When one supernova commenced, it looked like an olive — at least before it got shaken and stirred. This insight, reported in the Nov. 12 Science Advances, comes from new observations taken in the wake of a massive star’s death. As some of the most comprehensive views ever captured of a supernova’s first moments, the…
November 12, 2025 2 min read IEA Now Predicts Oil and Gas Demand Will Rise beyond 2030, Departing from Previous Forecasts The International Energy Agency says weak climate action and energy security fears are effectively delaying peak fossil fuel consumption By Humberto Basilio edited by Claire Cameron Anton Petrus/Getty Images The International Energy Agency predicts…
Molecules can be used for computing Shutterstock/ImageFlow A chemical computer made from a network of enzymes can perform a variety of tasks, like measuring temperatures or identifying substances, without needing to be rebuilt each time. This makes it more like an adaptive biological system than a digital circuit, and offers the promise of linking computers…
After a decades-long hiatus, new world screwworm populations have surged in Central America and Mexico — and are inching northward.
Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman. When someone we love dies we often yearn for the impossible: one more conversation. Maybe we want the opportunity to finally gain clarity about a difficult relationship or to say, “I love you” one last time to someone we cherish. While…
An IBM researcher holding a component of the Loon quantum computer IBM As a contender in the race to build an error-free quantum supercomputer, IBM has been taking a different tack than its most direct competitors. Now, the firm has unveiled two new quantum computers, called Nighthawk and Loon, that may validate its approach and…
Computers can verify mathematical proofs monsitj/Getty Images One of the most controversial debates in mathematics could be settled with the aid of a computer, potentially ending a bitter argument about a complex proof that has raged for more than a decade. The trouble began in 2012, when Shinichi Mochizuki at Kyoto University in Japan stunned…
Aeroplanes are usually defrosted by spraying them with antifreeze Jaromir Chalabala / Alamy Static electricity can remove up to three-quarters of frost from a surface, which could save vast amounts of energy and millions of tonnes of antifreeze currently used to defrost vehicles. In 2021, Jonathan Boreyko at Virginia Tech and his colleagues serendipitously discovered…
November 11, 2025 2 min read Learning Another Language May Slow Brain Aging, Huge New Study Finds A large international study suggests that being multilingual can slow down cognitive aging By Katie Kavanagh & Nature magazine Prostock-Studio/Getty Images Speaking multiple languages could slow down brain ageing and help to prevent cognitive decline, a study of…
The women in my family are hardy, to put it lightly. They have shaken off countless illnesses and powered through pregnancies. They’ve managed this in spite of questionable lifestyle choices (let’s just say a taste for gin and Virginia Slims didn’t stop my grandmother from hitting her 90s before she slowed down). For at least…
