Innovations
You Could Win $1 Million by Deciphering These Ancient Roman Scrolls
The Herculaneum scrolls have remained unreadable since their discovery in 1750, but researchers hope to change that
Google Launches A.I. Chatbot—How Does it Compare to ChatGPT and Bing?
Bard might give incorrect answers, but it "doesn't go off the rails"
Scientists 3D Printed a Slice of Cake
The seven-ingredient recipe shows potential for the future of making food with this technology, researchers say
This Breakthrough Could Make Longer-Lasting Batteries and Better Power Grids—if It Works
A new superconductor could revolutionize energy, but doubts surround the researchers, who published a similar paper in 2020 that was later retracted
Scientists Name New Fungus-Killing Compounds After Keanu Reeves
The bacteria are highly effective against a common plant pest and a pathogen that infects humans
This A.I. Used Brain Scans to Recreate Images People Saw
The technology, which was tested with four people, is still in its infancy but could one day help people communicate or decode dreams, researchers say
Genetically Modified Trees Are Taking Root to Capture Carbon
A start-up created the plants to help combat the climate crisis, but they have so far only been tested in a lab setting
How California Took Over the World
A sweeping book offers a provocative new history arguing that today's inequality can be traced back to the state's founding
A Rare Look Below the 'Doomsday Glacier' Reveals Surprising Melting
Researchers sent a robot through 2,000 feet of ice to study the quickly receding ice shelf
Can Satellites Really Detect Whales From Space?
Distant identification of whales is improving rapidly, but finding the behemoth creatures is still surprisingly tricky
Launching Dust From the Moon Could Help Cool Earth, Scientists Say
Proposals to fight climate change by blocking sunlight aren’t new, but some experts argue the answer lies closer to home
Nuclear-Powered Rockets Might One Day Carry Astronauts to Mars
NASA and DARPA are building a nuclear thermal rocket engine that could slash the time it would take to reach the Red Planet
Scientists Have Created a New Type of Ice
It looks like a white powder and has nearly the same density as liquid water
This Company Wants to Bring the Dodo Back From Extinction
Colossal Biosciences plans to de-extinct the dodo, but some scientists question whether it’s ethical—or even plausible
Artificial Intelligence Identifies Long-Overlooked Raphael Masterpiece
A facial recognition analysis found that the faces in a mysterious painting are virtually identical to those in the artist's "Sistine Madonna"
This Shape-Shifting Robot Can Liquefy Itself and Reform
The technology could one day assemble and repair hard-to-reach circuits, act as a universal screw or retrieve foreign objects from a body, researchers say
NASA’s Electric Plane Will Take Flight This Year—but Its Future Is Uncertain
The X-57 Maxwell has removed some barriers to electric flight, but its funding expires soon
Are A.I. Image Generators Violating Copyright Laws?
Two new lawsuits argue that tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are infringing on artists' rights
Scientists Guide Lightning Bolts With Lasers for the First Time
The technology could one day protect wider areas than metal lightning rods do, perhaps shielding airports and launchpads during storms
Student Creates App to Detect Essays Written by AI
In response to the text-generating bot ChatGPT, the new tool measures sentence complexity and variation to predict whether an author was human
