How does thick client application vulnerability assessment & penetration testing improve software security?
Desktop applications continue to support essential business operations across industries such as banking, healthcare, logistics, and enterprise management. Since these applications operate directly on user devices, they often face security threats that differ from browser-based platforms. thick client application vulnerability…
Moderna CEO Responds to RFK Jr.’s Crusade Against the Covid-19 Vaccine
At the WIRED Health summit on Tuesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the recent changes to Covid-19 vaccine policy made by Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are a “step backward.” Moderna is one of the manufacturers…
Why Former NFL All-Pros Are Turning to Psychedelics
Roam the wide-open halls and cavernous showrooms of the Colorado Convention Center during Psychedelic Science, the world’s largest psychedelics conference, and you’ll see exhibitors hawking everything from mushroom jewelry, to chewable gummies containing extracts of the psychoactive succulent plant kanna,…
The New Math of Quantum Cryptography
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Hard problems are usually not a welcome sight. But cryptographers love them. That’s because certain hard math problems underpin the security of modern encryption. Any clever trick for solving them…
Real Estate Speculators Are Swooping In to Buy Disaster-Hit Homes
“Hi there Gina, hope you’re having a great day,” said another exactly two weeks later. “My name is Christine, I am a land buyer. I’m reaching out to see if you have any plans to sell the lot.” The text…
It’s Possible to Remove the Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water. Will It Happen?
A new study finds that technologies installed to remove forever chemicals from drinking water are also doing double-duty by removing harmful other materials—including some substances that have been linked to certain types of cancer. The study, published Thursday in the…
‘People Are So Proud of This’: How River and Lake Water Is Cooling Buildings
“In the old days, it was more like a luxury project,” says Deo de Klerk, team lead for heating and cooling solutions at the Dutch energy firm Eneco. Today, his company’s clients increasingly ask for district cooling as well as…
Neuralink’s Bid to Trademark ‘Telepathy’ and ‘Telekinesis’ Faces Legal Issues
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Neuralink’s attempt to trademark the product names Telepathy and Telekinesis, citing pending applications by another person for the same trademarks. Neuralink, the brain implant company cofounded by Elon Musk, filed to…
This Blood Thinner Is More Effective Than Aspirin at Preventing Heart Attacks
Aspirin is one of the most widely taken medicines in the world, having been recommended for decades as a way of protecting against heart attacks and strokes in at-risk patients. However, a new study has revealed that clopidogrel, another commonly…
Hungry Worms Could Help Solve Plastic Pollution
Plastics that support modern life are inexpensive, strong, and versatile, but are difficult to dispose of and have a serious impact when released into the environment. Polyethylene, in particular, is the most widely produced plastic in the world, with more…
What It’s Like to Work at a Body Farm
Somewhere out in the countryside, hidden behind a copse of trees, are fields full of dead human bodies. These corpses have been strategically laid out in rows, naked as the day they were born, and left to the mercy of…
Falcon 9 Milestones Vindicate SpaceX’s ‘Dumb’ Approach to Reuse
As SpaceX’s Starship vehicle gathered all of the attention this week, the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket continued to hit some impressive milestones. Both occurred during relatively anonymous launches of the company’s Starlink satellites but are nonetheless notable because they…
These Newly Discovered Cells Breathe in Two Ways
The team members went through a process of incrementally determining what elements and molecules the bacterial strain could grow on. They already knew it could use oxygen, so they tested other combinations in the lab. When oxygen was absent, RSW1…
Antarctica Is Changing Rapidly. The Consequences Could Be Dire
This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Seen from space, Antarctica looks so much simpler than the other continents—a great sheet of ice set in contrast to the dark waters of the encircling…
Your Body Ages Faster Because of Extreme Heat
It is well known that heat causes exhaustion in the body due to dehydration. But aging? A recent study concluded that extreme heat accelerates the aging of the human body, a worrying fact given the increasing frequency of heat waves…
SpaceX Starship Finally Pulls Off a Successful Test Flight
Elon Musk and his SpaceX team can breathe a collective sigh of relief. After days of postponements, Starship was finally able to launch its 10th test flight from the launch pad in Starbase, Texas. SpaceX’s largest and most powerful rocket…
How to See the Total Lunar Eclipse and Blood Moon on September 7
On the evening of September 7, the second (and final) total lunar eclipse of the year will take place—serving up the striking sight of a red “blood moon” in the sky across much of the world. Total lunar eclipses occur…
Scientists Are Flocking to Bluesky
Per Shiffman and Wester, an “overwhelming majority” of respondents said that Bluesky has a “vibrant and healthy online science community,” while Twitter no longer does. And many Bluesky users reported getting more bang for their buck, so to speak, on…
China Is Building a Brain-Computer Interface Industry
Given these and other recent milestones, Peng says it’s realistic to think that at least one BCI system could gain approval in China by 2027. Minmin Luo, director of the Chinese Institute for Brain Research (CIBR) in Beijing, agrees that…
Top CDC Officials Resign After Director Is Pushed Out
Susan Monarez is no longer the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a post by the official Department of Health and Human Services X account. She had been in the position for just a…
NASA’s Largest Satellite Antenna Ever Has Just Unfurled in Space
A Flower-like satellite has “bloomed” in outer space, unfolding to reveal the largest radar antenna reflector ever put into orbit. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), a joint project between the US space agency and the Indian Space Research Organization…
The Plan to Turn the Caribbean’s Glut of Sargassum Into Biofuel
Esteban Amaro, director of the Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring Network, agrees that fuel is the best product to focus on. Processing the seaweed into other consumer products is possible, but inadvisable given that the health risks of doing so have…
IBM and NASA Develop a Digital Twin of the Sun to Predict Future Solar Storms
The Sun’s most complex mysteries could soon be solved thanks to artificial intelligence. On August 20, IBM and NASA announced the launch of Surya, a foundation model for the sun. Having been trained on large datasets of solar activity, this…
What Is the Magnetic Constant and Why Does It Matter?
