Category Science

February 10, 2025 2 min read Coffee Boosts Beneficial Gut Bacterium Researchers found a strong connection between coffee and the gut microbiome By Maggie Chen edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier The thought of a steaming cup of coffee helps to…

A climate protester’s flag in Düsseldorf, Germany Ying Tang/NurPhoto/Shuttersto​ck Last month, researchers confirmed that 2024 was the first year to see global average temperatures rise more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. It was a symbolic moment, given the world’s collective…

Greg Herbruck knew 6.5 million of his birds needed to die, and fast. But the CEO of Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch wasn’t sure how the family egg producer (one of the largest in the U.S., in business for over three generations)…

Illustration of the volcanic exoplanet L 98-59 b NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center An alien world with a seemingly sulphur-filled atmosphere may be the most volcanic planet astronomers have ever spotted. We have never directly detected volcanic activity outside our…

I like to tell my undergraduates that hormones predispose organisms, including people, to shift their energy among different life goals. When we become parents, hormones help redirect energy from mating to parenting. That being said, most male mammals don’t get…

Artist’s illustration of the large-scale structure of the universe Science Photo Library/Alamy Astronomers have found the largest known structure in the universe. It is 1.4 billion light years across and contains nearly 70 galactic superclusters. It is also hundreds of…

Clothes are often made of nylon anna.spoka/Shutterstock A genetically modified bacterium can break down chemicals in nylon and turn them into useful products, which could one day help us recycle clothes and fishing nets. Nylons, or aliphatic polyamides, are plastics…

The closest ever Einstein ring, picked up by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope ESA Astronomers have identified the closest ever Einstein ring, a rare phenomenon where light from a further-off galaxy is bent by the gravity of a…

Last year alone, the US contributed $3.7 billion in humanitarian aid to sub-Saharan Africa. At least 73 percent of this was allocated to health programs, including HIV treatment and prevention. For those living with HIV, much of the benefit of…

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Prochlorococcus bacteria are so small that you’d have to line up around a thousand of them to match the thickness of a human thumbnail. The ocean seethes with them: The…