Science

DUH-DUM

There’s Finally Video of a Great White Shark in the Mediterranean

A recent video of a great white shark in the Mediterranean Sea offers the possibility of deriving valuable information for conservation strategies.

Marta Musso

Fore Sight

Longevity Startup Doses First Human in Bid to Reverse Age-Related Sight Loss

Isabella Ward

Far Out

The Moons of Uranus May Hold the Key to Finding Missing Planets

Jorge Garay

Health

Not to Alarm Anyone, but Flesh-Eating Screwworms Have Entered the US

The USDA this week confirmed the first known infection of the carnivorous fly larva, which feast on the flesh of living mammals, after the United States eradicated the nightmare bugs in the 1960s.

Beth Mole, Ars Technica

‘Sexual Chocolate’ Faces Recalls After FDA Tests Reveal Undisclosed Viagra

Sellers of products with names like Boner Bears and DTF have voluntarily recalled their products after testing positive for the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis.

Emily Mullin

The Painful Truth About Long Covid

There might finally be a way forward for long Covid treatment—if only you were allowed to talk about it.

Alan Levinovitz

How Turkey Hacked the Hair-Transplant Industry

From specialized motors to the use of machine-learning algorithms, Turkey’s billion-dollar hair-transplant industry is the result of a constant process of innovation.

Levent Daşkıran

Environment

The US Has a Plan to Combat Screwworm. It Involves a Lot More Flies

Releasing sterilized flies can crash a local population of flesh-eating screwworms. But the US currently has limited capacity to produce them.

Emily Mullin

Data Center Operators Are Trying to Fix Their Water Use Problems

Google, Microsoft, and other hyperscalers have come under scrutiny for their impact on water quality and availability.

Molly Taft

The Problem With Nike’s World Cup Uniforms Made of Trash

The activewear giant has used chemical recycling to make jersey for 16 teams competing in the tournament. But the technique is unlikely to help solve fashion’s waste issue.

Joseph Winters

The Cookware Industry Has a Major Fight Brewing Over PFAS Claims

There’s a new front in the war over the safety of chemicals used to make nonstick pans.

Molly Taft

Climate

How to Spot Greenwashing Claims When You Travel

Hotels and other service providers pitch themselves as eco-friendly when they’re not. Here’s how to call their bluff.

Rachel Cernansky

13 Environmentally Conscious Packing Tips for Your Next Vacation

Your trip starts impacting the planet before you even leave home. Here are a few pointers for keeping your footprint small.

Rachel Cernansky

How a Citizen Science Organization Aims to Preserve the Places It Brings Tourists to Study

The actual eco-friendliness of ecotourism varies considerably. One research station in the Peruvian Amazon is out to prove it can bring visitors to the area without disrupting the environment.

Rachel Cernansky

Why It's Almost Too Hot to Play Tennis at the French Open

Meet the wet bulb globe temperature, the ominous measure that shows when it's too hot to go outside.

Brian Kahn

Energy

So Long, ‘Ferrynoia.’ Green Maritime Technology Is Here

From San Francisco to Stockholm, a new generation of electric ferries is entering passenger service, marking a tipping point for green maritime technology.

Jaclyn Trop

Amazon Employees Show Up to City Council Meetings to Demand Limits on Data Centers

Activists say it’s the first time Big Tech employees have publicly called for regulations governing data center projects.

Paresh Dave

SpaceX Is Spending $2.8 Billion to Buy Gas Turbines for Its AI Data Centers

The investment comes as Elon Musk’s AI unit faces complaints about the carbon-emitting units and looks to become a big player in cloud computing.

Paresh Dave

Old Oil and Gas Wells Could Find Second Life Producing Clean Energy

States across the US are looking to take major sources of pollution and use them to generate much-needed power.

Maria Gallucci

Space

Blue Origin Rocket Explodes in Fiery Setback

The detonation of the New Glenn rocket resulted in a huge fireball in Florida and may have long-term implications for the company's ambitions.

Marta Musso

NASA Details Its Plan to Build a Lunar Base at the Moon’s South Pole

The project’s first mission could arrive as soon as this year, with a little help from Blue Origin.

Jorge Garay

A Probe Took Incredible Pictures of Mars on Its Way to a Far-Off Asteroid

NASA took advantage of the recent close approach of the Psyche probe to Mars to calibrate its observation instruments.

Jorge Garay

The Universe Is Full of ‘Impossible’ Black Holes. Scientists Now Know Why

There are black holes that are too big to be born from the death of a star but aren’t quite supermassive either. There’s finally evidence for where those came from.

Jorge Garay

Physics and Math

A Fundamental Principle of Aeronautical Engineering Has Been Overturned

It’s long been accepted that the smoother the surface, the lower the aerodynamic drag. That turns out not always to be the case.

Ritsuko Kawai

All the Fancy Measuring Devices Used in Science Rely on Two Stone-Age Techniques

The many methods we use to gather data ultimately boil down to either counting or comparing.

Rhett Allain

Build a Radio Wave Detector With Balls of Aluminum Foil!

Here’s how you can hack together a radio transmitter and receiver out of stuff you have at home—and explore the weirdness of wireless.

Rhett Allain

Do Lightsaber Blades Have Mass?

On Star Wars Day, we put to rest a question that has bedeviled sci-fi nerds for years.

Rhett Allain

Biotech

OpenAI and Anthropic Sign Letter to Prevent AI-Developed Biological Weapons

Leading AI labs, executives, and scientists are sending a letter to lawmakers urging them to improve tracking of synthetic DNA sequences that could be used for bioweapons.

Emily Mullin

A New Hantavirus Vaccine Is in the Works

Since 2023, Moderna and Korea University have been developing a new mRNA vaccine for hantavirus. The work has been promising so far, but a finished product isn't likely coming any time soon.

Javier Carbajal

Venom and Hot Peppers Offer a Key to Killing Resistant Bacteria

Researchers have developed three new antibiotics from scorpion venom and habanero peppers to combat tuberculosis and other drug-resistant pathogens.

Fernanda González

Designer Baby Companies Are in Turmoil

Bootstrap Bio and Manhattan Genomics, which were pursuing human embryo editing to prevent serious disease, have shut down.

Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe

Psychology and Neuroscience

Study of Buddhist Monks Finds Meditation Alters Brain Activity

Meditation isn’t thinking about nothing. New research reinforces that it’s a mind-altering, dynamic state that promotes focus, learning, and well-being.

Javier Carbajal