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Science News

Why Japan issued its first-ever mega-earthquake alert

After a magnitude 7.1 temblor jolted southern Japan, the chances of a subsequent, larger quake occurring in the next week had slightly increased, experts said.

Squall line tornadoes are sneaky, dangerous and difficult to forecast

Zigzag walls could help buildings beat the heat

50 years ago, scientists blamed migraines on cheese and chocolate

Some meteors leave trails lasting up to an hour. Now we may know why

A frog’s story of surviving a fungal pandemic offers hope for other species

Earthquakes added to Pompeii’s death toll

Trending stories.

‘Then I Am Myself the World’ ponders what it means to be conscious

Scientists are getting serious about UFOs. Here’s why

NASA’s Perseverance rover finds its first possible hint of ancient life on Mars

Geoscientists found the most dangerous part of a famous West Coast fault

Spotlight on Health

Alzheimer’s blood tests are getting better, but still have a ways to go

Blood biomarker tests could help doctors know if a person's cognitive symptoms are due to Alzheimer's or something else.

The CDC has tightened rabies regulations for imported dogs. Here’s why

Some ‘forever chemicals’ may be absorbed through our skin, from the archives.

Science Enters Olympics

July 17, 1948 Vol. 54 No. #3

Science News Magazine

July 13, 2024 Vol. 206 No. 01

Ximena Velez-Liendo is saving Andean bears with honey

A lost civilization’s partial alphabet was discovered in a social media post, pain may take different pathways in men and women.

The Science of the Olympics

World record speeds for two Olympics events have fallen over time. We can go faster

How mindfulness-based training can give elite athletes a mental edge

Physicists explain how to execute a nearly splashless dive

Why modern javelin throwers hurled Neandertal spears at hay bales

Strong-armed women helped power Europe’s ancient farming revolution

Brain tissue may be fuel for marathon runners

Gut microbes might help elite athletes boost their physical performance

Endurance training leaves no memory in muscles

Joggers naturally pace themselves to conserve energy even on short runs

For athletes, antioxidant pills may not help performance

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This protist unfolds its ‘neck’ up to 30 times its body length to scout prey

The largest known genome belongs to a tiny fern, it’s a big year for cicadas. here’s what to know about this year’s emergence.

Does social status shape height?

Rain bosworth studies how deaf children experience the world, these are the chemicals that give teens pungent body odor.

Record-breaking Coral Sea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef

Climate change is driving the extreme heat baking france’s olympics, earth’s jet stream helps create the seeds of clouds.

The North Star is much heavier than previously thought

A middleweight black hole has been spotted for the first time in our galaxy, a stellar explosion may add a temporary ‘new star’ to the night sky this summer.

Paper cut physics pinpoints the most hazardous types of paper

Can light spark superconductivity a new study reignites debate, advanced nuclear reactors need a different type of uranium. here’s 4 things to know , health & medicine.

Stopping cachexia at its source could reverse wasting from cancer

Getting drugs into the brain is hard. maybe a parasite can do the job, a new algae-based menstrual pad could stop leaks.

An ancient earthquake changed the course of the Ganges River

Something weird is happening to earth’s inner core, 50 years ago, the sun’s influence on earth’s lightning was revealed, science & society.

‘After 1177 B.C.’ describes how societies fared when the Bronze Age ended

Scientists are fixing flawed forensics that can lead to wrongful convictions, language models may miss signs of depression in black people’s facebook posts.

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Scientific American

For Olympic Athletes, First Come the Games—Then Come the Post-Olympics Blues

Here’s what experts and former athletes have to say about dealing with post-Olympics mental health struggles

Charlotte Hu

Perseid Meteor Shower Joins Stunning Mars and Jupiter Conjunction

Experiments Prepare to Test Whether Consciousness Arises from Quantum Weirdness

Hartmut Neven, Christof Koch

The “Fight or Flight” Idea Misses the Beauty of what the Brain Really Does

Lisa Feldman Barrett

Math Puzzle: When Was Anna Born?

Heinrich Hemme

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New U.N. Cybercrime Treaty Could Threaten Human Rights

Kate Graham-Shaw

Colds Bring Lots of Snot—But Just How Much? Science Is Strangely Silent

Bethany Brookshire

Into the Clear Blue Sky Offers Hope for Our Climate Future

Brianne Kane

No, You Can’t See the Great Wall of China from Space

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August 2024 Issue

How Baseball Got Faster but Riskier

These 10 Ancient Games Are Still Fun to Play

Stephanie Pappas

How Game Designers Secretly Run Your Life

Kelly Clancy

Science Crossword: Pseudoscience

Aimee Lucido

Professional Poker Players Know the Optimal Strategy but Don’t Always Use It

Jack Murtagh

How Role-Playing a Sorceress Released My Inner Badass

Ericka Skirpan

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Extreme Conditions and Ethical Dilemmas: The Archaeology of Human Sacrifice

Kata Karáth, Rachel Feltman, Madison Goldberg, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery DelViscio

Healthy Coral Reefs Sound like a Symphony

Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery DelViscio

Scientists Sound Alarms on New Surge in Cancers, and a Private Spacewalk Is Pushed Back

Rachel Feltman, Kelso Harper, Fonda Mwangi

How Ancient Humans Interpreted the Cosmos

Kata Karáth, Rachel Feltman, Madison Goldberg, Kelso Harper, Jeffery DelViscio

The Long History of Sex Testing in the Olympics and Other Elite Sports

Popular stories.

