Scientists are ‘gobsmacked’ by strange reversals in deep-ocean currents

The speed and direction of deep currents off Mozambique’s coast are more subject to change than scientists expected.
Science and Technolgy blog
The speed and direction of deep currents off Mozambique’s coast are more subject to change than scientists expected.
Here’s how your brain visualizes scenarios that you’re not actually looking at with your eyes.
The ancient city was besieged and destroyed in 125 B.C., probably in a dispute over the rights of Roman citizenship.
A new study sheds light on how exercise boosts brain function by exploring the role of nerves in muscle-brain communication. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that muscles release molecules that support brain…
Leafy green vegetables can affect the way certain anticoagulant (blood thinning) medications work. But why?
A recent study has uncovered a surprising level of agreement between political parties on the issue of hate speech censorship, despite widespread assumptions of partisan division. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that…
A study of German adults born between 1969 and 2002 revealed that those born before the 29th week of pregnancy (extremely premature) have a significantly increased risk of developing panic disorder later in life. Panic disorder was present in 2%…
Can people change their personality? Yes, by “making intentional tweaks to their thinking and behavior,” research finds.
In a recent study published in Current Biology, researchers uncovered how the human brain processes the concept of zero, revealing that specific neurons in the medial temporal lobe treat zero as a number rather than a symbol of nothingness. These…
Enlarge / 3D rendering of an NK Cell destroying a cancer cell. (credit: ) Billions of cells die in your body every day. Some go out with a bang, others with a whimper. They can die by accident if they’re…
The massive star-forming complex known as the Lobster Nebula is part of the biggest infrared map of the Milky Way galaxy ever created.
In an unprecedented case report, doctors in Austria have documented the first known instance of psilocybin-induced penile amputation. After consuming a large quantity of magic mushrooms, a 37-year-old man suffering from depression and alcohol abuse severed his penis with an…
How many offspring an animal can have depends on many factors, such as whether they’re aquatic and how they get around.
A new study, published in PLOS One, highlights a disturbing phenomenon: when people are repeatedly exposed to claims, they tend to believe them more, even if the claims are false or counter to their beliefs. This research focused specifically on…
The seventh season of Julia Child’s “The French Chef,” the first of the television series to air in color, revealed how color can change the experience of food. While Child had charmed audiences in black and white, seeing “Bouillabaisse à…
A recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry has found that children who experience persistently high levels of inflammation are more likely to face serious mental health challenges, such as depression and psychosis, as they reach early adulthood. The research also…
Enlarge / SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is ready for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. (credit: SpaceX) NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are ready for…
We put the Benro Mach3 to the test to see how it stands up to the competition.
A new study published in Psychology of Violence has uncovered a key link between psychopathic traits and firearm violence. The research found that individuals with certain psychopathic tendencies, especially those related to emotional coldness and antisocial behavior, are more likely…
Enlarge (credit: akinbostanci/Getty Images) Nick Dedeke is an associate teaching professor at Northeastern University, Boston. His research interests include digital transformation strategies, ethics, and privacy. His research has been published in IEEE Management Review, IEEE Spectrum, and the Journal of…
Can “the lightest smart ring in the world” impress us with its features and performance?
Siphonophores are unusual animals made up of individual organisms called “zooids,” which each have a distinct function — despite being genetically identical.
An experiment conducted in the UK has shown that people generally struggle to distinguish deepfake videos from authentic ones. Participants watching all authentic videos were almost as likely to report something unusual as those who watched a mix of real…
Enlarge (credit: Frazao Studio Latino/ Getty Images) Four years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and researchers are still seeking ways to help patients with long COVID, the persistent and often debilitating symptoms that can continue long after…
From “MooLoos” to painting mountains, these silly scientific suggestions could actually help with climate change.
If you’ve ever felt drained by intense mental effort, science now backs up your experience. A new meta-analysis, published in Psychological Bulletin, shows that mental tasks requiring effort are often accompanied by unpleasant emotions. From students solving tough problems to…
We all hold in farts from time to time, but where does the gas go?
