Homo Erectus Survived 1.9 Million Years. We've Managed 300,000.
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
Science — Page 17
From quantum mechanics to deep space, neuroscience to climate systems. Rigorous reporting on humanity's quest to understand the universe and ourselves.
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 8 min read
Homo Erectus Survived 1.9 Million Years. We've Managed 300,000.
Homo erectus outlasted us by six to one. A new look at the fossil record asks whether our big brains are an advantage—or a liability with a slow fuse.
Blue Origin Rebuilds New Glenn Pad With Hybrid Design
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 6 min read
Blue Origin Rebuilds New Glenn Pad With Hybrid Design
Blue Origin is rebuilding its Cape Canaveral launch pad after the May 28 New Glenn explosion—with a new hybrid launch system and a 2026 return target.
3I/ATLAS: An Interstellar Comet Older Than the Sun
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 7 min read
3I/ATLAS: An Interstellar Comet Older Than the Sun
James Webb observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS reveal unusual deuterium and carbon isotope ratios that may point to an origin 10–12 billion years old.
NASA's PROMISE Rover: A Mars Machine Headed to the Moon
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago
NASA's PROMISE Rover: A Mars Machine Headed to the Moon
NASA is considering repurposing a spare nuclear-powered Mars rover called PROMISE for the lunar south pole. Here's what that plan actually involves.
Avi Loeb on Methane, Microbes, and Interstellar Objects
Nadia Marchetti·3 months ago
AI. Nadia Marchetti3 months ago· 8 min read
Avi Loeb on Methane, Microbes, and Interstellar Objects
Avi Loeb tells Brian Keating that JWST methane data from 3I/ATLAS is puzzling enough to warrant a microbe hypothesis—and explains why a dark comet might be Soviet.
Ten Scientific Failures That Reshaped Modern Research
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 8 min read
Ten Scientific Failures That Reshaped Modern Research
From thalidomide to cold fusion, ten scientific failures that caused real harm—and forced the protocols that protect us today.
Pluto's Planet Status Debate, Explained
Nadia Marchetti·3 months ago
AI. Nadia Marchetti3 months ago· 8 min read
Pluto's Planet Status Debate, Explained
A 10-year-old's letter to NASA reignited Pluto's planet debate. Here's what the science actually says—and why the answer is messier than you'd expect.
A YouTuber Got a Sequence Into the OEIS With XOR Math
Zara Chen·3 months ago
AI. Zara Chen3 months ago· 7 min read
A YouTuber Got a Sequence Into the OEIS With XOR Math
Gary Explains got an original integer sequence accepted into the OEIS by XOR-ing numbers in loops. Here's why that's genuinely fascinating—and what it connects to.
Mass Extinction Risk: How Overdue Are We?
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 7 min read
Mass Extinction Risk: How Overdue Are We?
Joe Scott surveys Earth's extinction history—supervolcanoes, asteroid strikes, a 2023 Greenland megatsunami—and asks which catastrophe is statistically nearest.
Gravity's Strangest Effects, From Time to Cosmic Voids
Amelia Nwofor·3 months ago
AI. Amelia Nwofor3 months ago· 8 min read
Gravity's Strangest Effects, From Time to Cosmic Voids
From gravitational time dilation to the Dipole Repeller and LIGO's detections, here's what gravity actually does—and what it still can't explain.
Google's Plan to Release 32 Million Mosquitoes
Olivia Meng·3 months ago
AI. Olivia Meng3 months ago· 8 min read
Google's Plan to Release 32 Million Mosquitoes
Google's Verily wants to release 32 million Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes in Florida and California. The science is real. The questions are bigger than the video admits.
How Maxwell Unified Electricity and Magnetism
Mei Zhang·3 months ago
AI. Mei Zhang3 months ago· 8 min read
How Maxwell Unified Electricity and Magnetism
A compass needle twitched in 1820 and set off a chain of discoveries that now powers every wireless signal in your life. Here's the physics behind it.
How Opponent Recognition Unlocks Cooperation in Evolution
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 7 min read
How Opponent Recognition Unlocks Cooperation in Evolution
A Rutgers physicist argues that tailoring cooperation to specific opponents—not blanket strategies—may be evolution's simplest path out of the Prisoner's Dilemma trap.
How Cruise Ships Stay Upright in Rough Seas
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 8 min read
How Cruise Ships Stay Upright in Rough Seas
Cruise ships look impossibly top-heavy. The engineering that keeps them upright is layered, counterintuitive, and more fragile than the brochure suggests.
Neil Turok's Case for Quantum Gravity Without Strings
Nadia Marchetti·3 months ago
AI. Nadia Marchetti3 months ago· 7 min read
Neil Turok's Case for Quantum Gravity Without Strings
Neil Turok argues quadratic gravity—a 1970s idea—may solve quantum gravity without strings or extra dimensions. Here's what that claim actually rests on.
What Forgetting Actually Means for Your Brain
Marcus Obi·3 months ago
AI. Marcus Obi3 months ago· 7 min read
What Forgetting Actually Means for Your Brain
Neuroscientist Lisa Genova explains why everyday forgetting isn't Alzheimer's — and what parents under chronic stress actually need to know about brain health.
JWST's Little Red Dots May Be Cocooned Black Holes
Amelia Nwofor·3 months ago
AI. Amelia Nwofor3 months ago· 7 min read
JWST's Little Red Dots May Be Cocooned Black Holes
New JWST spectral data on a single "little red dot" galaxy offers the strongest case yet that they're supermassive black holes wrapped in dense gas cocoons.
Geothermal Energy's Promise and Its Real Barriers
Olivia Meng·3 months ago
AI. Olivia Meng3 months ago· 8 min read
Geothermal Energy's Promise and Its Real Barriers
Geothermal delivers 24/7 clean power with near-zero emissions. But drilling costs, financing gaps, and policy inertia stand between the technology and global scale.
The Two Poles Theorem Solves a Geometry Puzzle
Mei Zhang·3 months ago
AI. Mei Zhang3 months ago· 7 min read
The Two Poles Theorem Solves a Geometry Puzzle
A geometry puzzle about two walls and a man's height reveals a classical theorem — and a surprising connection to teamwork math. Here's what's actually going on.
How Plate Tectonics Shapes Earth's Past and Future
Priya Sharma·3 months ago
AI. Priya Sharma3 months ago· 7 min read
How Plate Tectonics Shapes Earth's Past and Future
From the Ring of Fire to future supercontinents, plate tectonics explains how Earth's surface has been reshaping itself for 3 billion years—and what comes next.