COVID-Positive Olympic Athletes Are Still Competing

Several athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have come down with COVID, but they are still allowed to compete

Saima S. Iqbal

American Science Slips into Dangerous Decline, Experts Warn, while Chinese Research Surges

The U.S. sorely needs a coordinated national research strategy, says Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences

Mathematicians Reinvent the Wheel in Higher Dimensions to Solve Decades-Old Geometry Problem

A new mathematical technique shows how to build small objects in any dimension that roll like a wheel, expanding our understanding of higher dimensional space

Max Springer

How NASA’s Stranded Starliner Astronauts Could Fly Home with SpaceX

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the ISS since they launched to the station in early June. Now the space agency is close to deciding how to bring them back

Meghan Bartels

Sex Redefined: The Idea of 2 Sexes Is Overly Simplistic

Biologists now think there is a larger spectrum than just binary female and male

Claire Ainsworth, Nature magazine

Moon ‘Spiders’ Suggest Extensive Underground Lunar Caves

Newfound spiderlike features suggest lunar explorers should watch their step

Theo Nicitopoulos

• August 11, 2024 | Alien Search Intensifies: Detecting Gravitational Waves From Collapsing Warp Drives
• August 11, 2024 | Paleontologists Discover Unique Dolphin-Like Marine Crocodile From the Age of the Dinosaurs
• August 11, 2024 | Breaking Barriers: First-Ever Quantum Memory for X-Rays Achieved
• August 11, 2024 | Better Than the Mediterranean: A New Study Reveals That This Type of Diet Is Best for Weight Loss
• August 11, 2024 | How Hot Was July 2024? NASA Shows Earth Just Set a Scorching Record!

Space August 11, 2024

Alien Search Intensifies: Detecting Gravitational Waves From Collapsing Warp Drives

Researchers have simulated gravitational waves emitted by a collapsing warp drive, a concept traditionally reserved for science fiction but grounded in Einstein’s theory of General…

Paleontologists Discover Unique Dolphin-Like Marine Crocodile From the Age of the Dinosaurs

Breaking Barriers: First-Ever Quantum Memory for X-Rays Achieved

Better Than the Mediterranean: A New Study Reveals That This Type of Diet Is Best for Weight Loss

How Hot Was July 2024? NASA Shows Earth Just Set a Scorching Record!

Goodnight NEOWISE: NASA’s Asteroid-Hunting Space Telescope Shut Down After 10 Years

Low-Cost and Eco-Friendly: UCLA Engineers Develop Innovative New Building Cooling Technology

How Your Nose Fights Infection: Scientists Unveil Hidden Immune Defenders in the Upper Airways

Shattering Big Bang Myths: Surprising Insights Into the Origins of Matter in the Early Universe

Earth August 11, 2024

Mapping Marathon Heat With NASA Tech at the Paris Olympics

Over the past century, Paris has warmed significantly, presenting a challenging environment for the 2024 Olympic marathon runners. The course features tough terrain and historical…

$50,000 Ariel Space Challenge: Exploring Exoplanet Atmospheres With AI

The Ariel Data Challenge 2024, hosted by UCL, invites data scientists and AI enthusiasts to analyze exoplanet atmospheres using data from the European Space Agency’s…

Earth August 10, 2024

Unveiling the Mystery: How “Contaminated” Aluminum Oxide Turns Into Precious Sapphires

Researchers at Heidelberg University are investigating how this distinctively blue-colored crystal forms in volcanic melts. Sapphires, highly valued as precious gems, are essentially aluminum oxide,…

Science August 10, 2024

According to a New Study, Following This Type of Diet Could Slow Biological Aging

Researchers found that diets high in essential nutrients and low in added sugars can reduce cellular aging, as shown by “epigenetic clock” measurements. High sugar…

Health August 10, 2024

Do Anxiety Pills Have a Dark Side? Research Reveals Dementia Risks

Research at Saint Louis University School of Medicine highlights a significant association between anxiety and an increased risk of dementia in seniors, with benzodiazepine exposure…

The Oldest Grapes in the Americas: Discovery of 60-Million-Year-Old Seeds Unveils Ancient Plant Secrets

Grape fossils in South America show evolution and resilience post-dinosaurs, aiding understanding of current biodiversity shifts. Researchers have discovered fossil grape seeds that range from…

Biology August 10, 2024

Decoding the Dark Metabolism: Synthetic Biology Exposes Secrets of Life Without Oxygen

The AnoxyGen project, led by Christian Hertweck and funded by the ERC Advanced Grant, explores the potential of anaerobic bacteria in biotechnology, medicine, and ecology,…

Space August 10, 2024

Celestial Light Shows: Physicists Decode the Cosmic Dance of Auroras on Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn

A recent study reveals new insights into aurorae across Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, highlighting the role of magnetic fields and solar winds in shaping these…

Concerning Findings: New Research Reveals That Washing Your Fruit Doesn’t Remove All Pesticides

A new study has introduced a technique using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to detect low levels of pesticide residues on food, suggesting that washing alone…

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In Iceland, humans throwing baby puffins is a good thing In Iceland, humans throwing baby puffins is a good thing

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7 tips to make the most of using a VPN

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Watch Google’s ping pong robot beat humans at their own game Watch Google’s ping pong robot beat humans at their own game

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Popular Science on YouTube is a laboratory of stories from the future, past, and present. It’s like a time travel learning machine—in video form.

