Science Archives

“One Origin of the Genetic Code, but Two Origins of Life”: Scientists Reveal the Ancient Evolutionary Split That Gave Rise to All Life on Earth

Ryan Whalen·August 7, 2026

An international research team has uncovered how LUCA, the last ancestor of all life on Earth, split into the first two branches.

The “Einstein Tile” That Broke Math Is Now Twisting Light Into Pinwheels

MJ Banias·August 3, 2026

The single tile that solved a 50-year geometry problem turns out to scatter light no ordinary crystal can match. It’s the first physics ever wrung out of the famous "einstein tile."

Scientists Discover Evidence of a Mysterious ‘Ghost’ Human Ancestor Hidden in Our DNA

Tim McMillan·July 31, 2026

Scientists uncover evidence of a mysterious ghost human lineage hidden in modern DNA, reshaping humanity's evolutionary story.

New Experiments Reveal Whether Ultracold Neutrons Magically Switch Between our Universe and a Mirror Universe

Christopher Plain·July 31, 2026

After months of experiments hunting for a mirror universe with 25 billion ultracold neutrons, scientists have finally revealed the results.

Britain’s Power Grid Has a Blind Spot for Extreme Solar Storms, New Research Reveals

Austin Burgess·July 30, 2026

In May 2024, the strongest geomagnetic storm in two decades exposed important gaps in how the UK monitors and prepares its power grid, satellites, and aviation for future extreme space weather.

Hiroshima World War II atomic bomb alloy

The World War II Atomic Blast Over Hiroshima Created a Previously Unidentified Multicomponent Metallic Alloy

Christopher Plain·July 30, 2026

The extreme energy, temperature, and pressure conditions during the World War II atomic bombing of Hiroshima created an all-new metal alloy.

The Brain Has a Flexible Sense of Time That Can Split Across Regions, New Research Reveals

Austin Burgess·July 29, 2026

When the brain tracks time, it must decide whether its regions should rely on a shared timing signal or maintain separate representations.

Satellite Images Revealed Something Unusual About the Color of These Antarctic Islands—Here’s the Odd Reason Behind Their Appearance

Micah Hanks·July 28, 2026

Satellite imagery reveals why the Danger Islands have an odd pink-orange color, and what that means for this fragile ecosystem.

5,000-Year-Old Blue Pigment Reveals Evidence of Ancient Egyptian Nanotechnology—Now It’s Finding New Life in Biomedical Imaging

Micah Hanks·July 28, 2026

5000-year-old nanotechnology from the ancient world known as "Egyptian blue" is offering innovative modern uses in biomedical imaging.

Backyard Mosquito Sprays May Be Helping These Blood-Sucking Parasites Evolve, Making Them Resistant to Insecticide

Austin Burgess·July 28, 2026

Recent research suggests localized mosquito-control practices may create conditions that favor the evolution of insecticide resistance.

The 5,700-Year-Old Psychedelic Drug Mescaline Finally Got a Modern Brain Scan, And The Results Were Unexpected

MJ Banias·July 24, 2026

The first proper brain scan of mescaline found the drug ignoring the regions where psychedelic research has spent a decade, and settling on the one structure no one really expected.

New Gravity Theory Suggests How Cosmic Order Emerges Despite Rising Entropy

Austin Burgess·July 23, 2026

A recent study offers a mathematical explanation for how cosmic structures form while still obeying the second law of thermodynamics.

New Research Reveals How Traveling Brain Waves Allow Us to Predict, Reconstruct, and Perceive the World

Christopher Plain·July 21, 2026

New research suggests traveling brain waves in the visual cortex help humans predict, reconstruct, and perceive the physical world.

‘Mechanical’ Properties of This Predatory Sea Worm’s Jaws Could Inspire a New Class of ‘Bio-Metal’ Material

Austin Burgess·July 21, 2026

A predatory sea worm known as Perinereis cultrifera possesses jaws that do not fit neatly into either biological or metallic categories.

Researchers Have Created a 3D Thermal Cloak That Renders Objects Invisible to Heat

Micah Hanks·July 20, 2026

A three-dimensional thermal cloak can conceal objects from heat, paving the way toward new military stealth technologies.

A New Solution to the Dinosaur-Killer Meteorite Mystery Creates Fresh Questions

Christopher Plain·July 20, 2026

A new analysis of debris from a 66-million-year-old meteorite that scientists call the dinosaur-killer has revealed another origin mystery.

