Science

Printed circles that appear to move. Colors that seem different in spite of being identical. Everybody loves a good optical illusion, though precisely where the magic happens is still a mystery in many cases. A new study by University of Exeter visual ecologist Jolyon Troscianko, and neuroscientist Daniel Osorio from the University of Sussex in

A gas giant exoplanet 634 light-years away has a quirk in its atmosphere that suggests it may have swallowed a smaller world. It’s WASP-76b, and it’s already famous for being one of the hottest exoplanets in the galaxy. Whipping around its host star once every 1.8 days, WASP-76b reaches temperatures above 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632

Many sharks are being fished to the point of extinction, and yet one of the proposed solutions – sustainable shark fisheries – has largely failed to catch on. A new paper on the sudden closure of the world’s first eco-certified shark fishery explores why that might be. In 2011, a Canadian fishery for the Pacific

Geoffrey Hinton, one of the so-called “godfathers” of artificial intelligence, urged governments on Wednesday to step in and make sure that machines do not take control of society. Hinton made headlines in May when he announced that he was quitting after a decade of work at Google to speak more freely on the dangers of

WASHINGTON — A solid rocket motor for Europe’s Vega C rocket malfunctioned during a static-fire test June 28, likely pushing back the vehicle’s return to flight to 2024. In a June 29 statement, Avio, the Italian company that is the prime contractor for the Vega, said a Zefiro 40 motor experienced an anomaly during a

The news that orcas are attacking and sinking ships off Europe’s Iberian coast has the world captivated by the strange workings of the creatures’ culture. But these aren’t the only sleek ocean swimmers that have learned to respond to the presence of humans. Scientists at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia suspect that bottlenose

We’ve just identified a brand new isotope of the rarest element in our planet’s crust. With 85 protons and 105 neutrons, 190astatine is the lightest isotope of astatine discovered yet, and could help physicists better understand the process of alpha decay, and the structure and limitations of atomic nuclei. “The studies of new nuclei are

Hunter-gatherer roles in human society are not nearly as gendered as anthropologists and archaeologists have traditionally believed, with narratives of ‘man the hunter’ and ‘woman the gatherer’ crumbling in the face of new evidence. In recent years, ancient sites around the world strongly suggest that women have been fishing, hunting big game, and going to

It’s official. There’s something out there shaking the stars in a way that can no longer be ascribed to chance. Several teams around the world have independently found a signal in the timing of flashing stars called pulsars that points to giant, long-wavelength gravitational waves rolling through the galaxy. It’s not quite a detection of

The currents of air that wrap around our planet are becoming unrecognizable to climate scientists. Some have even compared the chaotic pattern of the jet streams to a Van Gogh painting. The southern part of the jet stream over North America has completely broken apart and is currently trapped in a vicious revolution that has

Undeterred after three decades of looking, and with some assistance from a supercomputer, mathematicians have finally discovered a new example of a special integer called a Dedekind number. Only the ninth of its kind, or D(9), it is calculated to equal 286 386 577 668 298 411 128 469 151 667 598 498 812 366,

TAMPA, Fla. — Odin Space is preparing to start detecting tiny but potentially dangerous pieces of orbital debris in the coming weeks from a sensor on a recently launched space tug, according to the British startup’s cofounder and CEO James New. The venture announced June 27 that it had successfully powered up the demo sensor,

The body temperature of one of the mightiest predators ever to stalk Earth’s oceans may have contributed to its downfall. A new analysis of the teeth left behind by megalodon (Otodus megalodon) shows that the extinct giant shark was at least partially warm-blooded, as some sharks are today. But this trait, which would have given

Scientists have solved a decades-long mystery on whether light can be effectively trapped in a 3D forest of microscopic particles. Using a new method for crunching vast sums in a model of particle interactions, a team of physicists in the US and France revealed conditions under which a wave of light can be brought to

It’s 2023. By now, we should all be wearing jet packs, living on the Moon, and having deep conversations with our dogs through pet translation devices. Oh, and we should know how consciousness works. We don’t, of course. But a recent event coinciding with the annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of

