Science

a colorful image of a human embryo at Day 11 under a microscope

Model human embryo, created from stem cells, survives past two weeks

A model human embryo capable of developing past day 14 could revolutionize our understanding of human development.

How years of fighting every wildfire helped fuel the Western megafires of today

The current approach to fire management poses unnecessarily high stakes for forests. Here’s why fighting every fire does more harm than good.

Paul Hessburg and Keala Hagmann and Susan J. Prichard

rows of black rock with the gloved hands of a scientist in the background

Planet Earth

Record-breaking amount of Earth’s mantle drilled out of ocean floor

Scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution have retrieved “a staggering” amount of mantle rock from below the ocean floor.

Kristin Houser

Paleontology

Ice Age wolf mummy discovered almost 100% intact

An almost perfectly preserved wolf mummy discovered in the Canadian tundra is giving researchers a glimpse into the life of an ancient wolf.

Kristin Houser

Physicists are starting to harness the power of deepfakes

Generative adversarial networks are the scary AI producing deepfakes. But they have other uses too, and physicists are starting to harness their power.

B. David Zarley

Just how are deepfakes made, anyway?

Capable of creating incredibly realistic false data — most infamously of famous people — deepfakes are a powerful tool.

B. David Zarley

3D Printing

This may be the 3D-printed submarine of the future

Using unique construction techniques, this 3D-printed submarine may set the pace for the building of large AUVs to come.

B. David Zarley

CRISPR

CRISPR's big year: top breakthroughs of 2020

2020 was a big year for the gene-editing tool CRISPR. It was used to cure disease, edit DNA in a human's eye, and even gene-edit pigs to grow suitable organs to transplant into humans.

Teresa Carey

Psychology

Want better science? Learn how to lie (with magic).

Some experiment designs need to deceive. These former magicians have some advice.

B. David Zarley

Physics

New atomic clock is the most precise ever created

MIT researchers have created a new kind of atomic clock that exploits quantum entanglement to keep time more precisely.

Kristin Houser

Genetics

Genetically modified pigs get green light from FDA

The FDA has approved Revivicor’s genetically engineered GalSafe pigs for use as food or medical products — a first for genetically modified animals.

Kristin Houser

Paleontology

This digital dinosaur brain has some “quite surprising” insights

The Bristol dinosaur is like a mini-Brontosaurus, a four-legged plant eater. Or so we thought; a new digital dinosaur brain may change what we know about the dino.

B. David Zarley

Deep learning vs. machine learning: Explained

Deep learning vs. machine learning AI: what’s the difference?

B. David Zarley

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