This means these three values can’t be independent; if you know two of them, you can derive the third. How do physicists deal with this? We define the speed of light as exactly 299,792,458 meters per second. (How do we…
The Hidden Ingredients Behind AI’s Creativity
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. We were once promised self-driving cars and robot maids. Instead, we’ve seen the rise of artificial intelligence systems that can beat us in chess, analyze huge reams of text, and…
Scientists Have Identified the Origin of an Extraordinarily Powerful Outer Space Radio Wave
The Earth is constantly receiving space signals that contain vital information about extremely energetic phenomena. Among the most peculiar are brief pulses of extremely high-energy radio waves, known as fast radio bursts (FRB). Astronomers compare them to a powerful lighthouse…
Climate Change Is Bringing Legionnaire’s Disease to a Town Near You
This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Air conditioners have been working overtime this hot summer, from those tiny window units to the massive AC towers that serve the tightly packed apartment buildings…
Government Staffing Cuts Have Fueled an Ant-Smuggling Boom
These sellers do brisk business online. On mainstream platforms like Ebay, they often upcharge novice antkeepers, the same trafficker tells WIRED; more sophisticated hobbyists buy and sell on private Discord servers. “Everyone on Discord has their respect towards each other…
Scientists Find a New Moon Orbiting Uranus
A team of astronomers has found what appears to be a previously undiscovered moon orbiting Uranus. If confirmed, this finding would mean the gigantic blue-green ice planet would have 29 moons. The discovery was made using the James Webb Space…
Scientists Just Caught Human Embryo Implantation on Camera
The simulation made it possible to appreciate how a human embryo does not merely adhere to the uterine lining, but actively inserts itself. “We observe that the embryo pulls on the uterine matrix, moving and reorganizing it,” explained Amélie Godeau,…
Meet Wukong, the AI Chatbot China Has Installed on Its Space Station
The latest addition to China’s Tiangong space station is an AI chatbot with expertise in navigation and tactical planning. Named Wukong AI—after the protagonist of the “Monkey King” legend in Chinese mythology, Sun Wukong—the chatbot was introduced on the space…
Arkansas Hosts the Planet’s Only Public Diamond Mine
The diamonds formed under extreme pressure and heat deep in the Earth’s mantle. If you find one, it will most likely look like a metallic or glassy pebble rather than a sparkly cut gem that you might picture in your…
FEMA Now Requires Disaster Victims to Have an Email Address
The changes to survivor signup have been made inside the program that the agency uses to manage disaster aid applications and pay out survivors, known as the National Emergency Management Information System (NEMIS). Current and former FEMA employees told WIRED…
An Ancient Penis Worm With Rings of Sharp Teeth Has Been Discovered in the Grand Canyon
About 500 million years ago, the Grand Canyon was a great sea, and among the creatures it harbored was a newly discovered type of penis worm, armed with many rings of teeth. Penis worms are marine creatures with a distinctly…
The Mysterious Origins of the Most Energetic Neutrino Ever Detected
In February 2023, a cosmic particle detector housed deep in the Mediterranean Sea recorded the arrival of a neutrino with approximately 20 to 30 times more energy than any other neutrino documented previously. Labelled KM3-230213A, the particle had a calculated…
The West Texas Measles Outbreak Has Ended
A large measles outbreak in Texas that has affected 762 people has now ended, according to an announcement Monday by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The agency says it has been more than 42 days since a new…
The End of Handwriting | WIRED
People often credit my good handwriting to my Catholic school education—like a nun with a ruler and a taste for corporal punishment perfected my penmanship. But that’s not why. It’s because of my mom. An engineer by trade, she can…
AI Is Designing Bizarre New Physics Experiments That Actually Work
“LIGO is this huge thing that thousands of people have been thinking about deeply for 40 years,” said Aephraim Steinberg, an expert on quantum optics at the University of Toronto. “They’ve thought of everything they could have, and anything new…
What Is the Electric Constant and Why Should You Care?
It’s fun to think about the fundamental physical constants. These are special values used in our models of the physical universe. They include things like the speed of light, the gravitational constant, and Planck’s constant, and they’re “fundamental” in the…
UN Plastics Treaty Talks Once Again End in Failure
Despite Friday’s outcome, the plastics treaty does not yet appear to be dead. Virtually all countries expressed an interest in continued negotiations—the European Union delegate Jessika Roswall said she would not accept “a stillborn treaty”—and many used their mic time…
NASA Rewrites the Rules for Developers of Private Space Stations
Phil McAlister, who directed NASA’s Commercial Space Division from 2005 to 2024, which included this commercial space station program, said the changes give NASA and the companies a chance for success, given that the agency’s budget will be less than…
Now You Can Get Your Flu Vaccine at Home
Instead of going to the pharmacy to get the annual flu vaccine, many people in the US will now be able to get it shipped to their door to take at home themselves. Starting today, AstraZeneca’s FluMist is available through…
Private Companies Are Now Gathering Weather Data for NOAA
WindBorne’s balloons, in contrast, can collect and distribute data from remote regions. That makes them more adaptive, and especially useful for monitoring atmospheric rivers that bring extreme precipitation to coastal regions, said Glackin. “I’d like to see them in the…
This New Pyramid-Like Shape Always Lands With the Same Side Up
In 2023, Domokos—along with his graduate students Gergő Almádi and Krisztina Regős, and Robert Dawson of Saint Mary’s University in Canada—proved that it is indeed possible to distribute a tetrahedron’s weight so that it will sit on just one face….
The Black Market for Fake Science Is Growing Faster Than Legitimate Research, Study Warns
A new study by researchers at Northwestern University has set off alarm bells about the future of academic research, warning that the publication of fraudulent science is growing at a faster rate than that of legitimate research. Over the last…
RFK Jr. Is Supporting mRNA Research—Just Not for Vaccines
One of the targeted recipients, Tiba Biotech, had a $750,000 contract with BARDA that was slated to end October 30. The company was developing an RNAi-based therapeutic for H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu. RNAi is short for RNA…
This Might Be the Most Massive Black Hole Ever Discovered
Astronomers have identified what could be a new supermassive black hole, and with an estimated mass 36 billion times that of the sun, it is about 10,000 times heavier than the black hole at the center of the Milky Way….