For 150 years, we’ve documented humans launching themselves head-first into an unknown tomorrow and that’s where the inspiration for our videos originates.

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Ants perform teeny tiny operations to save their injured comrades

The olympics has been obsessed with sex for centuries the olympics has been obsessed with sex for centuries, how scientists accidentally found out that some bees can hibernate underwater how scientists accidentally found out that some bees can hibernate underwater, giraffes are a lot gayer than most people give them credit for giraffes are a lot gayer than most people give them credit for, these viking ladies tried to start a trend for pointy heads, but it didn’t take off these viking ladies tried to start a trend for pointy heads, but it didn’t take off, rachel feltman.

At Popular Science, we report and write dozens of science and tech stories every week. And while a lot of the fun facts we stumble across make it into our articles, there are lots of other weird facts that we just keep around the office. So we figured, why not share those with you?

Welcome to  The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week .

Latest Articles

Butterflies anchor cocoons with silk velcro and seat-belts butterflies anchor cocoons with silk velcro and seat-belts.

A new study analyzes the complex and sturdy material’s role in metamorphosis.

By Andrew Paul

Researchers worry about AI turning humans into jerks Researchers worry about AI turning humans into jerks

OpenAI safety researchers think GPT4o could influence ‘social norms.’

By Mack DeGeurin

Milwaukee wants to build the world’s tallest timber skyscraper (again) Milwaukee wants to build the world’s tallest timber skyscraper (again)

The new tower would be double the height of the current record-holder—that’s also in Milwaukee.

Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant

Methane levels in the atmosphere are rising. An armada of satellites could help identify leaks from oil fields, landfills, and animal feed operations.

By Syris Valentine & Naveena Sadasivam / Grist

The 2024 Florida Python Challenge begins The 2024 Florida Python Challenge begins

Hunters cant shoot the snakes, but could win $10,000 for catching the most Burmese pythons.

By Laura Baisas

Why records are better than CDs in the streaming age Why records are better than CDs in the streaming age

Vinyl is the most popular way to buy music and that’s a good thing.

By Justin Pot

‘What goes up, must come down:’ Junk satellites are a looming hazard ‘What goes up, must come down:’ Junk satellites are a looming hazard

What happens when thousands of old satellites are out of order?

First rocks recovered from Earth’s mantle First rocks recovered from Earth’s mantle

The 4,160-feet-long sediment core could help scientists learn about magma, volcanoes, and more.

Scientists think atmospheric ‘glitter’ can warm Mars over 50 degrees Scientists think atmospheric ‘glitter’ can warm Mars over 50 degrees

Seeding Martian skies with metallic nanorods may efficiently start terraforming.

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Science News Explores

A little-known gene may explain why some people never get COVID-19

A quick immune response and high activity of this gene in the nose may help some people avoid getting the viral infection.

Lasers help put the cork on spilled oil

Freeze-drying turned a woolly mammoth’s DNA into ‘chromoglass’

Balmy ‘saunas’ help frogs fend off a deadly fungus 

Stunning trilobite fossils include never-before-seen soft tissues, astronomers caught a supermassive black hole turning on for the first time, how much more can olympic speed records fall, word of the week.

Scientists Say: Goldene

Making this metallic, two-dimensional (2-D) material is difficult — but super-thin sheets of gold could have uses in electronics and chemistry.

Experiments

Experiment: Why does the moon look larger on the horizon?

In this experiment, let’s investigate Emmert’s law, which may explain the full moon optical illusion.

Technically Fiction

Where are the flying cars? 

Flying cars are a common sci-fi trope, and engineers have the technology to make them. So where are they?

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What's Hot

Explainer: Earth — layer by layer

Scientists Say: Periodic table

The science of ghosts

Top 10 tips on how to study smarter, not longer

Explainer: How do mass and weight differ?

A weird upside-down world lurks beneath Antarctica’s ice

Summer olympics 2024.

A robot referee can really keep its ‘eye’ on the ball

Have you ever yelled at a referee for making a bad call? Technology has begun taking over some calls in an attempt to make sports fairer.

Why Paralympic sprinters have trouble with curves

Why many olympic athletes have early birthdays, new training builds ‘mental’ muscles in athletes.

Tiny treadmills reveal how fruit flies sprint

Forcing fruit flies to move shows how the insects coordinate their steps. This holds clues to other animals’ brains and movement.

Belugas can warp and wiggle their forehead fat like Jell-O

Turning jeans blue with sunlight might help the environment

This egg-laying amphibian feeds its babies ‘milk’

What the weird world of protists can teach us about life on Earth

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Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano recently erupted like a stomp rocket

Analyze this: where are u.s. earthquakes most likely, earthquake sensor: taylor swift fans ‘shake it off’.

