Ryan Wills for New Scientist; Alamy John Martinis is a hardware guy. He prefers the nitty-gritty of doing physics in the lab over the idealised world of textbooks. But you couldn’t write the quantum computing history books without him: he was central to two of the most pivotal moments in the field. And he is…
February 3, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Spiders taught scientists how to make unsinkable metal Researchers mimicked the air-trapping tricks of diving bell spiders to create aluminum that stays afloat—even when punctured By Deni Ellis Béchard edited by Eric Sullivan An “unsinkable” metal tube floats in distilled water in the lab…
The following is an extract from our Lost in Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we dive into fascinating ideas from around the universe. You can sign up for Lost in Space-Time here. One of the more absurd things about science is that you can spend years studying and reading about the universe’s deepest mysteries – dark matter,…
AI systems are far better than people at spotting deepfake images, but when it comes to deepfake videos, humans may still have the edge. That’s the surprising twist from a new study that pits people against machines in the race to detect digital forgeries. The results suggest humans and machines will need to work together…
As NASA ramps up the preparation to send four people on a trip around the moon and back, a debate is raging among experts and former astronauts over whether the mission’s spacecraft is as safe as the space agency claims. As soon as March, NASA could launch Artemis II. After being lofted into space by…
Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots tested brain-reading technology in a simulator Alireza Boeini/Alamy Fighter pilots in training are having their brainwaves read by AI as they fly in virtual reality to measure how difficult they find tasks and ramp up the complexity if needed. Experiments show that trainee fighter pilots prefer this adaptive system to…
Like wily perfumers, a parasitic beetle’s larvae create floral aromas to lure in bees. Plants are known to cosplay as animals, but this rare discovery could be the first known example of an animal chemically mimicking a plant. Larvae of the European blister beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus) emerge from the ground in spring, climb up grasses…
February 3, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Elon Musk fuses SpaceX with xAI Acquiring xAI could boost SpaceX’s plans to launch a one-million-strong satellite constellation to act as an orbital data center network By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron Kevin Lamarque /Pool/Getty Images Elon Musk’s SpaceX has acquired xAI,…
A meaningful life could be filled with small but kind gestures REUTERS/Eric Gaillard A Dalai Lama once said that our prime purpose in this life is to help others – and he may have been right. Scientists have found that having a positive impact on other people seems to be a key element to feeling…
I didn’t visit a dentist for years in my 20s. I periodically considered setting up an appointment but relocated so frequently that it never quite happened. When, after years of procrastination, I finally wound up in the dentist’s chair, I had racked up a small mountain of dental bills. My teeth, and pocketbook, may never…
