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'The chances of you living 50 years are very small': Theoretical physicist explains why humanity likely won't survive to see all the forces unifiedInterview Live Science spoke with Nobel prize-winning physicist David Gross, who recently received the $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, about the quest to unite all the forces and why humanity might not live to see a unified theory.
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$3 million prize goes to duo whose research led to first sickle cell CRISPR therapyDr. Swee Lay Thein and Dr. Stuart Orkin won the $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for their work toward a functional cure for the deadly blood disorders sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.
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Science history: Doctor autopsies the brain of a man who couldn't speak — and reveals the seat of spoken language — April 18, 1861Dr. Paul Broca conducted an autopsy on a patient known as "Tan," who had aphasia, or the inability to speak. Broca's work identified a region of the brain that is key to spoken language.
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Science history: Doctor hypothesizes that 'transmissible proteins' can cause disease, contradicting a 'central dogma' of molecular biology — April 9, 1982Prion diseases, such as "mad cow," are caused by transmissible proteins that were identified in the 1980s.
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'A cure on the horizon': Are we finally close to ending type 1 diabetes?It's a running joke that a cure for type 1 diabetes is only five years away and has been for 50 years, but new stem cell trials and immune drugs hint that we're closer than ever to a functional cure for the disease.
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Scientists cured type 1 diabetes in mice by creating a blended immune systemBy creating a hybrid immune system between the recipient and the donor, researchers were able to transplant insulin-producing cells that were not rejected.
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Making a 'digital twin' of yourself could revolutionize future surgeries, making medical procedures much more personalINTERVIEW Live Science spoke with Dr. John Pandolfino, a researcher who designed a "digital twin" to help guide surgery.
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Science history: Stephen Hawking writes a tiny paper — and turns our understanding of black holes inside out — March 1, 1974In 1974, physicist Stephen Hawking described the potential for tiny, primordial black holes that existed at the dawn of time to explode — and reshaped what we knew about these cosmic behemoths.
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Science history: Carbon-14 is discovered, opening a window into past civilizations — Feb. 27, 1940Martin Kamen and Samuel Ruben's discovery of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 in 1940 helped usher in a new era of dating artifacts from past civilizations.
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Science history: 'Father of modern genetics' describes his experiments with pea plants — and proves that heredity is transmitted in discrete units — Feb. 8, 1865Gregor Mendel described his experiments with pea plants and proved that genes are transmitted in discrete units, with certain fundamental laws of inheritance.
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Science history: Sophie Germain, first woman to win France's prestigious 'Grand Mathematics Prize' is snubbed when tickets to award ceremony are 'lost in the mail' — Jan. 9, 1816Sophie Germain was a brilliant, self-taught mathematician who won one of France's most prestigious prizes, yet she declined to attend the award ceremony because the committee members didn't respect her work.
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Science history: Richard Feynman gives a fun little lecture — and dreams up an entirely new field of physics — Dec. 29, 1959In a short talk at Caltech, physicist Richard Feynman laid out a vision of manipulating and controlling atoms at the tiniest scale. It would precede the field of nanotechnology by decades.
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Science history: Dian Fossey found murdered, after decades protecting gorillas that she loved — Dec. 27, 1985Dian Fossey was a zoologist who spent decades studying the elusive mountain gorillas of Congo and Rwanda before she was murdered.
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Science history: Marie Curie discovers a strange radioactive substance that would eventually kill her — Dec. 26, 1898Scientists in Paris discovered two new substances with incredible radioactivity. It earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics but would ultimately kill one of them.
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Science history: James Webb Space Telescope launches — and promptly cracks our view of the universe — Dec. 25, 2021The James Webb Space Telescope blasted off from a launchpad in French Guiana in 2021, before reaching a spot in orbit a million miles away. It soon began breaking cosmology.
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Science history: Anthropologist sees the face of the 'Taung Child' — and proves that Africa was the cradle of humanity — Dec. 23, 1924Over a century ago, anthropologist Raymond Dart chipped an ancient skull out of some rock from an ancient quarry — and revealed the face of an ancient human relative.
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Science history: Norwegian explorer wins the treacherous race to the South Pole, while British rival perishes along with his crew — Dec. 14, 1911In December 1911, Roald Amundsen and his crew reached the South Pole, beating his rival, Robert Falcon Scott, by 35 days. Scott and his crew didn't survive the return trip.
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Neanderthals made fire, orcas and dolphins team up, and the 'Star of Bethlehem' exploredScience news this week Dec. 13, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
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James Webb telescope uncovers a new mystery: A broiling 'hell planet' with an atmosphere that shouldn't existJames Webb finds a hot planet that is tidally locked with its parent star, is coated with a thick atmosphere of volatile chemicals.
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That was the week in science: Second earthquake hits Japan | Geminids to peak | NASA loses contact with Mars probeFriday, Dec. 12, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
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Science history: Female chemist initially barred from research helps develop drug for remarkable-but-short-lived recovery in children with leukemia — Dec. 6, 1954In December 1954, Gertrude Elion and colleagues described a new compound they had developed that sent children with leukemia into remission. It would guide a new approach to "rational drug design."
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Science news this week: A human population isolated for 100,000 years, the biggest spinning structure in the universe, and a pit full of skullsDec. 5, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
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That was the week in science: Vaccine skeptics get hep B win | Comet 3I/ATLAS surprises | 'Cold Supermoon' picturesLive blog Friday, Dec. 5, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
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CDC panel, stuffed with vaccine skeptics, votes to end recommendation for universal newborn hepatitis B vaccinationThe CDC's vaccine committee has voted to roll back a universal recommendation that newborns be vaccinated against hepatitis B, which is one of public health's major success stories.
