All Stories
- Astronomy
This “exotic weirdo” exoplanet has a rocky surface and an atmosphere
Astronomers found a helium atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet — a good sign for the search for life outside the solar system.
- Genetics
Genes offer new clues to stopping Huntington’s disease in its tracks
A new generation of therapies aims to intervene at a recently discovered gap between the disease’s molecular march and its neurological consequences.
- Archaeology
An ancient Maya astronomer finally has a name
A Maya calendar formula bears the name Sak Tahn Waax, the first known Classic Maya mathematician-astronomer directly credited for such work.
- Space
The 2024 New Jersey meteorite contains amino acids
The brine-formed meteorite that crashed into a New Jersey roof in 2024 could teach us about how life first arrived on Earth.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI is not ready to fly solo in space
In sci-fi, AI can navigate the unknowns and — ideally — keep human travelers safe. But it’s not intelligent enough to do that yet.
- Health & Medicine
A new sort of Alzheimer’s drug shows glimmers of promise
Clinical trial results show an experimental drug lowered tau levels in the brain and slowed some memory loss, but the data came with a surprise twist.
- Climate
A new map traces the sky’s water highways
Atmospheric rivers bring heavy rain and floods, but if they don’t come around, it could mean drought. A new global map reveals little-known pathways.
- Astronomy
A quasar breaks the record for most distant supermassive black hole
The Euclid space telescope discovery could help researchers understand how black holes grew so massive so quickly in the early universe.
- Neuroscience
Whether lefty or righty, practice makes the difference
Researchers looking for the origins of left-right dominance in the brain found no innately better motor skills on either side.
- Planetary Science
Meet the Milky Way’s puffiest planets
Two “superpuff” planets orbiting a sunlike star over 1,000 light-years from Earth are as big as Jupiter and as dense as cotton candy.
- Space
Pluto has landslides
New Horizons data reveal Pluto’s first six confirmed landslides along steep crater rims.
- Science & Society
Here’s what happens when you put politicians in charge of science
Proposed federal rules would rely on political appointees to decide how a lot of U.S. science gets done. History shows the consequences of such actions.
