A lifeline has been extended to the people of Tuvalu, a low-lying Pacific nation where rising sea levels are creating ever more problems. Each year, Australia will grant residency to 280 Tuvaluans. The agreement could see everyone currently living in Tuvalu move within just a few decades. Effectively the world’s first climate migration agreement, the…
A chatbot might not break a sweat every time you ask it to make your shopping list or come up with its best dad jokes. But over time, the planet might. As generative AI such as large language models (LLMS) becomes more ubiquitous, critical questions loom. For every interaction you have with AI, how much…
Astronomers Found the Most Self-Destructive Planet in the Sky This planet triggers flares on its star—spelling its ultimate doom By Jacek Krywko edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier In this artist’s impression, the planet HIP 67522 b sends a wave of energy along magnetic field lines toward the surface of its host star—triggering a massive flare…
The predicted path of A11pl3Z, making it only the third interstellar object ever seen in the solar system CSS, D. Rankin A potential interstellar object has been spotted zipping through our solar system, and amateur and professional astronomers around the world are now racing to train their telescopes in its direction, allowing them to refine…
Meghan Rosen is a senior writer who reports on the life sciences for Science News. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis in biotechnology from the University of California, Davis, and later graduated from the science communication program at UC Santa Cruz.
For Dolphins, Echolocation May Be More Like ‘Touching’ Than ‘Seeing’ Dolphins seem to “feel” their way across the sea with narrow, sweeping beams of sonar By Cody Cottier edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier A pod of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) swimming at the Las Cuevitas dive site in the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Chris A Crumley/Alamy Stock…
When you rub a balloon on your hair to make it float and cling, you might not think of it as one of the deepest – and strangest – mysteries of science. When you reach out to open a door and your finger sparks against the doorknob, that doesn’t seem like an enigma that defies…
The universe follows the arrow of time Wavebreakmedia Ltd DW1802_1 / Alamy Where does time really come from? I am often asked this question after acquaintances or friends of friends learn that I am a physics reporter. There is not a set answer – but to better understand it, it helps to look at the…
See Earth’s Forests as Never Before in Biomass Satellite’s First Images New images from the European Space Agency’s Biomass mission show how the satellite uses advanced radar to map flows of carbon through our planet’s most precious and remote ecosystems By Emma R. Hasson edited by Lee Billings This image features a section of the…
By breaking a law of physics, researchers can improve energy-harvesting devices like solar cells M2020/Shutterstock Researchers have broken a centuries-old law of physics, putting us on a path towards making better energy-harvesting devices, such as solar cells. Linxiao Zhu at the Pennsylvania State University has wanted to break Kirchoff’s law of thermal radiation for almost…
