Category Science

Plastic waste in Indonesia PA Images / Alamy The world currently produces more than 50 million tonnes of “mismanaged” plastic waste each year, and some researchers project this flood of plastic pollution will double by mid-century – but they also…

November 25, 2024 3 min read How Humor Takes the Edge off Hard Times When life feels difficult, humor can be a coping mechanism that relieves stress and offers the breathing room to keep going, scientists say By Meghan Bartels…

Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink, announced on Tuesday that it is launching a study to test its implant for a new use: allowing a person to control a robotic arm using just their thoughts. “We’re excited to announce the…

An international team of researchers has made new observations of an unusual supernova, finding the most metal-poor stellar explosion ever observed.  This rare supernova, called 2023ufx, originated from the core collapse of a red supergiant star, exploded on the outskirts…

The H5N1 bird flu virus has caused sporadic cases in humans Luca Bruno/Associated Press/Alamy If the H5N1 bird flu virus sparks a pandemic, older people may have better immunity than younger people because of past exposure to closely related viruses.…

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace — celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz — recently held broad investments in health care, tech, and food companies that would pose…

At around 3 am on Sunday morning, in a drained plenary, the gavel slammed to bring COP29 to a close. Coming at the end of a convulsive final day in Baku, Azerbaijan, the conclusion of the Conference of the Parties…

In a stunning archaeological find, researchers from Johns Hopkins University have unearthed what may be humanity’s oldest known alphabetic writing system, preserved on clay cylinders in an ancient Syrian tomb. This discovery, dating to approximately 2400 BCE, challenges our fundamental…

“Oreo was my best friend growing up,” says Brian Hare. If Hare wanted to hone his baseball pitching skills, his Labrador enthusiastically took on fielding duties. If he decided to explore the nearby woods, Oreo was an ever-willing companion. But…

In a landmark study, Stanford researchers have unveiled the intricate ballet between two of our brain’s most famous chemical messengers – dopamine and serotonin. Far from working independently, these neurotransmitters perform an elegant push-pull routine that guides how we learn…