Science

FDA Authorizes Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of a covid-19 vaccine developed by the Massachusetts-based biotech company Moderna. It’s the second such good news in as many weeks, following the FDA’s authorization of Pfizer and BioNTech’s similar mRNA vaccine. Both vaccines look to be highly effective. This emergency use authorization, which…

Health Ed Cara

Space Force Personnel Will Be Called ‘Guardians’ Because Sure, Whatever

Outbound Vice President/gynophobe-in-chief Mike Pence announced at a press conference on Friday that enlisted personnel in the Space Force will be referred to as “Guardians.” I have a lot of questions here. Pence apparently means “guardians” in the sense that Army troops are called soldiers, Naval enlisted are called sailors, Air Force personnel are called…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

This Eerily Festive Scene on Mars Is Genuinely Unnerving

A European satellite has spotted an unbelievably realistic angelic figure—complete with wings, halo, and heart—in the southern polar region of Mars. It looks as if some Martian artist painted the scene to wish us peace and joy for the holiday season, but there’s a perfectly good scientific explanation for the surreal display. This festive scene…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Lunar Samples Land on Earth, Completing China’s Most Challenging ‘Space Adventure’

For the first time in 44 years, a spacecraft has brought lunar samples to Earth. With the Chang’e 5 mission complete, China now joins a very exclusive club, reinforcing the country’s role as a major player in space exploration. China is now only the third country to collect samples from the Moon and bring them…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Shipwreck Filled With Treasure and Elephant Tusks Sheds Light on 16th-Century Ivory Trade

A trove of elephant tusks found in the cargo hold of an old Portuguese shipwreck is yielding new insights into the 16th-century ivory trade and lost African elephants. In 2008, workers with a diamond mining company, while bulldozing a beach in Namibia, accidentally discovered the Bom Jesus, a Portuguese merchant vessel that disappeared in 1533.…

Human History George Dvorsky

3,400 Dead

The U.S. reported precisely 3,400 deaths from covid-19 on Wednesday, a new record in a long list of new records this month. And there’s not much more to say that hasn’t already been said about this avoidable tragedy—the greatest failure of American political institutions to protect human life in recent U.S. history. Every death from…

Health Matt Novak

Waterborne Germs Sicken Millions of Americans a Year, CDC Report Finds

Waterborne illnesses like swimmer’s ear, norovirus, and Legionnaires’ disease sicken over 7 million Americans, hospitalize more than 100,000, and kill nearly 7,000 each year, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. The germs also rack up billions in health care costs. The report, published by the CDC on Wednesday, is…

Health Ed Cara

Japanese Probe Returned More Asteroid Than Expected—Including Pebbles and Gas

It looks like coffee beans in a grinder, but it’s actually bits of dust and pebbles scooped up from the surface of asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese space agency confirmed the presence of these precious samples earlier today, following the recent return to Earth of its Hayabusa2 spacecraft. For only the second time in history, a…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Chemicals in Plastics Are a Global Health Threat, Says New Report

A new scientific report out Tuesday concludes that plastics and the chemicals they leave behind in the environment are a major threat to human health. It identifies over 140 chemicals readily found in plastic products that can harm our bodies, particularly through interfering with the endocrine system. The report is the result of a collaboration…

Health Ed Cara

Illustration: Bob Nicholls/Paleocreations.com 2020

Fancy Dinosaur With Bizarre Shoulder Decorations Was the Peacock of the Cretaceous

The re-analysis of an old fossil has revealed features never seen before in a dinosaur, including a long, fur-like mane along its back and a pair of stiff structures jutting out from its shoulders. Scientists say these elaborate decorations were likely used for display, in what is a very early version of peacocking. Introducing Ubirajara…

Biology George Dvorsky

Nervous About Covid-19 Vaccines? Here’s How Scientists Are Feeling

As the first covid-19 vaccines roll out across the U.S., some of us are chanting “inject me now!”, while others are anxious about potential side effects. I reached out to two dozen scientists and public health experts to see how they’re feeling about these vaccines. I asked them if they’re planning to get a vaccine…

Health Ed Cara

President Trump Backpedals on Plan to Give White House Staffers Priority For Covid-19 Vaccine

President Donald Trump, the person most responsible for the deaths of 300,000 Americans thus far from covid-19, issued a tweet Sunday night announcing that most White House staff would no longer be getting vaccinated for coronavirus before other Americans. The tweet came after a report on Sunday from the New York Times detailed how White…

Health Matt Novak

Finally!

