Science and Tech

Science and Tech

joro spider
Can a non-native species be a friend instead of a foe?
Understanding the factors behind recent growth could help us better approach inequality.
dizzy standing
Scientists find two 30-second techniques that prevent dizziness upon standing.
null island
Where the prime meridian meets the equator, a non-existent island captures our imagination — and our non-geocoded data.
The closest star system to Earth, just over 4 light-years away, has three stars and at least one Earth-sized planet. Is it time to go there?
"I was part of the surgical team that conducted the first pig-to-human heart transplant in a living patient."
cosmic dark ages
The James Webb Space Telescope could help scientists learn about the cosmic dark ages and how they ended.
learned helplessness
Helplessness isn't learned — it's an instinctual response that can be overcome.
round
In 1990, we only knew of the planets in our own Solar System. Today, the exoplanet count is more than 5000. Here's what we've learned.
Every year, scientists like George Church get better at editing the genomes of human beings. But will genome editing help or hurt us?
Salk scientists studied complex decision-making capabilities in a worm with just 302 neurons and a mouth full of teeth. It's smarter than you would think.
irish shipwrecks
We have a morbid curiosity about nautical disaster stories. The Irish "Wreck Viewer" offers a window into centuries of marine misfortune.
coldest place in the universe
Empty, intergalactic space is just 2.725 K: not even three degrees above absolute zero. But the Boomerang Nebula is even colder.
northern white rhino
Scientists at the San Diego Zoo are on a mission to resurrect the extinct northern white rhino.
james webb spikes
When we started imaging the Universe with Hubble, every star had four "spikes" coming from it. Here's why Webb will have more.
Head direction cells act like internal compasses to help the birds navigate during long flights.
Forty Starlink satellites were destroyed earlier this year in a geomagnetic storm.
moon rock
Knowing that technology would advance in the future, NASA put some moon rock samples into storage without opening them. Now, they have.
Syllipsimopodi bideni is small (about 12cm in length), has ten arms, suckers, fins, and a triangular pen of hard tissue inside its body for support.
ai drone meteorite
Aerial drone footage was sent to an AI trained to track down space rocks.
The far infrared reveals both the coldest and hottest gas in the Universe, and can teach us what no other wavelength range can.
ants cancer
The insects were just as accurate as trained dogs, although not as cuddly.
Is there any good reason for assigning North and South the way we do, or could we have just as easily done the reverse?
The ranking is encouragingly diverse, with the top 10 featuring representation from five regions.
fairy wrasse
Local researchers identify a striking rainbow-colored fairy wrasse found off the coast of the Maldives as a fish species all its own.
Discussions of human evolution are usually backward looking, as if the greatest triumphs and challenges were in the distant past.
The A.I. system could improve the lives of commercially raised pigs.