Astronomy
Satellite Constellations Are an Existential Threat for Astronomy
Growing swarms of spacecraft in orbit are outshining the stars, and scientists fear no one will do anything to stop it
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Climate Change
The Right Words Are Crucial to Solving Climate Change
Speaking to people’s priorities can build the will needed to implement climate solutions
Neuroscience
Acting Out Dreams Predicts Parkinson’s and Other Brain Diseases
Enacted dreams could be an early sign of Parkinson’s disease
Extraterrestrial Life
The Search for Extraterrestrial Life as We Don’t Know It
Scientists are abandoning conventional thinking to search for extraterrestrial creatures that bear little resemblance to Earthlings
Artificial Intelligence
What an Endless Conversation with Werner Herzog Can Teach Us about AI
An AI-generated conversation between Werner Herzog and Slavoj Žižek is definitely entertaining, but it also illustrates the crisis of misinformation beginning to befall us
Cosmology
How Star Collisions Forge the Universe’s Heaviest Elements
Scientists have new evidence about how cosmic cataclysms forge gold, platinum and other heavy members of the periodic table
Culture
This Spiritual Tradition Could Be the Most Poetic Bereavement Therapy Ever Documented
A mourning ritual of dialogues with the dead speaks to the fragility of theological diversity
Inequality
The Opioid Epidemic Is Surging among Black People because of Unequal Access to Treatment
Clinics and the most effective types of therapy are harder to find in communities where people of color live
Astronomy
The Best of JWST’s Cosmic Portraits
These new views of familiar space sights reveal details never before seen
Physiology
New Human Metabolism Research Upends Conventional Wisdom about How We Burn Calories
Metabolism studies reveal surprising insights into how we burn calories—and how cooperative food production helped Homo sapiens flourish
Ecology
Global Population Growth Is Slowing Down. Here’s One Reason Why
In 2022 the world’s population hit the eight-billion mark. But such milestones could top out by the end of the century
Space Exploration
Are the James Webb Space Telescope’s Pictures ‘Real’?
How the JWST’s cosmic images are made
Psychology
Moral Injury Is an Invisible Epidemic That Affects Millions
A specific kind of trauma results when a person’s core principles are violated during wartime or a pandemic
Materials Science
Engineered Metamaterials Can Trick Light and Sound into Mind-Bending Behavior
Advanced materials can modify waves, creating optical illusions and useful technologies
Astronomy
How JWST Is Changing Our View of the Universe
The James Webb Space Telescope has sparked a new era in astronomy
Particle Physics
Rule-Breaking Particles Pop Up in Experiments around the World
Several physics measurements suggest that novel particles and forces exist in the universe
Evolution
Fossils Upend Conventional Wisdom about Evolution of Human Bipedalism
For most of human evolution, multiple species with different ways of walking upright coexisted
Mathematics
Citizens’ Assemblies Are Upgrading Democracy: Fair Algorithms Are Part of the Program
Math helps to randomly select the fairest citizens’ assemblies since antiquity
Neuroscience
Some People Who Appear to Be in a Coma May Actually Be Conscious
Brain scans reveal that some people who can’t speak or move are aware of the world around them
Climate Change
Antarctica’s Collapse Could Begin Even Sooner Than Anticipated
Two expeditions to the Thwaites Ice Shelf have revealed that it could splinter apart in less than a decade, hastening sea-level rise worldwide
