Science and Technolgy blog
The big three record labels notched another court victory against a broadband provider last month, but the music publishing firms aren’t happy that an appeals court only awarded per-album damages instead of damages for each song. Universal, Warner, and Sony…
An artist’s rendering of a black hole
A teen in Canada may be the first person to catch an H5 bird flu virus within the country. Health officials are now working to confirm the diagnosis.
Many of you know that most of our staff is spread out all over these United States, but what you might not know is that it has been more than five years since many of us saw each other in…
In some ways, my review of the new MacBook Pros will be a lot like my review of the new iMac. This is the third year and fourth generation of the Apple Silicon-era MacBook Pro design, and outwardly, few things…
Spotify has lost all enthusiasm for the little music devices it sold for just half a year. Firmware hackers, as usually happens, have a lot more interest and have stepped in to save, and upgrade, a potentially useful gadget. Spotify’s…
In a recent study published in Consciousness and Cognition, researchers at Northwestern University showed that a smartphone app using sensory cues can significantly increase the frequency of lucid dreams—dreams in which a person is aware they are dreaming while still…
Transmission of Oropouche virus to the womb has been confirmed in two stillbirths and one birth with congenital anomalies that occurred in Brazil.
The clonal quaking aspen known as Pando is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old.
The Leonid meteor shower peaks in North America overnight from Nov. 17 to 18, with fast-moving fireballs possible in US skies.
An analysis looking at the hand bones of australopithecines, apes and humans reveals that tool use likely evolved before the Homo genus arose.
The discovery of an impeccably preserved Celtic burial chamber in southern Germany is a “stroke of luck for archaeology,” scientists say.
A new study published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that male and female mice process threats differently in the brain, even though their behavioral responses are similar. By studying neural activity in two key brain regions, researchers discovered sex-specific pathways that…
Muon colliders could slam the subatomic particles together in hopes of unlocking physics secrets. Giving muons a speed boost is a crucial step.
Vampire bats rely on amino acids from their blood diet to fuel their exercise, scientists discovered after observing the animals on tiny treadmills.
Amazon has dropped the Apple Watch Series 10 price by $50 and it’s also price-matched at Walmart as the Black Friday price wars begin
Larvae of the Kenyan lesser mealworm found to feast on polystyrene then break it down in their guts.
Plant-based paper has been used for thousands of years, but exactly how is it created from trees?
An analysis of health data and social media posts of U.S. Congress members found that after being personally infected with COVID-19, these individuals tended to decrease their opposition to COVID-19-related government policies on social media by approximately 30% on average.…
In the short-term, the most dangerous thing about AI language models may be their ability to emotionally manipulate humans if not carefully conditioned. The world saw its first taste of that danger in February 2023 with the launch of Bing…
Amazon is poised to roll out its newest artificial intelligence chips as the Big Tech group seeks returns on its multibillion-dollar semiconductor investments and reduce its reliance on market leader Nvidia. Executives at Amazon’s cloud computing division are spending big…
The detailed structure of a misfolded protein from a diseased deer could help explain why the disease hasn’t made the leap to humans.
Cadillac has another new electric vehicle on the way. It’s the 2026 Vistiq, a three-row SUV that fills the gap in the American automaker’s lineup. It will be the fifth Cadillac to use what until now has been called the…
Mazda won itself a lot of fans over the years with the sharp styling and attention to detail of its engaging-to-drive vehicles. But in recent years its cars have been left behind by rivals when it comes to fuel efficiency.…
New superconducting material paves the way for the next stage in quantum computing
Narcissism, often seen as a hallmark of modern-day culture, is a personality trait associated with high self-focus, a sense of entitlement, and a drive for admiration. In psychological research, measuring narcissistic traits is essential to understanding their role in various…
Insects already have plenty to beware when it comes to carnivorous plants. But now, they can add an acid-loving fungus to the list. The fungus works with a type of meat-eating plant called a sundew. The plants’ tentacle-like leaves trap insects…
The year’s fourth and final supermoon shines next to the spectacular ‘Seven Sisters’ stars this week. Here’s how to see November’s full Beaver Moon rise.
New insights into the brain could pave the way for targeted treatments for anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions. In a groundbreaking study, scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified distinct groups of cells within the amygdala,…
A 2010 satellite image shows dozens of golden islands covered with strange parallel lines shining among the shallow waters of a massive, half-full ephemeral lake in Australia’s Great Sandy Desert.
The astronauts who came home from the International Space Station last month experienced some drama on the high frontier, and some of it accompanied them back to Earth. In orbit, the astronauts aborted two spacewalks, both under unusual circumstances. Then,…
The bankruptcy estate of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX has sued the company’s former rival Binance in an attempt to recover $1.76 billion or more. The lawsuit seeks “at least $1.76 billion that was fraudulently transferred to Binance and its executives…
A recent study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that heavy cannabis users tend to experience a drop in relationship satisfaction when combining cannabis with alcohol, while alcohol use alone appears to have a positive effect on next-day relationship…
A recent study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggests that YouTube plays a crucial role in shaping public perception of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Analysis of the content and comments of ASD-related YouTube videos…
A few months ago, Anthropic quietly hired its first dedicated “AI welfare” researcher, Kyle Fish, to explore whether future AI models might deserve moral consideration and protection, reports AI newsletter Transformer. While sentience in AI models is an extremely controversial…
A solar wind event days before the NASA probe flyby in 1986 may have compressed the planet’s magnetosphere, making it look odder than it usually is.
A newfound rock-shelter in Tajikistan has artifacts created by ancient humans spanning 130,000 years.
Raquel Garcia has been fighting for years to clean up the air in her neighborhood southwest of downtown Detroit. Living a little over a mile from the Ambassador Bridge, which thousands of freight trucks cross every day en route to…
A Nigerian man living in the United Kingdom has been sentenced to 10 years for his role in a phishing scam that snatched more than $20 million from over 400 would-be home buyers in the US, including some savers who…
A recent study in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging sheds new light on the brain’s role in rumination, a mental pattern often linked to depression. Researchers found that people who tend to ruminate have structural differences in a region of the brain…
Like a lot of competitors in the global launch industry, Russia for a long time dismissed the prospects of a reusable first stage for a rocket. As late as 2016, an official with the Russian agency that develops strategy for…
A study of married couples in the United Kingdom found that marital partners tend to have similar vocabulary sizes. Even after controlling for years of marriage, a substantial correlation between partners’ vocabulary sizes remained, indicating that vocabulary size was likely…
During my first semester as a computer science graduate student at Princeton, I took COS 402: Artificial Intelligence. Toward the end of the semester, there was a lecture about neural networks. This was in the fall of 2008, and I…
Quantum dot (noun, “KWAHN-tum DAHT”) Quantum dots are teeny tiny crystals. They’re often made of semiconductors — materials that partially conduct electricity. Each quantum dot is mere billionths of a meter across. And at such tiny scales, these specks’ properties…
A new study hints at how skateboarders can up their half-pipe game — using math. Tricks like kickflips and ollies require speed. As skateboarders roll along a U-shaped ramp called a half-pipe, they build speed and climb higher by pumping.…
An artist’s rendering of a black hole
Turbulence in airplanes could become a thing of the past with FALCON, a new AI system that helps vehicles learn how to adjust to turbulence within a matter of minutes.
Archaeologists say the “oracle bones” from ancient China were used in magical attempts to predict the future.
A recent study published in Communications Psychology reveals that individuals with higher psychopathic traits show reduced sensitivity to pain, which affects their ability to learn from painful consequences. The researchers found that people with elevated psychopathic traits tend to revert…
Coastlines are challenging to measure, but why?
