Video

Sign up for our newsletter

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    Newly recognized tricks help elephants suck up huge amounts of water

    New ultrasound imaging reveals what goes on inside a pachyderm’s trunk while feeding. It can snort water at the rate of 24 shower heads.

    By
  2. Astronomy

    Watch this beautiful, high-resolution simulation of how stars are born

    The STARFORGE simulation follows a giant gas cloud as it collapses into new stars, accounting for all the phenomena thought to influence the outcome.

    By
  3. Space

    China’s first Mars rover has landed and is sending its first pictures

    The country just became the second nation, after the United States, to successfully land a rover on Mars. Its rover will search for subsurface ice.

    By
  4. Materials Science

    Morphing noodles start flat but bend into curly pasta shapes as they’re cooked

    Shape-shifting pasta could potentially cut down on packaging and save space during shipping.

    By
  5. Planetary Science

    NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made history by flying on Mars

    An autonomous helicopter just lifted itself into the air on Mars, marking the first time a vehicle has flown on a planet other than Earth.

    By
  6. Ecosystems

    Wildfires launch microbes into the air. How big of a health risk is that?

    How does wildfire smoke move bacteria and fungi — and what harm might they do to people when they get there?

    By
  7. Animals

    Tiny crystals give a plain fish twinkling, colorful dots under light

    Fishes’ flashing photonic crystals may provide inspiration for ultra-miniaturized sensors that work in a living body.

    By
  8. Health & Medicine

    Frog skin cells turned themselves into living machines

    The “xenobots” can swim, navigate tubes, move particles into piles and even heal themselves after injury, a new study reports.

    By
  9. Astronomy

    A new black hole image reveals the behemoth’s magnetic fields

    A new analysis of Event Horizon Telescope data from 2017 brings to light the magnetic fields twisted around the black hole at the core of galaxy M87.

    By
  10. Animals

    Cone snail venom may trick mate-seeking worms into becoming meals

    Cone snail venom contains worm pheromone mimics, suggesting the chemicals may be used to lure worms during hunting.

    By
  11. Animals

    A sea slug’s detached head can crawl around and grow a whole new body

    Chopped-up planarians regrow whole bodies from bits and pieces. But a sea slug head can regrow fancier organs such as hearts.

    By
  12. Animals

    A single male lyrebird can mimic the sound of an entire flock

    The Australian birds, already famous for their impressive song-copying skills, appear to be replicating the sounds of a “mobbing flock” of birds.

    By