All Stories
- Genetics
AI generated its first working genome: a tiny bacteria killer
Bacteriophages designed with AI kill E. coli faster than a well-studied strain, but the tech needs regulation before moving beyond lab dishes.
- Health & Medicine
Can AI spot harmful health side effects on social media?
A new AI tool discovers harmful side effects of cannabis products from Reddit posts. Public health workers could use this info to help keep people safe.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists made human egg cells from skin cells
More work needs to be done to create viable human embryos, but the method might someday be used in IVF to help infertile people and male couples.
- Archaeology
12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past
Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.
- Physics
Here’s what might spark ghostly will-o’-the-wisps
Chemists have discovered tiny zaps of electricity moving between “swamp-gas” bubbles. Could they ignite methane gas to glow as dancing blue flames?
- Health & Medicine
Cancer uses mitochondria to reprogram neighboring cells
Cancer cells transfer mitochondria through nanotubes to healthy neighboring cells, turning them into tumor-supporting accomplices, a new study shows.
- Paleontology
What may be one of Earth’s earliest animals has a punk rock vibe
Squiggly markings like a punk rock hairdo led researchers to identify the remains as spongelike animals that may have lived around 560 million years ago.
- Health & Medicine
More young U.S. adults report trouble with memory and focus
From 2013 to 2023, the prevalence of self-reported difficulties with memory, concentration and decision-making nearly doubled among young adults.
- Health & Medicine
Pasteurization destroys H5N1 bird flu in milk
Tests show pasteurized dairy with H5N1 remnants did not cause illness in mice, supporting safety of milk during outbreaks.
- Health & Medicine
In a first, Huntington’s disease is slowed by an experimental treatment
An experimental gene therapy slowed Huntington’s by up to 75 percent in a small clinical trial. While not a cure, it may give patients longer lives.
- Astronomy
See a 3-D map of stellar nurseries based on data from the Gaia telescope
The map, spanning 4,000 light-years from the sun in all directions, combines a chart of space dust with the effects of a rare type of young, hot star.
- Animals
Meet the ‘grue jay,’ a rare hybrid songbird
Despite millions of years of evolutionary separation and a geographical divide, a blue jay and green jay mated in Texas. This bird is the result.
