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Carl Sagan tried to warn us that a 'charlatan' leader could easily take over the U.S.

Was he predicting the future?

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While astronomer Carl Sagan would likely be the first to scoff at the idea of him being a fortune teller, the man certainly had a prescient way of looking ahead during his lifetime. Sagan was the original host of "Cosmos" back in 1980 and it became the most watched show in public television history. Few science communicators have been able to match his talent for stoking wonder about the universe and our place in it.

Shortly before his death in 1996, Sagan appeared on "Charlie Rose" and made a dire warning about how the average Americans' lack of skeptical, scientific thinking could lead to disastrous consequences.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Today, we can see the problems that are happening due to America's anti-science streak whether it's anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theories or climate change deniers. Sagan was right, America will suffer due to a lack a lack of scientific skepticism.

"We've arranged a society on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science and technology, and this combustible mixture of ignorance and power sooner or later is going to blow up in our faces," he told Rose. "I mean, who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?"

science, bill nye, science education, skepticism, carl sagain We need science education for a functioning democracy. Giphy

He then warned that our lack of critical thinking leaves us vulnerable to those who wish to exploit our ignorance.

"Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking," he says. "A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan—political or religious—who comes ambling along."

Sagan believes that a democracy cannot function without an educated populace.

education, critical thinking, learning, science, technology Education is key to critical thinking. Giphy

"It's a thing that Jefferson lay great stress on. It wasn't enough, he said, to enshrine some rights in the Constitution and the Bill or Rights, the people had to be educated and they have to practice their skepticism and their education," he says. "Otherwise, we don't run the government, the government runs us."

Part the problem we face in the present is that what constitutes education, including science and technology education, is being debated at the highest levels. Institutions of higher learning are undergoing attacks by the government, traditional education is being devalued by powerful parts of the political world, and positions that were traditionally filled by public servants with credentialed expertise are now being filled by political loyalists instead.

Critical thinking has also taken a beating. People believe themselves to be "critical thinkers" simply because they go against scientific consensus, but that's not how critical thinking and skepticism really work. When political ideologies take precedence over genuine scientific inquiry and investigation, we all lose out.

carl sagan, science, education, brain, critical thinking Carl Sagan was ahead of his time. Giphy

Some might even say we've already reached the place Sagan tried to warn us about. Of course, that's up for debate as well, but regardless, Sagan certainly seemed to have his finger on the pulse of humanity's tendencies. Hopefully people will heed his words and put science education in its rightful place as part of a thriving democracy..

This article originally appeared five years ago.

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Watch two humpback whales desperately try to save a seal from hungry orcas

The orcas get petty about it in the end.

Canva Photos & By Ecohotel, CC BY-SA 3.0

Humpback whales have been observed going out of their way to rescue seals from killer whale attacks.

Orcas, sometimes called killer whales, are the ultimate apex predators. They are physically imposing, for starters: fast, powerful, and vicious. But they're also brilliant and are generally considered one of the smartest animals on the planet. It's their brains that truly make them elite hunters.

If you need an example of how proficient they are at killing, they purposefully hunt and eat great white sharks along with their steady diet of fish and seals. Typically, they hunt great whites in groups, but a single orca is more than capable of easily handling what is usually considered one of the scariest and deadliest creatures in the ocean.

Orcas have a variety of incredible hunting techniques at their disposal. They're best known for their "wave wash" move, in which a pod of orcas will swim full speed at an ice block and create a huge wave to knock off any seals that may be sheltering on it. They also "karate chop" sharks with their tails and flip them upside down, causing the sharks to go into a state of near paralysis, making them an easy meal. Orcas can even take on much larger species of whales by preventing them from reaching the surface to breathe and drowning them.

In other words, when a pod or orcas zeroes in on potential prey, there's almost nothing that can stop the hunt. Except maybe a humpback whale.

orcas, killer whales, humpback whales, ocean, wildlife, ocean life, marine life, national geographic, viral videos, nature, animals They look so friendly, but they're the ultimate hunters. Giphy

Humpback whales have been displaying a strange behavior lately.

The whales have been caught purposefully disrupting orca hunts. It's almost as if they're trying to save the seals and other animals once killer whales set their sights on them. It's likely a behavior that's been happening for a long time, but it's become extremely well-documented in just the last couple of decades.

A team from National Geographic recently caught one such encounter on film in the waters of Antarctica.

In the video, a pod of orcas is spotted by explorer Bertie Gregory as they zero in on a Weddell seal perched atop a chunk of ice. The whales ready themselves for their famous "wave wash" move, charging together at the ice block...but no wave comes.

“They swam under the chunk of ice, just like they normally do, but we could see no breaking wave, and we were like, ‘Oh, they must have messed it up,” says Gregory according to National Geographic. “But instead they were making an underwater shockwave.”

The whales were impressively able to destroy the seal's ice perch from below, sending him into the water, where the hunt was on. But pretty quickly, it became apparent that the seal had backup.

“Then, all of a sudden, two humpback whales just turn up,” says Gregory. “They do this amazing trumpeting noise [that’s] so loud, it reverberates in the hull of the boat, like an elephant trumpeting.”

