Latest

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globular cluster terzan 5
Sun-like stars live for around 10 billion years, but our Universe is only 13.8 billion years old. So what's the maximum lifetime for a star?
a person standing on a blue floor with their feet up.
A study found that older adults who cannot balance on one foot for ten seconds have an 84% higher risk of death than those who can.
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Centuries ago, the typical British coffeehouse was more like a "school without a master" than a place to grab a quick boost of caffeine.
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Neuroscientist and author Bobby Azarian explores the idea that the Universe is a self-organizing system that evolves and learns.
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At the turn of the millennium, a physicist fooled the global scientific community with the greatest discovery that never existed.
NGC 1277 red and dead
With hundreds of billions of stars burning bright, some galaxies are already dead. Their inhabitants might not know it, but we're certain.
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The Foo Fighters are at the dead center of the map, so all the other bands are happier, sadder, angrier, or hornier.
an image of a black hole in the sky.
There are 40 billion billion black holes in the universe. Here’s how our Solar System stacks up against ten of them.
a man in a suit and tie covering his face with his hands.
"In witness whereof, the parties hereunto have set their hands to these presents as a deed on the day month and year hereinbefore mentioned."
a keyhole in the middle of a green field.
From gene expression to protein design, large language models are creating a suite of powerful genomic tools.
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Mary Toft staged an elaborate hoax, but the pain was real.
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“Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 percent of everything you think, and of everything you do, is for yourself — and there isn’t one.”
John Templeton Foundation
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Who’s afraid of utopia? AI doubters have cold feet. History can warm them.
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Impossible standards and poor self-understanding are making us miserable.
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We don't know what causes Miyake events, but these great surges of energy can help us understand the past — while posing a threat to our future.
a woman holding a rainbow colored kite in the air.
If you think you know what sex, gender, and "the right thing to do" for trans youth and adults are, be sure it agrees with actual science.
a Tardigrade animal is shown in this image.
Tardigrades can completely dehydrate and later rehydrate themselves, a survival trick that scientists are harnessing to preserve medicines in hot temperatures.
a painting of a group of people flying over a city.
We will have a better shot at improving our lives once we come to understand, know, and love the people we will one day become.