An AI Model for the Brain Is Coming to the ICU
The Cleveland Clinic is partnering with San Francisco–based startup Piramidal to develop a large-scale AI model that will be used to monitor patients’ brain health in intensive care units. Instead of being trained on text, the system is based on…
Central American Beaches Are Being Overrun With Local and Foreign Plastic
An image from the study illustrating how plastic bottles reach Latin American Pacific coasts. Illustration: Garcés-Ordóñez et al. (2025) (CC BY 4.0) The scientists found that, like other marine debris, the bottles and caps they retrieved were sometimes colonized by…
Eli Lilly’s Obesity Pill Shows Promising Weight Loss in New Results
An experimental pill made by Eli Lilly led to average weight loss of more than 12 percent of body weight in individuals with obesity, according to initial trial results announced by the drugmaker on Thursday. The pill is meant to…
Why the US Is Racing to Build a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
“There’s now policy certainty that we didn’t have before,” she adds. “Last but not least, the private sector is not only interested in using space nuclear power, they’re even interested in providing space nuclear power.” Both startups and established aerospace…
Life After the Atomic Blast, as Told by Hiroshima’s Survivors
The mushroom cloud was visible from the hills of neighboring prefectures. Those who were beyond the immediate blast radius may not have shown any external injuries immediately—but they commonly became sick and died in the days, weeks, months, and years…
See 6 Planets Align in the Night Sky This August
On August 10, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will line up in an arc in the night sky. Four of these planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn—can be seen with the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune will be…
US Coast Guard Report on Titan Submersible Implosion Singles Out OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush
The report says that data from acoustic sensors and strain gauges on board indicated that the hull had suffered a delamination after a dive to the Titanic in 2022, causing a loud bang. Rush was said to have dismissed that…
How Supercomputing Will Evolve, According to Jack Dongarra
Quantum computing is interesting. It’s really a wonderful area for research, but my feeling is we have a long way to go. Today we have examples of quantum computers—hardware always arrives before software—but those examples are very primitive. With a…
The Hyperflexible People Who May Help Unlock Better Sleep Apnea Treatments
But the search for such a pill—or indeed any treatment as effective as CPAP—has proved challenging. Dozens of drugs have failed to show efficacy in clinical trials, and while HGNS was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration…
Science Reveals the Surprising Origins of the Potato
There are more than a hundred ways to prepare a potato, and thousands of stories have begun with a shot of vodka distilled from this tuber. For centuries, the potato has been instrumental in feeding the world’s growing population. According…
Measles Cases Are Soaring in Mexico
The spread of measles is showing no signs of slowing down in Mexico. Between July 21 and 25, the country’s number of confirmed infections in 2025 rose from 3,553 to 3,730, an increase of 197 in only four days, according…
Efforts to Ground Physics in Math Are Opening the Secrets of Time
Now, three mathematicians have finally provided such a result. Their work not only represents a major advance in Hilbert’s program, but also taps into questions about the irreversible nature of time. “It’s a beautiful work,” said Gregory Falkovich, a physicist…
Trump Promised to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill.’ The New Rigs Are Nowhere to Be Found
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ quarterly survey of over 130 oil and gas producers based in Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico, conducted in June, suggests the industry’s outlook is pessimistic. Nearly half of the 38 firms that responded to…
Peacock Feathers Are Stunning. They Can Also Emit Laser Beams
Peacock feathers are greatly admired for their bright iridescent colors, but it turns out they can also emit laser light when dyed multiple times, according to a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. Per the authors, it’s the first…
AC or DC: Which Is Better?
Your gadgets run on direct current, but the electricity in your home is alternating current. What’s up with that?
The First Widespread Cure for HIV Could Be in Children
For years, Philip Goulder has been obsessed with a particularly captivating idea: In the hunt for an HIV cure, could children hold the answers? Starting in the mid-2010s, the University of Oxford pediatrician and immunologist began working with scientists in…
States Are Moving to Protect Access to Vaccines
With US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. already shaking up federal vaccine policy, some states are stepping in to preserve access to lifesaving shots in anticipation of further changes. The federal government has historically had a…
The Grave Long-Term Effects of the Gaza Malnutrition Crisis
The moment Merry Fitzpatrick realized that Gaza’s malnutrition crisis had progressed to a newer and deadlier phase was when surgeons at the few hospitals still operational on the Strip reported that wounds were no longer closing. “There’s so much traumatic…
Scientists Say New Government Climate Report Twists Their Work
“The Climate Working Group and the Energy Department look forward to engaging with substantive comments following the conclusion of the 30-day comment period,” Woods wrote. “This report critically assesses many areas of ongoing scientific inquiry that are frequently assigned high…
What Your Nighttime Breathing Says About Your Health
Notably, the research showed that apnea can manifest differently in REM sleep: “A lot of the memory consolidation and emotional regulation … happens during REM,” Mander explains. “If you’re waking up during REM because of a breathing event, you’re fragmenting…
Big Tech Asked for Looser Clean Water Act Permitting. Trump Wants to Give It to Them
There are currently more than 50 issued nationwide 404 permits—some of which still require pre-construction notifications—which are renewed once every five years. Many of those exemptions are for agricultural activities, like cranberry harvesting and constructing ponds for farms, or ecosystem…
The Pandemic Appears to Have Accelerated Brain Aging, Even in People Who Never Got Covid
More than five years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still discovering the after-effects of not only the virus but also the prolonged period of stress, isolation, loss, and uncertainty that the pandemic caused. A new scientific…
There’s Neuralink—and There’s the Mind-Reading Company That Might Surpass It
Mark Jackson is playing a computer game with his mind. As he reclines in bed, three blue circles appear on a laptop screen a few feet away. One turns red: the target. Jackson is in control of a white circle,…
This Star System Contains 5 Potentially Habitable Planets
A team of astronomers from the University of Montreal has discovered a new potentially habitable exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star L 98-59, 35 light-years from Earth. This discovery means there are now five confirmed planets in this solar system’s…
Florida Is Now a Haven for Unproven Stem-Cell Treatments
Florida is the latest state to sidestep the authority of the Food and Drug Administration by allowing patients to access certain stem-cell treatments that have not been rigorously evaluated and approved. Under a new law that went into effect July…
A ‘Grand Unified Theory’ of Math Just Got a Little Bit Closer
“We mostly believe that all the conjectures are true, but it’s so exciting to see it actually realized,” said Ana Caraiani, a mathematician at Imperial College London. “And in a case that you really thought was going to be out…
An Inventor Is Injecting Bleach Into Cancerous Tumors—and Wants to Bring the Treatment to the US
Liu has been making the solution in his rented apartment in Beijing by mixing citric acid with sodium chlorite, according to an account he shared earlier this month on his Substack that revealed that a “violent explosion” occurred when he…
The Texas Floods Were a Preview of What’s to Come
This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The country watched in horror as torrential rain drenched Texas earlier this month, sweeping at least 135 people to their death. Kerr County alone lost 107,…
Join Our Next Livestream: Inside Katie Drummond’s Viral Interview With Bryan Johnson
