Science and Technolgy blog
It’s been just over two years now since soon-to-depart CTO John Carmack told a Meta Connect audience about his vision for a super low-end VR headset that came in at $250 and 250 grams. “We’re not building that headset today,…
A new NASA-led study suggests that photosynthetic microbes could thrive in hidden bubbles of meltwater below patches of ice on Mars. This could be one of the easiest places to search for extraterrestrial life “anywhere in the universe,” the team…
An ancient temple made by Arabian immigrants from the Nabataean culture has finally been found off the Italian coast near Naples.
A new study published in Consciousness and Cognition has revealed that individuals with aphantasia, a condition where people cannot form mental visual images, experience storytelling in a markedly different way than those with typical mental imagery. While aphantasics enjoy stories…
Astronomers have found a world shrouded in an atmosphere of water vapor, orbiting a star 100 light-years away.
Lakes appearing in the Sahara desert captured in satellite images after a cyclone dumped a years’ worth of rain on northern Africa in just a few days.
Two preserved great auk specimens displayed at a museum in 1971. The last pair of great auks were killed in 1844.
New cars really are better than they used to be. They last longer, they’re more efficient, and they’re safer for the occupants in a crash. But it’s not entirely a one-way street. If the last time you bought a car…
According to new research published in Communication Research, people who obsessively consume news are more prone to political hostility. The study shows that those who lose themselves in political news are more likely to see opponents as enemies, leading to…
Recent clinical trials of weekly insulin highlight how this formulation may be useful in managing diabetes, but the drug has limitations.
A team of scientists has made a significant discovery about how the brain retains long-term memories. They identified the molecule KIBRA, which acts as a “glue” to anchor PKMζ, an enzyme critical for strengthening synaptic connections between neurons. This interaction…
A genetic analysis suggests that rare cases of early onset osteoporosis may be partly caused by disruptions to the function of the hormone melatonin.
A study published in Nature Neuroscience suggests that targeting specific brain circuits with non-invasive neurostimulation could offer new hope for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans. Researchers found that veterans with brain injuries affecting connections to the amygdala were…
The iPad mini is a niche product, that much is clear. But for those who want an extra-small tablet, the launch of the sixth-generation iPad mini in 2021 was a red-letter day. For the first time in ages, the mini…
Rupert Murdoch’s Dow Jones and the New York Post have accused artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity of a “brazen scheme” to rip off their journalism for its AI-driven search engine in a lawsuit filed in New York on Monday. The publishers,…
A new study comparing the health outcomes of Medicaid patients with and without a doula suggests the extra support during pregnancy may be beneficial.
Residents of Snjay Camp in New Delhi fill plastic containers with water from a tanker in June 2026. Severe heatwaves mean that some areas of India’s capital experience water shortages in the summer.
Children with difficult temperaments, including personality tendencies such as irritability and having a hard time being comforted, are only slightly more likely than other children to have insecure attachment relationships with one or both of their parents, according to our…
For humans, cannibalism is the stuff of horror movies. But in the animal kingdom, it’s more common than you might think. All kinds of animals have been caught chowing down on members of their own species. The practice seems especially…
Researchers claim to have broken RSA encryption using a quantum computer, but what really happened?
How many moons does Jupiter have? Scientists have discovered dozens of them, but the answer may be more complicated than it seems.
Scientists studying the infamous 3-body problem have discovered certain “islands of regularity” that emerge from the gravitational chaos.
Whether intentional or not, the way mega-settlements in southeastern Europe from 6,000 years ago were laid out would have cut down on the spread of disease.
Half a dozen dinosaur eggs, each around the size of a grape, were recently saved from a construction site in China. Researchers say the tiny fossilized shells are exceptionally well preserved.
A recent satellite image captured the reemergence of a unique, UFO-like cloud, known as the “Taieri Pet,” which appears above New Zealand’s South Island when conditions are just right.
BOCA CHICA BEACH, Texas—I’ve taken some time to process what happened on the mudflats of South Texas a little more than a week ago and relived the scene in my mind countless times. With each replay, it’s still as astonishing…
A backward question mark shape on the creature’s back reveals early animal evolutionary history.
