and solution.

Amanda Montañez
 
Iran’s plan to move its capital is not a first for that country. “Over the centuries, it has shifted many times, from Tabriz to Isfahan to Shiraz,” reports Scientific American news intern Humberto Basilio. Similarly, in our country’s relatively short history, the U.S. capital has shifted between New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and other temporary locations. For a captivating portrayal of the early history of the U.S., I highly recommend “The American Revolution,” a series by Ken Burns and his colleagues, now streaming on PBS. Unless you’re a history scholar, you’ll find it full of voices, context and details you likely never encountered in school.
We always like to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to us: newsletters@sciam.com.
—Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor
Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters here.
 
Scientific American
One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10004
​
Support our mission, subscribe to Scientific American here
​
Unsubscribe    Preferences     View in Browser

Discover more from Hawaii Science Journal.

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Categories: Environment and Earth News, Science and Technology News, Space and Astronomy News, Uncategorized
Tags:

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Discover more from Hawaii Science Journal.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Exit mobile version