These Ancient Scrolls Have Been a Tantalizing Mystery for 2,000 Years. Researchers Just Deciphered a Title for the First Time
Mount Vesuvius’ eruption preserved the Herculaneum scrolls beneath a blanket of ash. Two millennia later, X-ray scans show that one of them is a philosophical text called “On Vice”
Feeding Flamingos Create Underwater Tornado-Like Vortices to Capture Their Prey, Study Finds
Rather than passively filter-feeding, the birds use their heads, beaks and feet to generate motion in the water that funnels invertebrates into their mouths
200 Snakebites Later, One Man’s Blood May Hold the Key to a Universal Antivenom
Over two decades, Tim Friede has injected himself with snake venom hundreds of times, and subjected himself to more than 200 bites. Now, scientists are working on an antivenom derived from his antibodies
Google Is Training a New A.I. Model to Decode Dolphin Chatter—and Potentially Talk Back
The company says its new model, called DolphinGemma, will be made open source this summer. Researchers are also trying to train dolphins to mimic made-up names for certain objects
New, ‘Living’ Building Material Made From Fungi and Bacteria Could Pave the Way to Self-Healing Structures
Researchers are developing the biomaterial as a more environmentally friendly alternative to concrete, but any wide-scale use is still far away
Scientists Say They’ve Discovered a New Color—an ‘Unprecedented’ Hue Only Ever Seen by Five People
The color, dubbed olo, is described as an intensely saturated teal. Researchers say it might have applications in understanding color blindness
Sunscreen, Clothing and Caves May Have Given Modern Humans an Edge Over Neanderthals When Earth’s Magnetic Field Wandered
A new study suggests the extinction of Neanderthals nearly coincided with a shift in Earth’s magnetic field that let more radiation reach the ground. Our species might have adapted more easily
Humanoid Robots Just Raced Alongside Human Runners in a World-First Half-Marathon. Here’s How It Went
The race, held in China on Saturday, showcases the country’s advancements in humanoid technology. Still, only 6 of the 21 robot contestants made it across the finish line
Stem Cell Therapies Could Treat Parkinson’s Disease by Rebuilding Lost Circuitry in the Brain, Studies Suggest
Two small clinical trials tested the safety of injecting stem cells into the brains of Parkinson’s patients and found no adverse effects
Fusion Rockets Could Theoretically Cut Our Travel Time to Mars in Half. This U.K. Startup Wants to Give It a Try
The company’s ambitious new Sunbird design aims to harness nuclear fusion in space, despite the fact that commercializing such energy on Earth remains a faraway dream
The Moon’s Far Side Is Strangely Dry—Lunar Samples Suggest It’s Much More Parched Than the Side That Faces Earth
Chinese researchers analyzed the first-ever soil samples returned from the far side of the moon, but further samples will be needed to verify their findings
High School Student Discovers 1.5 Million Potential New Astronomical Objects by Developing an A.I. Algorithm
The 18-year-old won $250,000 for training a machine learning model to analyze understudied data from NASA’s retired NEOWISE telescope
Scientists Create Gene-Edited ‘Peter Pan’ Tadpoles That Could Control Invasive Cane Toads Through Cannibalism
To combat one of Australia’s most troublesome species, researchers are developing hungry tadpoles that never grow up
A New Satellite Will Map the Carbon Content of Rainforests From Space, and It’s Set to Launch This Month
The European Space Agency’s new probe, Biomass, will spend five years orbiting the planet and gathering radar imagery of forests across multiple continents
In a World First, Researchers Mapped Part of a Mouse’s Brain in Incredible Detail. It’s a Leap Forward for Neuroscience
The 3D brain map includes more than 200,000 cells, 523 million synapses and over two miles of axons, representing the most detailed wiring diagram of a piece of mammal brain ever constructed
Here’s the Secret to Making the Perfect Cup of Pour-Over Coffee, According to Physicists
By adjusting the pouring technique and height, the new method could use 10 percent fewer coffee grounds without compromising on strength or flavor
Have Dire Wolves, Which Went Extinct More Than 10,000 Years Ago, Really Been Brought Back to Life?
Pioneers in the science of “de-extinction,” an American company has announced the births of three pups whose genes resemble those of a species that hasn’t roamed Earth for millennia
Researchers Develop the World’s Smallest Pacemaker, and It Could Be Revolutionary for Newborn Babies With Heart Defects
The new device is smaller than a grain of rice and gets absorbed by the patient’s body when it’s no longer needed, eliminating the risks of an extraction surgery
Stone Tools Discovered in China Resemble Neanderthal Technology Used in Europe, Creating a Middle Stone Age Mystery
Archaeologists previously assumed that East Asia did not see considerable tool development during the Middle Paleolithic, but new findings might change that widely held idea
Can A.I. Resurrect a Delacroix Mural That Was Destroyed in a Fire More Than 150 Years Ago?
A new project called Digital Delacroix is training cutting-edge technology on the French painter’s style to unravel the lost artwork’s secrets
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