The first shipments of the covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech are reportedly en route to distribution centers nationwide. The first of nearly 3 million doses are expected to be doled out to health care workers and nursing homes within the coming week now that the vaccine has the final nod from the Centers…

Health Alyse Stanley

Virgin Galactic Aborts New Mexico Launch Because of Rocket Motor Issues

Nearly two years after its last flight, Virgin Galactic—the space tourism venture founded by Richard Branson, another billionaire who loves space—aborted the scheduled test launch of its SpaceShipTwo commercial aircraft into suborbital space today because of an issue with its rocket motor. The moment, which was caught on a Twitch livestream by the outlet NASASpaceFlight,…

Space & Spaceflight Jody Serrano

The FDA Has Authorized Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization to the covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, making it the first vaccine against the viral pandemic that will reach the American public. The decision was expected and came soon after a group of outside experts assembled by the FDA voted to…

Health Ed Cara

The Winter Peak of the U.S. Covid-19 Pandemic Will Be Its Deadliest Yet

New modeling from the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention paints a grim outlook for the near-term future of the covid-19 pandemic in the U.S., even as Americans are poised to receive the first doses of two highly effective vaccines soon. This week, the agency released projections that estimate the country will reach over…

Health Ed Cara

Scientists Find Mammoth Seemingly Butchered by Humans on Arctic Island

Kotelny Island sits high up in the Arctic, off the coast of Northern Siberia. It’s cold and barren now, mostly absent of humans. But over 20,000 years ago, this island was home to huge megafauna. Melting permafrost is exposing evidence of this past life, including three large woolly mammoth skeletons discovered there in 2019. One…

Biology Jeanne Timmons

Australia Scraps Homegrown Covid-19 Vaccine After Trial Participants Get ‘False Positive’ Test Results For HIV

The Australian government canceled its homegrown covid-19 vaccine development plans with the University of Queensland on Friday after vaccine trial participants showed “false positives” in tests for HIV. The Australian vaccine was developed using a protein fragment of HIV called Gp41 that’s used to stabilize the inoculation. The Australian vaccine was still in Phase 1…

Health Matt Novak

Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine Wins Crucial Vote, Now One Step Away From FDA Authorization

The covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is one big step closer to reaching the American public. On late Thursday afternoon, a group of outside experts assembled by the Food and Drug Administration largely voted to recommend the vaccine for emergency use in people ages 16 and older. The vote will likely soon be…

Health Ed Cara

Image: BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado Boulder

Space Station Spiders Found a Hack to Build Webs Without Gravity

Experiments on the International Space Station suggest spiders can weave normal-looking webs in space—they just need a surprising resource. Spiders are capable of building typical webs in microgravity, so long as they have access to a light source, according to new research published in Science of Nature. In the absence of gravity, and hence a sense…

Biology George Dvorsky

FDA Authorizes Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use

Space Force Personnel Will Be Called ‘Guardians’ Because Sure, Whatever

This Eerily Festive Scene on Mars Is Genuinely Unnerving

Lunar Samples Land on Earth, Completing China’s Most Challenging ‘Space Adventure’

Shipwreck Filled With Treasure and Elephant Tusks Sheds Light on 16th-Century Ivory Trade

3,400 Dead

Waterborne Germs Sicken Millions of Americans a Year, CDC Report Finds

Japanese Probe Returned More Asteroid Than Expected—Including Pebbles and Gas

Chemicals in Plastics Are a Global Health Threat, Says New Report

Fancy Dinosaur With Bizarre Shoulder Decorations Was the Peacock of the Cretaceous

Nervous About Covid-19 Vaccines? Here’s How Scientists Are Feeling

President Trump Backpedals on Plan to Give White House Staffers Priority For Covid-19 Vaccine

Finally!

Virgin Galactic Aborts New Mexico Launch Because of Rocket Motor Issues

The FDA Has Authorized Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use

The Winter Peak of the U.S. Covid-19 Pandemic Will Be Its Deadliest Yet

Scientists Find Mammoth Seemingly Butchered by Humans on Arctic Island

Australia Scraps Homegrown Covid-19 Vaccine After Trial Participants Get ‘False Positive’ Test Results For HIV

Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine Wins Crucial Vote, Now One Step Away From FDA Authorization

Space Station Spiders Found a Hack to Build Webs Without Gravity

YouTuber Resolves Fraternal Disagreement With Excavator and Hilariously Large Sword

Should We Be Hyped—or Freaked Out—About Nuclear Microreactors?

Roku’s 2025 Streaming Stick HD Is 40% Off to Compete With Amazon Fire TV Stick During Spring Sale

Epstein Victims Sue Google, Claim AI Mode Exposed Personal Information

‘Wicked Spot’ Is a Fun, Sapphic Rom-Com That Yeets a Witch Into the Magical World of Influencer Culture

Anthropic and OpenAI Just Gave Us a Glimpse Into the Future of Model Pricing

Amazon Slashes 63% Off Acer Aspire Desktop for a Limited-Time Spring Sale, With Keyboard and Mouse Included

Smart Glasses Now Have One of the Vision Pro’s Best Features

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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