Space tourists could face out-of-this-world health risks

Scientists say: astronomical interferometry, laser-based tech can identify illegal elephant ivory, environment.

To limit pollution, new recipe makes plastic a treat for microbes

Scientists say: carbon capture, bottled water hosts many thousands of nano-sized plastic bits, scientists say: beakiation.

Just how brainy was a T. rex ?

Herbal medicine could help recovery after concussion, handwriting may boost brain connections that aid memory, forget moon walking, lunar visitors. try horizontal running, experiment: measure the speed of light with a laser, here’s why scientists want a good quantum computer, health & medicine, this spice could be the basis of a smart, infection-fighting bandage, period blood could help diagnose diabetes and other illnesses.

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Three-step plan to cut overlooked methane emissions could help us stop global warming faster

Methane, the second most important greenhouse gas, has been neglected—but now scientists lay out a new plan and a new tool to cut emissions down to size

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Visionary ecologist and pioneer in reforestation and ecosystem restoration Prof Thomas Crowther will explore the vital role that nature plays in our fight against climate change, at a unique Frontiers Forum virtual event on 11 September.

Pompeii skeleton discovery shows another natural disaster may have made Vesuvius eruption even more deadly

The death of inhabitants of Pompeii during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79CE is mostly attributed to volcanic causes, such as falling ashes and hot gas. This, however, may not be the full picture.

Dune-inspired upgrade for spacesuits allow astronauts to recycle urine into water

Inspired by the sci-fi series, Dune, Cornell researchers created a prototype novel urine collection and filtration system for spacesuits.

What happens when the ocean’s biggest predators start hunting each other? Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed.

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A Blood Test Accurately Diagnosed Alzheimer’s 90% of the Time, Study Finds

It was much more accurate than primary care doctors using cognitive tests and CT scans. The findings could speed the quest for an affordable and accessible way to diagnose patients with memory problems.

By Pam Belluck

Scientists have made another major stride toward the long-sought goal of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease with a simple blood test . On Sunday, a team of researchers reported that a blood test was significantly more accurate than doctors’ interpretation of cognitive tests and CT scans in signaling the condition.

The study , published Sunday in the journal JAMA, found that about 90 percent of the time the blood test correctly identified whether patients with memory problems had Alzheimer’s. Dementia specialists using standard methods that did not include expensive PET scans or invasive spinal taps were accurate 73 percent of the time, while primary care doctors using those methods got it right only 61 percent of the time.

“Not too long ago measuring pathology in the brain of a living human was considered just impossible,” said Dr. Jason Karlawish, a co-director of the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania who was not involved in the research. “This study adds to the revolution that has occurred in our ability to measure what’s going on in the brain of living humans.”

The results, presented Sunday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia, are the latest milestone in the search for affordable and accessible ways to diagnose Alzheimer’s, a disease that afflicts nearly seven million Americans and over 32 million people worldwide. Medical experts say the findings bring the field closer to a day when people might receive routine blood tests for cognitive impairment as part of primary care checkups, similar to the way they receive cholesterol tests.

“Now, we screen people with mammograms and PSA or prostate exams and other things to look for very early signs of cancer,” said Dr. Adam Boxer, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study. “And I think we’re going to be doing the same thing for Alzheimer’s disease and hopefully other forms of neurodegeneration.”

In recent years, several blood tests have been developed for Alzheimer’s. They are currently used mostly to screen participants in clinical trials and by some specialists like Dr. Boxer to help pinpoint if a patient’s dementia is caused by Alzheimer’s or another condition.

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The Science Websites That We Read Every Day

There's a lot of junk on the internet, but the web is still a wonderful place to share and discover knowledge. For science enthusiasts and news connoisseurs who don't want to waste time searching out the most interesting and legit conveyors of this knowledge, Live Science editors and reporters put together a list of the science sites that we love to read. Check it out. If there's a site you think deserves to be on this list, please email us. (The following list is arranged alphabetically, and not by any ranking system.)

Ars Technica

Ars Technica offers brainy, geeky coverage of technology and science and how it intersects with our everyday lives, whether we want it to or not. The site's name, derived from the Latin for "the art of technology," reflects a perspective and a voice that is not only steeped in an appreciation of science and tech innovation, but which also deeply considers how the use of technology informs and changes human culture — and how culture and technology in turn are shaped by our own potential and shortcomings.

Atlas Obscura

Atlas Obscura explores some of the true wonders of the modern world, from people living on the planet’s most remote islands to 35-lb edible nuts that look like human buttocks. And articles like "The Real Reason Humans Need to Sleep Under Blankets" and "What Is an Island, Exactly?" answer science questions you never knew you had. Their archaeology and history coverage is fascinating, and their crowd-sourced atlas of the world's most unusual, sinister and magical spots — from an underwater prison in Estonia to a lake ringed with skeletons in India ­— will blow your mind.

BBC – Science

For science news that cuts through the clutter, there's the BBC's science section. Their science stories cover every part of the globe and beyond, and do so with sharp, concise reporting. Plus, with short succinct headlines that don't spare a single word, readers will know exactly what they're getting from every story.

