Strange “biotwang” ID’d as Bryde’s whale call

In 2014, researchers monitoring acoustic recordings from the Mariana Archipelago picked up an unusual whale vocalization with both low- and high-frequency components. It seemed to be a whale call, but it sounded more mechanical than biological and has since been…

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 will be the next Waymo robotaxi

Waymo’s robotaxis are going to get a lot more angular in the future. Today, the autonomous driving startup and Hyundai announced that they have formed a strategic partnership, and the first product will be the integration of Waymo’s autonomous vehicle…

Men are carrying the brunt of the loneliness epidemic

A few weeks before Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey, announced in May 2024 that they were expecting, the pop icon posted a selfie where he appears tearful and distraught. While media attention quickly pivoted to the pregnancy, there was…

Ants learned to farm fungi during a mass extinction

We tend to think of agriculture as a human innovation. But insects beat us to it by millions of years. Various ant species cooperate with fungi, creating a home for them, providing them with nutrients, and harvesting them as food.…

Feminist women gamers blamed more for sexism, study finds

A recent study published in the journal Sex Roles highlights a troubling reality for many women in the world of online gaming. The research shows that women gamers who identify as feminists or engage in actions promoting gender equality are…

Scientists reveal how the brain responds to six different types of love

A recent study published in Cerebral Cortex has deepened our understanding of how the brain processes six distinct types of love. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers examined the neural activity triggered when people experience love for romantic partners,…

ULA hasn’t given up on developing a long-lived cryogenic space tug

The second flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, planned for Friday morning, has a primary goal of validating the launcher’s reliability for delivering critical US military satellites to orbit. Tory Bruno, ULA’s chief executive, told reporters Wednesday that he…

Screen-heavy households linked to poor language development in kids

Screen devices are everywhere: we use them for entertainment, connection, and critical day-to-day functions. But Estonian scientists find that screens can have a negative effect on children’s language development. They surveyed hundreds of families about their screen use and their…

EVgo gets $1.05B loan to build 7,500 DC fast chargers

The electric vehicle charging company EVgo has secured conditional approval for a $1.05 billion loan from the US Department of Energy, the company revealed this morning. EVgo has applied to DOE’s Title 17 program, which exists to provide US Treasury-backed…

Zap, zap, zap! Our bodies are electric

Our daily lives seem to run on electricity. Electric lights illuminate our rooms. Electric power runs our computers, microwave ovens, cell phones and countless features on our cars. When we lose access to electricity, it can feel like we also…

Explainer: Anatomy of a heartbeat

Your heart beats about 100,000 times per day. That’s around 3 billion times over an average lifetime. Each beat pumps blood to the lungs, where it picks up oxygen. From there, it flows on to all of the rest of…