What does it mean to be healthy in 2025? Bryan Johnson, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who’s well known for his extreme attempts to slow the aging process, thinks he knows the answer. Does Johnson really have the healthiest body…
The First Planned Migration of an Entire Country Is Underway
“When combined with other Pacific pathways to Australia and New Zealand, nearly 4 percent of the population could migrate each year,” says Jane McAdam, a fellow at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney, writing in the…
The Very Real Case for Brain-Computer Implants
Lauren Goode: Yeah, I think it’s going to be really good. Michael Calore: Yeah. Lauren Goode: And also that means Katie still has time to run WIRED, which is another thing that she does on the side. Michael Calore: I…
The ICJ Rules That Failing to Combat Climate Change Could Violate International Law
If a country fails to take decisive action to protect the planet from climate change, it could be breaking international law and be held liable for damages caused to humanity. This is one of the conclusions of an unprecedented advisory…
Animals Are the Original Wellness Influencers
In the early 2010s, researchers in Mexico City noticed that sparrows and finches at the national university were lacing their nests with cigarette butts. The birds would collect the butts—mostly smoked—carefully remove the outer paper layer, and weave fibers from…
South Korea Plans to Build a Base on the Moon
China, India, and Japan are not the only countries on the Asian continent looking to establish themselves in the fledgling space economy. South Korea also wants to be in the space race, and even plans for a presence beyond Earth’s…
A Top NASA Official Is Among Thousands of Staff Leaving the Agency
You can add another name to the thousands of employees leaving NASA as the Trump administration primes the space agency for a 25 percent budget cut. On Monday, NASA announced that Makenzie Lystrup will leave her post as director of…
Newly Discovered ‘Infinity Galaxy’ Could Prove How Ancient Supermassive Black Holes Formed
A team of astronomers have discovered a curious figure in the universe. It is two distant galaxies colliding with each other to form a larger structure. From Earth’s perspective, the junction of the disks resembles the number eight lying down,…
EPA Employees Still in the Dark as Agency Dismantles Scientific Research Office
Several EPA scientists stressed to WIRED that ORD’s current structure, which allows research to happen independent of the policy-making that occurs in other parts of the agency, is crucial to producing quality work. One told WIRED that they worked in…
The Next Thing You Smell Could Ruin Your Life
After my birth, my mother became allergic to the world. That’s the only way I knew how to put it. So many things could set her off: new carpeting, air fresheners, plastic off-gassing, diesel. Perfumes were among the worst offenders….
The Hunt for a Fundamental Theory of Quantum Gravity
The world of Bousso’s new theorem still departs from our universe in notable ways. For mathematical convenience, he assumed that there’s an unlimited variety of particles—an unrealistic assumption that makes some physicists wonder whether this third layer matches reality (with…
Why It’s Taking LA So Long to Rebuild After the Wildfires
This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. In the wake of the record-breaking wildfires in Los Angeles in January—some of the most expensive and destructive blazes in history—one of the first things California…
Einstein Showed That Time Is Relative. But … Why Is It?
Nope, NOT 20 m/s. To them the ball is moving at 30 m/s (i.e., 10 + 20). So much for common sense. The difference arises from the fact that they are measuring from different “reference frames,” one moving, the other…
Where Are All the AI Drugs?
A new drug usually starts with a tragedy. Peter Ray knows that. Born in what is now Zimbabwe, the child of a mechanic and a radiology technician, Ray fled with his family to South Africa during the Zimbabwean War of…
Can US Measles Outbreaks Be Stopped?
The US is experiencing its worst year for measles in over three decades, with more than 1,300 cases in 40 states as of July 16. Cases were almost as high in 2019, putting the country’s measles elimination status at risk….
Trump and the Energy Industry Are Eager to Power AI With Fossil Fuels
The industry is finding a willing partner in the Trump administration. Since taking office, Trump has used AI as a lever to open up opportunities for fossil fuels, including a well-publicized effort to resuscitate coal in the name of more…
The Structure of Ice in Space Is Neither Order nor Chaos—It’s Both
Ice is a key component in the universe. There are frozen water molecules on comets, moons, exoplanets, and in your drink as you cool off from the summer heat. However, under the microscope, not all ice is the same, even…
Everything We Know About the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
On July 2, NASA revealed the existence of 3I/ATLAS, only the third ever interstellar object observed in the universe. These are objects that exist in interstellar space—the areas between stars—and which are not gravitationally bound to any star. The two…
For Algorithms, Memory Is a Far More Powerful Resource Than Time
That classic result was a way to transform any algorithm with a given time budget into a new algorithm with a slightly smaller space budget. Williams saw that a simulation based on squishy pebbles would make the new algorithm’s space…
How to Use Clean Energy Tax Credits Before They Disappear
This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The “one big beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4 is set to upend many aspects of American life, including climate…
Cloning Came to Polo. Then Things Got Truly Uncivilized
To play polo at the highest level, you have to love horses or be filthy rich. Ideally both. A team might field around 40 ponies for each game and draw on a roster of hundreds of potentially playable horses for…
Scientists Succeed in Reversing Parkinson’s Symptoms in Mice
“All of the mice we treated showed dramatic improvement in their motor skills. The results exceeded our expectations and suggest that, after further study, this therapeutic approach could slow the progression of Parkinson’s in humans,” says Double. But experts caution…
Dr. ChatGPT Will See You Now
And even if it is right, an AI agent can’t complement the information it provides with the knowledge physicians gain through experience, says fertility doctor Jaime Knopman. When patients at her clinic in midtown Manhattan bring her information from AI…
A Giant Planet and a Small Star Are Shaking Up Conventional Cosmological Theory
Many of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy are small, dim red dwarfs—stars much smaller than the sun in both size and mass. TOI-6894, located far away from Earth, is one of them. Astronomers previously thought a star like…
China Has Attempted What Might Be the First-Ever Orbital Refueling of a Satellite
Northrop Grumman launched two satellites in 2019 and 2020 that accomplished the first dockings in geosynchronous orbit. Northrop’s satellites, which it calls Mission Extension Vehicles, took control of two aging commercial communications satellites running low on fuel, maneuvering them to…
Conspiracy Theories About the Texas Floods Lead to Death Threats
Over 100 people have now been confirmed to have lost their lives in the flash flooding that hit homes and camps along the edge of the Guadalupe River in the early hours of Friday morning. Meteorologists who spoke to WIRED…
On Mexico’s Caribbean Coast, There’s Lobster for the Tourists and Microplastics for Everyone Else
The fishermen of Puerto Morelos, on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, risk their lives every time they head out to sea to fish or dive for lobsters. Their bounty is dependent on luck, as the weather often makes it impossible to go…
Why Jolly Ranchers Are Banned in the UK but Not the US
Adopted in 1958, the GRAS exemption was intended to cover the use of commonplace ingredients, explains Jensen Jose, regulatory counsel for the nonprofit watchdog Center for Science in the Public Interest, based in Washington, DC. “It was so you wouldn’t…
How the Binding of Two Brain Molecules Creates Memories That Last a Lifetime
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. When Todd Sacktor was about to turn 3, his 4-year-old sister died of leukemia. “An empty bedroom next to mine. A swing set with two seats instead of one,” he…
Meteorologists Say the National Weather Service Did Its Job in Texas
“The signal was out there that this is going to be a heavy, significant rainfall event,” says Vagasky. “But pinpointing exactly where that’s going to fall, you can’t do that.” Flash floods in this part of Texas are nothing new….
