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Two eyeless shrimp-like species found in Japan's groundwater are new to science
Researchers have identified two new species in the genus Bogidiella, small shrimp-like amphipods that live in subterranean aquatic environments, from cave waters on the Ryukyu Islands, a subtropical island ...
Professional tools, real-world science: Bug Camp inspires future STEM leaders
Defense Health Agency-Public Health hosted its second annual Bug Camp, held from June 29 to July 2, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. This science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, program is supported by the Army STEM Education Consortium. The camp puts high-tech tools in the hands of local students from Maryland and Pennsylvania. By studying how U.S. military scientists defend against insect-borne diseases, these young researchers get a first-hand look at military public health.
Webb’s mysterious little red dots may be hiding entire galaxies
Astronomers may finally have a clue to what happens to the mysterious “little red dots” that crowded the early universe. By studying a spiral galaxy nicknamed the “Saguaro,” researchers found a compact, bright red center that closely resembles these distant objects—but with something Webb usually can’t see around them: a full galaxy. When the team simulated what the Saguaro would look like much farther away, its spiral structure essentially vanished, leaving only the bright red core.
Scientists turn DNA into a memory device that uses 100x less power
Researchers combined synthetic DNA with a semiconductor to create an ultra-low-power memory device capable of storing and processing information in the same place. The bio-hybrid technology could eventually help make AI systems and next-generation computers far more energy efficient.
San Antonio study sheds new light on dementia in Hispanics
UT Health San Antonio researchers found that a rare type of dementia that affects younger people is more common among Hispanics than was previously realized.
University of Chicago study suggests space missions don't affect astronauts' heart health
Researchers from the University of Chicago have uncovered some information on how space travel affects — or actually doesn't affect — the heart.
Researchers Use Ordinary WiFi Connections to Create Images of Nearby People and Their Surroundings
Science Daily reports: Researchers showed that unencrypted signals routinely exchanged between WiFi devices and routers can be used to create radio-based images of people and recognize them within seconds. In tests involving 197 participants, the system identified individuals with nearly 100% accu...
Scientists Made Protein-Packed Ketchup With Algae. Here’s Why They Did It.
Researchers added microalgae protein to ketchup, boosting its nutrition while discovering exactly how much algae flavor people will tolerate.
Which building blocks of life have been found in space, and which haven't?
So far, researchers have found many signs of the building blocks of life in space, but what exactly have they discovered, and what remains to be found?
Researchers Find That Waist Size Is a Powerful Indicator of Health Risks
Measuring waist size may be one of the simplest and most effective ways to detect obesity-related health risks, according to a study by Rutgers Health researchers. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that combining body mass index (BMI) with waist circumference, or using waist circumference alone, performed as well as a newly proposed obesity definition that incorporates multiple body measurements.
Scientists Discover a 245-Million-Year-Old Reptile With Its Organs Still Preserved
An international research team examined a unique fossil from China that, for the first time, preserves the digestive system of a marine reptile with a long neck that lived in the oceans 245 million years ago. Inside an almost complete fossil from China, researchers identified the stomach, liver, and intestines of a marine reptile that
These early career scientists left Boulder’s NCAR. Here’s what they’re doing now
“I suppose I was one of many people who was wondering if I would have this job and this fellowship for much longer, and if there would be a job after,” former NCAR researcher Austin Harris said.
These early career scientists left Boulder’s NCAR. Here’s what they’re doing now
“I suppose I was one of many people who was wondering if I would have this job and this fellowship for much longer, and if there would be a job after,” former NCAR researcher Austin Harris said.
Scientists documented 1,121 previously unknown marine species in a single year — increasing the annual identification rate by 54 percent — yet the head of science at Ocean Census says researchers are still in a race against time, with estimates suggesting up to 90 percent of ocean species remain undiscovered.
Ocean Census documented 1,121 candidate marine species in one year, but its rapid discovery status is distinct from a completed formal taxonomic description.
When gut microbes run low on fiber, they may start eating you
Gut microbes need something to eat, and when fiber is limited, they may begin consuming proteins from the mucus lining that protects the gut. Researchers found that fiber can suppress this process, while indigestible plant proteins help microbes produce more beneficial compounds.
Scientists detect a surprising shift in human blood as atmospheric CO2 rises
Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may be leaving a measurable imprint inside the human body. Researchers analyzing more than two decades of U.S. health data found that blood bicarbonate levels have climbed about 7% since 1999, while calcium and phosphorus have declined—changes that closely track increasing atmospheric CO2.
UVA Health Blue Ridge Poison Center reports nationwide increase in liver injuries from medication
Researchers are concerned about youth suicide attempts and older person pain relief overdoses.