Citizen Scientists Helped Reveal How Fatherhood Evolved in Spider Relatives

Austin Burgess·July 20, 2026

A new study reveals harvestmen, or daddy longlegs, account for more than half of all paternal care cases documented among arthropods.

NASA’s Psyche Mission Captures Crescents and Surface Details During Recent Martian Flyby

Micah Hanks·July 19, 2026

New imagery released by NASA has revealed a growing “crescent” and surface details on Mars obtained by the agency’s Psyche spacecraft.

Scientists May Have Finally Solved Earth’s Greatest Extinction Mystery

Austin Burgess·July 19, 2026

A recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that differences in physiology, metabolism, and oxygen use helped determine which marine animals survived the Great Dying catastrophe.

Earth-like habitable-zone rocky exoplanet atmosphere

“A Major Milestone in the Search for Life on Other Planets”: First Ever Detection of an Atmosphere Around an Earth-Like, Habitable Zone Rocky Exoplanet

Christopher Plain·July 18, 2026

In a major boost to the search for life, Harvard astronomers have detected an atmosphere around a habitable-zone, Earth-like rocky exoplanet.

Astronomers Uncovered a Hidden Bubble Inside the Orion Nebula

Austin Burgess·July 18, 2026

A key component of the Orion Nebula had evaded detection by astronomers until now, according to newly published research.

Deep Beneath the Atlantic, an Eerie “Lost City” is Feeding Legions of Lifeforms That Thrive Where Sunlight Never Reaches

Ryan Whalen·July 17, 2026

Earth’s hidden plumbing system may be feeding one of its strangest ecosystems: the Lost City hydrothermal field in the Atlantic Ocean.

An ‘Asteroid’ Tracked Since 1998 Made an Unexplained Orbital Shift—Now Astronomers Say It’s Something Far More Mysterious

Micah Hanks·July 16, 2026

Astronomers say an asteroid recently failed to appear where it was predicted to be, revealing a "dark" twist after decades of observations.

Scientists May Have Finally Solved One of Human Evolution’s Biggest Mysteries: When Our Ancestors Grew Larger

Tim McMillan·July 16, 2026

Scientists may have solved when human body size took its biggest leap, revealing a more complex path through evolution.

Scientists Find Intense Breathwork Can Trigger Psychedelic-Like States and Lasting Psychological Changes

Tim McMillan·July 14, 2026

Breathwork may trigger psychedelic-like states, emotional breakthroughs, and psychological insights without drugs, new study finds.

Modern Neuroscience Is Starting to Look Surprisingly Similar to Freud’s Theory of the Mind

Tim McMillan·July 13, 2026

A new study finds surprising parallels between Freud’s theories of the mind and modern neuroscience, suggesting the brain may work as a prediction machine.

AI Identifies the Most Effective Ways to Measure Water’s Hidden Structure

Austin Burgess·July 13, 2026

Researchers at the University of Osaka developed a neural network to test 16 different 'structural descriptors,' which are mathematical tools for measuring how ordered or disordered water molecules are at the microscopic scale.

These Unusual Step-Like Structures on Hillsides Baffled Darwin 150 Years Ago—Now Scientists Finally Know Their Origins

Micah Hanks·July 11, 2026

An unusual phenomenon that has been recognized around the world for more than a century has finally been resolved: what are the origins of the distinctive, stair-like ridges that form on steep hillsides?

This Color-Changing Material Could Give Robots a New Way to Detect Touch

Austin Burgess·July 11, 2026

Engineers at Queen Mary University of London have created a tactile sensor, described in a study published in Science Advances, that allows robots to detect touch using a simple camera.

AI ‘Ghosts’ Offer New Opportunities for Conversations with Deceased Loved Ones, Study Reveals

Austin Burgess·July 10, 2026

A recent study documented a participant using an AI model to simulate a conversation with her late grandmother.

ESA’s Euclid Telescope Just Spotted Two Record-Breaking Ancient Giants Among the Most Remote Objects in the Cosmos

Micah Hanks·July 8, 2026

The ESA's Euclid Space Telescope has spotted more than 30 ancient quasars that rank among the oldest and most remote space objects ever seen.

How Jellyfish Can ‘Miraculously’ Heal Without Scars Has Long Remained a Mystery—Scientists Now Know Their Secret

Austin Burgess·July 7, 2026

Jellyfish can close a wound in real time, without stitches, scabs, or scars. Now scientists have unlocked the secrets of how they do it.

How Did a Crab Become Trapped in a Bottle with an Opening Too Small to Enter? Once-Baffled Scientists Say They’ve Solved the Mystery

Micah Hanks·July 6, 2026

An oceanic mystery has unfolded with the discovery of a crab in a plastic bottle with an opening too small for the crustacean to fit through.