Is It Time to Stop Protecting the Grizzly Bear?
But the ESA was only meant to safeguard against “reasonably foreseeable future threats,” Willms argues. Congress has the ability to protect species indefinitely—like it did for wild horses under the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act or for…
Feeling Hoarse? You Might Have the New ‘Stratus’ Covid Variant
Another NEW covid variant is currently rapidly gaining a foothold. Known officially as XFG—or informally as “Stratus”—it has been declared a “variant under monitoring” by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is expected to circulate alongside the now dominant Nimbus…
The EU Proposes New Rules to Govern the European Space Race
There are around 11,000 satellites orbiting Earth, and it is estimated that at least 50,000 more will be launched in the next decade. There are also exploration instruments, resupply vessels, and complexes like the International Space Station. But who regulates…
Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Leave Millions Without Health Insurance
Senate Republicans on Tuesday passed President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending package, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” paving the way for a major overhaul of the country’s Medicaid program. If passed by the House, which could happen…
How to Travel to the Most Remote Office on Earth
The plane is a Hercules C-130, super impressive. You arrive on this little bus, and you see this monstrous plane, and you enter through the back. Then you sit next to each other in these longitudinal seats. And then it’s…
Despite Protests, Elon Musk Secures Air Permit for xAI
A local health department in Memphis has granted Elon Musk’s xAI data center an air permit to continue operating the gas turbines that power the company’s Grok chatbot. The permit comes amid widespread community opposition and a looming lawsuit alleging…
Insurers Aren’t Saying Whether They’ll Cover Vaccines for Kids if Government Stops Recommending Them
“We are committed to ongoing coverage of vaccines to ensure access and affordability for this respiratory virus season,” the statement continued. “We encourage all Americans to talk to their health care provider about vaccines.” ACIP made headlines in early June…
The Senate Just Put Clean Energy for AI in the Crosshairs
After more than a day of continuous debate, the US Senate passed its version of the budget megabill Tuesday afternoon—with potentially disastrous implications for the future of renewable energy in the country. Among a barrage of bad news for climate…
Student Solves a Long-Standing Problem About the Limits of Addition
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. The simplest ideas in mathematics can also be the most perplexing. Take addition. It’s a straightforward operation: One of the first mathematical truths we learn is that 1 plus 1…
The World Is Producing More Food than Ever—but Not for Long
This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Globally, humanity is producing more food than ever, but that harvest is concentrated in just a handful of breadbaskets. More than one-third of the world’s wheat…
The Next Acetaminophen Tablet You Take Could Be Made From PET
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have succeeded in transforming certain plastic waste into acetaminophen using the natural properties of the common bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). This breakthrough represents a milestone with the potential to drive more sustainable methods…
Space Elevators Could Totally Work—if Earth Days Were Much Shorter
Suppose you could speed up Earth’s rotation so that a day was only half as long? What would happen? Well, for starters we’d have to make new clocks that only have hours 1 to 6 for am and pm. If…
A European Startup’s Spacecraft Made It to Orbit. Now It’s Lost at Sea
A European company that seeks to develop orbital spacecraft for cargo, and eventually humans, took a step forward this week with a test flight that saw its Mission Possible vehicle power up and fly successfully in orbit before making a…
‘They’re Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls
During visits in recent months, Emelie says her husband, who was detained at Stewart until he was deported last month, described severe overcrowding. “He told me once Trump took over, they were rolling out mats in the halls. People were…
RFK Jr.’s Appointees to CDC Vaccine Panel Are Not Good
Anti-vaccine advocate and current Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to social media Wednesday to announce the names of eight people he is appointing to a critical federal vaccine advisory committee—which is currently empty after Kennedy abruptly fired all…
India Is Using AI and Satellites to Map Urban Heat Vulnerability Down to the Building Level
“The more granular your data, the more targeted your response can be,” Krishna adds. Instead of generic advisories like “drink more water,” localized data could drive specific actions: change market or factory hours, deploy cost-effective heat shelters, or set up…
Scientists Are Sending Cannabis Seeds to Space
He’s also not the only researcher working to expose plants to higher radiation levels than previously studied. Porterfield, who is one of the scientists working on NASA’s LEAF mission—a lunar plant-growth experiment that will go to the moon with Artemis…
The Largest Camera Ever Built Releases Its First Images of the Cosmos
Perched atop the Cerro Pachón mountain in Chile, 8,684 feet high in the Atacama Desert, where the dry air creates some of the best conditions in the world to view the night sky, a new telescope unlike anything built before…
How to Beat Jet Lag
As ultra-long-haul routes take flight, plane-lighting hacks and meal planning could help passengers recover faster.