A meteorite punched through a bedroom ceiling in Hillsborough, New Jersey, in 2024. Scientists have now found hundreds of different amino acids inside it — and the majority are not known to occur naturally on Earth.
The Hillsborough meteorite was collected within minutes of falling through a New Jersey home, giving researchers a rare look at briny asteroid chemistry and a diverse set of extraterrestrial amino acids.
Taking the stairs may do this for your health, researchers say
New research published Aug. 13 says regular stair climbing can do this for your health.
Youth-associated protein helps restore healthy function in immune cells in the aging brain
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a role for the youth-associated protein TIMP2 in supporting the healthy function of microglia, the brain's resident immune cells.
Researcher-artist paves the way for science communication
Lulu Perez ‘26 is combining her passions for research and art. She has created scientific illustrations that are bringing FIU research to life.
Life on Earth may have begun twice. A Science Advances study found that bacteria and archaea inherited one ancient genetic code but independently evolved the machinery needed to become free-living cells — leading the researchers to describe it as “one origin of the genetic code, but two origins of life.
The study proposes one inherited genetic system but two independent completions of cellular metabolism, not two unrelated acts of abiogenesis.
Immune cells flood into the aging brain, Stanford scientists discover
Scientists have discovered that the aging human brain may be far less isolated from the rest of the body than once believed. Stanford researchers found that large numbers of immune cells from the blood begin entering the brain as early as middle age, where they can transform into microglia, the brain’s specialized immune cells. The finding overturns a long-standing assumption that these cells remain largely separate from the body’s immune system throughout life.
Scientists detect a nuclear reactor’s ghostly afterglow for the first time
Nuclear reactors may go dark, but their fuel continues producing a faint antineutrino “glow” long after shutdown. Researchers have now detected that residual signal for the first time, finding it closely matched predictions of radioactive decay inside the reactor and nearby spent-fuel pools. The breakthrough suggests antineutrino detectors could eventually monitor reactors even when they are offline.
Make policy based on science, not on RFK Jr. ’s lifestyle choices
Kennedy is neither a doctor nor a medical researcher, and his personal practices should not guide federal policies.
UK scientists use a 'gene gun' to grow pig protein in lettuce
Researchers got lettuce and tobacco to make myoglobin — a protein linked to many of meat's appealing traits.
Alzheimer’s can run but not hide from researchers, policymakers
The war on Alzheimer’s disease has been underway for so long that people can’t help but think it may be unwinnable. Now comes a fresh set of reasons to think again and hope anew.
2026 International Congress of Basic Science Opens in Beijing
The 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS 2026) opened on August 9 in Beijing, bringing together four Fields Medalists — Shing-Tung Yau, Maxim Kontsevich, Martin Hairer and Caucher Birkar — and Turing Award laureate Robert Tarjan, alongside Li Luming, president of Tsinghua University. More than 80 recipients of the Shaw Prize, Wolf Prize and Dirac Medal, some 400 internationally recognized scholars, and more than 800 researchers and students from over 30 countries and regions gather
Neptune’s tiny moons may be the wreckage of shattered ancient worlds
JWST has uncovered surprising clues that Neptune’s strange inner moons may be the wreckage of an ancient cosmic catastrophe. Researchers detected clay-like minerals on Larissa, Galatea, and Neptune’s rings that form in the presence of liquid water—yet the moons themselves show no obvious water ice. The material likely came from deep inside much larger icy moons that were shattered when Triton was captured by Neptune, destroying much of the planet’s original satellite system.
A stress hormone may help the brain repair itself
A surprising stress-related signal may help the brain repair itself after injury. Researchers found that myelin-producing precursor cells rapidly release the stress hormone CRH near damaged brain tissue, helping control how those cells mature and rebuild protective nerve insulation. The same system also influences brain development and the thickness of myelin later in life. The findings could offer new clues about how early-life stress contributes to psychiatric disorders.
DOJ Declares 3 Race-Based STEM Programs Unconstitutional
The programs received about $104 million in federal funds this past year.
Two Surprising Fruits That Boost Heart Health (Without Raising Blood Sugar)
Here's what researchers found when pairing avocado and mango
BBC Audio | BBC Inside Science | Should we be scared of AI viruses?
Researchers have announced synthetic viruses designed by artificial intelligence.
