Science and Technolgy blog
Scientists in Switzerland have developed a new method to improve internet security against quantum computing attacks, using quantum-resistant encryption and a new type of hardware.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft took some unique photos of our home planet on its Mission 1 flight to the moon in late January and early February. The spacecraft is now in orbit around the moon, with a planned landing…
A federal commission to examine U.S. chronic disease could undercut real treatment for kids with depression, ADHD and other mental health challenges
Navigating uncertain situations is a fundamental part of life for all animals. When faced with a choice between a predictable outcome and a gamble, individuals often consistently lean towards either safety or risk. A new study published in Nature Neuroscience…
This 2022 astronaut photo reveals a menagerie of hidden oceanographic features surrounding a pair of Greek islands, including giant spinning currents and rarely seen “internal waves.”
Animals can be born with genetic or developmental issues that make it hard for them to live normal lives. They also can develop mental health problems in response to conditions around them.
The cryptocurrency industry and those responsible for securing it are still in shock following Friday’s heist, likely by North Korea, that drained $1.5 billion from Dubai-based exchange Bybit, making the theft by far the biggest ever in digital asset history.…
The cryptocurrency industry and those responsible for securing it are still in shock following Friday’s heist, likely by North Korea, that drained $1.5 billion from Dubai-based exchange Bybit, making the theft by far the biggest ever in digital asset history.…
On Monday, Anthropic announced Claude 3.7 Sonnet, a new AI language model with a simulated reasoning (SR) capability called “extended thinking,” allowing the system to work through problems step by step. The company also revealed Claude Code, a command line…
An ongoing Listeria outbreak has mostly affected people living in long-term care facilities and people who were already hospitalized prior to becoming sick from the infection.
Diego Luna returns as Cassian in the forthcoming second season of Andor. The first season of Andor, the Star Wars prequel series to Rogue One and A New Hope, earned critical raves for its gritty aesthetic and multilayered narrative rife…
Nothing, the smartphone venture from OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, is on its third generation of Android smartphones. The Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro will be officially announced on March 4, but there won’t be much left to reveal. Not…
The origin of the Huns in fourth-century Europe has long been debated, but centuries-old DNA has revealed their diverse backgrounds.
A recent study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences has a connection between the way parents discipline their children and the development of undesirable personality traits later in life. The findings indicate that experiencing harsh parenting, particularly psychological…
A federal judge today blocked DOGE from accessing personal data held by the US Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Today’s ruling follows one on Friday in a different court that blocked DOGE’s access to Department of…
Natural-language search engine Perplexity will launch a web browser, joining a competitive and crowded space that has for years been dominated by Google. The browser will be called Comet, but we know nothing at all about its features or intended…
A new record for maintaining plasma burning inside a fusion reactor has been set in France, beating China’s previous benchmark by 25%.
In the ambitious pursuit to tackle the harms from false content on social media and news websites, data scientists are getting creative. While still in their training wheels, the large language models (LLMs) used to create chatbots like ChatGPT are…
A username and password just won’t cut it anymore. Users around the world logging into Gmail have often relied on Google SMS pings to securely access their accounts, but that’s changing. Google now hopes to move beyond SMS, which has…
Later this week, Amazon is closing a small loophole that allowed purchasers of Kindle books to download those files to a computer and transfer them via USB. Originally intended to extend e-book access to owners of very old Kindles without…
Acura is gearing up to build its first entirely in-house battery electric vehicles, but it’s gotten a head start with the ZDX SUV. Built in collaboration with General Motors, the ZDX is a comfortable and competent luxury EV. More than…
On Monday, Apple announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the US over the next four years. This is the “largest-ever” spending commitment that Apple has made in the US, supporting “a wide range of initiatives” focused on…
A study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior has discovered that people in consensually nonmonogamous relationships experience both challenges and rewards from their partners’ other romantic relationships. While some struggle with jealousy and time constraints, many report emotional growth,…
A survey of museum specimens reveals that more than a dozen species of the birds sport biofluorescence in feathers, skin or even inside their throats.
