Did poop enable the evolution of complex animals?
In a recent study, evolution gets even messier than usual.
Kiona N. Smith
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13
Science // Science & Exploration
Tracking extreme heat by the hour makes climate change seem even worse
Hot hours of summer could triple in the coming decades.
Scott K. Johnson
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80
Dogs can tell if you’re scared or sad
fMRI scans show happiness, fear, anger, and sadness have distinct brain activity patterns in doggy brains.
Jennifer Ouellette
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128
Peer review is overwhelmed—can it survive in the AI era?
As research and AI-assisted papers surge, volunteer reviewers struggle to keep up.
Saima Sidik
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83
Mount Toba eruption doesn’t seem like it could nearly kill our species
The massive Toba eruption seems to have had little climate impact.
Jacek Krywko
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93
DeepMind’s hurricane breakthrough has surprised weather scientists
Open source WeatherNext model can make accurate predictions with lower-resolution weather data.
WIRED
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77
The ultimate eclipse chase: A Concorde raced against the Moon’s shadow
Fitted with telescopes, the plane did our longest imaging of the Sun’s corona.
Dhananjay Khadilkar
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86
How snails engineer their slime
Collagen and calcium work in tandem to achieve varying mechanical properties of different kinds of mucus.
Jennifer Ouellette
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19
Most Read
The world’s biggest solar telescope caught vortexes on the Sun’s surface
We expected them to be there, but they had previously been too small to see.
Jacek Krywko
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37
Trump is losing his war on wind power
A court rules that a hold on all wind projects clearly violates the law.
John Timmer
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173
Large genome models used to design new viruses
The AI system makes genetically distant versions of a bacteria-killing virus.
John Timmer
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58
Parasitic zombie-ant fungus thrives in mosses, too
This may help fungi survive host scarcity and explains why infected hosts prefer the mosses as death sites.
Jennifer Ouellette
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26
This Atlantic hurricane season is looking like a dud, but there will be a price to pay
“The models are forecasting something outside the envelope of anything we have ever observed.”
Eric Berger
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105
D-Wave shows off its new entry in quantum computing race
Company noted for building quantum annealers now also making gate-based hardware.
John Timmer
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12
Research roundup: 6 cool science stories we almost missed
Also: Cyborg diving suits for cockroaches, why sleepy sperm whales blow bubbles, Betelgeuse’s companion star.
Jennifer Ouellette
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54
Here’s how engineers plan to save the satellite sent to save NASA’s Swift mission
“We believe that a capture of Swift, an attempted capture of Swift, is very much in the cards.”
Stephen Clark
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110
How fruit flies chase invisible ribbons of smell to get to their source
Tracking smells in turbulent air takes a keen sense of direction and sharp memory.
Jacek Krywko
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20
Not just Neanderthals: Ghost lineage in Africa left its mark on our DNA
Some group with no modern descendants contributed a lot to our genomes.
John Timmer
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56
Researchers devise a full-color night vision goggle
Wavelength and intensity in the infrared are translated into colors in the visible.
Jacek Krywko
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69
China could supply EV manufacturing boom with recycled EVs
Look at chemistry of batteries and motors shows big opportunity for recycling.
Scott K. Johnson
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35
Space Force-backed mission does its best impression of Top Gun in orbit
“Dogfighting in space doesn’t quite have the drama of an aerial dogfight.”
Stephen Clark
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39
Quantum computers outperform classical ones, with results you can trust
Three approaches to the issue of quantum results that can’t be verified classically.
John Timmer
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75
Yet more qubit tech: New quantum dot options, diamond vacancies
Companies are making sure we have a surplus of options for building qubits.
John Timmer
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8
What happens when you put AI to work deciphering lost languages?
AI is fantastic at spotting patterns, but human insight is the key.
The Conversation
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105
Attitude control issues leave Swift rescue mission spinning in orbit
“Preliminary investigation shows that two of Link’s three reaction wheels currently are not operable.”
Stephen Clark
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160
Study: Dinosaurs were charbroiled after Chicxulub impact
“We’re in the realm where we might be essentially killing off everything within that first hour or two.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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132
SpaceX eyes tower catch for next Starship after auspicious end to 13th flight
SpaceX will likely attempt to catch Starship back at the launch pad on its next flight.
Stephen Clark
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259
With help from data, art museums are reframing the visitor experience
Museums are embracing data-driven curation and a shifting technology landscape.
Mureji Fatunde-Iloeje
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52
Team uses AlphaFold AI to redesign gene-editing proteins to make them safer
Google’s AlphaFold can help ID what parts of a gene editing protein enable mistakes.
John Timmer
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24
This is the world’s most advanced robotic servicing satellite—that we know about
“These are things that tend to be really hard.”
Stephen Clark
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24
Rocket Report: Lightning strikes in China; Starship launch on deck
Relativity Space announced plans to build a second rocket factory near Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Stephen Clark
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262
White House report says Trump can usher in a “new golden age” of science
The resulting report is a near-random mixture of grievances and real problems.
John Timmer
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223
Watch orcas ram a sunfish so hard it explodes
“We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily, or it could also just be for fun.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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128
What happens when you try to chop a photon in half?
A mirror that moves mid-photon could release a shower of new photons.
Chris Lee
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141
Let Tom Hiddleston be your guide to Pompeii’s final day
NatGeo’s Pompeii: Out of Time fuses historical fact and imagination to bring city’s last 24 hours to life.
Jennifer Ouellette
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32
Naked mole-rat queens use a chemical signal to suppress fertility in rivals
A single chemical made by mole-rat queens enforces the social order.
Jacek Krywko
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38