Inside a 25-Day Ocean Science Mission
Rutgers researchers will study small ocean processes with big consequences At sea, their days will begin in darkness. Before dawn, Rutgers oceanographers Joe Gradone and Corday Selden expect to be on deck aboard the research vessel Falkor (too), preparing instruments, reviewing data and directing the first collection of water samples of the day. Related: Read more […]
AI needs science’s search history
“Actually, that’s where the gold is,” said Alasdair Russell, my graduate school friend who leads a pre-clinical genome editing group at Cambridge. He was talking about the winding road of science that is omitted from published papers. “When you’re discussing how to do the experiment, and why this way is better than another way, and what does the data really mean? I know what it shows, but what does it mean?” At RAAIS 2026, he described how his group has begun logging the twisting path of discovery as it happens, recording the verbal and written exchanges that normally disappear. Ideas become nodes in a living graph: they branch when a meeting produces two plausible experiments, merge when separate lines of evidence converge, and go dark when someone quietly stops pursuing them. In his implementation, one agent scores novelty, while another tries to learn “how scientists think and how they navigate through a complex world of data,” so that high-potential nodes can trigger deeper investigation. As frontier AI labs deploy agents toward scientific discovery, giving AI authentic scientific taste remains a trillion-dollar dilemma. The bottleneck is that the record we have kept for centuries of science might be insufficient to get us there. The experiments that never make the paper Peter Medawar, 1960 Nobel laureate and “father of transplantation,” asked in 1963 whether the scientific paper was a fraud, and answered yes: the form of the paper misrepresents the thinking that produced it. Sixty years on, the diagnosis is unchanged. A paper presents a clean progression from hypothesis to result to conclusion. Lost along the way are the unconventional theories, the abandoned or unaffordable methods, and the underwhelming and inconclusive data. It reads like a browser history with every dead end deleted: the ten open tabs, the four rephrased queries, the wrong turn down a subforum. All scrubbed, leaving one clean path from question to answer as the canonical path. What has changed since then is that the discarded material is now worth something. No high-impact journal wants these artifacts, but raw trial and error is the most likely source of the training data required to develop scientific intuition, or what researchers call taste. Earlier attempts to capture the discards were motivated by scientific integrity. The Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine launched in 2002 to publish rigorous studies that disputed established models or exposed ineffective treatments. Its archive preserved negative conclusions after they had become papers, rather than the live alternatives and arguments that produced them. BioMed Central closed it in 2017, saying the mission had been served now that other journals publish null results. A less generous reading is that in fifteen years it published around 200 papers because almost nobody wants to read a negative result, let alone write one up when it will not count toward academic tenure. AI models are different. Even an uninteresting negative result can be useful, provided it is labeled. Earlier this year, Anthropic put a version of this to the test. The company pulled 129 decision points from real Claude Code sessions between January and March 2026, showed models the work up to a human detour, and asked what should happen next. Claude Mythos Preview beat the human choice 64% of the time, while Opus 4.5 managed 51%. The comparison was tilted toward the models because Anthropic deliberately chose moments where the human decision had room for improvement. On 127 further scenarios where the human action was already strong, the models improved on it only about 20% of the time. The study was possible because Anthropic’s researchers work inside a tool that logs by default. The reasoning, detours and outcome are produced in the same working environment. Biology has no equivalent. Its reasoning happens in hallways, at benches, in Slack threads and on whiteboards, while the outcome arrives weeks later somewhere else. The record has to emerge from the work itself. Ask scientists to reconstruct it afterwards and we’ll create another polished account. Subscribe A log is not a label Before any of this becomes training data, a negative result has to say what failed. The first paper published in the Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine examined 234 negative studies across five leading medical journals. Only 30% discussed statistical power, and half clearly defined a primary outcome. Tell a model an experiment failed, without telling it whether the assay was underpowered, a reagent had degraded, or the hypothesis was simply wrong, and it will learn noise with confidence. Decision histories have a second missing label too. When a lab considers five experiments and runs one, only the chosen branch returns an outcome. The other four are experimental counterfactuals. Researchers call this the selective labels problem: the data reveal results only for the actions someone chose to take. Such a record can teach a model to imitate a lab’s taste, but it cannot establish that the taste was good. It also smuggles local constraints into general lessons. A lab that never ran cryo-EM because it did not own a microscope teaches a model that cryo-EM is rarely the right call. Alasdair’s nodes preserve the candidate set, which is the necessary first step. To be useful, each decision record needs six fields: The evidence available at that moment, and nothing that arrived later. The candidates considered, including the ones dismissed in a sentence. For each candidate: the expected result, the confidence attached to it, and the cost in time and money. The route chosen, and the reason. What happened next. How the evidence changed the scientist’s view. These must be timestamped before the outcome, because hindsight turns uncertainty into inevitability. Disagreement also has to survive. Averaging three scientists into one clean rationale reproduces exactly the information loss we are trying to fix. But there is an obvious failure