Chemistry World

Did you hear about the chemist who got caught stealing and dumping cyanide down a curbside drain? Chemistry World did. Its reporters described the crime in detail, the same way they approach all their chemistry-related coverage — including its quirky stories, nerdy features and industry news. You can tell Chemistry World enjoys diving into nitty gritty science, describing how chemical bonds and reactions enable researchers to study art, distill gin, create new materials and advance renewable energy. The site also offers advice to chemists, describing routes to professorship and how to break into the field as a woman or minority.

As their name suggests, Futurism focuses on the science and tech that will shape humanity's future. Whether it's Elon Musk 's latest Tesla feature (and this site stays on top of all things Musk, Tesla and SpaceX ) or particle physics, such as an article on the elusive neutrino or human-levitating tractor beams, Futurism delivers context-filled news that seems to stay close to their forward-looking mission. Other topics Futurism reporters do a good job of covering: self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, all things robots and even space tech.

Giz is the rudest science website on the internet, publishing stories like "Ancient Elephants and Mastodons Were Totally Down with Inter-Species Boning" and "Neptune's Stinky Dark Vortex Is Fading Away Like a Bad Fart." Unfortunately for folks who prefer their science media G-Rated, the Gawker stepchild is also one of the best science reporting outlets on the internet, mixing top-tier environmental, physics and space news in with their usual tech and politics coverage.

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Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

National Geographic

Nat Geo's got you covered if you're in the mood for breathtaking photos and stories about animals, archaeology, nature or really any kind of captivating discovery percolating up in labs the world over. Its reporters have a knack for humanizing almost any phenomena they feature, making the science relatable whether you're a scientist or armchair enthusiast.

NPR – Science

If you'd like your science news delivered into your ears rather than your eyeballs, check out the Science section of the National Public Radio (NPR) website. Their audio news stories cover a broad range of science topics, delving into global issues like climate change and conservation as well as investigating technology innovation, new directions in space exploration and the latest discoveries in health and medicine. Their "Brain Candy" section addresses slightly more esoteric science questions — such as why Olympians are turning to non-alcoholic beer as their post-sport drink of choice, and what happens when you program a neural network to generate romantic messages on candy hearts for Valentine's Day. You can also find animations and music videos by NPR science show Skunk Bear, which are as hilarious (and catchy) as they are educational.

Pacific Standard

The Pacific Standard is a bit off the beaten path of science reporting outfits. They don't do much daily blogging about science news, and approach all their stories with an eye toward social justice. But the West Coast magazine and website routinely turn out excellent writing and reporting from offbeat angles on issues like the day-to-day impacts of the changing climate, psychology, sociology and disability that appeal to science fans.

Quanta magazine

What do M-theory, Bohmian mechanics and scale-free networks have in common? Quanta Magazine has written about all of them. From the theory of everything to the logic-defying behavior of tiny subatomic particles, Quanta Magazine never shies away from the tough physics stories. Yet, despite diving right into the deep end of physics, computer science, mathematics and biology, Quanta reporters turn out stories that are always clear, engrossing page-turners that illuminate the beauty of science for even general readers.

Smithsonian.com

English scientist James Smithson founded the Smithsonian Institution nearly 200 years ago as "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." Today, Smithsonian.com delivers on that promise for anyone who can't make it to one of the institution's world-class museums or research centers. Stop by the site for an eclectic blend of science news, history essays and nature videos to make your inner scholar harrumph with satisfaction. 

Scientific American

Scientific American is not only the U.S.'s longest continuously published magazine (past contributors to the 170-year-old brand include Jonas Salk, Francis Crick and Albert Einstein), but also one of its most comprehensive science news websites. Whether you're in the mood for a 60-second podcast or a sprawling special report, SciAm has you covered with smart takes on science, culture, policy and everywhere the three intersect. 

If you're interested in astronomy and spaceflight, our sister site Space.com is the perfect site for you. Whether the news is Elon Musk sending a Tesla into space, a black hole behaving oddly, a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse or the latest in the search for alien life, Space.com reporters don't miss an astronomical beat. And if your cosmic cup of tea is more sci-fi leaning, you'll find plenty of "Star Trek"-esque articles and movie reviews.

The Guardian – Science

The science section of this nearly 200-year-old British daily newspaper covers discoveries from around the world in a succinct, clear way. The depth and breadth of their science coverage makes the Guardian a great place to browse on a lazy Saturday, when you can spend time on one of their "long reads" (such as the bogus science of race ) or scan through the latest news in health, climate change, animals, psychology, space … the list goes on and on. The visuals and ease of scrolling make the Guardian a frustration-free place among sites that are so jam-packed with ads that you can hardly read an article without being bombarded with pop-ups. 

In an age of "sound bites," Vox strives to provide information beyond the headlines — not just the "who" and "what" but the "why" and "how." Vox's science news articles are impressively in-depth, providing much needed background information and context for a wide range of topics — everything from the latest infectious disease outbreaks to fad diets to gun control research. Often, their articles provide useful infographics to help visualize complex issues. If you have the time to devote to understanding a topic, Vox gives you resources.

With its conversational and sometimes cutting tone, Wired can feel like your cool friend letting you in on a secret. Their tech reporting covers everything from the coolest gadgets to the current events that shape our lives, and their science reporting gives you a glimpse of what's happening at the cutting-edge of research.

Originally published on Live Science .

