Category Science

Prime numbers have captivated mathematicians for centuries with their unpredictable and seemingly random distribution. In a groundbreaking preprint study, researchers devised a novel method that bolsters our hunt for the cagey values—but also reveals limits to our ability to detect…

A wastewater treatment plant in California Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Wastewater treatment facilities are a major source of PFAS contamination in drinking water in the US – they discharge enough of the “forever chemicals” to raise concentrations above safe levels for…

January 6, 2025 2 min read Biden Awards Three Climate Experts Nation’s Highest Science Honor Richard Alley, Lawrence Edwards and David Tilman were among the two dozen honorees who received the National Medal of Science or the National Medal of…

Velvet ants sting by injecting venom from their abdomen Jojo Dexter/Getty Images The sting of a female velvet ant is one of the most painful in the animal kingdom. Now, researchers have discovered that these insects have multiple proteins in…

Pluto (right) and its moon Charon, photographed by NASA’s New Horizons probe in 2015 NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI Pluto and its moon Charon may have been briefly locked together in a cosmic “kiss”, before the dwarf planet released the smaller body and recaptured…

Mining for rare earth metals comes with environmental consequences Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg via Getty Images Rare earth elements used in smartphones and electric vehicles could be extracted from the ground more sustainably using electric fields. Today, most rare earth metals used…

January 6, 2025 5 min read The Real Reason People Don’t Trust in Science Has Nothing to Do with Scientists Propaganda works, is the real upshot of a survey showing lingering post-pandemic distrust of science By Dan Vergano edited by…

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall takes place in a flooded future New York City Shutterstock / Munimara If you are emerging from post-holiday stupors in desperate need of fresh horizons and new worlds to explore, then…

The human gut microbiome plays a critical role in the body, communicating with the brain and maintaining the immune system through the gut-brain axis. So it isn’t totally far-fetched to suggest that microbes could play an even larger role in…

This story originally appeared on High Country News and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The more researchers learn about wildfire smoke, the more worrisome the picture gets. Smoke contains microscopic particles known as PM 2.5 because the PM (particulate matter)…