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

Engineering

A new material called a mechanical neural network can learn and change its physical properties

The new material’s architecture is based on that of an artificial neural network – layers of interconnected nodes that can learn to do tasks.

Ryan H. Lee

Psychology

“Freakonomics” study offers simple strategy for making tough decisions

People who chose change over inaction, regardless of the decision, self-reported being better off and happier after six months.

Stephen Johnson

CRISPR

7 ways CRISPR is shaping the future of food

Using the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR, researchers are altering crops and animals to add desirable traits and remove undesirable ones.

Kristin Houser

Animals

These psychedelic “body snatchers” regenerate their bodies and absorb other organism’s attributes

These bizarre mollusks have the ability to regenerate their bodies and to absorb other organisms' attributes.

Jonny Thomson

Physics

How Greek philosopher Democritus predicted the atom in 400 B.C.E.

The idea of atoms goes as far back as the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus in 400 B.C.E., who thought physics left no room for free will.

Jonny Thomson

Physics

Einstein’s theory of general relativity passes another test, with implications for dark matter and dark energy

Scientists carried out an ultra-precise test of a core premise of Einstein’s modern theory of gravity. The theory stood up.

Don Lincoln

Biology

Scientists discover slug that can decapitate itself, grow new body

Scientists observed two species of sea slug that were able to self-decapitate, survive for weeks without organs, and regenerate new bodies.

Stephen Johnson

Physics

Quantum entanglement wins 2022’s Nobel Prize in physics

Three pioneers — John Clauser, Alain Aspect, and Anton Zeilinger — helped make quantum information systems a bona fide science.

Ethan Siegel

Archaeology

Svante Pääbo wins Nobel Prize for discovering an extinct human species via DNA

Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo has won the Nobel Prize for "discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution."

Ross Pomeroy

Biology

Why does nature create patterns?

A physicist explains the molecular-level processes behind crystals, stripes, and basalt columns in nature.

Maxim Lavrentovich

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