mode here. Once decisions are logged and scored, people log for the record post-facto. Anyone who has watched an electronic lab notebook fill up with retrospective tidying knows how quickly a research tool becomes a compliance exercise. A record that costs a scientist ten minutes of honest reflection per decision is worth far more than one that costs an hour of performance. A publication initiative called Registered Reports offers a useful starting point. Here, researchers submit their rationale, methods and analysis plan for peer review before the data exist, and the journal commits in principle to publish if they follow the approved plan. Nature has now expanded the format across every field it covers. This approach to paper writing timestamps intent before the outcome, but it freezes one plan. A useful search history must also preserve how the plan changed, which alternatives were rejected, when, and on what evidence. Subscribe Run the runner-up Autonomous labs show what happens when decisions and outcomes are connected in a loop. Liverpool’s mobile robotic chemist ran 688 experiments over eight days in a ten-variable formulation space. A batched Bayesian search used each result to choose the next experiments and found photocatalyst mixtures six times more active than the starting formulations. Every completed experiment changed what the system did next. The robot optimized within a goal and search space that humans had already chosen. It did not decide which scientific question mattered. So what this work demonstrates is narrower, but still useful: a search history pays off when the options return standardized outcomes quickly. Open-ended biology is harder because branches can take weeks and the discarded alternatives may never be run. Some exploration therefore has to be bought. Where two branches are plausible and the stakes justify the cost, a lab should sometimes run the runner-up. Otherwise the record captures what today’s scientists usually chose and stays silent on what they systematically overlooked. A funder could ring-fence a small fraction of a grant for the branch not taken, provided that the decision record and the outcome are both deposited. That costs money, but so does having every lab rediscover the same abandoned path. Test whether taste transfers When it comes time to evaluate if our new AI system exhibits taste, the comparison should run across laboratories and fields. At selected decision points in a live research campaign, we should freeze the six fields: the evidence, the candidates, expected results, confidence, costs and the choice made. Experts then rank the options before the outcomes are known, and those outcomes are checked independently later. We could give models one of two diets - papers alone, or papers plus decision histories - and ask them to rank the next experiment on unfamiliar projects. Then, we score information gained per dollar and week, calibration, and how quickly weak branches are abandoned. If histories improve choices only inside the lab that produced them, they amount to useful organizational memory. If they improve choices on unfamiliar problems elsewhere, Alasdair’s group will have captured something science has never managed to write down: a transferable record of taste. Until that happens, a scientific search history is a promising record, not yet a training set.
A top marathoner needs science to win big. He comes to Wake Forest for testing.
The fifth-fastest marathoner in the world wants to break a record this year, so her turned to Wake Forest researchers for help.
UCR researchers join DOE effort to speed scientific discovery
Two UC Riverside computer scientists are joining federally funded projects that use artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery. Their work will focus on making quantum computing faster and more reliable and building smarter networks for sharing scientific data and research resources.
Duke's digital twin technology could take hemodynamic assessments to a whole other level
Researchers at Duke are hard at work on digital twins that could help care teams make important treatment decisions.
After Microsoft threatened legal action, a security researcher publishes a new Windows zero-day bug
This is the latest zero-day released by security researcher Nightmare Eclipse, despite Microsoft publicly threatening to take legal action against them.
Make policy based on science, not on RFK’s lifestyle choices
Kennedy is neither a doctor nor a medical researcher, and his personal practices should not guide federal policies.
New instrument will aid environmental science and industry
A new spectrometer facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will let researchers see chemical components of materials in the parts-per-trillion range, advancing environmental science across Alaska. The UAF International Arctic Research Center will build the facility with $877,501 over three years from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences. The award will enable the purchase [...]
UT Health San Antonio study reveals how the liver’s internal clock may influence metabolism
Contact: Eileen Teves, 210-450-7239, tevese@uthscsa.edu Content provided by Claire Kowalick SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 12, 2026 — What if one of the keys to a healthier metabolism is understanding how and when the liver communicates with the rest of the body? Researchers at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at […]
The adult brain can repair itself better than scientists thought
The adult brain may be far better at repairing itself than scientists once believed. In mice, researchers discovered a special group of support cells called astrocytes that respond to damaged brain tissue by rebuilding lost cellular networks. Rather than simply moving into the injured area, these cells perform a remarkable maneuver: they create new nuclei and send them traveling through long cellular extensions to repopulate damaged regions.
Scientists turn Starlink into a giant scanner for Earth’s upper atmosphere
Researchers have found a clever new way to map a part of Earth’s upper atmosphere that is notoriously difficult to observe. Using orbital data from roughly 1,200 Starlink satellites, they reconstructed changes in atmospheric density about 500 kilometers above Earth. The approach could sharpen satellite tracking and help reduce the growing risk of collisions in increasingly crowded orbits.
