Pollution harms men’s fertility, but traffic noise affects women’s
The large-scale study linked exposure to air pollution with a higher infertility risk in men, while traffic noise affected women
TECH DEIYO
Science and Technolgy blog
Republicans slower to adopt solar panels, but respond more strongly to financial benefits
A new study has revealed that homeowners’ political affiliations are associated with their decision to install solar panels, but this effect tends to weaken when solar energy becomes more cost-effective. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,…
WaveCore runs right through a concrete wall with gigabit-speed network signal
Enlarge / “Hmm, no signal here. I’m trying to figure it out, but nothing comes to mind …” (credit: Getty Images) One issue in getting office buildings networked that you don’t typically face at home is concrete—and lots of it.…
This EV will make you grin from ear to ear—the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Enlarge / Other automakers have half-heartedly tuned their EVs, but Hyundai’s N brand has gone all-out with the Ioniq 5, and the results are spectacular. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin) Hyundai’s transformation over the past decade and a half has been one…
What traits make someone morally exceptional? New study has answers
A recent study published in the Journal of Personality revealed a surprising level of agreement on the traits that define morally exceptional individuals, such as empathy, guilt-proneness, and moral identity. Researchers William Fleeson and colleagues set out to explore the…
Bumblebees lose most of their sense of smell after heat waves
A few hours in high temps reduced the ability of antennae to detect flower scents by 80 percent. That could impact the bees’ ability to find food.
A cargo bike with a low price and pedals so low they scrape the ground
Enlarge / The CycWagon. (credit: John Timmer) More so than most other forms of bicycle, cargo bikes are specifically designed to make ditching a car easier. Whether hauling groceries or kids, they can handle a lot more of the day-to-day…
The oldest evidence of Earth’s atmosphere may be hiding in rocks on the moon
The moon hasn’t had a magnetic field for 4.36 billion years. That means it could hold fragments of the ancient Earth.
Financial interventions have a “ripple effect” among adults with mental illness and substance use disorders
A recent review published in Psychiatric Services sheds light on how financial interventions can help improve behavioral health outcomes in adults with mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The study reviewed literature spanning over a century and found that finance-based…
50 years ago, some of plastic’s toxic hazards were exposed
Worker exposure to vinyl chloride became tightly regulated after the chemical was linked with liver cancer. Now, its use may be on the chopping block.
Novel Chinese computing architecture ‘inspired by human brain’ can lead to AGI, scientists say
AGI could be on the horizon thanks to a novel computing architecture that completely redefines how artificial neurons form an intelligent system.
White Shark Café: The mysterious meeting spot for great whites in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
Every winter and spring, great white sharks that usually dwell off the coast of California gather in a remote section of ocean the size of Colorado — and scientists are slowly piecing together why.
Sexually frustrated dolphin behind spate of attacks on humans off Japan
A stock image of an Indo-Pacific dolphin swimming (not the individual responsible for the recent attacks).
High-fat diet alters brain function and memory in rats, new study shows
A study on rats raised on a high-fat diet found that these rats gained weight, experienced metabolic changes, and developed reduced insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. They also exhibited enhanced odor-aversion memory, which corresponded to increased neurotransmission in specific areas…
Ars Technica system guide: Falling prices are more exciting than new parts
Enlarge / AMD’s Ryzen 7700X makes enough sense to feature in our higher-end gaming build. (credit: Andrew Cunningham) It’s been a while since our last system guide, and a few new products—most notably AMD’s Ryzen 9000 series CPUs—have been released…
Rocket Report: Falcon 9 lifts its 7,000th Starlink; ABL cuts deep
Enlarge / The second stage of the New Glenn rocket rolls to the launch pad on Tuesday. (credit: Blue Origin) Welcome to Edition 7.10 of the Rocket Report! It has been a big week for seeing new hardware from Blue…
Want to spot a deepfake? Focus on the eyes
This is another in a year-long series of stories identifying how the burgeoning use of artificial intelligence is impacting our lives — and ways we can work to make those impacts as beneficial as possible. Clues to which images are deepfakes may be…
A particularly active ‘aurora season’ could be just weeks away
September could be a prime time to see vibrant auroras, thanks to a quirk of Earth’s tilt that leads to more intense geomagnetic activity around the equinox.