Though not as speedy, nimble, or vicious, humpback whales are quite a bit larger than orcas; making their presence pretty disruptive. The filmmaking team firmly believed that the humpbacks were purposefully trying to protect the seal and screw up the hunt. In many cases just like this one, the humpbacks are successful at driving the orcas away.

Sadly for the seal, the humpbacks arrived too late this time. The orcas even appeared to gloat with their kill afterward. A little petty, but the killer whales were understandably annoyed.

Watch the whole fascinating incident here:

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Despite their size, getting tangled up with a pod of hungry orcas is extremely dangerous for a humpback whale. So why risk their lives trying to save some random seal?

Orcas regularly take down great whites, one of the ocean's top predators, and have even been known to hunt blue whales—the largest animal on the planet! So no matter how big you are, you probably don't want to mess with a pod of killer whales.

Some people, experts included, see the seal-saving behavior as a sign of altruism. Altruism, of course, referring to a selfless action—one in which there's no inherent benefit for the whale. Humpback whales: Protectors of the ocean. Has a nice ring to it, right?

Another incredible seal-saving incident was observed in 2009. In this case, the humpbacks were successful in saving the seal, with one of them actually carrying it on its belly to shield it from the orcas. If that's not altruistic, I don't know what is.

A more likely explanation, however, is that the humpbacks are launching proactive attacks on orcas in response to killer whales regularly hunting their calves.

"I think they just have a simple rule," marine ecologist Robert Pitman told Science.org. "When you hear a killer whale attack, go break it up."

orcas, killer whales, humpback whales, ocean, wildlife, ocean life, marine life, national geographic, viral videos, nature, animals Humpback whales live by a simple rule: Troll the orcas whenever possible. Giphy

It's similar to an animal behavior called "mobbing," where groups of prey animals will band together to drive predators out. In a 2022 study published on Science Direct, Nora V. Carlson and Michael Griesser write, "Mobbing is an important anti-predator behavior where prey harass and attack a predator to lower the immediate and long-term risk posed by it, warn others, and communicate about the predator's threat."

Humpbacks have strong memories, and they may remember and even have trauma from previous killer whale attacks. So, they probably figure: let's go get them before they get us!

All that being said, altruistic behaviors do exist in the animal world. Animals of the same species or, particularly, ones that live in the same social group, often help each other or make sacrifices for the greater good. But cross-species cooperation does happen, too. Dolphins have been known to help stranded whales or even save humans from shark attacks. Many animals have been documented adopting orphaned young of another species.

In all of these cases, there may be some benefit to the animals that we don't understand. But it's a lot more fun to imagine, especially in the case of the humpbacks, that they're doing it just to be kind.

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A scientist created a 'utopia' for mice and then they all started dying

The results are fascinating, but are they relevant to humanity?

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How could Mouse Heaven go so terribly wrong?

In 1968 John Calhoun, a scientist and animal behavioralist, decided to create a "utopia" for mice. It would have unlimited food and water, with beautiful nesting spaces and plenty of materials for the mice to make cozy homes with. Sweet experiment! the mice were probably thinking. Much better than the Maybelline trials we're used to.

However, there was a catch, of course. There was one thing the utopia would be lacking, and that would be physical space. As the mouse population grew, overcrowding would become an issue, and Calhoun wanted to study the problems this would potentially cause. That sound you hear is the collective sigh of the disappointed mice who were stoked about the 24/7 all-you-can-eat buffet.

The experiment, dubbed Universe 25, began when Calhoun introduced four mouse "couples" into the utopian complex. A year or so later, it was overrun and the conditions had turned hellish, even though the mice had not run out of food or water.

mouse, mice, animals, science, research, studies "The conditions had turned WHAT?" Giphy

Initially, for just the eight original mice, the square box Calhoun built included 256 nesting boxes (or apartments) stacked on top of one another. Water bottles and food dispensers were located all along the nesting spots, and mice could travel throughout the complex at will via mesh tunnels. The starter mice were also screened for diseases and the population was obviously protected from predators. The climate was controlled and comfortable. Conditions were perfect.

The first mouse pups showed up a little over three months later, with the population of the colony doubling every 55 days. Nineteen months later, there were 2,200 mice living inside the box. With such perfect surroundings, the infant mortality rate was practically zero, leading to the rapid rise in numbers.

mice, mouse experiments, scientific research, animal experiments, overpopulation John Calhoun poses with his rodents inside the mouse utopia. Yoichi R Okamoto, Public Domain

By month 19, this rodent utopia had become an overcrowded hellscape. Calhoun noticed three alarming trends, in particular.

In short, everything was devolving into chaos and the very society of the mice began to collapse at a rapid rate.

The "Beautiful Ones" and the "Dropouts": Mice have a complex social hierarchy ruled by dominant alpha males. Sam Kean of Science History Institute Museum & Library notes that, in the wild, non-dominant males (the ones who lose macho showdowns) can skip town and start over somewhere else. But in the close quarters of Calhoun's experiment, with nowhere to hide, they were forced to hang around and viciously battle with each other over scraps. Eventually, non-dominant male mice, which Calhoun called the "Beautiful Ones," withdrew from society completely and only ate, slept, and groomed themselves.