Study finds lasting mental health impacts on Lexington’s laid-off Tyson Foods workers
The closure of the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant in Lexington had wide-ranging effects on the city itself and the state's economy. But a team of researchers at UNMC focused on the lasting impacts on the laid-off workers.
Experimental Pulse Oximeter Accurate Regardless Of Skin Tone, Researchers Say
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, Aug. 12, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Pulse oximeters became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic, as doctors used the finger clip devices to tell whether a respiratory infection was robbing patients of needed oxygen. But skin tone impairs the ...
Weird Science: Flush with data, North Carolina sewage is exposing community nutrition and food insecurity
A newly published study has successfully demonstrated that analyzing residual plant and animal DNA in municipal wastewater can deliver accurate, real-time population nutrition data. Researchers say this breakthrough could fundamentally change how public health officials monitor dietary habits, food insecurity, and economic health.
Your address holds clues to knowing your child's hospitalization risk
Researchers at Cincinnati Children's used local data to create a framework that predicts a child's hospitalization risk based on their address.
Real-time X-ray data analysis with DONUT accelerates materials science
What if scientists could get a taste of discovery as soon as their experiment finishes? Thanks to a new machine learning tool called DONUT, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne ...
USC Scientists Are Using Quantum Computing to Rethink Cancer Detection - USC Viterbi
By combining quantum computing with artificial intelligence, USC researchers are laying the groundwork for medical imaging tools that could help doctors diagnose cancer and plan treatments more precisely
Man Covers Car in Special Wrap That Breaks Flock Cameras' Electronic Brains
A researcher has come up with a special, computer-generated pattern wrap that can allow a car to evade detection from Flock's cameras.
AI Could Help Researchers Get Funding—But at What Cost?
Scientists who use AI to draft research proposals are earning more money, but their ideas may be less likely to move the field forward.
Star cluster discovery could change how scientists measure the universe
University of Missouri researchers have uncovered evidence that challenges one of astronomy's most trusted assumptions, a breakthrough that could reshape how scientists measure galaxies and reconstruct ...
Bamboo toilet paper intrigued me. Reality turned out to be messy
What makes a greener wipe? Researchers have more to say about bamboo's ecological risks, given limited carbon footprint data.
UCSD researcher wins America’s oldest science prize
Mark Thiemen's decades of research on isotopes changed what scientists know about earth’s origins.
‘Zoomsday’ hack uncovered using fewer than 20 AI prompts
The Zoom vulnerability allowed hackers to take over everyone’s device on a call, security researchers say.
New images of the sun show its surface in the finest detail yet
It’s dangerous to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. But researchers were able to peek at its scorching surface with the help of the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.
A Zoom Screen-Sharing Bug Let Anyone Take Over Other Devices on a Call
Researchers say it took fewer than 20 prompts for a public AI tool to find a flaw (now fixed) allowing anyone on a Zoom call to hijack another participants’ device.
From Curiosity to the Frontiers: ICBS Honors Four Women Scientists
Among the nine recipients of the ICBS Medal awarded at the 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS), four are women: Claire Voisin, Andrea J. Liu, Bao Zhenan, and Zhuang Xiaowei. Shing-Tung Yau, chair of ICBS, highlighted this in his opening address, noting that 'women researchers are contributing to every stage of scientific progress through their distinctive intellectual perspectives and sustained dedication.'
Archer Aviation Exec Says Boeing Deal Will ‘Significantly Change the Profile’ as $200 Million Insitu Business Joins Portfolio
Archer Aviation Inc.‘s (NYSE:ACHR) deal with Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) could significantly reshape the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company. Insitu’s $200 Million Revenue Business During the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Monday, Archer’s Chief Financial Officer Priya Gupta hailed the company’s acquisition of unmanned aircraft systems manufacturer Insitu, as well as autonomous eVTOL maker Wisk Aero and SkyGrid in an all-stock deal. Read Also: Rocket Lab USA, Hims & Hers,
About a quarter of the Netherlands now sits below sea level, and the obvious explanation is that the sea rose. However, researchers who reconstructed the past thousand years of the Dutch coastal plain concluded the opposite — much of the land came down to meet the water
The Dutch blamed rising seas for their waterlogged land, but a thousand years of geological records tell a different story: the ground itself has been sinking.
