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Innovations

The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, and it's one of the species that can be neutralized with a new antivenom.

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

A newly developed A.I. model is based on 40 years of vocalizations from a community of Atlantic spotted dolphins.

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

Celebration of the Ommegang in Brussels: The Procession of Our Lady of the Sablon, Denis van Alsloot, 1616

Art Meets Science

How Many People Are in This Painting? The Prado Museum Is Using A.I. to Find Out

With the help of a tech start-up, the Madrid museum is enlisting technology to quantify large crowds in its artworks and boost visitor engagement

Microscopic images of the bacteria and mycelium scaffolds. The circles indicate the likely presence of S. pasteurii bacteria.

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

Human perception of color is regulated by three types of cone cells in the eye. By artificially stimulating just one type with a laser, researchers and study participants experienced a new color they call "olo."

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

A reconstruction of a Neanderthal man in the Natural History Museum, Vienna. A new study suggests Neanderthals could not adapt to a period of increased radiation as well as early modern humans did.

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

The winning humanoid, called Tiangong Ultra, races alongside human runners. It completed a half-marathon in about 2 hours and 40 minutes.

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

A cell culture plate with pluripotent stem cells, which can differentiate into any kind of cell in the body.

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

Divers found the Antikythera mechanism in a shipwreck in 1900.

New Research

How Well Did the Mysterious Antikythera Mechanism Actually Work?

Historians think the 2,000-year-old device was used to predict the positions of celestial bodies. A new digital simulation suggests that its gears may have frequently malfunctioned

A rendering of a Sunbird rocket detaching from its station to dock onto an approaching spacecraft.

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

Matteo Paz with Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum after winning the Regeneron Science Talent Search award.

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

Biomass will monitor the Earth's tropical forests over the next five years.

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

A new, temporary pacemaker is smaller than a grain of rice.

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

The Quina technology discovered in East Asia was a set of stone tools for making other tools. Prehistoric sites in Europe that host similar tools are associated with Neanderthals.

Cool Finds

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

"Torpedo bats," like the one shown here used by New York Yankees player Jazz Chisholm Jr., have a slightly bulbous shape that's similar to a bowling pin.

Trending Today

The Science Behind the MLB ‘Torpedo’ Bats That Everyone’s Talking About—How Do They Work? And Are They Really Better?

Developed by a physicist, these bats have their widest part, called the barrel, closer to the player’s hands to offer a better chance of hitting the ball on their “sweet spot”

Researchers connect stroke survivor Ann Johnson's brain implant to the experimental computer, which will allow her to speak by thinking words.

Enhanced Brain Implant Translates Stroke Survivor’s Thoughts Into Nearly Instant Speech Using Artificial Intelligence

The system harnesses technology similar to that of devices like Alexa and Siri, according to the researchers, and improves on a previous model

Spectrum launched from the Andøya Space Center in Norway before plumetting into the icy sea.

First Orbital Rocket Launched From Western Europe Crashes Into Sea After Roughly 30-Second Flight

Isar Aerospace, the company behind the rocket, is still heralding the launch as a success due to the data it provided

A spy pigeon with a camera strapped to its breast at the CIA Museum

Learn the Secret Histories of These Fascinating CIA Artifacts, From Pigeon Cameras to Cufflink Compasses

With the launch of its new website, the CIA Museum is bringing its sprawling collection of spy artifacts out of the shadows and into the public eye

Developed by Australian biomedical engineer Daniel Timms, the titanium heart device is being used as a stopgap until patients can undergo transplant surgery with a donor heart.

Australian Man Makes History by Living With a Titanium Heart for More Than 100 Days Before Receiving a Transplant

The man, who was in his 40s and suffering from severe heart failure, was also the first person to leave the hospital with a titanium heart. He is recovering well after getting a new, donor heart

Astronaut Ed White conducts the first U.S. spacewalk on June 3, 1965

Two Trailblazing Spacewalks in 1965 Opened the Door to Decades of Astronauts Pushing the Limits of Their Capabilities

Since those early steps, extravehicular activity has helped provide the solutions to many problems that astronauts face in space

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