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Multiple goals, multiple solutions, plenty of second-guessing and revising − here’s how science really works

Professor of Philosophy, University of Montana

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Soazig Le Bihan receives funding from the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana.

University of Montana provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

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A man in a lab coat bends under a dim light, his strained eyes riveted onto a microscope. He’s powered only by caffeine and anticipation.

This solitary scientist will stay on task until he unveils the truth about the cause of the dangerous disease quickly spreading through his vulnerable city. Time is short, the stakes are high, and only he can save everyone. …

That kind of romanticized picture of science was standard for a long time. But it’s as far from actual scientific practice as a movie’s choreographed martial arts battle is from a real fistfight.

For most of the 20th century, philosophers of science like me maintained somewhat idealistic claims about what good science looks like. Over the past few decades, however, many of us have revised our views to better mirror actual scientific practice .

An update on what to expect from actual science is overdue. I often worry that when the public holds science to unrealistic standards, any scientific claim failing to live up to them arouses suspicion. While public trust is globally strong and has been for decades, it has been eroding. In November 2023, Americans’ trust in scientists was 14 points lower than it had been just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with its flurry of confusing and sometimes contradictory science-related messages.

When people’s expectations are not met about how science works, they may blame scientists. But modifying our expectations might be more useful. Here are three updates I think can help people better understand how science actually works. Hopefully, a better understanding of actual scientific practice will also shore up people’s trust in the process.

The many faces of scientific research

First, science is a complex endeavor involving multiple goals and associated activities.

Some scientists search for the causes underlying some observable effect, such as a decimated pine forest or the Earth’s global surface temperature increase .

Others may investigate the what rather than the why of things. For example, ecologists build models to estimate gray wolf abundance in Montana . Spotting predators is incredibly challenging. Counting all of them is impractical. Abundance models are neither complete nor 100% accurate – they offer estimates deemed good enough to set harvesting quotas. Perfect scientific models are just not in the cards .

Beyond the what and the why, scientists may focus on the how. For instance, the lives of people living with chronic illnesses can be improved by research on strategies for managing disease – to mitigate symptoms and improve function, even if the true causes of their disorders largely elude current medicine.

It’s understandable that some patients may grow frustrated or distrustful of medical providers unable to give clear answers about what causes their ailment. But it’s important to grasp that lots of scientific research focuses on how to effectively intervene in the world to reach some specific goals.

Simplistic views represent science as solely focused on providing causal explanations for the various phenomena we observe in this world. The truth is that scientists tackle all kinds of problems, which are best solved using different strategies and approaches and only sometimes involve full-fledged explanations.

Complex problems call for complex solutions

The second aspect of scientific practice worth underscoring is that, because scientists tackle complex problems, they don’t typically offer one unique, complete and perfect answer. Instead they consider multiple, partial and possibly conflicting solutions.

Scientific modeling strategies illustrate this point well. Scientific models typically are partial, simplified and sometimes deliberately unrealistic representations of a system of interest. Models can be physical, conceptual or mathematical. The critical point is that they represent target systems in ways that are useful in particular contexts of inquiry. Interestingly, considering multiple possible models is often the best strategy to tackle complex problems.

Scientists consider multiple models of biodiversity , atomic nuclei or climate change . Returning to wolf abundance estimates, multiple models can also fit the bill. Such models rely on various types of data, including acoustic surveys of wolf howls, genetic methods that use fecal samples from wolves, wolf sightings and photographic evidence, aerial surveys, snow track surveys and more.

Weighing the pros and cons of various possible solutions to the problem of interest is part and parcel of the scientific process. Interestingly, in some cases, using multiple conflicting models allows for better predictions than trying to unify all the models into one.

The public may be surprised and possibly suspicious when scientists push forward multiple models that rely on conflicting assumptions and make different predictions. People often think “real science” should provide definite, complete and foolproof answers to their questions. But given various limitations and the world’s complexity, keeping multiple perspectives in play is most often the best way for scientists to reach their goals and solve the problems at hand.

Science as a collective, contrarian endeavor

Finally, science is a collective endeavor, where healthy disagreement is a feature, not a bug.

The romanticized version of science pictures scientists working in isolation and establishing absolute truths. Instead, science is a social and contrarian process in which the community’s scrutiny ensures we have the best available knowledge. “Best available” does not mean “definitive,” but the best we have until we find out how to improve it. Science almost always allows for disagreements among experts.

Controversies are core to how science works at its best and are as old as Western science itself. In the 1600s, Descartes and Leibniz fought over how to best characterize the laws of dynamics and the nature of motion.

The long history of atomism provides a valuable perspective on how science is an intricate and winding process rather than a fast-delivery system of results set in stone. As Jean Baptiste Perrin conducted his 1908 experiments that seemingly settled all discussion regarding the existence of atoms and molecules, the questions of the atom’s properties were about to become the topic of decades of controversies with the birth of quantum physics.

The nature and structure of fundamental particles and associated fields have been the subject of scientific research for more than a century. Lively academic discussions abound concerning the difficult interpretation of quantum mechanics , the challenging unification of quantum physics and relativity , and the existence of the Higgs boson , among others.

Distrusting researchers for having healthy scientific disagreements is largely misguided.

