Science & Technology
Forget LASIK: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or incisions
Scientists are developing a possible alternative to LASIK that reshapes the cornea without cutting it or using a laser. The technique uses a small electric potential and a specially shaped platinum lens to temporarily soften the cornea, allowing it to …
Children at risk for depression get “stuck” on sad faces
Depression may change which emotional faces children notice most, but the pattern appears to depend on family history. Children at higher familial risk became increasingly focused on sad faces, while lower-risk children with rising symptoms paid less a…
Quantum teleportation breakthrough: Scientists crack a 25-year entanglement challenge
Scientists have developed and experimentally demonstrated a long-sought method for identifying W states, an important form of multi-photon quantum entanglement. The technique could make complex entangled systems much easier to measure, opening new poss…
This 245-million-year-old fossil still has its stomach and intestines
A 245-million-year-old marine reptile fossil preserves an astonishing amount of detail, including its stomach, liver, and intestines. The discovery reveals that Austronaga minuta was highly adapted for swimming even though its digestive system remained…
Brain scans reveal which disorders are linked to faster brain aging
A massive MRI study found that Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, psychiatric disorders, and addiction are associated with distinct patterns of accelerated brain aging. The strongest effects appeared in Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impai…
The ice blasting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus is stranger than scientists realized
Enceladus may naturally separate and concentrate chemicals from its hidden ocean as droplets slowly freeze and shatter on their way into space. The process could explain Cassini’s puzzling ice-grain chemistry while giving future spacecraft a powerful a…
Earth’s day isn’t exactly 24 hours. The reason may lie deep inside the planet
Scientists may have solved why the length of Earth’s day changes by a few milliseconds over decades. Subtle shifts in the inner core appear to tug on the mantle, revealing a surprisingly dynamic world thousands of kilometers beneath our feet.
NASA’s Crew-13 could go from Florida to the ISS in under 9 hours
NASA and SpaceX could launch four astronauts to the International Space Station on October 1, with the Dragon spacecraft reaching orbiting outpost less than nine hours after liftoff. Crew-13 will join Expedition 75 after teams complete a final round of…
This suitcase-sized spacecraft could hear the universe before stars existed
CosmoCube will use the far side of the Moon as a shield from Earth’s radio noise to search for a faint signal from the universe before the first stars existed. The suitcase-sized satellite could reveal how the cosmic dark ages ended and how dark matter…
Scientists expected these Galápagos sea turtles to wander. They stayed put
Yellow-morph green sea turtles in the Galápagos surprised scientists by staying remarkably close to home instead of making the long journeys typically associated with sea turtles. Satellite tracking showed that none left the marine reserve during the s…
Hidden stem cells may be fueling spinal stenosis
Scientists have discovered a stem cell that appears to serve as a master source for tendon and ligament cells throughout the body. In lumbar spinal stenosis, these cells become unusually active and may drive the ligament overgrowth that squeezes spinal…
Scientists find new virus behind mysterious tick illness
Scientists have discovered a new tick-borne virus in China that causes flu-like illness and may account for previously unexplained cases of fever, fatigue, digestive problems, and low platelet counts. Most patients with ALTNV alone recovered, but coinf…