US to declare ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more species extinct

Factors behind disappearances include too much development, water pollution, logging and competition from invasive species

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Blue Origin ‘gambled’ with its Moon lander pricing, NASA says in legal documents

Why didn’t Jeff Bezos’ space firm pitch a cheaper proposal?

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Happiness in Early Adulthood May Protect Against Dementia

Research has shown that poor heart health can increase the risk for dementia, but a new study shows that poor mental health in early adulthood may increase odds by 73%.

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DeepMind’s AI predicts almost exactly when and where it’s going to rain

The firm worked with UK weather forecasters to create a model that was better at making short term predictions than existing systems.

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Why is there Something Rather than Nothing?

The cosmological argument is a formidable argument for the existence of God. It’s not a single argument but a family of arguments with a similar theme. While there are several different versions of the argument, it’s unfortunately one of the most misunderstood.

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Why NASA Is About to Cut Contact With Its Mars Explorers

NASA is about to cut communications with its Mars rovers and other robotic explorers on the red planet. But don’t be alarmed — there’s a good reason for the move and normal operations will resume soon. The downtime is necessary as the current orbits of Earth and Mars mean the two planets are on opposite sides of the sun, a situation that occurs once every two years.

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VFX Artist Reveals how Many Solar Panels are Needed to Power the ENTIRE World

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Most people aren’t accessing their medical records on their phones

Even as more and more people in the United States start to have access to their medical records online, most are still far more likely to use their computers to log in to patient portals than a smartphone app, according to a new report from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

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Swiss scientists unveil wood floor that generates power when walked on

Scientists in Switzerland have developed a new type of wood flooring that generates power when it's walked on.

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The world's biggest carbon-removal plant just opened. In a year, it'll negate just 3 seconds' worth of global emissions.

Companies are developing technology that sucks carbon dioxide out of the air. But scientists say it can't be scaled up fast enough.

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A Mathematician's Guided Tour Through Higher Dimensions

The concept of a dimension seems simple enough, but mathematicians struggled for centuries to precisely define and understand it.

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‘False choice’: is deep-sea mining required for an electric vehicle revolution?

At the Goodwood festival of speed near Chichester, the crowds gathered at the hill-climb circuit to watch the world’s fastest cars roar past, as they do every year. But not far from the high-octane action, there was a new, and quieter, attraction: a display of the latest electric vehicles, from the £28,000 Mini Electric to the £2m Lotus Evija hypercar. Even here, at one of the biggest events in Britain’s petrolhead calendar, it’s clear the days of the internal combustion engine are numbered.

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How neutron star collisions flooded Earth with gold and other precious metals

The universe is pretty good at smashing things together. All kinds of stuff collides — stars, black holes and ultradense objects called neutron stars. And when neutron stars do it, the collisions release a flood of elements necessary for life.

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China energy crunch triggers shutdowns, pleas for more coal

China faces mounting pressure to ramp up coal imports and ensure supplies to keep lights on, factories open and water flowing as a severe power crunch roils the northeastern industrial heartland.

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Scientists discover new dinosaur species with ‘bizarre’ spiky armour

Spikes in this ankylosaur is peculiar since it is fused to the rib bones and not growing out from skin

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UFOs: Shifting the Narrative from Threat to Science

What stands in the way of the scientific community’s taking on the challenge of discovering if any UFOs are extraterrestrial? UFOs are real. We have no idea what they are or where they come from. This is now an accepted fact, confirmed in a June 2021 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Republican Senator Mitt Romney, one of many officials who read the classified section of that report, told CNN that the objects are not ours, and he doesn’t believe they belong to any foreign adversary.

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Dark skies ordinance to dim Pittsburgh's light pollution

For decades, the stars in our night sky have been blotted out by artificial light—from streetlamps, residential houses, businesses, construction sites, vehicles, billboards and so on. The glow they emit misdirects light up towards the sky, obscuring much of the Milky Way.