We’ve just been given a teaser of the moment everyone has been waiting for: a James Webb Space Telescope image of Saturn, in all its resplendent glory. Although the final, processed images have not yet arrived, the telescope has made its observations using its Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument, and the raw images have been

NASA has released a chilling animation showing just how far sea levels have risen in the three short decades its satellites have been monitoring them. The data visualization, released last week, is the work of Andrew J. Christensen, a data visualizer for the NASA Scientific Visualization Studio. By animating observed changes in global sea level

WASHINGTON — Defense contractor Anduril Industries acquired Adranos, a manufacturer of solid rocket motors, the companies announced June 25. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2015, Adranos manufactures solid rocket motors in coastal Mississippi and last year opened a fuel-production facility in Indiana. The startup invented a proprietary aluminum-lithium alloy fuel

Here, wolfie, wolfie, wolfie! Like dogs, wolves recognize and respond to the voices of familiar humans more than strangers, according to a study that has implications both for the story of canine domestication and our broader understanding of the natural world. Holly Root‑Gutteridge of the University of Lincoln, a co-author of the paper that appeared

You’re familiar with the states of matter we encounter daily – such as solid, liquid, and gas – but in more exotic and extreme conditions, new states can appear, and scientists from the US and China just found one. They’re calling it the chiral bose-liquid state, and as with every new arrangement of particles we

Algorithmically generated playlists on music streaming services like Spotify make a best guess at what kind of music you’ll enjoy based on what you and others like you listen to and like. A new study reveals how those playlists could be better based on how your brain rocks out to the latest songs. When US

There’s something really weird in the center of the Milky Way. The vicinity of a supermassive black hole is a pretty weird place to start with, but in 2020 astronomers found six objects orbiting Sagittarius A* that are unlike anything in the galaxy. They are so peculiar that they have been assigned a brand-new class

Across the world, rainforests are becoming savanna or farmland, savanna is drying out and turning into desert, and icy tundra is thawing. Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded “regime shifts” like these in more than 20 different types of ecosystems where tipping points have been passed. Across the world, more than 20 percent of ecosystems

WASHINGTON — Satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital has signed an agreement with French aerospace giant Safran to explore U.S.-based production of satellite propulsion systems, the companies announced June 23. Under the agreement, Safran Electronics & Defense and Terran Orbital  will investigate opportunities and prerequisites for the production of electric propulsion systems for satellites based on Safran’s

Between 1993 and 2010, humans extracted and moved so much of our planet’s groundwater that it contributed to the migration of Earth’s poles. Just the contribution of groundwater redistribution resulted in a polar shift of 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) towards the east, according to a new analysis led by geophysicist Ki-Weon Seo of Seoul National

A new quantum processor built on silicon will soon be made available to a select few universities and other institutions across the US, potentially giving more researchers an opportunity to tinker with quantum computing hardware first hand. Crafted by the computer chip manufacturer Intel, it’s hoped that the new processor – offering twice as many

A gallery of ancient cave markings determined to have been created as far back as 75,000 years ago is likely to be the handiwork of Neanderthals. The team of researchers behind an analysis of artwork found in the French cave of La Roche-Cotard argue this is the earliest unambiguous example of Neanderthal cave engravings ever

A newly discovered star just 773 light-years away belongs to one of the rarest categories in the Milky Way. J1912-4410 is a white dwarf pulsar, a type of star so rarely seen that only one other is known in the entire galaxy. Its discovery confirms that these stars exist in a class of their own,

When a hurricane hits land, the destruction can be visible for years or even decades. Less obvious, but also powerful, is the effect hurricanes have on the oceans. In a new study, we show through real-time measurements that hurricanes don’t just churn water at the surface. They can also push heat deep into the ocean

WASHINGTON — An Indian startup has raised $10 million to start development of commercial space situational awareness (SSA) capabilities that will include data from spacecraft. Bengaluru-based Digantara announced June 20 it raised the funding in a Series A1 round led by Peak XV Partners, a venture fund until recently known as Sequoia Capital India. Several