Stay informed about scientific discoveries, research developments and new findings from around the world.
This week in science we check out gymnastic snakes, chatty vultures and missions to faraway moons
A mysterious shipwreck off Turkey’s coast may be the oldest ever discovered, dating back approximately 4,500 years to the age of the Egyptian pyramids. Although the wooden vessel has disappeared, its surviving pottery cargo reveals clues about an ancient trading network that may have connected distant Mediterranean civilizations. Researchers believe the ship may have crashed against rocks during a storm while transporting valuable goods such as oil, wine, or tree resin.
A powerful new AI system could help doctors detect pancreatic cancer years before it becomes visible on conventional scans. The technology, called REDMOD, identified hidden warning signs an average of 475 days before diagnosis and was nearly twice as sensitive as experienced radiologists. By spotting cancer-related changes at their earliest stages, it could dramatically improve the chances of successful treatment for one of the deadliest forms of cancer.
People who rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to solve simple problems do worse at, and are more likely to give up on, similar tasks when that assistance is removed, compared with people who do not use AI for quick answers, new research finds.The study, which was presented at the 2026 Conference on Language Modeling in San Francisco earlier this month, investigated the impacts of shifting mental work onto an AI chatbot across arithmetic and reading comprehension tasks. A growing body of research suggests this process of "cognitive offloading" harms long-term learning and critical thinking abilities."The concern is about what cognitive scientists call 'desirable difficulties' — the producti...
Arctic winter sea ice could disappear much faster than scientists previously expected, according to new research using climate clues from 6,000 years ago. By comparing ancient ocean sediments with modern climate models, researchers found that future winter ice coverage may be roughly one million square kilometers smaller than earlier predictions suggested.
A simple liquid painted onto teeth in seconds can stop cavities without drilling, injections, or anesthesia, according to a major clinical trial involving young children. The inexpensive treatment could spare thousands of children painful dental procedures and surgery while paving the way for broader FDA-approved use.
Scientists have discovered a way to operate multiple silicon qubits simultaneously with remarkable accuracy, overcoming a major challenge in scaling up quantum computers. Their new technique maintained accuracy of approximately 99.9% even when all five qubits were running at once, opening the door to larger and more powerful quantum processors.
Teacher shortages are affecting school systems in countries across the world. Governments have responded with initiatives to attract graduates into teaching. While much attention has focused on increasing supply, far less attention has been paid to why experienced teachers decide to leave, despite the high costs of turnover in recruitment, training and lost continuity.
Researchers in the Neag School of Education are bringing a whole child screening assessment to a company that provides schools with a connected set of solutions that turn every student signal into timely, equitable, coordinated and measurable tools to track and manage supports.
Every shallow-water coral reef ecosystem in Australia faces an extremely high risk of collapse by 2075, driven largely by projected ocean warming, according to a global assessment.
One of the fundamental challenges of quantum computing is obtaining information from a quantum bit, or qubit. Unlike a conventional bit, which can be read repeatedly without altering its content, direct measurement of a quantum system typically causes the state to collapse before it can be determined. In other words, reading the information modifies it.
University of Tübingen researchers have shown that crows, when confronted with a visual choice, make a decision twice as fast as humans and monkeys. In the experiment, two carrion crows took just 235 milliseconds on average to identify the direction in which a dot pattern was moving and to indicate their choice—while maintaining a high degree of accuracy.
Storms battered northern Europe on Sunday, cutting power to more than 150,000 homes, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and silencing phone networks.
Who knew a monarch butterfly could borrow a cellphone to check in with friendly people he met on his journey? That is essentially what happens now that new technology has reduced the weight of a radio-pulse tag to less than half a gram (0.02 ounces).
The Milky Way is home to hundreds of billions of stars arranged in a glorious spiral pattern. But beyond the obvious spiral, our galaxy has other physical characteristics. It's divided into a galactic bulge, a galactic disk and a galactic halo.
Whether a community is prioritized for public support can depend on how its needs are measured, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire. The study found significant differences in how government screening tools identify communities, particularly in rural areas where those differences could affect access to funding.
A team at HZB has, for the first time, reported polar vortices in (BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃)₁₀ superlattices on silicon. These results expand the range of materials and substrates on which polar topological textures can occur and open up new options for incorporating complex ferroelectric states into silicon-based technologies.
In Quebec and across Canada, people working in child welfare do remarkable work to protect children and youth from maltreatment and to support families facing complex challenges.
An online lesson takes an extra second to load. The wait may seem trivial, but in a study examining large learning platforms, these brief pauses were linked to unfinished assignments, lower scores and less time spent on the site.
Dairy farmers sometimes use additives in their cattle housing to reduce emissions from slurry. Emissions of substances such as ammonia occur when urine and feces mix on the floor of the housing. At the same time, dairy farmers want to increase the fertilizing value of the manure when it is applied to agricultural land.
Southern Africa has one of the most detailed and elaborate bodies of rock art anywhere in the world, from herds of running antelope to dancing men and humanoid beings with wings, hooves and horns. All are painted with fine brushstrokes or fingers. One thing this art lacks is stencils.
Missing blood pressure medication could mean losing much of its protection against heart attacks and strokes, according to an analysis of more than 91,000 people. Patients who consistently took their medication experienced an 11% reduction in major cardiovascular events, while those who missed too many doses saw little or no measurable benefit.
A major new study reveals that drinking just two alcoholic beverages a day is associated with a 1 in 25 lifetime risk of death from alcohol-related causes, challenging the idea that moderate drinking is harmless. Researchers also found no significant overall health benefits from alcohol, with risks rising as consumption increases.
Astronomers have discovered three actively feeding black holes inside a single galaxy more than 12.5 billion light-years away, revealing a remarkable scene from the universe’s infancy. Two of the black holes are separated by just 620 light-years and are expected to eventually merge, while a third lurks farther away. One weighs an astonishing 80 million suns, and another is growing faster than conventional theories predict.