Though resources were unlimited, certain aggressive males hoarded them anyway: The alpha males ruled over everything in the once-utopian mouse society. They kept harems of females in the apartments to mate with and fought fiercely to defend their territory. But new waves of hungry young male mice kept coming and coming, and eventually even the most dominant alphas abandoned their posts. This led to more attacks on nursing females, which in turn led to more mothers kicking their pups out of the nest early.

Birth rate declined dramatically: With the non-dominant males giving up completely and focusing on #SelfCare, dominant males too exhausted from endless battles, and females sick and tired of it all (many became asexual hermits by the end), stopped mating and giving birth entirely. Once this happened, the society was doomed. Even with plenty of food still available, cannibalism was rampant.

Calhoun was not shy about drawing parallels between his research and humanity. "I shall largely speak of mice, but my thoughts are on man, on healing, on life and its evolution," he once wrote.

mice, mouse experiments, scientific studies, universe 25, sociology, overpopulation Alpha male mice, anyone? Photo by Kanashi on Unsplash

There are aspects of his wild experiment that certainly sound familiar.

We live in a world with plenty of resources for everyone, but a few select people hoard more than their fair share. When you think of the rodent "apartments," it's hard not to picture densely packed urban environments where people are stacked on top of each other at every turn. Maybe on some level some of us can relate to the “Beautiful Ones” and their urge to not participate in all the ugliness and just sequester and groom themselves. You can make an argument that when the mice stopped having to worry about food and shelter, it removed the element of challenge from their lives and left them lost. Similarly, many of us are lucky enough to not have to wonder where our next meal comes from, and maybe that has something to do with our never-ending search for meaning. Some even go so far as to link more people choosing to delay having children, or not have children at all, with the collapsing society of the mice.

But Calhoun's work has also been heavily scrutinized, with some claiming it's based on shaky science. And in the end, there’s the small matter that humans are not mice. We are infinitely more complicated, and so much better suited to adapting to our environments. Kean writes, "Ultimately Calhoun’s work functions like a Rorschach blot—people see what they want to see."

It's fascinating and thought-provoking nonetheless. Watch this breakdown of the experiment shared by the National Library of Medicine in the early 1970s.

- YouTube youtu.be

This article originally appeared in April. It has been updated.

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Scientists pinpoint the exact 'turning point' year when your body’s aging process accelerates

Much like you had a growth spurt, scientists have found an aging spurt.

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A woman slowly aging from her 20s to her 50s.

It’s often assumed that aging is a consistent process where we grow to a certain point and then our bodies begin to wear down at a predictable pace until the inevitable end. However, according to a new study out of China, the average human body has an accelerated leap during the aging process before returning to its normal rate.

According to the researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aging begins to accelerate at the age of 50. Or, when women are going through menopause and men are starting to love Kirkland jeans. "Based on aging-associated protein changes, we developed tissue-specific proteomic age clocks and characterized organ-level aging trajectories. Temporal analysis revealed an aging inflection around age 50, with blood vessels being a tissue that ages early and is markedly susceptible to aging," the team led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences wrote in the journal Cell.

aging, aging woman, wrinkles, aging science, woman in tank top A woman looking at her face in the mirror.via Canva/Photos

Why does aging accelerate at 50?

To put it in layman’s terms: By looking at how specific body proteins change as we age, researchers made special tools to measure how old organs vary in biological age. They found that around age 50, the aging process accelerates, and blood vessels start aging earlier than other organs.

To learn more about the aging princess, the researchers collected tissue samples from 76 organ donors between the ages of 14 and 68 who had died of traumatic brain injury. The samples were taken from seven of the body’s systems: cardiovascular (heart and aorta), digestive (liver, pancreas, and intestine), immune (spleen and lymph node), endocrine (adrenal gland and white adipose), respiratory (lung), integumentary (skin), and musculoskeletal (muscle).

old watch, aging hands, senior women, wrinkled hands, time, passing of time, A senior woman's hands holding a watch. via Canva/Photos

The body’s aging process speeds up between 45 and 55

After studying the proteins found in different systems, the researchers found that the most stark changes in the aging process occurred between the ages of 45 and 55. The greatest amount of changes happened in the aorta, the body’s main artery that runs that passes over the heart from the left ventricle and runs down the front of the backbone.

The researchers hope that their work will eventually lead to mapping of the entire body, where we can better understand the process on an organ-by-organ basis. That could lead to one day having different biological ages for various body parts based on proteins and lifestyle choices. One could have a liver that's 35 and an aorta in its 50s. "These insights may facilitate the development of targeted interventions for aging and age-related diseases, paving the way to improve the health of older adults," the authors concluded.

It may be a bit jarring for younger people to know that just like they may have enjoyed a growth spurt while in high school, they can also look forward to an aging spurt that happens at 50. The good news is that if you are past 55, then you are likely to be able to look forward to a phase where the aging process slows down a bit.

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