Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Computing
A new computer program generates eerily realistic fake videos
It’s getting harder to tell fact from fiction — even on camera.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists successfully transplant lab-grown lungs into pigs
Pigs implanted with lab-grown lungs recovered from surgery with no breathing problems.
- Health & Medicine
Google Glass could help children with autism socialize with others
Google Glass has a new lease on life, and this time it’s helping children with autism improve their social skills, a pilot trial suggests.
- Science & Society
People are bad at spotting fake news. Can computer programs do better?
Fake news–finding algorithms could someday make up the front lines of online fact checking.
- Tech
Readers share their experiences with DNA ancestry tests
Readers delighted in learning about Emmy Noether, and asked about autonomous taxis and how the first Americans may have arrived via coastal routes.
- Science & Society
What does fake news look like to you?
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses the importance of being able to illustrate science visually.
- Tech
A new kind of spray is loaded with microscopic electronic sensors
For the first time, researchers have built circuits on microscopic chips that can be mixed into an aerosol spray.
- Genetics
50 years ago, scientists took baby steps toward selecting sex
In 1968, scientists figured out how to determine the sex of rabbit embryos.
- Neuroscience
This colorful web is the most complete look yet at a fruit fly’s brain cells
Scientists compiled 21 million images to craft the highest-resolution view yet of the fruit fly brain.
- Animals
New ‘Poké Ball’ robot catches deep-sea critters without harming them
A machine that gently catches and releases animals underwater could help researchers take a more detailed census of the deep sea.
- Computing
Solving problems by computer just got a lot faster
A new computer program sifts through all possible solutions to find the best answer to a given problem far faster than other algorithms.
- Health & Medicine
Scared of heights? This new VR therapy could help
Virtual reality may be good training ground for facing your fears in real life.