A very human practice

To be clear, science is dysfunctional in some respects and contexts. Current institutions have incentives for counterproductive practices, including maximizing publication numbers . Like any human endeavor, science includes people with bad intent, including some trying to discredit legitimate scientific research . Finally, science is sometimes inappropriately influenced by various values in problematic ways.

These are all important considerations when evaluating the trustworthiness of particular scientific claims and recommendations. However, it is unfair, sometimes dangerous, to mistrust science for doing what it does at its best. Science is a multifaceted endeavor focused on solving complex problems that typically just don’t have simple solutions. Communities of experts scrutinize those solutions in hopes of providing the best available approach to tackling the problems of interest.

Science is also a fallible and collective process. Ignoring the realities of that process and holding science up to unrealistic standards may result in the public calling science out and losing trust in its reliability for the wrong reasons.

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Root cause sought —

Nasa official acknowledges internal “disagreement” on safety of starliner return, "we heard from a lot of folks that had concerns.".

Eric Berger - Aug 7, 2024 10:40 pm UTC

During a news conference on Wednesday, NASA officials for the first time publicly discussed divisions within the agency about whether the Starliner spacecraft is really reliable enough to return two veteran astronauts—Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—back to Earth from the International Space Station.

The space agency also confirmed key elements exclusively reported by Ars over the last week, chiefly that NASA has quietly been working for weeks with SpaceX on a potential rescue mission for Wilmore and Williams, that the Crew-9 mission launch has been delayed to September 24 to account for this possibility, and that Starliner is unable to undock autonomously with the current software configuration on the vehicle.

The chief of space human spaceflight operations for NASA, former astronaut Ken Bowersox, said no final decisions have been made on how Wilmore and Williams return to Earth. He said there were reasonable disagreements among engineers at NASA, which is the customer for the spaceflight, and Boeing, which developed and operates Starliner, about the viability of the 28 reaction control system thrusters that are used for delicate maneuvering and pointing of the vehicle.

"I think it's been very healthy," Bowersox said of these internal discussions during a call with reporters on Wednesday. "I have to admit that sometimes when we get disagreement, it's not fun. It can be painful having those discussions, but it's what makes us a good organization."

NASA has been studying various contingencies, but officials appear to have settled on two different options for bringing the two astronauts back to Earth. They could still fly back on Starliner if NASA engineers become more comfortable with the uncertainty about the thruster performance, and if so, they would do so during the second half of this month or the first part of September. Alternatively, NASA could launch the Crew-9 mission with a complement of two rather than four astronauts, and Wilmore and Williams would join that "increment" on the space station and fly back to Earth in February 2025.

Asked if he thought one of the two scenarios was more likely than the other, Bowersox said he could not say. However, a final decision will be made fairly soon. Bowersox said NASA needs to choose the astronauts' return path by mid-August.

Thruster issues

NASA's concern about Starliner's thrusters boils down to the failure of five of them during the vehicle's ascent to the space station. Starliner's flight computer shut off five thrusters, provided by Aerojet Rocketdyne, in flight. Four of the five thrusters were recovered after overheating.

Since then Boeing and NASA have conducted ground- and space-based tests of the small thrusters to try to replicate the failure and better understand, fundamentally, what is occurring. By getting to the root cause, the engineers will feel confident in their ability to address the problem for Starliner's flight back to Earth.

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Researchers are exploring new ways to learn that make science more relevant to everyday life, and more fun

by Andrew Dunne, Horizon: The EU Research & Innovation Magazine

Frank Täufer, a scientific assistant at Campus Wiesengut—the University of Bonn's ecological teaching and research farm—asked a group of visiting 8-year-olds to speculate on why the rye plants in his field were all different heights. He was surprised by their insightful range of responses.

Some of the children suggested that the tall plants at the farm received more sunlight. Others thought there could be different types of rye in the field, or that insects may be blighting the crop. One student, after digging up a plant to inspect its roots, thought that the soil must be different across the field.

"They really asked questions and thought of ideas that I wouldn't have myself," said Täufer. "I regularly ask these questions to my university students , and they don't have as many ideas. And none of them has ever dug up a plant to look at the roots."

Taking children outside the classroom

Täufer's work is part of the three-year MULTIPLIERS project that aims to explore ways of making science more appealing to young people .

They are doing this through the creation of what they call Open Science Communities, or OSCs. The idea is to create collaborative networks among schools, universities, informal education providers, museums, local associations, and industry and civil society in order to expand the opportunities for students to learn about science in real-world settings—like the farm.

"I think it's very important to bring students outside the classroom in order to have authentic themes to work on and to make learning about science relevant to everyday life ," said Professor Annette Scheersoi, a specialist in sustainability science education from the University of Bonn and coordinator of MULTIPLIERS.

"When you are interested, you remember better, but you also connect more and feel the value and relevance," she said.

Connecting science and real life

OSCs have so far been set up in six European countries: Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Students in all six countries were given the opportunity to interact with science experts from a wide range of backgrounds to explore science-based solutions for modern-day problems.

The idea is to help young people relate to the real-life science challenges we face every day, ranging from antimicrobial resistance to clean water and sanitation.

In Barcelona, for example, secondary school students were invited to apply what they learned in chemistry classes to measure air pollution in the school playground and at home. Then they presented the results.