Ernst Names Small Business of the Week, Lone Arranger
Read the release on Sen. Ernst's website HERE. Throughout this Congress, Chair Ernst plans to recognize a small business in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, today announced her Small Business of the Week: Lone Arranger of Adams County. Throughout the 119th Congress, Chair Ernst plans to recognize a small business in each of Iowa's 99 counties. "Lone Arranger has been in full bloom in Adams County for more than 28 years,” said Chair Ernst. "One bouquet at a time, Jessica has created beautiful arrangements for countless occasions – from displays for Governors Chet Culver and Terry Branstad to serving as a longtime vendor at the Adams County Fair. Lone Arranger is beloved for its high-quality products and attentive customer service, all stemming from hard work that has not gone unnoticed." Lone Arranger got its start as the “Flower and Garden Center” founded by Dale and Caroline Jackson out of their home. Over the years, the business passed into the hands of Larry and Sherry Archer, followed by Ros and Darlene Peterson. In 1999, Jessica Wilson purchased the shop after completing two internships there and earning a degree in floriculture from Kirkwood Community College. Today, under Jessica’s leadership, Lone Arranger has continued to grow its presence both locally and beyond. The shop contributed to the award-winning Rain Bird float featured in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade and has provided decorations for community organizations and events, including the Adams County Chamber of Commerce. The florist is cherished by Iowans for its versatility to cater to all events, including proms, weddings, and baby showers. Jessica’s “Operation Dream Closet” helps high schoolers in need access free prom attire through donations and has made an exceptional difference in the local community. Stay tuned as Chair Ernst continues to recognize outstanding Iowa small businesses with her Small Business of the Week award. ###
Scientific advancement has never been more prolific—so why has trust in science plummeted?
From genome editing to quantum computing, scientific progress is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, yet public faith in science is collapsing. Our species has mapped the human genome, created powerful ...
Archer Aviation Just Bought a $200 Million Defense Business From Boeing -- by Giving Up 20% of the Company
Archer Aviation just made its boldest move yet, snapping up three Boeing businesses.
MEAS Researchers Lead $1M NSF Project Using AI to Forecast Coastal Dead Zones | Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
The team aims to produce faster forecasting tools that could support fisheries management and decision-making in Gulf Coast communities.
Q&A: Could better gut health help fight breast cancer?
UVA researchers discovered how an unhealthy gut may help breast cancer spread – and how an existing drug could potentially stop it.
New AI for Health Initiative Connects Computer Science and Medicine
Led by the UC Davis Department of Computer Science, the AI for Health Initiative will connect researchers and clinicians across disciplines to advance responsible AI use in medicine, support student training and strengthen partnerships with UC Davis Health.
New AI for Health Initiative Connects Computer Science and Medicine
Led by the UC Davis Department of Computer Science, the AI for Health Initiative will connect researchers and clinicians across disciplines to advance responsible AI use in medicine, support student training and strengthen partnerships with UC Davis Health.
UNC researchers are using Palantir to build a massive collection of health data
The data collected so far “includes more than 535,000 whole genome sequences.”
Self-flying air taxis and drones: Boeing sells key aviation technology businesses to Archer
Boeing is selling Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu to Archer in a major deal combining autonomous aircraft, drones, airspace technology and AI.
A cybersecurity researcher covered a Toyota in an AI-generated pattern to confuse Flock cameras
Donut Media plans to release video of the test in the coming weeks.
Scientists Release Biggest 2D Map of the Universe
Key Takeaways The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys combined more than 263,000 telescope exposures to make the largest 2D map of the universe in visible and near-infrared light. Astronomers can pair the Legacy Surveys map with their own observations to explore our universe and search for rare phenomena. The 2D map serves as the foundation for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument survey to measure the universe in 3D and investigate dark energy. Hold on to your telescopes: the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team has released the largest-ever 2D color map of the universe. The 5.6-trillion-pixel map contains nearly 4 billion celestial objects, primarily stars and galaxies. The data is available for all to use and publicly viewable through the Legacy Survey Sky Viewer. Astronomers and citizen scientists can explore the map or combine it with their own observations to better understand our universe. Researchers can search for rare phenomena like gravitational lenses, observe fleeting events like supernovae, and investigate two of physics’ biggest mysteries: dark matter, the invisible substance that accounts for most of the mass in our universe, and dark energy, the force driving our universe’s accelerating expansion. The new map builds on earlier versions from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys that have already proved invaluable. To date, more than 1,800 science papers that reference the Legacy Surveys data have been published. “It’s part of the fabric of astronomy research now,” said David Schlegel, a co-lead of the Legacy Surveys and scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). “When you’re working with astronomical objects today, you often start by pulling up the Legacy Imaging Viewer to see what you’re looking at.” Covering roughly 75% of the sky in visible and near-infrared light, the updated map provides a deep view of the extragalactic universe not blocked by the dust and stars of our own Milky Way. Researchers expect it will remain the most comprehensive 2D map of our universe for years to come. More than 160 scientists contributed to data collection for the project, and a team of 20 produced the final dataset released today. It