Science News
Science and technology research, biotech advances, space exploration, climate tech, and health innovation.
31 articles
Reed Jobs would rather talk about curing cancer than his last name
Reed Jobs discusses how AI is becoming central to his biotech venture Yosemite, which is capitalizing on expiring drug patents and rapid growth.
White House taps the guy who keeps crying ‘aliens’ to run UFO group
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb will lead the White House's new UAP Science Advisory Council to investigate unidentified anomalous phenomena.
A Jupiter-size planet that escaped its star's death
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope observe WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-size planet orbiting a white dwarf, revealing unexpected characteristics of this rare surviving planetary system.
Chemical accidents rise as Trump administration proposes weakening safety rules
Chemical accident rates have surged nearly 50% as the Trump administration moves to weaken industrial safety regulations protecting workers and communities.
The missing 500 million: Cosmic bombardment melted Earth's first crust
New research suggests asteroid impacts during Earth's early history kept the crust hot enough to form the continents we inhabit today.
NASA launched an emergency mission to stop the Swift Observatory from crashing to Earth
NASA launched an emergency mission with Katalyst Space Technologies to rescue the aging Swift Observatory from burning up in Earth's atmosphere due to solar storm damage.
When the ability to smell goes away
An exploration of anosmia and smell disorders affecting up to 22% of the population, linking these conditions to potential brain health issues.
A martian rock has lots of carbon on it, and it's not clear why
NASA's Perseverance rover discovered complex organic carbon on a Martian rock surface, raising questions about potential biological origins and the need for sample return missions.
Rocket Report: Indian startup nears first launch; SpaceX's millenary milestone
Rocket Report covers commercial space launches including NASA's Swift satellite servicing mission and updates on SpaceX and Indian startup milestones.
Weekly Dose of Optimism #200
A curated roundup featuring synthetic cell breakthroughs, brain-computer interfaces, nuclear energy updates, and optimistic tech developments.
Despite the darkness, I still see signs of hope in America
A reflective essay on America's achievements and challenges, drawing from historical milestones like the Moon landing and civil rights movement.
Artemis II Photo Timeline
Interactive photo timeline documenting NASA's Artemis II mission with crew moments, lunar imagery, and audio clips.
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire | Lex Fridman Podcast #498
Historian Anthony Kaldellis discusses the rise and fall of the Roman and Byzantine empires, covering 2,200 years of history, political structures, and lessons for understanding civilizations.
13 years and $500 million for a stage adapter? Report justifies NASA cancellations.
NASA cancels costly lunar programs that exceeded budgets by over $3 billion and faced years of delays, pivoting to surface-based exploration instead.
US ends hantavirus outbreak response with no answers on draconian quarantines
US concludes hantavirus outbreak response with no answers on quarantine decisions made by RFK Jr., despite no sustained transmission occurring.
Europe’s extreme heat is shutting down power plants
Record heat waves across Europe are forcing nuclear and gas power plants offline as cooling water temperatures exceed safety limits, straining the electrical grid.
The Download: introducing the Engineering issue
MIT Technology Review's Engineering issue explores ambitious human ingenuity projects from subsea tunnels to chipmaking machines and geoengineering solutions.
Stripe, Anthropic, and OpenAI are backing an effort to stop respiratory infections
Stripe, Anthropic, and OpenAI back a $500 million nonprofit called Intercept to develop treatments and prevention methods for respiratory infections like colds and flu.
All challenges big and small
A personal account of post-Gulf War reconstruction efforts in Kuwait, exploring large-scale engineering challenges and environmental impacts of oil field fires.
US's climate.gov site, taken down by Trump, relaunched by nonprofit
A nonprofit has relaunched climate.gov's content as climate.us after the Trump administration took down the government site, preserving decades of climate research and public data.
Super Mario is mathier than you think
MIT researchers prove that solving Super Mario levels is as computationally complex as breaking encryption, revealing deep mathematical principles in game design.
Stand Up for Research, Innovation, and Education
MIT alumni and community members rally support for scientific leadership, merit-based education, and advances in health, security, and prosperity.
Engineered “mini livers” could be injected as an alternative to transplantation
MIT researchers develop injectable engineered liver cells with hydrogel microspheres as a potential alternative to organ transplantation for liver disease patients.
Plants appear to detect the patter of falling rain
MIT researchers discovered that plant seeds can sense rainfall vibrations, causing rice seeds to germinate 30-40% faster when exposed to water droplet sounds.
A breath test could diagnose pneumonia in minutes
MIT researchers developed PlasmoSniff, a portable chip-scale sensor that can diagnose pneumonia in minutes by detecting biomarkers in exhaled breath.
Report: Kennedy Space Center not ready for era of super heavy rockets
NASA's aging Kennedy Space Center infrastructure struggles to meet growing demand from SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn launches.
Man used massage gun on his tired eyeballs. It went as well as you'd expect.
A Scottish man suffered severe retinal damage after using a massage gun on his eyes, resulting in tears, bruising, and vision problems.
🔬 The Self-Driving Lab — Joseph Krause, Radical AI
Radical AI uses self-driving labs and AI to accelerate materials discovery beyond traditional methods, achieving 10x faster discovery rates than DARPA programs.
Biggest Mysteries in Physics: Antimatter, Dark Energy & ToE - Don Lincoln | Lex Fridman Podcast #497
Particle physicist Don Lincoln discusses fundamental physics mysteries including antimatter, dark energy, and the quest for a theory of everything.
Cowboy Space Corporation
A case study examining how Cowboy Space Corporation differentiates itself in the competitive space industry through unique storytelling and positioning strategies.
Biotech companies I wish existed
A venture capitalist outlines underfunded biotech opportunities in fertility and longevity, arguing the industry overlooks commercially viable areas due to structural and cultural biases.