The likelihood of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 rose and fell last week. NASA’s impact odds are now so slim that the asteroid is no longer a hazard on the Torino asteroid scale.
“Even the strongest hurricanes in the solar system seem calm in comparison.”
Big Tech’s growing use of data centers has created related public health costs valued at more than $5.4 billion over the past five years, in findings that highlight the growing impact of building artificial intelligence infrastructure. Air pollution derived from…
It was only a few days ago that a certain fear-mongering website named, ahem, Ars Technica published an article about the prospect of a killer asteroid striking the planet Earth in the year 2032. At the time, the odds of…
Light pollution disorients young puffins. The Puffling Patrol helps them find their way to the sea.
Learn what happens inside the body during an asthma attack and why treatments help prevent or reverse the effects.
People tend to recognize happy faces faster when the person in the image belongs to their own social group or a majority group. This research was published in Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin. Douglas Martin and colleagues investigated whether the…
In the third episode of The Deep End, Jon shares how DBS surgery went and how he and other volunteers felt in the days and weeks afterward.
Competing theories explain how dogs came to be domesticated from wolves. Now, a new study adds further support to the idea that they domesticated themselves.
Google’s second generation of its AI mathematics system combines a language model with a symbolic engine to solve complex geometry problems better than International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) gold medalists.
A new study published in Autism Research has found that the ability to understand what others are thinking and feeling, known as mentalizing, is strongly linked to how well teenagers can tell stories. This skill appears to be more influential…
New York’s law requiring Internet service providers to offer broadband for $15 or $20 a month has spurred legislative efforts in other states to guarantee affordable service for people with low incomes. So far, legislators in Vermont, Massachusetts, and California…
A good sweater is like a cozy hug made out of yarn. For that, you can thank friction. A new study reveals how knit fabrics can take on so many different shapes. It results from the friction between neighboring loops of the…
Absorb and adsorb (verb, “AB-sorb” and “AD-sorb”) Absorb and adsorb both describe ways a material might soak up another substance. One big difference sets these words apart. Absorption occurs inside the material. Adsorption occurs at the surface of a material.…
Linguists give the lowdown on whether it is possible to forget your native language.
These 2,500-year-old coins are the origin of our monetary system.
People are more willing to engage with negative content when it is presented as art rather than as a straightforward photograph, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers discovered that artworks…
An analysis of the origins of seven severed skulls with nails through them shows that some people treated this way in Iron Age Spain were local while others came from afar.
A new study using brain imaging technology has shed light on how anxiety might change the way young people process emotions. Researchers discovered that children and teenagers with higher levels of generalized anxiety symptoms displayed a distinct pattern of brain…
It’s hard to believe it’s been 50 years since the release of The Stepford Wives, a film based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Ira Levin. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but its lasting cultural…
A surprising study published in Psychiatry, Psychology and Law suggests that when people make judgments about a defendant’s guilt in a case where physical appearance could plausibly play a role—such as a blind date swindle—they tend to be more lenient…
A new study published in Evolutionary Psychology has found a connection between men’s anger, their partners’ perception of their intelligence, and overall relationship satisfaction. The research suggests that men who exhibit higher levels of anger are viewed as less intelligent…
The mysterious Oort cloud is the source of many of our solar system’s comets, but astronomers still have no idea what it looks like. Now, new simulations may have given them a first glimpse.
New research has found that dating profiles indicating that their owners are non-smokers are more likely to receive video chat invitations compared to profiles of smokers. Male participants reported being more likely to send messages (to the owners of the…
At Kruger National park, a wildlife photographer spotted a giraffe covered in hundreds of skin lesions that may be caused by a rare bovine papillomavirus.
Found in the forests of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Eastern Australia, birds of paradise are famous for flashy feathers and unusually shaped ornaments, which set the standard for haute couture among birds. Many use these feathers for flamboyant mating…