New research sheds light on why women receive less critical performance feedback
A new study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology reveals that feedback providers are more likely to inflate performance evaluations when giving feedback to women compared to men. This pattern appears to stem from a social pressure to…
Study: Playing Dungeons & Dragons helps autistic players in social interactions
Enlarge / Researchers say that Dungeons & Dragons can give autistic players a way to engage in low-risk social interactions. (credit: Nicole Hill/CC BY-SA 4.0) Since its introduction in the 1970s, Dungeons & Dragons has become one of the most…
After another Boeing letdown, NASA isn’t ready to buy more Starliner missions
Enlarge / Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket before liftoff in June to begin the Crew Flight Test. (credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images) NASA is ready for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, stricken…
1,700-year-old ‘barbarian’ burial discovered along Roman Empire’s frontier in Germany
Archaeologists think the man was buried in the first half of the fourth century.
The Moon had volcanic activity much more recently than we knew
Enlarge / The eruptions that produced the dark mare on the lunar surface ended billions of years ago. (credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University) Signs of volcanic activity on the Moon can be viewed simply by looking up at the night-time sky:…
US charges Russian military officers for unleashing wiper malware on Ukraine
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Federal prosecutors on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging six Russian nationals with conspiracy to hack into the computer networks of the Ukrainian government and its allies and steal or destroy sensitive data on behalf of the…
Why do dogs’ paws smell like Fritos?
Why do dogs’ paws smell like corn chips? A veterinarian explains the cause of this olfactory offense.
Scientists invent nanorobots that can repair brain aneurysms
Tiny robots much smaller than blood cells could deliver clot-forming drugs where they’re needed most, a study in rabbits suggests. The tech has yet to be tested in humans.
AT&T sues Broadcom for refusing to renew perpetual license support
Enlarge AT&T filed a lawsuit against Broadcom on August 29 accusing it of seeking to “retroactively change existing VMware contracts to match its new corporate strategy.” The lawsuit, spotted by Channel Futures, concerns claims that Broadcom is not letting AT&T…
Parenting nightmare: Kiss on the cheek causes child’s incurable infection
Enlarge / Herpes simplex virus, (HSV). Image taken with transmission electron microscopy. (credit: Getty | BSIP) As the US Surgeon General recently highlighted, parenting is stressful. From navigating social media to facing a youth mental health crisis, challenges abound. But,…
People who pledge 10% of their income to charity are more morally expansive and open-minded
According to a new study, people who have taken the Giving What We Can (GWWC) pledge to donate at least 10% of their income to charity display distinct cognitive and personality traits. This research was published in the Journal of…
What to expect from Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event
Enlarge / Apple’s event will likely discuss Apple Intelligence, though that’s not going to launch until later in the year with iOS 18.1 (credit: Apple) For years, Apple’s September event has focused almost exclusively on new flagship iPhones and new…
Verizon to buy Frontier for $9.6 billion, says it will expand fiber network
Enlarge / A Verizon FiOS truck in Manhattan on September 15, 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Smith Collection | Gado) Verizon today announced a deal to acquire Frontier Communications, an Internet service provider with about 3 million customers in 25…
Scientists just made mice ‘see-through’ using food dye — and humans are next
A common food dye can turn the skin of living mice transparent, but we don’t yet know if it’ll work in humans.
New AI model “learns” how to simulate Super Mario Bros. from video footage
At first glance, these AI-generated Super Mario Bros. videos are pretty impressive. The more you watch, though, the more glitches you’ll see. (credit: MarioVGG) Last month, Google’s GameNGen AI model showed that generalized image diffusion techniques can be used to…
Balatro arrives on phones Sept. 26, so plan your “sick” days accordingly
Enlarge / The energy captured by Balatro‘s mobile announcement trailer is terrifyingly spot-on. (credit: LocalThunk) LocalThunk, the pseudonymous lead developer of the surprise smash hit deckbuilding/roguelike/poker-math-simulation game Balatro, has long given the impression that he understands that his game, having…
After seeing Wi-Fi network named “STINKY,” Navy found hidden Starlink dish on US warship
Enlarge / The USS Manchester. Just the spot for a Starlink dish. (credit: Department of Defense) It’s no secret that government IT can be a huge bummer. The records retention! The security! So government workers occasionally take IT into their…
Roman coin trove discovered on Mediterranean island may have been hidden during ancient pirate attack
The silver coin discoveries date to the Roman Republic and are from the island of Pantelleria, between Sicily and Tunisia.