Sept. 28, 2024: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
Enlarge / A still from Wolfs, an Apple-produced film starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. (credit: Apple) For the past few years, Apple has been making big-budget movies meant to compete with the best traditional Hollywood studios have to offer,…
Enlarge / One of the jets emitted by galaxy M87’s central black hole. (credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)) The intense electromagnetic environment near a black hole can accelerate particles to a large fraction of the speed of…
Enlarge / There’s been a lot of AI news this week, and covering it sometimes feels like running through a hall full of danging CRTs, just like this Getty Images illustration. (credit: Grandfailure via Getty Images) It’s been a wildly…
iFixit’s iPhone 16 and 16 Plus teardown. iFixit has published teardown views for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, along with their larger cousins, the Plus and Pro Max. The videos are really marketing for iFixit’s various repair kits…
Star explosions called novas are happening twice as often near a gargantuan black hole jet as they are in the rest of the galaxy, and astronomers aren’t sure why.
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | eccolo74) Valve Corporation, tired of paying arbitration fees, has removed a mandatory arbitration clause from Steam’s subscriber agreement. Valve told gamers in yesterday’s update that they must sue the company in order to resolve disputes.…
Enlarge / A warning sign outside a laboratory testing the H5N1 bird flu virus at The Pirbright Institute in Woking, UK, on Monday, March 13, 2023. (credit: Getty | Jason Alden) More than a month after a person in Missouri…
New research published in Journal of Personality & Social Psychology shows that people’s anticipated emotional responses to situations significantly shape their moral praise and character judgments of others. Prior research shows that moral praise is distinct from blame and is…
Enlarge (credit: Leon Neal / Staff | Getty Images News) Google wound down its defense in the US Department of Justice’s ad tech monopoly trial this week, following a week of testimony from witnesses that experts said seemed to lack…
Enlarge / Examples of the kind of CAPTCHAs that image-recognition bots can now get past 100 percent of the time. (credit: Arxiv, Plesner et al.) Anyone who has been surfing the web for a while is probably used to clicking…
Enlarge (credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Most members of Dell’s sales team will no longer have the option to work remotely, starting on Monday, Reuters reported this week, citing an internal memo. The policy applies to salespeople worldwide and is aimed…
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Officials in Ireland have fined Meta $101 million for storing hundreds of millions of user passwords in plaintext and making them broadly available to company employees. Meta disclosed the lapse in early 2019. The company said…
Enlarge / “When you spend more time putting electrodes back on than you do actually recording the EEGs, you get creative.” (credit: Alienor Delsart) Our feline overlords aren’t particularly known for obeying commands from mere humans, which can make it…
In the book ‘Night Magic,’ Leigh Ann Henion writes of encounters with salamanders, bats, glowworms and other life-forms nurtured by darkness.
A recent study published in Sex Roles sheds light on a troubling phenomenon: when women claim sexism from other women in the workplace, their claims are often viewed as less legitimate compared to claims made against men. This delegitimization leads…
Enlarge / Tesla’s factory in Gruenheide, Germany. (credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Tesla’s German car factory on the outskirts of Berlin allegedly operates under a “culture of fear,” and its workers take sick leave at more than three times the industry…
Enlarge / Former US President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on September 11, 2024 in New York City. (credit: Getty Images | Michael M. Santiago) Elon Musk’s X is…
Enlarge / An updated onboarding screen for Recall, with clearly visible buttons for opting in or out; Microsoft says Recall will be opt-in by default and can even be removed from PCs entirely. (credit: Microsoft) Microsoft is having another whack…
Enlarge / A screen capture of AJ Smith doing his Eleanor Rigby duet with OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode through the ChatGPT app. (credit: AJ Smith / Getty Images) OpenAI’s new Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) of its ChatGPT AI assistant rolled…
A new study reveals that Generation 2 Starlink satellites are leaking up to 30 times more radio waves than their predecessors. If SpaceX continues to deploy the newer versions as planned, we could reach an “inflection point” where astronomers can…
Enlarge (credit: IBM) As we described earlier this year, operating a quantum computer will require a significant investment in classical computing resources, given the amount of measurements and control operations that need to be executed and interpreted. That means that…
Enlarge / NYC Mayor Eric Adams, in happier times, holding an AirTag. (credit: NYC Mayor’s Office/YouTube) New York City mayor Eric Adams was stopped on the street by the FBI after an event in November 2023. Agents had a warrant…