was built by combining 263,407 telescope exposures from three ground-based sky surveys: the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) at NSF Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey (MzLS) at NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory, and the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. That was supplemented by years of data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite mission and additional public data. “For our team, these data are fundamental to our investigation of the expansion history of the universe and the formation of our galaxy,” said Arjun Dey, co-lead of the Legacy Surveys and an astronomer at NSF NOIRLab. “But the skies belong to everyone, and this survey gives everyone the chance to explore the sky and marvel at its wonders.” Here be galaxies The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys were originally conducted to prepare for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey. The Legacy Surveys’ 2D map is essentially a deep photograph of the sky; it records where galaxies and stars appear and how bright they appear. This crucial step enables DESI to select objects and measure their light in different wavelengths to determine their distances, building the largest high-resolution 3D map ever made. Scientists study the way galaxies have clustered at different ages of the universe to track dark energy over time. In April 2026, DESI completed its original five-year survey ahead of schedule and with vastly more objects than expected. The early results have shown surprising hints that dark energy’s impact may be weakening over time — a paradigm shift that could potentially shape the predicted fate of our universe. DESI expects to publish improved results using their first five years of data in 2027 and is continuing observations into 2028. DESI was so efficient at observing galaxies, the Legacy Surveys map needed to expand. Early on, “it became clear we might run out of galaxies to look at and run out of sky, and we better start doing something about that,” said Schlegel, who also works on DESI. The new Legacy Surveys map has been used to select DESI targets since June 2026 and will guide the telescope’s operations over the coming years. Computing the cosmos Merging hundreds of thousands of images taken on 2,285 nights, each with unique atmospheric and telescope conditions, was a massive computational effort. It took about a year to develop the computer code and eight weeks to process all the images at the Perlmutter supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Berkeley Lab. Beyond supporting DESI, the Legacy Surveys will be a foundational reference for the next generation of telescopes. As new observatories like the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (jointly funded by NSF and DOE’s Office of Science) and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope come online, researchers can compare their observations with one of the deepest and most comprehensive views of the sky ever assembled. The Legacy Surveys data will also help scientists train artificial intelligence tools to analyze petabytes of astronomical data and accelerate new discoveries. It will be among the datasets used in an astrophysics pilot project within the American Science Cloud, part of the DOE’s Genesis Mission. The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys are supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of High Energy Physics; the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science user facility; the U.S. National Science Foundation, Division of Astronomical Sciences; and the partner institutions. DESI is supported by the DOE Office of Science and NERSC. Additional support for DESI is provided by the NSF; the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA); the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation (SECIHTI) of Mexico; the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain; and by the DESI member institutions. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
Boeing to Sell 3 Autonomous Flight Subsidiaries
In exchange for the sale to Archer Aviation, which is developing a piloted electric aircraft, Boeing will receive a 16.5 percent stake in Archer.
New Penn Vet research moves science closer to a solution to male infertility
By converting human skin or blood cells into stem cells and coaxing them into early-stage human sperm cells, researchers are furthering the understanding of how sperm cells are formed.
Opinion | The White House hopes AI replaces a lot of researchers
Basic scientific research gave the nation its technological edge. But the Trump administration is skeptical of the universities that do it.
CCTV+: Int'l Congress of Basic Science opens in Beijing
BEIJING, Aug. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) opened in Beijing on Sunday, drawing more than 1,000 participants, including scientists, researchers and young scholars from both China and abroad.
Scientists Catch a Hidden Electronic State Forming Almost Instantly
Researchers observed a hidden state triggered by light forming within 30 femtoseconds. A pulse of light sent a metal-organic framework into a hidden electronic state in just 30 femtoseconds. By watching the transformation almost as it happened, researchers uncovered a fleeting intermediate stage that appears to guide the material into its new state. The work
This 'adversarial' pattern can prevent surveillance cameras from detecting you
A security researcher has designed an algorithm that can create computer-generated patterns capable of hiding people, faces, and vehicles from detection by surveillance cameras.
Frequent cannabis users wake up with their “stress hormone” already elevated
Frequent cannabis users may wake up with unusually high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, suggesting their daily stress rhythms could be disrupted. Researchers say the finding raises questions about whether using cannabis for stress relief might, over time, interfere with the very system that helps the body handle stress.
At 25, the big shift: why we are sure humans heat the planet - Futura-Sciences
The Early Hints: From Wild Theories to Alarming Accuracy The idea of planetary warming isn’t new—although it once sounded more like science fiction than established fact. Back in the 1960s, a handful of pioneering researchers began suggesting that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity could warm the climate. At the...