How the Universe and Its Mirrored Version Are Different
Kitty couldn’t have digested looking-glass milk. Worse, if it had contained any bacteria with the opposite handedness, her immune system and antibiotics would have been ill suited to put up a fight. A group of prominent scientists recently cautioned against…
Methane Pollution Has Cheap, Effective Solutions That Aren’t Being Used
And because methane is invisible and odorless, it can be difficult and expensive to monitor it and prevent it from getting out. As a result, researchers and environmental activists say the industry is likely releasing far more than official government…
Eli Lilly’s Obesity Pill Appears to Work as Well as Injected GLP-1s
Eli Lilly’s daily anti-obesity pill orforglipron appears to be as good at spurring weight loss and lowering blood sugar in diabetes patients as popular injectable GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, according to new data from a Phase 3 trial. The results…
‘Major Anomaly’ Behind Latest SpaceX Starship Explosion
Musk wrote that the nitrogen COPV appears to have failed below its proof pressure, within conditions that should not have damaged the tank. “If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this…
The FDA Just Approved a Long-Lasting Injection to Prevent HIV
The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved lenacapavir, an injectable form of HIV prevention that is almost 100 percent effective and requires only two doses per year. Science magazine described the medicine the most important scientific advance of…
US Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee’s Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday upheld the state of Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. In a 6–3 decision in United States v. Skrmetti, the justices found that Tennessee’s law is not unconstitutional. The central issue…
How Much Energy Does AI Use? The People Who Know Aren’t Saying
“People are often curious about how much energy a ChatGPT query uses,” Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, wrote in an aside in a long blog post last week. The average query, Altman wrote, uses 0.34 watt-hours of energy: “About…
The EPA Plans to ‘Reconsider’ Ban on Cancer-Causing Asbestos
Despite touting ambitious goals of making America healthier, the Trump administration on Monday revealed in court documents that it is backpedaling on a ban on cancer-causing asbestos. Last year, under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency took a long-awaited…
Scientists Discover the Key to Axolotls’ Ability to Regenerate Limbs
In his current research, there are still gaps to be filled: how the CYP26B1 gradient is regulated, how retinoic acid connects to the Shox gene, and what downstream factors determine the formation of specific structures, such as the humerus or…
A New Obesity Pill May Burn Fat Without Suppressing Appetite
While injected GLP-1 drugs are incredibly effective at spurring weight loss, they also come with some downsides. There can be gastrointestinal side effects and loss of muscle mass. The drugs are also expensive, at $1,000 a month or more in…
This Historian Has Seen the Future of Trans Health Care
Gill-Peterson’s work has illustrated for Branstetter the narrowing effect that identity-first politics can have at a time when “we need solidarity across difference,” she says. “Not just because my day job is almost by definition identity-first, but also because, as…
The Mysterious Inner Workings of Io, Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon
Crucially, unlike Io’s odd magnetic field, which seemed to indicate that it concealed an ocean’s worth of fluid, Europa’s own Galileo-era magnetic signal remains robust. “It’s a pretty clean result at Europa,” said Robert Pappalardo, the Europa mission’s project scientist…
WHO Monitors New Covid Variant Spreading in America and Europe
A new Covid variant is being kept under surveillance by the World Health Organization (WHO) as its emergence has led to an increase in infections in several regions of the world. First identified at the end of January, the variant—called…
Wood Pellet Mills Are Prone to Catching Fire. Why Build Them in California?
This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Wood pellets, by design, are highly flammable. The small pieces of compressed woody leftovers, like sawdust, are used in everything from home heating to grilling. But…
This Chinese Spacecraft Is Traveling to One of Earth’s Quasi-Moons
The China National Space Administration has shared the first image from its Tianwen-2 probe, which is en route to Kamo‘oalewa, a near-Earth asteroid. The image was captured by a camera onboard the probe, which is currently more than 3 million…
Are Those Viral ‘Cooling Blankets’ for Real?
Touch both objects. They’re the same temperature, but the wood feels warmer, right? Why is that? It’s not about temperature but thermal energy. When your hand touches an object, there is a heat conduction interaction. Energy is transferred from your…
Congress Demands Answers on Data Privacy Ahead of 23andMe Sale
US Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jan Schakowsky on Thursday sent letters to the two potential buyers of troubled genetic testing firm 23andMe demanding details about consumer data privacy should either of them acquire the company. Signed by 20 other Democratic…
‘Uber for Getting Off Antidepressants’ Launches in the US
Unlike a linear taper, which involves reducing the dose of a medication by the same amount each time, a hyperbolic taper gradually slows the rate of reduction—cutting smaller and smaller amounts as it goes—so that the final doses are extremely…
The EPA Wants to Roll Back Emissions Controls on Power Plants
The US Environmental Protection Agency moved to roll back emissions standards for power plants, the second-largest source of CO2 emissions in the country, on Wednesday, claiming that the American power sector does not “contribute significantly” to air pollution. “The bottom…
Astronomers Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Unlock the Secrets of Black Holes
There may not yet be telescopes capable of unlocking all the secrets of supermassive black holes, but AI is now on the case. Recently, an international team of astronomers successfully trained a neural network with millions of black hole simulations…
A Political Battle Is Brewing Over Data Centers
“I think it’s the right policy, for us to take a national standard,” they said. While the intent of the AI moratorium may not have been to regulate physical infrastructure, the reaction from Massie illustrates just how much of a…
What Tear Gas and Rubber Bullets Do to the Human Body
A 2014 study by the US military has also found that exposure to tear gas and pepper spray make people vulnerable to respiratory infections in the week following exposure compared with the week before exposure. Army recruits exposed to CS…
A New Law of Nature Attempts to Explain the Complexity of the Universe
Kauffman argues that biological evolution is thus constantly creating not just new types of organisms but new possibilities for organisms, ones that not only did not exist at an earlier stage of evolution but could not possibly have existed. From…
Uber Just Reinvented the Bus … Again
This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Every few years, a Silicon Valley gig-economy company announces a “disruptive” innovation that looks a whole lot like a bus. Uber rolled out Smart Routes a…
How to Prepare for a Climate Disaster in Trump’s America
In your go bag, FEMA recommends packing three days’ worth of food and water, physical maps of local areas, a change of clothing, and copies of important documents. According to a checklist from the agency, these should include birth certificates,…
How One Keto Trial Set Off a New War in the Nutrition World
While the study was still in the recruitment phase, Nadolsky left the team. Entrenched Positions Klatt, of UC Berkeley, is extremely well-versed in nutrition research and the current online debates around cholesterol. He’s written about this study and its fallout…
Astronomers Have Detected a Galaxy Millions of Years Older Than Any Previously Observed
With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers has broken the record for the oldest, most distant galaxy detected to date by humans. In a preprint study, still awaiting peer review and publication in a…
A Neuralink Rival Just Tested a Brain Implant in a Person
Brain-computer interface startup Paradromics today announced that surgeons successfully inserted the company’s brain implant into a patient and safely removed it after about 10 minutes. It’s a step toward longer trials of the device, dubbed Connexus. It’s also the latest…
How to Make AI Faster and Smarter—With a Little Help from Physics
What exactly is AI Scientist—just a fancy kind of neural net? It’s not a single neural network, but rather an ensemble of computer programs that can help scientists make new discoveries. My group has already developed algorithms that can help…
Analysts Say Trump Trade Wars Would Harm the Entire US Energy Sector, From Oil to Solar
Why is this conflict happening? The short version is that Trump and his advisers believe that tariffs will help the US economy by encouraging construction of factories here, reducing trade deficits and punishing barriers to entry of US products in…
Is Using a Stair Machine the Same as Climbing Stairs?