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This is the oldest fossil evidence of spider moms taking care of their young

Her corpse, preserved alongside her offspring in amber for 99 million years, is the oldest physical evidence for maternal care in spiders, says Paul Selden, an invertebrate paleontologist at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. This fossil is one of four showing that some ancient spiders guarded their egg sacs and may even have raised their young, Seldon and his colleagues report September 15 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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COVID-19 has caused the biggest decrease in life expectancy since World War II

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered life expectancy losses not seen since World War II in Western Europe and exceeded those observed around the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc in central and Eastern European countries, according to research published today, led by scientists at Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science.

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Five Human Species You May Not Know About

We’re so used to the idea of being the only people around that it seems outlandish to think that not so long ago in our evolutionary history, multiple types of humans occupied various landscapes. The environments of the Paleolithic, or Stone Age, were dynamic. Populations moved, interacted, and sometimes even interbred.

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DNA offers a new look at how Polynesia was settled

Modern genetic evidence suggests that statue builders on islands such as Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, had a shared ancestry.

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We are sleepwalking into AI-augmented work

The narrative that AI won't take our jobs but will instead magically make human work more fulfilling is a dangerous myth.

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Food myths busted: dairy, salt and steak may be good for you after all

A new Swedish study says decades of official dairy wisdom is wrong. Here, a nutrition expert examines more science that questions standard health advice

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Blue Origin plans to blast William Shatner into space on its New Shepard rocket in October, reports say

William Shatner is preparing for a trip to space aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket, according to reports. TMZ first reported that the actor who played Captain Kirk on "Star Trek" is expected to blast off on an upcoming October civilian flight in the New Shepard capsule. It has not yet been announced who will join him.

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Black holes surrounded by massive energy harvesting structures could fuel alien civilizations

Black holes are among the most energetic objects in the Universe. But its immense mass generates a gravitational field so intense that not even light can escape from it. So is it possible that such an advanced alien civilization could use a black hole as a massive source of energy? Scientists say yes.

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Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According To Research

You always knew demonstrating empathy is positive for people, but new research demonstrates its importance for everything from innovation to retention.

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An iron grip could help pee to produce electricity

Catalyst based on nickel and iron allows electrical current to be harvested from the breakdown of urea.

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Anti-SpaceX lobbying campaign casts new light on Elon Musk's Biden beef

Leaked emails allegedly exchanged by a high-level aerospace executive and a top industry lobbyist give new insight into disparaging comments SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made about President Joe Biden over the weekend.

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When It Comes to Communication Skills—Maybe We’re Born with It?

From inside the womb and as soon as they enter the world, babies absorb information from their environment and the adults around them, quickly learning after birth how to start communicating through cries, sounds, giggles, and other kinds of baby talk. But are a child’s long-term language skills shaped by how their brain develops during infancy, and how much of their language development is influenced by their environment and upbringing?

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Fossil Fuel Companies Want Governments To Pay $18 Billion For Bringing In Laws Tackling The Climate Crisis Largely Caused By Fossil Fuel Companies

Back in 2013, Techdirt started writing about the boring-sounding Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system. It was so boring, we decide to use a better term for it: corporate sovereignty. It's an appropriate name, since this system of...

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A Computer Breakthrough Helps Solve a Complex Math Problem 1 Million Times Faster

Researchers have discovered a new technique that can make reservoir computing a million times faster on specific tasks.

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The Long-Lost Tale of an 18th-Century Tsunami, as Told by Trees

Local evidence of the cataclysm has literally washed away over the years. But Oregon’s Douglas firs may have recorded clues deep in their tree rings.

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SpaceX sees growing demand for private Crew Dragon missions

If you would like to see more articles like this please support our coverage of the space program by becoming a Spaceflight Now Member. If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further.

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We created holograms you can touch: You could soon shake a virtual colleague's hand

The TV show "Star Trek: The Next Generation" introduced millions of people to the idea of a holodeck: an immersive, realistic 3D holographic projection of a complete environment that you could interact with and even touch.

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Astronauts Use Augmented Reality to Repair Space Station Equipment

As humanity ventures farther and farther away from Earth, space agencies will need to ensure that astronauts can operate autonomously, because any transmissions to and from mission control will face longer and longer delays.

