Science and Technolgy blog
A recent study provides evidence that political ideology shapes how people evaluate moral violations based on gender, with Republicans and Democrats exhibiting contrasting biases. Republicans judged authority violations by women and girls more harshly, while Democrats tended to judge such…
Car people, like most flavors of enthusiasts, are often given over to ideological purity tests. Car X is better than car Y because it’s naturally aspirated, not turbocharged. Hybrid Q is a pure series hybrid and is thus better than…
Humankind set records in space this year, including scooping up some of the moon’s far side and launching a new Europa explorer.
You may want to be extra careful if you’re booking holiday travel for family and friends this year through Booking.com. A stunned user recently discovered that a typo in an email address could inadvertently share private trip info with strangers,…
A new study has found that within just a few days of a whiplash injury, it is possible to predict which patients are likely to develop chronic pain based on brain activity and anxiety levels. Researchers discovered that the level…
Finding a bubble of hot gas blown by the stellar wind from a young star gives researchers a peek at what our sun was like when it was young.
Sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage are moving toward the mainstream. Wider use of these batteries could lead to lower costs, less fire risk, and less need for lithium, cobalt, and nickel. On November 18, CATL, the world’s…
An analysis of data from the NutriNet Brasil study found that individuals who consume more ultraprocessed foods in their diet face an increased risk of depressive symptoms. Overall, those with the highest consumption of ultraprocessed foods had a 42% greater…
Data continue to show that tirzepatide, called Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss, is safe and effective, but side effects remain.
Scientists hope the body of a pregnant great white shark killed on a drumline will reveal some of the mysteries of the species’ reproduction.
The Fossil Forest in Dorset is a stretch of southern English coastline peppered with living mounds of limestone that hide the remains of cypress trees from the late Jurassic period.
Researchers have discovered that extracts from Psilocybe cubensis, commonly known as magic mushrooms, may play a role in reversing memory deficits caused by chronic stress. The study, published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, found that when administered under specific…
Welcome to Edition 7.22 of the Rocket Report! The big news is the Trump administration’s announcement that commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman would be put forward as the nominee to serve as the next NASA Administrator. Isaacman has flown to space…
Brains are usually thought of as a bacteria-free zone. But that’s not the case for some fish. Wild and lab-grown members of the salmon family harbor active microbial communities in their brains. More than half of the bacteria found in…
The simulations will be used by astronomers to test the standard model of cosmology.
Spoon-like metal objects attached to Roman-era belts may represent drug dosing equipment, researchers suggest.
A new study published in Molecular Psychiatry has provided groundbreaking insights into the biological underpinnings of autism, revealing that adults with autism have fewer synapses in their brains than neurotypical individuals. Using a type of brain imaging called positron emission tomography, researchers measured…
Earthworms commonly come out when it’s wet outside, but why?
Two spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency launched on top of an Indian rocket Thursday, kicking off a mission to test novel formation flying technologies and observe a rarely-seen slice of the Sun’s ethereal corona. ESA’s Proba-3 mission is…
Two years ago next week, NASA’s Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean to wrap up what, at first glance, seemed to be a highly successful unpiloted test flight that made a return to the Moon feel within reach.…
Most drones on the market are rotary-wing quadcopters, which can conveniently land and take off almost anywhere. The problem is they are less energy-efficient than fixed-wing aircraft, which can fly greater distances and stay airborne for longer but need a…
A US judge today rejected a Boeing plea agreement that was opposed by families of crash victims who say the deal would fail to hold Boeing accountable. The judge’s ruling said the US “Government has monitored Boeing for three years…
Broadcom will no longer take VMware’s biggest 2,000 customers directly. Instead, it will work with VMware’s 500 biggest customers, giving channel partners the opportunity to participate in deals and provide additional value for VMware customers. The reversal is being viewed…
The strange structures could serve as early warning signs of life-threatening sinkholes, scientists say.
A new laboratory study pinpoints a way H5N1 could evolve to spread from person to person.
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck off the coast of Petrolia, California on Thursday (Dec. 5).