AuDHD: What you need to know about the overlap of autism and ADHD
You may have seen some new ways to describe when someone is autistic and also has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The terms “AuDHD” or sometimes “AutiADHD” are being used on social media, with people describing what they experience or have…
More water worlds than we thought might support life
Enlarge / High pressure ices near the crust are a feature of water-rich worlds.` (credit: Benoit Gougeon (University of Montreal)) The possibility that there is liquid water on an exoplanet’s surface usually flags it as “potentially habitable,” but the reality…
BMW explains why it will sell hydrogen fuel cells in 2028
Enlarge / BMW has had some hydrogen fuel cell-powered iX5s in testing for a while, and for Art Basel 2024 this one got a new look courtesy of Es Devlin. (credit: Enes Kucevic/BMW) Today, BMW announced that it will start…
Appeals judge baffled by X’s loss over Calif. moderation law, orders injunction
Enlarge (credit: Marc Piasecki / Contributor | Getty Images Entertainment) Elon Musk’s X has won its appeal on free speech grounds to block AB 587, a California law requiring social media companies to submit annual reports publicly explaining their controversial…
Astronomers discover oldest known eclipse reference in 6,000-year-old Hindu text
A flowery passage in a 6,000-year-old Hindu text may be the earliest known reference to a solar eclipse, describing the sun as being “pierced” with darkness and gloom and proposing that evil beings had caused the sun’s “magic arts to…
One of the universe’s biggest paradoxes could be even weirder than we thought, James Webb telescope study reveals
New James Webb Space Telescope results have revealed that there may not be a Hubble tension after all. But contradictions within the findings point to a deeper mystery.
How does grapefruit interact with drugs?
Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can affect the amount of medication that reaches the bloodstream. But why?
Narcissism and psychopathy are both (weakly) related to makeup habits among women
A recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior sheds new light on the link between makeup use and personality traits among women. The research found that women who use more makeup tend to score higher in traits such…
FBI busts musician’s elaborate AI-powered $10M streaming-royalty heist
Enlarge (credit: anilyanik via Getty Images) On Wednesday, federal prosecutors charged a North Carolina musician with defrauding streaming services of $10 million through an elaborate scheme involving AI, as reported by The New York Times. Michael Smith, 52, allegedly used…
A new drug shows promise for hot flashes due to menopause
Two clinical trials found that the nonhormonal drug elinzanetant eased hot flashes and improved sleep, two common menopause symptoms.
Asteroid slams into Earth triggering stunning green ‘fireball’ above the Philippines — 8 hours after it was 1st spotted
On Wednesday (Sept. 4), astronomers spotted a never-before-seen asteroid, 2024 RW1, around eight hours before it entered Earth’s atmosphere. The “harmless” space rock quickly burned up as predicted, creating a bright green streak across the night sky before spectacularly exploding.
New AI standards group wants to make data scraping opt-in
Enlarge / They know… (credit: Aurich / Getty) The first wave of major generative AI tools largely were trained on “publicly available” data—basically, anything and everything that could be scraped from the Internet. Now, sources of training data are increasingly…
1,500-year-old gold coins from Byzantine Empire discovered in medieval dwelling in Bulgaria
Archaeologists in Bulgaria have discovered a medieval house that contained even older gold coins, which date to the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great.
Depressive women are less consistent in use of contraceptives
Recent research conducted in Germany explored the links between depression, pregnancy ambivalence, and contraceptive use among individuals who do not wish to become pregnant or conceive a child. Among women, more severe depressive symptoms were associated with less consistent contraceptive…
