Is the moon a planet?

The moon is a round, rocky body, but is it a planet? The answer, scientists say, is complicated.
Science and Technolgy blog
The moon is a round, rocky body, but is it a planet? The answer, scientists say, is complicated.
A recent study published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality explored the relationship between belief systems and perceptions of science and religion. It found that individuals with strong religious beliefs tend to see science and religion as compatible, whereas those…
Mercedes-Benz is developing a new type of solar paint that could free EV owners from the perennial problem of range anxiety.
We have trillions of body clocks — a central one in the brain and others in each cell of our body. Here’s how they work with light to control our health.
Health channel editor Nicoletta Lanese looks back on some of our standout health stories from 2024.
Swimming goggles that that can genuinely improve your exercise performance.
Christmas is a season of joy and togetherness. But for many, it’s also one of the most stressful times of the year. Stress arises from an imbalance between the demands placed on us and our ability to cope with those…
Editor’s note: Warning: Although we’ve done our best to avoid spoiling anything major, please note this list does include a few specific references to several of the listed shows that some might consider spoiler-y. This was another good year for…
An 1,800-year-old gold ring with a carving depicting Venus, a Roman goddess associated with victory, has been discovered in Brittany.
The ancient Egyptians celebrated the new year in a variety of ways, including having feasts, giving gifts, and exposing statues of gods to sunlight so they could be “regenerated.”
Why do some people experience frequent nightmares while others rarely do? A new study suggests that specific psychological traits, particularly thin mental boundaries and a predisposition called nightmare proneness, play a significant role. These findings, published in the journal Dreaming,…
A new study finds that middle kids and kids from larger families are more agreeable, honest and humble than younger and older kids or kids from smaller families, but the results contradict other research on the topic.
From angry dolphins and snakes taking faking their deaths to the next level, to a frog who had just had enough. Take our quiz on the strangest animal news of 2024.
A 2018 astronaut photo shows a festive, fir-tree-shaped artificial reservoir in Iraq decorated with both natural and imagined ornaments.
How much do you know about the archaeology of early Christianity? Take our quiz to find out.
Collected from some of the best-known photography competitions around the world, here are the most captivating nature photos of 2024.
Today, the Denali Fault rips apart some of the North American plate, but it was once a place where tectonic plates came together.
A new study hints at a “previously recognized” mechanism that links a rare chromosomal disorder to schizophrenia.
Do sugar content labels help us make healthier choices during the holidays? A study in Acta Psychologica found that they might not. Using mobile eye-tracking glasses, researchers found that festive, sugar-rich foods are more visually captivating and desirable than their…
At this point, any serious retro gamer knows that a bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) TV provides the most authentic, lag-free experience for game consoles that predate the era of flat-panel HDTVs (i.e,. before the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 era). But…
If you’ve been too busy fixing your video drivers to take part in this year’s Ars Technica Charity Drive sweepstakes, don’t worry. You still have time to donate to a good cause and get a chance to win your share…
Kilauea volcano in Hawaii is erupting with fountains of lava. Check out a USGS livestream from within the Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
A genetic analysis of six people buried in a Moche tomb around A.D. 500 revealed that two teenagers were sacrificed to their close relatives.
Some Christmas traditions mirror pre-Christian festivities, but some pagan influences may have been overstated.
Experts explain why you’re more likely to catch a cold in the winter than in warmer seasons of the year.
A recent study published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing has found that improving one’s appearance—whether through physical changes or digital filters—may lead to more prosocial behavior, such as charitable donations or ethical purchasing. Across seven studies, researchers…
Health care company Ascension lost sensitive data for nearly 5.6 million individuals in a cyberattack that was attributed to a notorious ransomware gang, according to documents filed with the attorney general of Maine. Ascension owns 140 hospitals and scores of…
Flu season is ramping up across the US, but Louisiana—the state that has reportedly barred its health department from promoting flu shots, as well as COVID-19 and mpox vaccines—is leading the country with an early and strong surge. Louisiana’s flu…
For $2,100, you could buy over a dozen upper-quality mechanical keyboards. Alternatively, you could buy just one mechanical keyboard kit. Costing the same as a desktop computer, The Icebreaker keyboard commands one of the highest price tags you’ll see for…
Under Joe Biden’s direction, the US Trade Representative (USTR) launched a probe Monday into China’s plans to globally dominate markets for legacy chips—alleging that China’s unfair trade practices threaten US national security and could thwart US efforts to build up…
Director Denis Villeneuve’s stunning two-part film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune has received many well-deserved accolades—with Dune: Part 2 being crowned Ars Technica’s top movie of 2024. The films also spawned a lavish HBO spinoff TV series, Dune: Prophecy, just…
Friction between loops of yarn give knit fabrics the ability to take on a variety of shapes even when no force is applied.
The GaoJing 1-02 imaging satellite burned up over the U.S. in a mesmerizing ‘fireball’ that some skywatchers mistook for a meteor shower.
An artist’s abstract illustration of cosmic strings.
What will humans be like generations from now in a world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI)? Plenty of thinkers have applied themselves to questions like this, considering how AI will alter lives – often for better, sometimes for worse. They…
Beleaguered automaker Nissan is going to throw its lot in with Honda. The two Japanese OEMs want to merge by 2026, creating the world’s third-largest car company in the process. In fact, earlier this year the two signed memorandums of…
Scientists paired Labrador retrievers with an AI model in a new screening test for breast, lung, colorectal or prostate cancer.
The sun’s most active phase, solar maximum, officially arrived in 2024, triggering some explosive solar storms and colorful auroras. Here are 10 of our favorite solar outbursts this year.
The bowstrings were found with wood-and-reed arrows and were used by the first European farmers.
Although the details remain in flux, the transition team reviewing NASA and its activities has begun to draft potential executive orders for changes to space policy under the Trump Administration. Sources familiar with the five people on the team, who…
This might be the most important watch of the year for fitness fans.
The Panasonic Lumix is a high-spec Micro Four Thirds camera with professional photo and video features that make it a great hybrid solution.
A new study has uncovered a surprising player in ketamine’s rapid antidepressant effects: astrocytes, the star-shaped support cells of the brain. By studying larval zebrafish, researchers found that ketamine reduces behavioral passivity by altering astrocytic activity in response to futile…
The KM3NeT telescopes, currently under construction, will catch high-energy neutrinos that could reveal secrets of the cosmos.
A study of individuals with various psychiatric disorders found that gut microbiota composition is associated with changes in psychological functioning. Specifically, the researchers identified associations between functional domains—negative valence, social processes, cognitive systems, and arousal/regulatory systems—and the abundance of eight…
Editor’s note: Warning: Although we’ve done our best to avoid spoiling anything too major, please note this list does include a few specific references to several of the listed films that some might consider spoiler-y. This was the year that…
The James Webb Space Telescope has snapped a baby photo of six Jupiter-sized worlds. These newborn objects are cradled in a stellar nursery some 1,000 light-years away. And the tiniest among them is swaddled in a dusty disk that might…
Once thought to be 8 billion years old, the star HD 110067 — famous for its six synchronized exoplanets — may be only 2.5 billion years old, new research suggests.
New research has found a way to power spacecraft with lasers generated using solar energy alone.
A lyre in a treasure-laden royal tomb discovered in Mesopotamia is the earliest stringed instrument ever found.