Feature
- Science & Society
The truth about brain rot, according to science
Emerging research suggests overusing digital devices can be harmful, especially to mental health. But does being overly online truly rot our brains?
- Planetary Science
NASA seems to be backing away from hunting for life on Mars
Viking 1 kicked off the search for Martian life 50 years ago. Now NASA’s shifting priorities are putting the quest in limbo.
- Earth
Earth’s stratosphere is a mysterious superhighway for microbes
Well-known microbes that grow on our crops, our gardens, even our skin have been found thriving at two to three times the flying height of a commercial jetliner.
- Health & Medicine
Ultrasound aimed at the brain offers new hope for Parkinson’s patients
A noninvasive treatment called high-intensity focused ultrasound helped relieve the shaking, stiffness and pain that accompany Parkinson’s disease.
- Health & Medicine
New tools may help diagnose Parkinson’s earlier than ever
From special pens to earwax evaluations, a plethora of emerging diagnostics could one day be a major boon for people with the debilitating disease.
- Health & Medicine
What freediving can reveal about human health — and our limits
The practice of freediving is teaching physiologists how humans stretch their physical and mental limits, which in turn may improve treatments for lung and heart ailments.
- Health & Medicine
A low-cost rotavirus test could save childrens’ lives in Nigeria
Nigerian virologist Margaret Oluwatoyin Japhet has designed a rapid test that could diagnose rotavirus at a child’s bedside.
- Anthropology
How to invent a realistic language for fictional speakers
Linguists can mix, match or even break the rules of real-world languages to create interesting imaginary ones.
- Math
Math long resisted a digital disruption. AI is poised to change that
The painstaking process of formalization to verify proofs is starting to surge thanks to AI. That could radically change the way people do math.
- Life
Smithsonian secrets most likely to blow your mind
Millions of objects stashed at a site open only to select visitors tell the history of Earth's inhabitants.
- Microbes
How warming is shifting microbial worlds
Climate change is affecting microbes, and that has implications for all life on Earth.
- Animals
Wild monkeys invaded Florida. Should people protect them?
A colony of African vervets in Dania Beach raises big questions about how humans can and should manage nonnative species.
