Science News
‘The Deep End’ podcast is back to explore what makes your voice yours
Season 2 follows people losing their ability to speak — and the AI and brain implants helping them find their voices again.
Science News
Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.
Science News
Tiny implants use the body as a communication network
A new system sends faint electrical pulses through tissue instead of over Bluetooth. In rats, it made the animals flex one of their hind legs on cue when one of their front paws moved
Science News
Towering 'sponge' dome in Brazil is the secret source of nearby hot springs
QUICK FACTSWhere is it? Caldas Novas, Goiás, Brazil [-17.788739460, -48.70589106]What's in the photo? A giant, sponge-like dome towering above its surroundingsWhich satellite took the photo? Landsat 9When was it taken? May 19, 2025This striking satellite snap shows a giant, "sponge-like" dome towering over central Brazil. The dark monolith and the rare biome that covers it are key to the region's famed hot springs. The imposing oval structure, which is around 12 miles (20 kilometers) long and 7 miles (12 km) across, is known as the Caldas Novas dome, or Serra de Caldas, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. It is located in southeast Goiás state and towers up to 1,000 feet (300 meters) abov...
Science News
How bumblebees keep up with a flower that won't stay still
Landing on a moving target is a challenge for all flying animals. For bumblebees, a flower swaying in the wind creates an erratic landing pad. Reaching it means matching its sideways motion while continuing to face it. When the bee turns in flight, its view of the flower changes, which complicates the feat.
Science News
The super El Niño could cause torrential rainstorms. Americans may need to stock up on food to prepare, experts say.
Researchers have warned all summer that this year's El Niño could be record-breaking and fuel extreme weather across the globe. Earlier this month, the U.K. Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs urged people in Britain to stock up on food, bottled water and other basic supplies to prepare for potential severe storms this winter."We're about to experience probably the largest El Niño that has ever been seen," Dame Angela Eagle told The Guardian on Sept. 3. "If you’ve got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you’re going to be a lot better off than if you haven't."But could extreme weather really limit a...
Science News
Whole genome duplication shaped the evolution of the salmon family
Evolution is driven by changes in DNA that sometimes promote adaptation, altering traits like disease resistance or reproduction. Often, these changes are minuscule, modifying a single letter in the DNA code—somewhat like altering a single letter on one page of a long book.
Science News
Newly discovered iron minerals might hold primordial water from when Earth formed
Newly discovered iron minerals could be the missing link in how water is stored in the deepest parts of Earth's mantle and transported to the upper layers, recent research reveals. The findings are crucial for understanding the mantle's motion, volcanic activity and the workings of other rocky planets, the study authors say.The researchers discovered the iron minerals, called iron oxyhydroxides, by squishing mineral samples between two tiny diamond anvils while zapping them with a laser.The two iron minerals are stable at the conditions found at the boundary between Earth's core and its mantle (the planet's middle layer), which is under "more than a million times the pressure we feel at the ...
Science News
The ice blasting from Saturn's moon Enceladus is stranger than scientists realized
Enceladus may naturally separate and concentrate chemicals from its hidden ocean as droplets slowly freeze and shatter on their way into space. The process could explain Cassini’s puzzling ice-grain chemistry while giving future spacecraft a powerful advantage in searching for organic compounds and clues to life.
Science News
AI identifies Senegal's smallholder crops 84% of the time using limited training data
Food in Senegal is mostly grown on small-scale, rain-dependent farms, leaving much of the population vulnerable to climate shocks, according to the World Food Programme. However, satellite crop-mapping technologies designed to monitor the impact of climate on farming are largely beyond the reach of the West African country.
Science News
Earth’s day isn’t exactly 24 hours. The reason may lie deep inside the planet
Scientists may have solved why the length of Earth’s day changes by a few milliseconds over decades. Subtle shifts in the inner core appear to tug on the mantle, revealing a surprisingly dynamic world thousands of kilometers beneath our feet.
Science News
NASA’s Crew-13 could go from Florida to the ISS in under 9 hours
NASA and SpaceX could launch four astronauts to the International Space Station on October 1, with the Dragon spacecraft reaching orbiting outpost less than nine hours after liftoff. Crew-13 will join Expedition 75 after teams complete a final round of intensive launch-readiness checks.
Science News
This suitcase-sized spacecraft could hear the universe before stars existed
CosmoCube will use the far side of the Moon as a shield from Earth’s radio noise to search for a faint signal from the universe before the first stars existed. The suitcase-sized satellite could reveal how the cosmic dark ages ended and how dark matter helped build the first galaxies.
Science News
Scientists expected these Galápagos sea turtles to wander. They stayed put
Yellow-morph green sea turtles in the Galápagos surprised scientists by staying remarkably close to home instead of making the long journeys typically associated with sea turtles. Satellite tracking showed that none left the marine reserve during the study, revealing just how important the islands’ coastal habitats may be to their survival.
Science News
Building Asia's future must embrace the limitations of people and planet
Japan's population peaked around 2008 and has been steadily declining since. But construction hasn't stopped.
Science News
Hidden stem cells may be fueling spinal stenosis
Scientists have discovered a stem cell that appears to serve as a master source for tendon and ligament cells throughout the body. In lumbar spinal stenosis, these cells become unusually active and may drive the ligament overgrowth that squeezes spinal nerves and causes pain, numbness, and difficulty walking. Researchers found that reducing calcium signaling stopped this abnormal growth in mice.
Science News
Tracking researchers in Ukraine through war and armed conflict: The limits of free scholarly mobility
A study based on publication data traces how researchers moved within Ukraine and across borders between 2009 and 2022, with conflict-affected regions losing scholars while others became increasingly important destinations. These shifts were already underway after Russia illegally annexed Crimea and fighting began in the Donbas in 2014, underscoring that scholarly mobility during conflict cannot simply be understood as a matter of free choice.
Science News
Scientists find new virus behind mysterious tick illness
Scientists have discovered a new tick-borne virus in China that causes flu-like illness and may account for previously unexplained cases of fever, fatigue, digestive problems, and low platelet counts. Most patients with ALTNV alone recovered, but coinfections with another dangerous tick-borne virus were linked to more serious complications.
Science News
One in eight new cancers are likely caused by infections—there’s an easy way to protect yourself
Many cancers associated with infection are preventable
Science News
Study across 40 countries: Political activism linked to representation
Not happy with the election result? Don't worry. Election Day is not the only opportunity to influence politics.
Science News
How Bolsonaro's statements destroyed the rainforest
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro contributed to deforestation through statements opposing forest conservation, according to an international study led by the University of Bonn. The study found that destruction of the Amazon rainforest accelerated when Bolsonaro and his ministers posted messages opposing forest conservation on Twitter. Brazil's environmental authorities were greatly weakened during Bolsonaro's presidency, but the analysis suggests that even a perceived low risk of punishment was a driver of deforestation. The researchers estimate that the statements contributed to the destruction of up to 1,700 square kilometers (660 square miles) of forest—almost double the area of...