Planet Earth

'New' island emerges from melting ice in Alaska

By Patrick Pester published

NASA's Earth Observatory has announced that Alaska has a "brand new island" after a retreating glacier lost contact with the Prow Knob mountain landmass in Alsek Lake.

Climate change
Misty, sepia-toned scene of a tropical shoreline overtaken by nature, with the remnants of shattered buildings and a rusted robot partially submerged in water. Tall palm trees and dense foliage frame the skeletal remains of skyscrapers in the background, suggesting a long-abandoned civilization.

Action on climate change faces new threat: The doomers who think it's too late to act

By Michael E. Mann, Peter J. Hotez published

"Doom-mongering convinces many would-be climate advocates that climate action is a hopeless cause. But the blistering attacks against mainstream climate science and scientists advance an agenda of division, dividing the rank-and-file climate activists and leading voices from the scientific community."

Climate change
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Space

Chinese scientists hunt for alien radio signals in 'potentially habitable' TRAPPIST-1 system

By Mark Thompson published

Researchers in China have conducted the most thorough search yet for alien radio signals in the nearby TRAPPIST-1 system, which may harbor potentially Earth-like planets.

Extraterrestrial Life
A JWST image of a star cluster with sparkling stars and cloudy rainbow colors

James Webb telescope's 'starlit mountaintop' could be the observatory's best image yet — Space photo of the week

By Jamie Carter published

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured infant stars carving peaks of dust and gas in the Pismis 24 star cluster.

Astronomy
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archaeology

Pawnee Star Chart: A precontact elk-skin map used by Indigenous priests to tell an origin story

By Kristina Killgrove published

The unique map depicts patterns of stars in the night sky, but its meaning is debated.

Archaeology

Where is Queen Boudica buried?

By Tom Metcalfe published

The remains of Britain's national heroine — Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe — are not under a train station in north London. So, where is her grave?

Archaeology
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World of science

Health

Photograph taken of Aspergillus fumigatus under a microscope. The cultures shown on the right are infected with virus, while those on the left are uninfected.

'Russian nesting doll' virus hides inside a deadly fungus, making it even more dangerous to people

By Christoph Schwaiger published

A virus found lurking inside a deadly fungus may make the microbe even stronger and harder to kill when it infects people.

Viruses, Infections & Disease
A close-up picture of our reviewer testing the Suunto Run watch

Suunto Run fitness tracker review — Light, feature-packed and reasonably priced

By Andrew Williams published

Reviews A budget-friendly, feature-rich fitness tracker good for sports and running if heart rate tracking isn’t your priority.

Reviews

'Your fear is well-founded': How human activities have raised the risk of tick-borne diseases like Lyme

By Sean Lawrence published

Changes to forests, and how close people and their livestock live to them, have changed tick habitats and the risks humans face of Lyme disease and other illnesses.

Viruses, Infections & Disease
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Animals

'Almost like science fiction': European ant is the first known animal to clone members of another species

By Sophie Berdugo published

A species of ant found scurrying across southern Europe is the first animal found that clones males of another species.

Ants
Bumpy snailfish photographed in the deep sea. It has a distinctive pink color, pectoral fins with long fin rays, and a unique bumpy texture.

Never-before-seen adorable pink bumpy snailfish with funny little beard filmed in deep canyon off California coast

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute used remotely operated vehicles to find three new species of snailfish off the California coast.

Fish

Scientists find baby pterosaurs died in violent Jurassic storm 150 million years ago

By Patrick Pester published

Researchers found storm injuries during a baby pterosaur post-mortem, solving a Jurassic mystery that was 150 million years in the making.

Dinosaurs
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Human Behavior

Scientific objectivity is a myth — here's why

By Sara Giordano published

Opinion Cultural ideas are inextricably entwined with the people who do science, the questions they ask, the assumptions they hold and the conclusions they land on.

Opinion

People who see society as cutthroat value antagonistic leaders, study finds

By Perri Thaler published

Research suggests that whether people view the world as competitive or cooperative impacts how they perceive antagonistic leaders.

Human Behavior
Girl doing math homework.

The 'gender gap' in math is not innate — something about school drives it

By Victoria Atkinson published

A new study of schoolchildren in France suggests that boys are not innately better at math. Some aspect of schooling appears to drive the "gender gap."

Human Behavior
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Physics & Mathematics

Making time crystals visible under microscopes could open up a range of new applications.

Scientists create first-ever visible time crystals using light — and they could one day appear on $100 bills

By Ben Turner published

The visible patterns produced by the time crystals could be used for data storage and anti-counterfeiting designs.

Physics & Mathematics
Large-scale structure of the universe - stock illustration

Why does the universe exist?

By Tom Metcalfe published

The universe exists because matter and antimatter are not good friends.

Particle Physics

Scientists watch a single electron move during a chemical reaction for first time ever

By Larissa G. Capella published

For the first time, scientists visualized how electrons behave during a chemical reaction, which could help reduce unwanted byproducts in future chemistry.

Particle Physics
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Chemistry

Scientists transform 'forever chemicals' in water into fluoride with new process

By Ben Turner published

Exposure to a sunlight-activated catalyst broke down 99% of a forever chemical, leaving behind recyclable fluoride.

Chemistry

Scientists have finally made an elusive meteorite diamond, predicted to be 50% harder than Earth diamonds

By Victoria Atkinson published

Meteorite diamonds, which could be 58% harder than ordinary diamonds, have finally been made in the lab.

Chemistry

Scientists synthesized elusive 'super alcohol' — a 'seed of life molecule' that marks a step toward finding alien life

By Perri Thaler published

Scientists have synthesized methanetetrol, an elusive alcohol that could be the foundation of alien life.

Chemistry
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Technology

Why do AI chatbots use so much energy?

By Alice Sun published

AI chatbots are infamous energy guzzlers. But why do they use so much electricity?

Artificial Intelligence

AI slop is on the rise — what does it mean for how we use the internet?

By Adam Nemeroff published

AI slop refers to low- to mid-quality content created with AI tools, often with little regard for accuracy or quality.

Artificial Intelligence

Scientists develop 'full-spectrum' 6G chip that could transfer data at 100 gigabits per second — 10,000 times faster than 5G

By Rich McEachran published

Researchers have developed a 6G chip that uses a dual electro-photonic approach to send signals across nine radio-frequency bands.

Communications
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