Webb Zooms into Helix Nebula
A new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of a portion of the Helix Nebula highlights comet-like knots, fierce stellar winds, and layers of
Category: Science
Pain lasts longer in women, and immune cells may the culprit
A newly published study suggests that the immune system may play a role in why recovery from pain differs in men and women.
The ‘sweet spot’ of overconfidence — project a bit to be perceived as competent, but don’t be ‘too seduced,’ a cognitive neuroscientist explains in a Q&A
Q&A with cognitive neuroscientist Steve Fleming: What the science of self-awareness can tell us about confident decision-making
Ancient Greek mystery cult priestesses may have chemically tweaked fungus to induce psychedelic hallucinations
Ancient followers of the Eleusinian Mysteries may have used a highly toxic fungus to create psychedelic hallucinations during their rituals, a new chemical analysis suggests.
NASA telescope spots first alien ‘astrosphere’ around a sun-like star: Space photo of the week
The first bubble of hot gas seen around another star has been spotted around the “Moth,” just 117 light-years away.
Do you weigh more when an elevator goes up or when it comes down?
Your weight doesn’t change because of gravity but because the floor pushes back. Physicists explain why elevators briefly make you feel heavier or lighter.
Science history: Stephen Hawking writes a tiny paper — and turns our understanding of black holes inside out — March 1, 1974
In 1974, physicist Stephen Hawking described the potential for tiny, primordial black holes that existed at the dawn of time to explode — and reshaped
NASA lost a lunar spacecraft one day after launch. A new report shows what went wrong
Why did a $72 million mission to study water on the moon fail so soon after launch? A new NASA report has the answer.
Unlocking the secrets of an ancient plague
The first historically recorded pandemic is believed to have struck the walled city of Jirash, in what is now modern-day Jordan, in the 7th century.
Scientists made AI agents ruder — and they performed better at complex reasoning tasks
A new project allowed AI chatbots to interrupt, stay silent or speak up the way humans do in conversation, and it made them smarter and
Giant string of organic molecules on Mars may be one of the best signs of life yet
A new NASA analysis concludes that it is “reasonable to hypothesize” that living things could have formed the odd organic molecules discovered on Mars.
Did the Vikings reach Maine?
An 11th-century Norse coin found in Maine raises the question of whether the Vikings landed there.
Harnessing the Sun to Extract Oxygen on the Moon
The Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project aims to demonstrate the carbothermal reduction of lunar regolith to produce oxygen on the Moon’s South Pole. For this
‘We’re starting to find a lot more weirdness’: These strange animals can control their body heat
Some creatures can dramatically alter their internal temperature — a strategy called heterothermy — and outlast storms, floods and predators.