Black holes produce gravitational waves when they collide VICTOR de SCHWANBERG/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Efforts to understand the universe could get a boost from an AI developed by Google DeepMind. The algorithm, which can reduce unwanted noise by up to 100 times, could allow the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) to spot a particular type of…
A website announces, “Free celebrity wallpaper!” You browse the images. There’s Selena Gomez, Rihanna and Timothée Chalamet—but you settle on Taylor Swift. Her hair is doing that wind-machine thing that suggests both destiny and good conditioner. You set it as your desktop background, admire the glow. You also recently downloaded a new artificial-intelligence-powered agent, so…
Fishers unload their catch in the Philippines Nicole Tung These powerful images are the work of photographer Nicole Tung, who spent nine months documenting the human and environmental cost of overfishing in South-East Asia. Since the 1950s fishing has morphed from artisanal trade to industrialised global industry. Overfishing and illegal fishing have also risen to…
September 4, 2025 3 min read Public Health Experts Slam RFK, Jr. after Senate Hearing On Thursday Senators grilled Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., about vaccines and turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health experts responded to Kennedy’s claims on social media in disbelief and anger By Megha Satyanarayana edited by Sarah Lewin…
The first prototype of the liquid crystal bifocals Lin et al./APS 2025 Lenses made with liquid crystals could lead to eyeglasses that can easily switch between correcting near- and far-sightedness. Bifocal glasses date back to the 18th century, and their design has not fundamentally changed since. Typically, the lower halves of their lenses are shaped…
Rodents may have a rule of thumbnails. Many rodents have curved claws that help the animals climb or dig. But most also have flat nails on their thumbs, researchers report in the Sept. 4 Science. This feature may help the critters deftly break open nuts and seeds, a skill that set rodents up to take…
September 3, 2025 4 min read What’s the Smallest Particle in the Universe? The answer to this supposedly simple particle physics question isn’t so simple By Gayoung Lee edited by Lee Billings An artist’s concept of multiple types of subatomic particles. Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library Forget about turtles; for all practical purposes, it’s really particles…
Can psychedelics help treat generalised anxiety disorder? Science Photo Library/Alamy A single dose of the psychedelic drug LSD seems to reduce anxiety without lasting side effects. “Ours is the first modern trial to look specifically at LSD, or any psychedelic, for generalised anxiety disorder,” says Dan Karlin at biotech company MindMed in New York. The…
We may not be living through Earth’s sixth mass extinction event — at least not yet. That’s the conclusion of a new analysis of plant and animal extinctions published September 4 in PLOS Biology. The researchers propose that human-driven extinctions of genera in recent centuries have been rare. But not everyone agrees with that assessment….
Ancient relatives of penguins diversified quickly after the Cretaceous mass extinction event MARK P. WITTON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Four new fossil species from New Zealand illustrate the striking diversity of the earliest penguins, which possessed long, dagger-like beaks they may have used to skewer prey. The new discoveries “provide a stunning glimpse into the earliest evolution…
