Science & Technology

Watching television very often in midlife may be linked to troubling brain changes decades later. In a study of about 1,700 adults, frequent TV viewers later showed smaller brain regions involved in memory, decision-making, and visual processing, along…

Ancient sediment reveals that some of K’gari’s deepest lakes vanished around 7,500 years ago, despite unusually heavy rainfall. The surprising discovery suggests changing winds and future climate shifts could threaten the sacred lakes known as the Eyes…

China’s Chang’e-6 samples have uncovered a surprising difference between the Moon’s two hemispheres. Solar wind particles penetrated deeper into the far-side soil because Earth’s magnetosphere slows the particles that reach the near side. Noble gases l…

Astronomers have found the first confirmed atmosphere around a rocky planet in another star’s habitable zone. The planet, LHS 1140 b, revealed its atmosphere through helium slowly leaking into space. Located 48 light-years away, the world may have pres…

Ancient DNA from China’s vast 4,000-year-old Shimao settlement is revealing how one of East Asia’s earliest complex societies was organized. Researchers found that its people were largely descended from local Yellow River farming communities, but also …

A newly discovered turning point in the Sun’s 11-year cycle could allow scientists to predict future solar activity years earlier than before. At this “switch-off” point, the most violent space weather abruptly ends, and the remaining number of sunspot…

Scientists studying decades of pygmy sperm whale strandings have uncovered three previously unknown types of Helicobacter bacteria hiding in the animals’ stomachs. All four infected whales showed serious digestive damage, including inflammation, ulcers…

Scientists uncovered how influenza A commandeers human cells, including a surprising strategy that dissolves tiny structures in the nucleus and releases proteins the virus may use to reproduce. The detailed molecular map could reveal new drug targets a…

A naturally occurring compound found in foods such as wheat germ, mushrooms, and aged cheese may help older adults build stronger protection after vaccination. In a small pilot trial, researchers gave spermidine supplements to adults over 65 following …

Dying Sun-like stars may not fade away quietly. As blobs of gas erupt unevenly from their swollen surfaces, each burst gives the star a tiny push in the opposite direction. Thousands of these random kicks could eventually break apart distant stellar pa…

A new theoretical study offers a possible explanation for how the Universe can grow more complex without violating the second law of thermodynamics. Using a quantum gravity framework called Gravity from Entropy, mathematician Ginestra Bianconi found th…