AT&T this week detailed plans to eliminate copper phone and DSL lines from its network while leaving many customers in rural areas with only wireless or satellite as an alternative. In a presentation for analysts and investors on Tuesday, AT&T…
2023 was always going to be a hot year, given that warmer El Niño conditions were superimposed on the long-term trend of climate change driven by our greenhouse gas emissions. But it’s not clear anybody was expecting the striking string…
On Thursday during a live demo as part of its “12 days of OpenAI” event, OpenAI announced a new tier of ChatGPT with higher usage limits for $200 a month and the full version of “o1,” the full version of…
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday his intent to nominate entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman as the next administrator of NASA. For those unfamiliar with Isaacman, who at just 16 years old founded a payment processing company in his parents’…
An analysis of research on most known species around the world finds climate change puts many species at risk of extinction, and the risk increases with more global warming.
Scientists have designed special immune cells that protect transplanted pancreatic cells from attack in mice.
A recent study published in Sex Roles highlights the experiences of women athletes and coaches in traditionally male-dominated strength sports like Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, CrossFit, and strongman. Researchers found that women in these fields confront societal expectations about femininity and…
As the AI industry grows in size and influence, the companies involved have begun making stark choices about where they land on issues of life and death. For example, can their AI models be used to guide weapons or make…
Over the last few years, Apple has steadily been building password manager-style features into macOS and iOS, including automatic password generation, password breach detection, and more. Starting with this year’s updates—iOS 18 and macOS 15 Sequoia—Apple broke all that functionality…
Heat waves fueled by climate change killed scores of people and upended daily life. Here are some of those stories.
The hydrogen fuel tank of a Toyota vehicle on display.
An artist’s illustration of primordial black holes.
In recent years, commercial spyware has been deployed by more actors against a wider range of victims, but the prevailing narrative has still been that the malware is used in targeted attacks against an extremely small number of people. At…
Longtime Valve watchers likely remember Steam Machines, the company’s aborted, pre-Steam Deck attempt at crafting a line of third-party gaming PC hardware based around an early verison of its Linux-based SteamOS. Now, there are strong signs that Valve is on…
Common colds and the flu differ in many ways, including their causes, some of their symptoms and their treatments.
Have you ever taken a personality test? If you’re like me, you’ve consulted BuzzFeed and you know exactly which Taylor Swift song “perfectly matches your vibe.” It might be obvious that internet quizzes are not scientific, but many of the…
A 3D-printable EEG electrode e-tattoo. Credit: University of Texas at Austin. Epidermal electronics attached to the skin via temporary tattoos (e-tattoos) have been around for more than a decade, but they have their limitations, most notably that they don’t function…
Late Wednesday, bitcoin hit $100,000—a major milestone for the cryptocurrency, which has been experiencing a massive upswing since Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. Trump is a shiny new crypto supporter, launching his own cryptocurrency on the campaign trail…
Today, Rivian announced that it is opening up the Rivian Adventure Network of fast chargers to drivers of all other makes of electric vehicles, beginning with its location in Joshua Tree, California. The Joshua Tree Charging Outpost, which has 12…
Botanist Pablo Guerrero has been visiting Atacama cacti all his life. They’re not adapting well to a drier climate, booming mining and plant collection.
A new large-scale study published in The Journal of Sex Research provides a deep dive into the phenomenon of faking orgasms. The research is among the first to examine not only the prevalence of faking orgasms among both women and…
Even spider love lives show an effect of climate uncertainty: Stressed males may offer a bit of silk-wrapped junk rather than a tasty insect treat.
In 2013, researchers reported an eye-opening case of a healthy pregnant woman with a puzzling prenatal test result. A routine genetic screen using cell-free DNA—a highly accurate blood test—suggested her fetus had an extra copy of chromosome 13 (Patau syndrome)…
Hackers pocketed as much as $155,000 by sneaking a backdoor into a code library used by developers of smart contract apps that work with the cryptocurrency known as Solana. The supply-chain attack targeted solana-web3.js, a collection of JavaScript code used…