Since the change in kinetic energy is still zero, this means that the positive change in gravitational potential energy is equal to the negative of the change in internal energy. Let’s say you have a mass of 75 kilograms (165…
Hummingbirds Are Evolving to Adapt to Life With Humans
Some species of hummingbird are adapting to urban life by undergoing evolutionary changes in their anatomy, influenced by the proliferation of artificial drinking fountains. According to some biologists, this might show that these birds are on their way to becoming…
Starship’s Latest Test Reveals New Problems for SpaceX to Solve
SpaceX made some progress on another test flight of the world’s most powerful rocket Tuesday, finally overcoming technical problems that plagued the program’s two previous launches. But minutes into the mission, SpaceX’s Starship lost control as it cruised through space,…
The Plan to Send Plant-Filled ‘Gardens’ Into Orbit
She imagines industrial activity in space, freeing up land on Earth. Hollywood directors shooting films in orbit. And botanists traveling back and forth to check on their Space Gardens. She and her colleagues are currently seeking funding to help make…
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Mushroom Supplements Are the Biohackers’ Latest Fix (2025)
From ancient remedies to your Amazon cart, mushroom supplements have traveled a circuitous road. They nourish the body, enhance the mind, and occasionally poison the unlucky. Their biochemical adaptability has intrigued Eastern cultures for centuries. The West has been slow…
A New Study Reveals the Makeup of Uranus’s Atmosphere
Over that period, the research team watched as the south polar region darkened going into winter and the north polar region brightened as summer approached. By observing the planet at four different points in time, years apart, they could see…
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The Milky Way Has a Mysterious ‘Broken Bone’
If you look at the Milky Way through a powerful telescope, you’ll notice that close to the center of the galaxy there are elongated filaments that seem to outline its spiral shape. Scientists have a nickname for these structures: “galactic…
Why Women With Type 2 Diabetes Are Diagnosed Later Than Men
Statistically, men are more likely than women to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, with about 18 million more men living with the condition worldwide. This doesn’t tell the whole story. When women do get a diagnosis, they’re often older…
The Quest to Prove the Existence of a New Type of Quantum Particle
When you swap two paraparticles, these hidden properties change in tandem. As an analogy, imagine that these properties are colors. Start with two paraparticles, one that’s internally red and another that’s internally blue. When they swap places, rather than keeping…
Want to Claim the Solar Tax Credit? Get Installing Now
This story originally appeared Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For the last two decades, homeowners have been able to claim thousands of dollars in federal tax credits to help offset the high up-front costs of going…
AI Is Eating Data Center Power Demand—and It’s Only Getting Worse
AI’s energy use already represents as much as 20 percent of global data-center power demand, research published Thursday in the journal Joule shows. That demand from AI, the research states, could double by the end of this year, comprising nearly…
Trump Cuts Are Killing a Tiny Office That Keeps Measurements of the World Accurate
The remaining staff are in an “all hands on deck” situation with the rollout, says Brett Howe, the former geodetic services division chief at NGS, who opted to retire at the end of April. Despite a dedicated staff, Howe says…
The Enhanced Games Has a Date, a Host City, and a Drug-Fueled World Record
The Enhanced Games—a kind of Olympics for athletes who are doping—today announced the date and venue for its first competition: May 21-24, 2026, at Resorts World Las Vegas. Athletes competing in the event will be allowed to take performance-enhancing drugs…
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New Bacteria Have Been Discovered on a Chinese Space Station
It is microscopic and rod-shaped, can create spores, and may have evolved to survive hundreds of miles above our planet’s surface. This bacterium, never before seen on Earth, was detected on China’s Tiangong space station. It has been named Niallia…
SpaceX Tests Starship Fixes After Back-to-Back Failures
SpaceX founder Elon Musk also wants Starship to fly to Mars, which will, likewise, require a mastery of in-space refueling. NASA may also soon rely on Starship and other massive commercial rockets to launch astronauts from Earth. The Trump administration…
A Baby Received a Custom Crispr Treatment in Record Time
Last August, KJ Muldoon was born with a potentially fatal genetic disorder. Just six months later, he received a Crispr treatment designed just for him. Muldoon has a rare disorder known as CPS1 deficiency, which causes a dangerous amount of…
Blocked From Selling Off-Brand Ozempic, Telehealth Startups Embrace a Less Effective Drug
After telehealth startups recently lost the ability to sell exact copies of patented GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, some firms have begun turning to a different, less effective medication that has been on the market in the United States since 2010. Often…
The EPA Is Giving Some Forever Chemicals a Pass
The EPA on Wednesday said it would change a rule intended to protect Americans from forever chemicals in their drinking water. The agency plans to extend a compliance deadline to limit two key chemicals, and rescind and reconsider regulations on…
Patients Are Left With Few Options as GLP-1 Copycats Disappear
Futter’s provider, Henry Meds, no longer offers compounded tirzepatide injections, but allowed patients to place bulk orders before phasing it out. He went ahead and ordered several months’ worth of vials but doesn’t know what he’s going to do when…
The EPA Will Likely Gut Team That Studies Health Risks From Chemicals
In early May, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would split up the agency’s main arm devoted to scientific research. According to a report from NPR, scientists at the 1,500-person Office of Research and Development were told to apply…
Intelligence on Earth Evolved Independently at Least Twice
“How we end up with similar circuitry was more flexible than I would have expected,” Zaremba said. “You can build the same circuits from different cell types.” Zaremba and her team also found that in the bird pallium, neurons that…
Dismantling NOAA Threatens the World’s Ability to Monitor Carbon Dioxide Levels
Even in the best of times, long-term observations can be very fragile. It is difficult to convince funding agencies to put money into long-term observations because, by definition, they are continuations; they have been done before. Most funding entities, from…
Diabetes Is Rising in Africa. Could It Lead to New Breakthroughs?