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Delta has banned more than 1,600 unruly passengers. Now, it wants airlines to share ban lists.

More than 1,600 people have been banned by Delta Airlines since the federal government has required airplane passengers to wear masks — and now, the company wants other airlines to share their ban lists.

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This Is Why Your Car Remote Works From Farther Away If You Hold It To Your Head

You are made of meat, and you can turn your head into an antenna

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Research Suggests that We Assume Overweight People Lack Self-Control

Do you have an anti-fat bias? Suppose you are shown a picture of two new coworkers, one thin and one overweight or obese: What judgments might you make about these two coworkers based on their body weight and body size? For instance, would they appear to you equally competent (i.e. dominant, skillful, intelligent, efficient) and warm (i.e. friendly, trustworthy, kind, helpful, sincere)?

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German auto giants place their bets on the underdog: Hydrogen cars

Germany is betting billions on hydrogen fuels in sectors like steel and chemicals to meet climate targets, but it could take years before any significant sales are made.

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Violent explosion rips open a giant cavity in space and births new stars

There's a monstrous hole in the universe. Long ago, a star blew up with extreme force and obliterated everything in its path. It even swept minuscule particles of space dust out of its way -- but in a surprising turn of events, that space dust collected, collapsed and eventually gave birth to a bunch of baby stars.

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Climate crisis leaving ‘millions at risk of trafficking and slavery’

Droughts and floods forcing workers from rural areas, leading to their exploitation in cities, report warns

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WHO slashes guideline limits on air pollution from fossil fuels

Level for the most damaging tiny particles is halved, reflecting new evidence of deadly harm

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The largest space telescope in history is about to blow our minds

The James Webb Space Telescope will be 100 times as powerful as the Hubble. Here’s what it will see.

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Bill Gates' green tech fund bets on Silicon Valley farming robots

As California struggles with another crippling drought, a Silicon Valley startup that believes robots can grow produce more sustainably said Wednesday it raised $50 million in a funding round led by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

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Bitcoin mining will contribute just 0.9% to total global emissions by 2030, even in the most bullish price scenario: NYDIG

Bitcoin mining will only contribute to 0.9% of global carbon emissions even if the coin's price were to hit a mind-boggling $10 trillion by 2030.

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Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled

The cleanliness of Tokyo, the diversity of New York and the social services of Stockholm: Billionaire Marc Lore has outlined his vision for a 5-million-person "new city in America" and appointed a world-famous architect to design it.

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The Space Review: What is the future of the International Space Station?

Time is not a friend for the International Space Station. American efforts to extend its closing until 2030 possibly beyond are dependent upon evaluations of its continued safety and integrity. Materials in space age under the stresses of the space environment and deteriorate over time.

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Brain Implants Will Arrive Sooner Than You Think. What Does That Mean?

Picture this: It’s June 11, 2046 and a young designer, Vance, wakes up and puts on an earpiece called Eva. The device, a brain-computer interface (BCI) of the future, decodes neural signals in his brain. Using only his thoughts, he asks the device to report his daily notifications and 13 new “thought messages” appear on his phone.

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How Green Is 'Green' Bitcoin Mining?

From upstate New York hydroelectric plants to volcanoes in El Salvador, some Bitcoin miners are looking for cheap energy—just as long as it’s renewable. Bitcoin has earned a notorious reputation for its carbon emissions due to the network's energy use, which resulted in a series of tweets in May by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said his electric car company would no longer accept Bitcoin for payments because of environmental concerns surrounding the use of fossil fuels to mine the asset. U.S. lawmakers, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have also criticized the energy expenditure of the cryptocurrency.

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Covid: Immune therapy from llamas shows promise

A Covid therapy derived from a llama named Fifi has shown "significant potential" in early trials. It is a treatment made of "nanobodies", small, simpler versions of antibodies, which llamas and camels produce naturally in response to infection. Once the therapy has been tested in humans, scientists say, it could be given as a simple nasal spray - to treat and even prevent early infection.

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