Science and Technolgy blog
Enlarge / Wikipedia’s decades of content can be a light to you in dark places, and now you can choose the dark for yourself. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images | Wikipedia) Dark mode, night mode, light-on-dark design, or whatever…
Enlarge / A Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen docked at the International Space Station in 2022. The section of the spacecraft on the left is the pressurized capsule, while the rear section, at right, is the trunk. (credit: NASA) Sometime…
A recent study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research has unveiled disruptions in the brain connectivity of males with cocaine use disorder. This study found that male individuals with cocaine use disorder exhibit increased and more persistent brain connectivity…
Enlarge / The Super Heavy booster for Flight 5 of Starship undergoes a static fire test earlier this month. (credit: SpaceX) After SpaceX decided to launch orbital missions of its Starship rocket from Texas about five years ago, the company…
Scientists are uncovering various ways that air pollution can interfere with the ability of insects to pollinate plants. (credit: Utah.gov) In the summers of 2018 and 2019, ecologist James Ryalls and his colleagues would go out to a field near…
Enlarge / The California State Capitol Building in Sacramento. (credit: Getty Images) California’s “Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act” (a.k.a. SB-1047) has led to a flurry of headlines and debate concerning the overall “safety” of large…
Enlarge / Apple Intelligence was unveiled at WWDC 2024. (credit: Apple) As was just rumored, the iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 developer betas are rolling out today, and they include the first opportunity to try out Apple…
Researchers want to harness the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis to ferry drugs, but some question if the risks can be eliminated.
A small trial in identical twins has shown that going vegan for two months may slow aging, but the findings should be interpreted cautiously, experts say.
Enlarge / Robert Downey Jr. will play Doctor Doom in two new Avengers movies from the Russo brothers. (credit: Marvel Studios) The Marvel Cinematic Universe received a much-needed boost this weekend with the box office dominance of Deadpool and Wolverine,…
Enlarge (credit: Apple) Apple spent a lot of time at its Worldwide Developers Conference this year talking up the new iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 features powered by Apple Intelligence, the brand name Apple is using for various…
The hydrated molecules were found inside a rock sample retrieved by China’s Chang’e 5 mission in 2020
Learn the science of how athletes push past their limits.
The winding loop touches every point without crossing itself and could help make a unique class of atomic structures more efficient catalysts, scientists say.
Don’t worry if you missed Prime Day, the Unistellar Odyssey is still $1,799 — save $500 on this fantastic smart telescope at Amazon.
Enlarge / In this handout image from Synology, a thoughtful worker uses BeeFiles on their MacBook and BeePhotos on their iPhone, always keeping their BeeStation close at hand. They might have important thoughts about the books “Island” or “DECO” to…
Thought experiment (noun, “THAWT Ex-PAIR-eh-mint”) A thought experiment is a hypothetical scenario addressing a big question. The scenario can sometimes seem absurd. But considering such scenarios can highlight the consequences of a particular idea or theory. One famous thought experiment…
Ready, set — go break a record! As elite athletes compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, they’ll likely break at least a few world records. But no one has set a new record in more than a decade…
An air taxi has completed the first forward flight of a hydrogen-fueled aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing — and it broke a distance record in the process.
A buildup of methane and other fluids in open and closed “systems” in the permafrost could explain why strange, icy mounds sometimes erupt to form giant crater, researchers say.
While it may initially appear that strawberries are fruits covered in seeds, this is not actually the case.
We take a look at the apparent uptick in weird weather events and discuss the possible causes with leading climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe.
Looking to inspire the next generation of curious minds? These are our picks of the best popular science books for children of all ages.
Enlarge (credit: Bill Varie/Getty Images) An accountant who fills out spreadsheets at the beach, a dog groomer who always has time for one more client, a basketball player who shoots free throws to the point of exhaustion. Every profession has…
Scientists break data transmission rate world record for a second time this year — boosting fiber-optic speeds by 25% to a staggering 402 Tbps.
The Hubble Space Telescope zooms in on a dense ball of millions of stars within a galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. Its ancient origins raise big questions about how galaxies form and grow.
The world’s strongest lifters on record won acclaim for hoisting thousands of pounds into the air at one time. Could they ever go heavier?
Frank Close tells us about the history of particle physics, and what it means that charge in our universe’s matter is so closely balanced.
Here’s how our brains construct color in our environment.
Dogs can smell when people are stressed, and it seems to make them feel downhearted.
A new device helps scientists measure lava viscosity during active flows.
The “Pyramid of the Moon” in Teotihuacan, an ancient city in Mexico, may align with the solstice sun, a team argues.
Next generation of computer chips could ditch silicon for TMD — a 2D material that is embedded with ‘defects’ which can be harnessed to improve performance.
Sun bears often stand upright like humans, and mothers even walk around cradling their babies in their arms.
Enlarge (credit: John Timmer) As I mentioned in another recent review, I’ve been checking out electric hardtail mountain bikes lately. Their relative simplicity compared to full-suspension models tends to allow companies to hit a lower price point without sacrificing much…
Enlarge / As female macaques age, the size of their social network shrinks. (credit: Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Walnut was born on June 3, 1995, at the start of what would become an unusually hot…
Amazing new footage shows a rare Deepstaria jellyfish with a resident isopod in its bell off the coast of Chile.
It’s hard to compare sports head-to-head, but some stand out in terms of their risk of causing injury or death.
Visiting our nearest stellar neighbor will take near-light-speed travel.
Enlarge / The Starlink 10-9 mission lifts off early Saturday morning from Florida. (credit: SpaceX webcast) Early on Saturday morning, at 1:45 am local time, a Falcon 9 rocket soared into orbit from its launch site at Kennedy Space Center…
When Hunga erupted in 2022, ash “decimated” slow-moving species living on the seafloor. More mobile species were able to hoof it out of harm’s way.
Scientists discovered an unknown volcanic eruption that rocked the seafloor in the Aegean more than 500,000 years ago.
From Alan Turing’s seminal paper to the advent of ChatGPT, here are 12 pivotal moments in the history of artificial intelligence.
Researchers from the University of Waterloo have conducted a groundbreaking study examining how anxiety affects walking behavior, particularly in situations that evoke a sense of postural threat. The study, published in the journal Experimental Brain Research, found that while simple…
Scientists have found a mysterious signal in the brightest gamma ray burst ever detected, and now they know what caused it.
Enlarge / Wegovy is an injectable prescription weight-loss medicine that has helped people with obesity. (credit: Getty | Michael Siluk) The US Food and Drug Administration has approved two injectable versions of the blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drug, semaglutide (Wegovy…
Thousands of ochre rock drawings, including images of humans and animals morphing into one another, offer a striking glimpse at early life in the Amazon.
A new study published in Archives of Sexual Behavior reports that sexual strangulation is a prevalent practice among young Australians, with positive perceptions influenced by beliefs about its safety, social normative factors, and exposure to depictions in pornography. Dangers of…
Enlarge / Boeing’s Strainer spacecraft is seen docked at the International Space Station in this picture taken July 3. (credit: NASA) The astronauts who rode Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station last month still don’t know when they…
Studying the reptile’s ironclad teeth in more detail could help solve a dinosaur dental mystery.
