Feature
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Space
How to build an internet on Mars
Future Red Planet inhabitants will need new ways to connect, including improved relay networks and an offshoot internet.
By Payal Dhar -
Artificial Intelligence
AI chatbots can be tricked into misbehaving. Can scientists stop it?
To develop better safeguards, computer scientists are studying how people have manipulated generative AI chatbots into answering harmful questions.
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Animals
What parrots can teach us about human intelligence
By studying the brains and behaviors of parrots, scientists hope to learn more about how humanlike intelligence evolves.
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Health & Medicine
Is aging without illness possible?
Researchers are harnessing basic biology to develop drugs that foster healthy aging. Just don’t call them antiaging pills.
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Archaeology
Ancient Maya power brokers lived in neighborhoods, not just palaces
Lidar discoveries and recent excavations are forcing archaeologists to rethink ancient Maya political structures.
By Bruce Bower -
Science & Society
Here are 10 early-career scientists you should know about in 2023
Researchers on this year's SN 10: Scientists to Watch list are shaping our future and our understanding of ourselves.
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Climate
Capturing methane from the air would slow global warming. Can it be done?
Removing methane from the atmosphere requires different technology from removing carbon dioxide. Scientists are taking on the challenge.
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Health & Medicine
Flint grapples with the mental health fallout from the water disaster
The water crisis started almost a decade ago. Residents of Flint, Mich., are still healing from the disaster — and caring for their own.
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Microbes
Evolutionary virologist Daniel Blanco-Melo seeks out ancient pathogens
Daniel Blanco-Melo has reconstructed two viral strains brought to the Americas with European colonizers in the 16th century.
By Pratik Pawar -
Psychology
Why scientists are expanding the definition of loneliness
Feeling detached from animals, places and routines can cause loneliness, researchers are learning, which may expand the list of interventions.
By Sujata Gupta -
Physics
How neutron imaging uncovers hidden secrets of fossils and artifacts
The technique can complement X-ray scanning and other tools to uncover details of dinosaur fossils, mummies and more.
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Plants
Berkley Walker wants to revamp photosynthesis for a changing climate
Finding ways to make plants work better could help feed a growing population, especially as the planet warms.
By Aaron Brooks