In Germany, Slovenia and Sweden, students took to the forest to learn about sustainable forestry and biodiversity. With the guidance of local foresters and scientists, students studied different trees up close and made decisions on whether they should be felled or not.

"The approach was to consider forestry as a complex dilemma with trade-offs between the ecosystem and wood production," Scheersoi said.

Multiplying the impact

Crucial also for Scheersoi has been the multiplier effect—turning the students into teachers and giving them the chance to share their newfound knowledge with others.

Schoolchildren on the ecological farm invited their parents to a tasting session where they discussed the benefits of organic produce. In the forest, parents were invited to a Forest Day under the trees, where the children shared what they had learned.

Students have also been encouraged to share their knowledge by creating podcasts, science blogs, or organizing science fairs for families. Now the hope is to build on this work and further embed the approach beyond the project.

"Across MULTIPLIERS we have seen how students, teachers and outside science experts have engaged in these lessons. We want these networks to not only stay, but to grow, bringing in more people and bringing forward this new way of learning for students," said Scheersoi.

Science for sustainability

As part of its open science policy, the EU is supporting open schooling for science education, recognizing that Europe needs more scientists, including citizen scientists.

This is something that is also important to Jelena Kajganović, a sustainability expert at Geonardo, a Hungarian innovation and technology company active in the energy, environment and sustainable development fields.

Kajganović led a three-year project called OTTER which, like MULTIPLIERS, aimed to inspire a different approach to science learning and connect students to real-world challenges outside the classroom. They call this approach education outside the classroom (EOC).

Taking learning out of the school setting through things like outdoor activities and fieldtrips, has proven positive effects, says Kajganović. OTTER investigated how EOC could also help improve the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, specifically in the field of environmental sustainability.

"The core ideas behind OTTER are how to make science education more attractive, how to encourage students to learn and apply their knowledge," she said.

Although Kajganović observes a general apathy towards science in many classrooms, she sees this as untapped potential to do more to connect learning with pressing sustainability challenges.

Working with partners in Finland, Hungary, Ireland and Spain, OTTER sought to connect science lessons in the classroom with local issues. Very quickly students in OTTER schools began to link theory and practice.

In one school, near Barcelona, a group of 14-year-olds took samples from the local river to test water quality and were alarmed by the results. Based on their findings, the students organized an online petition calling for the river to be cleaned up.

"By testing the water, they could see the problem and they could see the connection with their own lives. It really clicked in their heads," said Kajganović.

Sharing knowledge across Europe

To spread the impact of their work further, the OTTER team created an online learning platform with a range of interactive teaching materials that educators can use to help them carry out education outside the classroom activities.

Looking ahead, OTTER now hopes to get teachers across Europe to use the platform to explore ways to get involved in outdoor science learning. Longer term, Kajganović believes it could spark a new way of thinking about science and inspire the next generation.

"I would really like to see our approach to science education changing by giving young people more space to think about science and its application in their lives," she said. "In terms of sustainability, if we don't solve our problems, no one will, and it was amazing to see young people taking the lead."

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Chemical Science

Breaking the scaling relations of effective co 2 electrochemical reduction in diatomic catalysts by adjusting the flow direction of intermediate structures †.

* Corresponding authors

a School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory Incubation Base for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China E-mail: [email protected]

b Department of Physics, College of Science, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China E-mail: [email protected]

c College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China E-mail: [email protected]

d Key Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China

e Department of Mathematics, College of Science, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China

The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is a promising approach to achieving a sustainable carbon cycle. Recently, diatomic catalysts (DACs) have demonstrated advantages in the CO 2 RR due to their complex and flexible active sites. However, our understanding of how DACs break the scaling relationship remains insufficient. Here, we investigate the CO 2 RR of 465 kinds of graphene-based DACs (M1M2-N6@Gra) formed from 30 metal atoms through high-throughput density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We find that the intermediates *COOH, *CO, and *CHO have multiple adsorption states, with 11 structural flow directions from *CO to *CHO. Four of these structural flow directions have catalysts that can break the linear scale relationship. Based on the adsorption energy relationship between *COOH, *CHO and *CO, we propose the concepts of linear scaling, moderate breaking, and severe deviation regions, leading to the establishment of new descriptors that identify 14 catalysts with potential superior performance. Among them, ZnRu-N6@Gra and CrNi-N6@Gra can reduce CO 2 to CH 4 at a low limiting potential. We also discovered that DACs have independent bidirectional electron transfer channels during the adsorption and activation of CO 2 , which can significantly improve the flexibility and efficiency of regulating the electronic structure. Furthermore, through machine learning (ML) analysis, we identify electronegativity, atomic number, and d electron count as key determinants of catalyst stability. This work provides new insights into the understanding of the DAC catalytic mechanism, as well as the design and screening of catalysts.

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Breaking the scaling relations of effective CO 2 electrochemical reduction in diatomic catalysts by adjusting the flow direction of intermediate structures

Y. Zhang, Z. Yao, Y. Yang, X. Zhai, F. Zhang, Z. Guo, X. Liu, B. Yang, Y. Liang, G. Ge and X. Jia, Chem. Sci. , 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4SC03085K

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