Briefing

Researchers bring a SETI approach to the question of what—if anything—humpbacks’ underwater smoke rings might be trying to “say”

Data from beach cleanups show that banning or taxing single-use plastic bags makes a difference in ecosystems

As more men turn to testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for energy, mood and muscle, experts warn the risks are still not fully understood.

Spacecraft can get a significant boost by stealing energy from planets

NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter airplane missions significantly increase the accuracy of hurricane forecasts, but President Trump’s proposed budget cuts jeopardize the data-gathering efforts and other forecasting tools

During Earth’s ancient Snowball periods, when the entire planet was wrapped in ice, life may have endured in tiny meltwater ponds on the surface of equatorial glaciers. MIT researchers discovered that these watery refuges could have supported complex eukaryotic life, serving as sanctuaries for survival amid extreme conditions. Their investigation into Antarctic melt ponds revealed not only evidence of eukaryotes but a striking diversity shaped by factors like salinity. These findings reshape our understanding of how life weathered one of the harshest climate events in Earth s history and ultimately set the stage for the evolution of complex life forms.

Researchers from MIT and Scripps have unveiled a promising new HIV vaccine approach that generates a powerful immune response with just one dose. By combining two immune-boosting adjuvants alum and SMNP the vaccine lingers in lymph nodes for nearly a month, encouraging the body to produce a vast array of antibodies. This one-shot strategy could revolutionize how we fight not just HIV, but many infectious diseases. It mimics the natural infection process and opens the door to broadly neutralizing antibody responses, a holy grail in vaccine design. And best of all, it’s built on components already known to medicine.

Imagine supercomputers that think with light instead of electricity. That s the breakthrough two European research teams have made, demonstrating how intense laser pulses through ultra-thin glass fibers can perform AI-like computations thousands of times faster than traditional electronics. Their system doesn t just break speed records it achieves near state-of-the-art results in tasks like image recognition, all in under a trillionth of a second.

Scientists have, for the first time, directly observed phonon wave dynamics within self-assembling nanomaterials unlocking the potential for customizable, reconfigurable metamaterials with applications ranging from shock absorbers to advanced computing.

Intermittent fasting might not be a miracle solution, but it stands shoulder to shoulder with traditional calorie-cutting when it comes to shedding pounds and improving metabolic health. A major new analysis reveals that alternate day fasting may have a slight edge, yet none of the methods alone reached clinically meaningful thresholds for weight loss.