37Signals is not a company that makes its policy or management decisions quietly. The productivity software company was an avowedly Mac-centric shop until Apple’s move to kill home screen web apps (or Progressive Web Apps, or PWAs) led the firm and…
T-Mobile and AT&T say US regulators should drop a plan to require unlocking of phones within 60 days of activation, claiming that locking phones to a carrier’s network makes it possible to provide cheaper handsets to consumers. “If the Commission…
For Cherise Irons, chocolate, red wine, and aged cheeses are dangerous. So are certain sounds, perfumes and other strong scents, cold weather and thunderstorms. Stress and lack of sleep, too. She suspects all of these things can trigger her migraine…
A new study investigates how narcissism in both leaders and followers affects creative performance in the workplace. The research finds that when leaders and followers have similar levels of narcissism, employees tend to identify more with their leaders, leading to…
Like nuclear fusion, the idea of space-based solar power has always seemed like a futuristic technology with an actual deployment into communities ever remaining a couple of decades away. The concept of harvesting solar power continuously from large satellites in…
Today, Mercedes-Benz opened its first battery-recycling plant in Germany. The new plant will use an “integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical” approach to recycling electric vehicle batteries and expects to recover more than 96 percent of the valuable minerals and metals used in EV…
After rumors swirled that TikTok owner ByteDance had lost tens of millions after an intern sabotaged its AI models, ByteDance issued a statement this weekend hoping to silence all the social media chatter in China. In a social media post…
Sneak peek at S3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The Star Trek franchise made its presence known with a special panel during New York City Comic-Con this past weekend. Among the highlights: Paramount unveiled a three-minute preview clip from…
A bright spiral galaxy appears on a background of thousands of other distant galaxies
It’s been almost exactly a year now since we reported on the announcement that Squadron 42—the single-player campaign portion of the now 12-year-old crowdfunding boondoggle Star Citizen—was “feature complete” and in the “polish phase.” Now, many years after the game’s…
A new video shows how Earth’s magnetic field weakened and warped before temporarily flipping during a recent “polar reversal event.”
A new trial suggests that at-home brain stimulation could potentially be a first-line treatment for depression. However, some experts are skeptical.
A new study published in Evolution and Human Behavior suggests that venting about a mutual friend can shift social dynamics in your favor. Researchers found that venting makes listeners feel closer to the speaker and less favorable toward the person…
New video upsets the old notion that these birds of paradise use wing clapping to make percussive sounds while courting.
A recent study published in Psychedelic Medicine has shed light on the challenging and sometimes distressing experiences that people can have during psychedelic use. The research found that a significant number of individuals who used psychedelics experienced adverse effects such…
Volkswagen provided flights from Washington, DC, to San Francisco and accommodation so Ars could drive the ID Buzz. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. SAN FRANCISCO—In all the years we’ve been writing about cars, very few vehicles have generated…
The summer after wildfire smoke blocked sunlight for long stretches, harvests at some almond tree orchards in California’s Central Valley dropped.
A new social experiment has found that people expect attractive individuals to behave more prosocially. Those who expected attractive people to behave more prosocially also tended to judge individuals who behave prosocially as more attractive. The study was published in…
If you’ve ever picked up an acorn from an oak tree or scooped out the inside of a pumpkin, you’ve held in your hand the makings of a giant tree or a whole pumpkin patch. Seeds come in all colors,…
Deepfake (noun, “DEEP fayk”) A deepfake is a realistic fake image, video or audio clip created by artificial intelligence, or AI. The term deepfake comes from “deep learning” and “fake.” Deep learning is the type of AI used to make…
“Concerns about facial recognition had been building for decades. And now the nebulous bogeyman had finally found its form: a small company with mysterious founders and an unfathomably large database.”
The archaeologist who discovered the mask believed it showed the Trojan War was real.
A recent study published in PS: Political Science & Politics examined the impact of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now known as “X,” on academic engagement with the platform. The researchers found that academics were less active on Twitter after…