Deep Inside the Earth’s Molten Core, a Sudden ‘Reversal’ Now Has Scientists Searching for Answers

Micah Hanks·July 6, 2026

The molten iron core deep within our planet could be much more dynamic and complicated than previously known, new research suggests.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover is Investigating Unusual Polygon Structures That Look Like a “Giant Martian Honeycomb”

Micah Hanks·July 3, 2026

An odd-looking series of polygon-shaped structures have been discovered on Mars, as revealed in new images obtained by NASA’s Curiosity Rover.

The Unconscious Brain May Be More Capable Than Scientists Realized

Austin Burgess·July 3, 2026

While a patient is fully anesthetized and unresponsive, neurons in the hippocampus continue to process language, distinguish different types of words, and generate neural activity consistent with predicting upcoming words.

Earth May Have Been Sending Microscopic Hitchhikers Toward Venus for a Billion Years

Austin Burgess·July 2, 2026

A new model suggests that asteroid impacts on Earth may have occasionally launched microscopic material into space that could have reached Venus’s atmosphere over billions of years.

A Mysterious Circular Structure Buried Under the North Sea Has Revealed New Evidence of an Ancient Cataclysmic Event

Micah Hanks·July 1, 2026

Scientists have solved the mystery of an unusual circular structure beneath the North Sea that has been debated for more than two decades.

Scientists Used Water to Uncover a Strange, ‘Invisible’ Quantum Phenomenon That Remained Elusive for Decades

Austin Burgess·June 30, 2026

A team of physicists set out to recreate a 60-year-old quantum mystery using a large water tank.

Yellowstone Supervolcano Eruptions Aren’t Caused by What Scientists Used to Think They Were

Ryan Whalen·June 30, 2026

Yellowstone and other volcanic supereruptions may work completely differently than previously assumed, according to researchers.

The First Ancient Protein Analysis of Homo Naledi Has Revealed a New Burial Mystery

Austin Burgess·June 29, 2026

A recent study, published in Cell, marks the first ancient protein analysis of Homo naledi and raises the possibility that the Dinaledi Chamber may contain predominantly, or possibly exclusively, female individuals.

New Research Suggests Human Laughter May Hold a 15-Million-Year Old Secret

Chrissy Newton·June 29, 2026

Human laughter may share a 15-million-year-old evolutionary rhythm with our primate ancestors, offering clues about the origins of speech.

Scientists Have Discovered an Ancient Brain Circuit That Filters Distractions

Austin Burgess·June 28, 2026

Before the prefrontal cortex evolved, another system in the brain may already have been directing attention.

Something is Swarming in Swirls of Green in the Black Sea—and These NASA Images Captured the Phenomenon from Orbit

Micah Hanks·June 27, 2026

NASA orbital imagery of the Black Sea has revealed eerie-looking swirls of turquoise-green swarming in its waters.

CERN Provides Good News on Climate Change as Nature Proves Unexpectedly Resilient

Ryan Whalen·June 26, 2026

New climate change research conducted at CERN offers rare, hopeful news about the planet’s resilience to global warming.

A Slowly Aging Butterfly Could Help Scientists Understand Longevity

Austin Burgess·June 26, 2026

A University of Bristol-led study reports that a species of butterflies has evolved both longer lifespans and slower physical decline.

“We Call It Weather Jiu-Jitsu”: Scientists Want to Fight Extreme Weather With Precision ‘Nudges’ Instead of Force

Christopher Plain·June 25, 2026

Scientists have unveiled a method for controlling the weather with existing technology to alter the path of extreme storms before they land.

Discovery of Fungi Living Within Desert Moss is Challenging Past Thinking on How Organisms Thrive in Arid Environments

Austin Burgess·June 25, 2026

Moss has long been regarded as unusual among land plants for its resilience and apparent independence from fungal partnerships, which are common in other species; however, new research from UC Riverside indicates that this view may not apply in desert environments.

“Dark Matter Might Have Additional Interactions that are Hidden”: Physicists Are Searching for a Mysterious “Dark Force”

Ryan Whalen·June 24, 2026

Dark matter interactions may point to a hidden “dark force,” unexpectedly constraining our Universe’s expansion and structural development.

NASA’s Webb Telescope Spied on Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS as It Left Our Solar System—What It Spotted “Surprised Researchers”

Micah Hanks·June 22, 2026

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have revealed surprising new data about the mysterious interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.