Cal Academy celebrates total solar eclipse with musical scientists
The event will include education about the sun, eclipses and the tools researchers use to study the solar system
I study pathogens in sewage. Here’s how cyclospora could be getting into our food.
Researchers and public health officials are pointing to sewage contamination in the food supply as one of the most plausible theories for the current outbreak.
Growing smarter farmers: University, neighborhoods localize climate science
BALTIMORE -- Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm was thriving in Baltimore's Greenspring neighborhood when researchers from Morgan State University proposed establishing a weather station in its fields.
CCTV+: Int'l Congress of Basic Science opens in Beijing
The 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) opened in Beijing on Sunday, drawing more than 1,000 participants, including scientists, researchers and young scholars from both China and abroad.
CCTV+: Int'l Congress of Basic Science opens in Beijing
The 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) opened in Beijing on Sunday, drawing more than 1,000 participants, including scientists, researchers and young scholars from both China and abroad.
Scientists discover bacteria that lock toxic uranium into a stable form
Deep underground, bacteria may be capable of doing something remarkable: trapping toxic uranium before it spreads. When researchers fed microbes in uranium-contaminated mine water with glycerol, about 95% of the dissolved uranium disappeared within 130 days. The bacteria helped convert it into an unusually stable uranium compound that had rarely been observed before.
A 0.42-nanometer breakthrough could push transistors beyond silicon
Atomically thin semiconductors could enable dramatically smaller and more efficient chips, but a stubborn problem at the boundary between materials has limited their performance. Researchers have now engineered that atomic interface to protect electron flow while still allowing extremely thin insulating layers. The resulting transistors delivered an unusually strong combination of electrical control and performance.
60,000-year-old ostrich eggshell engravings reveal a surprisingly sophisticated human mind
More than 60,000 years ago, humans in southern Africa were engraving ostrich eggshells with intricate geometric patterns that appear far more organized than previously realized. Researchers found recurring grids, parallel lines, right angles, and repeated shapes, suggesting the designs followed deliberate rules rather than being improvised. The engravers may even have planned entire patterns in their minds before carving them.
What Lies Beneath: The Shocking Truth About Carbon Hidden Underground - Futura-Sciences
The Surprising Underground Wilderness This fall, many of us will stroll through forests in search of that elusive perfect mushroom for dinner. But researchers at the University of Michigan (United States) have gone a fair bit further—and deeper. For the very first time, they succeeded in quantifying the abundance of...
SCIENCE-SHARKS/
A mako shark is temporarily caught by researchers June 19, 2024, off the coast of Long Island, N.Y.
SCIENCE-SHARKS/
Researcher Aaron Carlisle works to place a tag on a white shark May 5, 2025, off the coast of Delaware.
SCIENCE-SHARKS/
A mako shark is temporarily caught by researchers June 19, 2024, off the coast of Long Island, N.Y.
You Can Trick Your Eyes Into Seeing a ‘Forbidden’ World—And Even Unlock What’s Invisible, Studies Show
Now, researchers finally solved a decades-long mystery about our vision.
Cutting sweet foods doesn’t curb cravings or improve health
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Cutting sweet foods doesn’t curb cravings or improve health
Changing how much sweet-tasting food people eat may not change how much they crave or enjoy sweetness after all. In a six-month trial, researchers found that people assigned to high-, low-, or average-sweetness diets showed no meaningful differences in their preference for sweet foods, body weight, or markers linked to diabetes and heart disease. Many participants also drifted back toward their previous eating habits once the trial ended.
US scientists turn to sharks for help with hurricane prediction
Researchers at the University of Delaware are set to tag sharks off the US East Coast with small electronic devices for collecting data that could prove useful for hurricane prediction.
Silver nanocatalysts switch reaction sites between power generation and hydrogen production
For the first time, researchers have discovered that the same silver (Ag) nanocatalyst operates at different reaction sites depending on whether a solid oxide cell is generating electricity or producing ...
What watching sports does to your mind and body, according to scientists
Scientists find watching sports raises fans’ heart rates, spikes cortisol, and may even affect cardiovascular health – but researchers say the social benefits can outweigh the risks. From World Cup fever to the Knicks’ title run to a new NFL season, NBC News' Dr. Akshay Syal looks at what cheering on your favorite team does to your body.
Science reveals birdsong shares hidden pattern with human language
By Stephen Beech Birdsong shows patterns similar to human language, according to a new study. Researchers have uncovered a previously undetected structure in the songs of Bengalese finches that has th...
Chinese breakthrough paves way for production of graphene-based quantum chips
Researchers overcome instability problem of a rare form of the material long prized for its remarkable properties.