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Science news: space, biology, climate, medicine and the research changing how we live.
A new study finds decision signals appear in the brain's very first sensory relay, not just its command centers, upending a core assumption behind modern artificial intelligence.
A new study suggests the maddening low drone that millions swear is coming from outside their homes may actually originate inside their own ears.
By reading nickel isotopes trapped in the impact debris, researchers pinned the Chicxulub catastrophe on a primitive class of meteorite that rarely reaches Earth.
In 225 newborns, boys whose finger proportions signaled more estrogen in the womb had larger heads — evidence for the 'estrogenized ape' idea of how our species evolved its outsized brain.
Adults consuming the most low- and no-calorie sweeteners aged cognitively about 1.6 years faster, researchers reported — with the effect strongest in people under 60 and those with diabetes.
Virginia Tech researchers found that the tiniest plastic particles strengthen the bacterial biofilms lining water pipes, shielding potentially harmful microbes from disinfectants.
Southwest Research Institute scientists link the breakup of the Eulalia parent body near a Jupiter 'escape hatch' to an ancient wave of impacts that may have reshaped early Earth's environment.
Texas A&M researchers report that coffee's polyphenols and diterpenes activate NR4A1, a receptor tied to stress response and healthy aging, with decaf working just as well as regular.
Scientists found that ordinary RNA can self-assemble into large, intricate 3D architectures once thought impossible, hinting the molecule played a bigger role at the dawn of life.
A telltale surge of lithium in the star TOI-5882, some 1,300 light-years away, points to a planet consumed whole — possibly nudged to its doom by a hidden brown-dwarf companion.
Scanning 2.6 million studies published since 1999, researchers found that the share of suspect cancer papers has climbed from about 1% to more than 16% — evidence, they warn, that fraud is being manufactured at industrial scale.
A chemical analysis of Barnard's Star suggests its four sub-Earth planets are packed with a rare deep-Earth mineral, stripped of atmospheres and locked in eternal day and night — utterly hostile to life just six light-years away.
Johns Hopkins researchers found the exact doorway a cancer-linked bacterial toxin uses to attack colon cells, and designed a molecular decoy that shielded mice from the damage.
From compact power for the Moon's shadowed craters to systems for servicing spacecraft in orbit, the agency is pairing its labs and expertise with private industry in a $60 million-plus collaboration.
Researchers at King's College London found that making the mouth more acidic helped the body turn nitrate from vegetables into a compound that relaxes blood vessels, though they warn it is no treatment.
Red geometric panels — some stretching 20 meters — reveal the ceremonial world of hunter-gatherers who roamed Zacatecas between 600 and 1,200 years ago.
By reverse-engineering earrings from a prince's 1545 tomb, researchers in Wuhan cracked 'jin zhe si' — a method that folded ultra-thin, high-purity gold into intricate satin-textured shapes.
The bristle worm Perinereis cultrifera builds jaws from proteins and metal ions that behave like an alloy — yet break the rules of ordinary metals, Vienna researchers report.
Three decades of research show that animals fear humans mainly when we kill — a finding that could reshape how conservationists manage wildlife near people.
A rare joint campaign by the VLA and MeerKAT scanned the ocean-world exoplanet for artificial signals, finding millions of candidates but no sign of a civilization.
The vivid color comes from a summer explosion of chalk-armored plankton so vast it can be seen from space — captured in stunning detail by NASA's new PACE mission.
Frogs from populations that bounce back from the devastating chytrid fungus load up on protective skin peptides while they are still tadpoles, UCL researchers found — arming themselves before the disease strikes at metamorphosis.
In a Spanish study, chimpanzees singled out clear crystals from ordinary stones and inspected them with rapt curiosity — a behavior researchers say may illuminate why our own species has gathered gems for hundreds of thousands of years.
Known to local communities as the 'Likweli,' the striking black primate with vivid orange face patches is only the fifth new monkey species identified in Africa in 75 years — and researchers already say it should be listed as endangered.
The 'lemon frost' leopard gecko develops aggressive, spreading tumors in 80% of individuals — and University of Nottingham scientists found its cancers share key genetic faults with our own.
Penn State researchers discovered that a lattice-like skeleton just beneath a neuron's surface controls what the cell absorbs — and when it weakens, harmful Alzheimer's proteins flood in.
Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines will fly four robotic missions in late 2028, each carrying the same trio of instruments to scout dust, radiation and navigation for a permanent human outpost.
University of Michigan researchers identified specialized neurons wired to the body's finest hairs that trigger mechanical itch — a finding that could unlock new treatments for eczema and chronic itching.
The Ptolemaic- and Roman-era graves at Marina el-Alamein had lain sealed for nearly two millennia, yielding a granite sarcophagus with its lid intact and two dozen golden 'tongues' placed in the mouths of the deceased.
Phase 3 results showed young children with sickle cell disease or beta thalassemia became free of pain crises or transfusions after a single treatment that rewrites their own blood cells.