Chikowore says there are many possible explanations for this, ranging from as yet undiscovered genetic variants to the physiological structure of the pancreas. The latter theory arises from research carried out in East Africa, which found that some men develop type…
Trump’s Surgeon General Pick Is Tearing the MAHA Movement Apart
Means’ nomination was announced on Wednesday after Trump withdrew his nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News contributor whose résumé has been questioned in recent weeks. “Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful…
US Customs and Border Protection Quietly Revokes Protections for Pregnant Women and Infants
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has quietly rescinded several internal policies that were designed to protect some of the most vulnerable people in its custody—including pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and people with serious medical conditions. The decision, outlined…
The Phony Physics of Star Wars Are a Blast
I’m a huge fan of Star Wars. The first movie (no, not Episode 1) came out when I was young, so I grew up thinking about the Millennium Falcon and lightsabers. Perhaps it sparked my interest in science—even if it’s…
As the US Cuts Scientific Talent, Europe Launches an Initiative to Attract It
These decisions, together with concerns about future funding cuts, have led to an exodus of researchers from the United States, with scientists now seeking to continue their careers outside of the country. An analysis published in Nature found that 75…
This US Company Just Successfully Tested a Reusable Hypersonic Rocket Plane
“Demonstrating the reuse of fully recoverable hypersonic test vehicles is an important milestone for MACH-TB,” said George Rumford, director of the Test Resource Management Center, in a statement. “Lessons learned from this test campaign will help us reduce vehicle turnaround…
The Dream of the Metaverse Is Dying. Manufacturing Is Keeping It Alive
It used to be that when BMW would refit a factory to build a new car, the only way the automaker could check if the chassis would fit through the production line was to fly a team out and physically…
The Future of Manufacturing Might Be in Space
Jessica Frick wants to build furnaces in space. Her company, California-based Astral Materials, is designing machines that can grow valuable materials in orbit that could be used in medicine, semiconductors, and more. Or, as she puts it, “We’re building a…
How Mexico’s Fishing Refuges Are Fighting Back Against Poaching
It has been two hours since the divers left the coast behind. As they reach their designated GPS points in the Gulf of Mexico, their boats’ engines go from roaring to whispering. In pairs, they enter the Celestún Fishing Refuge…
FEMA Is Ending Door-to-Door Canvassing in Disaster Areas
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is making significant changes to how it will respond to disasters on the ground this season, including ending federal door-to-door canvassing of survivors in disaster areas, WIRED has learned. A memo reviewed by WIRED, dated…
Scientists Have Just Discovered a New Type of Electricity-Conducting Bacteria
A new species of bacteria that functions like electrical wiring has recently been discovered on a brackish beach in Oregon. The species was named Candidatus Electrothrix yaqonensis in honor of the Yaquina tribe of Native Americans that once lived in…
Why Pigeons at Rest Are at the Center of Complexity Theory
By January 2020, Papadimitriou had been thinking about the pigeonhole principle for 30 years. So he was surprised when a playful conversation with a frequent collaborator led them to a simple twist on the principle that they’d never considered: What…
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Scientists Believe They’ve Witnessed ‘Planetary Suicide’ for the First Time
Two years ago, astronomers believe they detected a star devouring one of its planets. Now, new observations of the aftermath of same event from the James Webb Space Telescope have suggested a scenario previously only considered in the realms of…
Why Balcony Solar Panels Haven’t Taken Off in the US
Another issue in the US is the lack of a compatible safety device called a ground fault circuit interrupter, or a GFCI. They are typically built into outlets installed near water sources, like a sink, washing machine, or bathtub. They’re…
2025 Is the Year of the Humanoid Robot Factory Worker
Later this year, Boston Dynamics plans to put its all-electric humanoid Atlas robot to work in a Hyundai factory. The new version of the bot, evolved from the hydraulic Atlas model that’s been performing viral video demos since 2013, made…
The Climate Crisis Threatens Supply Chains. Manufacturers Hope AI Can Help
Abhi Ghadge, associate professor of supply chain management at Cranfield University in the UK, says there has been “a general kind of negligence” in terms of climate resilience, though that is beginning to change. Building a detailed understanding of a…
The Dangerous Decline in Vaccination Rates
In the year 2000, measles were declared eliminated from the United States. But thanks to declining vaccination rates, Americans may have to contend with a much scarier future for the deadly disease. Today on the show, we talk about the…
What Caused the European Power Outage?
The causes of the power outage that left millions in Spain and Portugal without electricity on Monday have yet to be fully determined, though service has now been restored across 99 percent of the Iberian peninsula. Red Eléctrica, the public…
RFK Jr.’s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research
A research facility within the US National Institutes of Health that is tasked with studying Ebola and other deadly infectious diseases has been instructed by the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to stop research activities. According…
Trump’s Policies Are Creating Uncertainty for Fossil Fuel Companies
“Lawyers are going to have a field day with this,” says Hathaway, who now works as a director at Lawyers for Good Government, a legal nonprofit dedicated to progressive advocacy. It’s clear these new rules are exclusively a gift to…
Europe’s Devastating Power Outage in Photos
Grounded subways, canceled flights, stores, hospitals, and offices completely in the dark: This is the situation following the vast blackout that hit Spain, Portugal, and some regions of southern France. The power grid was sent down around noon local time…
States and Startups Are Suing the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
American nuclear is in 25-year-old Isaiah Taylor’s blood: his great-grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project. In 2023, Taylor, who dropped out of high school to work in tech, started his own nuclear company, Valar Atomics. It’s currently developing a small…
As Measles Cases Surge, Mexico Issues a US Travel Alert
As the US struggles to contain its worst measles outbreak in years, cases have spilled over into Mexico. In an April 25 report, Mexico’s Ministry of Health reported there have been 583 confirmed cases in the country this year, with…
The Agonizing Task of Turning Europe’s Power Back On
At 12:30 pm local time on Monday, the power went out. Across Spain and Portugal trains, planes, and traffic lights abruptly stopped working. Reports emerged of people being stuck in lifts, and Google Maps live data showed traffic jams in…