Science

Even the Tuna Conservationists Want a Piece of This Blockchain Action

It seems like everyone is getting into blockchain these days. After all, companies claim to like “transparency,” “security,” and anything to do with the rollercoaster ride that is bitcoin. But consider this: tuna. There are now several blockchain-based projects that aim to stop illegal tuna fishing, according to a post on The Conversation by Candice…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 22

China Has Already Gene-Edited 86 People With CRISPR

In the U.S., the first planned clinical trials of CRISPR gene editing in people are about to kick off. China, meanwhile, has been racing ahead, having already used the gene-altering tool to change the DNA of dozens of people in several clinical trials. The Wall Street Journal reports that so far in China, at least 86…

Biology Kristen V. Brown Jan 22

The Government Shutdown Won’t Stop the CDC From Tracking the Flu

In the face of the Purge prequel we’re living out right now, it should come as a tiny bit reassuring that not every federal agency has closed—at least not completely—during this government shutdown. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will keep fighting and tracking the flu virus, which is important, because this year’s flu…

Health Ed Cara Jan 22

Google CEO Reaffirms Firing James Damore Was the Way to Go, ‘I Don’t Regret It’

Google CEO Sundar Pichai isn’t rattled by former engineer James Damore’s lawsuit against the tech giant for alleged discrimination against white, conservative men, at least according to remarks he made this week to MSNBC and Recode . Per CNBC, Pichai told both publications that Google’s decision to fire Damore wasn’t politically motivated, and he does not…

Tech News Tom McKay Jan 20

Fed-Up Hospitals Are Starting Their Own Drug Company so They Can Lower Generic Drug Prices

A coalition of U.S. hospitals has decided to take matters into its own hands in the face of ever-rising drug prices: The group is going to start its own drug company to compete with big pharma. On Friday, several of the largest hospital systems in the country announced their plan to pool together their resources…

Health Ed Cara Jan 19

Fool’s Gold Suggests Ancient Life in ‘Oxygen Oases’ Far Before There Was Atmospheric Oxygen

You wouldn’t survive a stint on the hellish early Earth that existed between 2.5 billion and 4 billion years ago. There was almost no breathable free oxygen, for one thing. But scientists may have located an ancient oxygen oasis that existed prior to whatever event first oxygenated our atmosphere. A team of researchers analyzed pyrite,…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 19

The Consumer DNA Testing Market Is Already Booming, but It’s About to Explode

When AncestryDNA sold some 1.5 million of its genetic testing kits over Black Friday weekend, it seemed like clear evidence that after years of being a niche product, consumer DNA testing had finely gone mainstream. The market is expected to keep booming. A new report out from market research firm Kalorama Information estimates that the…

Biology Kristen V. Brown Jan 19

It’s Much Easier to Catch the Flu Than We Realized, New Research Finds

Aside from getting vaccinated (which everyone should), an important strategy to evading the flu is regularly washing your hands and avoiding contact with the sneezes, coughs, and snot of sick people. The logic behind this simple advice is that the influenza virus requires reasonably close contact with the fluids of a plainly sick person in…

Health Ed Cara Jan 19

Our Universe Could Be Littered With Alien Viruses—and We Should Be Looking for Them

It’s generally agreed that some kind of microbe will be the first form of life we discover on another planet, moon, or other space rock. But hardly anyone thinks we’ll find an alien virus, which is weird, given how prolific and successful these biological entities are on Earth. A new study seeks to correct this…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Jan 19

This Picture of Jupiter’s Swirly Blue Pole Is Magnificent

I’m not usually one of those “check out this beautiful planet photo” people (jk, I am). But seriously, the images coming from the citizen scientists looking at Juno data are all incredible. I’m not sure how this latest one can even be real. I mean, yeah, of course it’s real. You’re looking at the planet’s…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 19

NASA Runs Successful First Tests of Compact Nuclear Reactor for Mars Base

If humans have any hope of sticking around on Mars for longer than a few days, they’ll need some form of power to sustain themselves. A successful test in Nevada has demonstrated that that power could be nuclear. NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy successfully performed their initial tests on a miniature nuclear power…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 19

Experts Are Pushing Hard to Redefine What It Means to Be Legally Drunk

A panel of the nation’s top public health experts is pushing for a sweeping set of policy changes and laws aimed at accomplishing an audacious goal—an end to deaths caused by drunk driving. But the recommendation touted as having the largest potential impact on deaths might also be the hardest to sell: lowering the amount…

Health Ed Cara Jan 19

A Toxic Plant Might Help Us Find a Legit Male Birth Control Drug

The quest to find an effective male birth control pill is like Charlie Brown from “Peanuts” trying to kick the football: Always seemingly within grasp, only to be stopped by Lucy (or disappointing study results) at the last second. Most recently, in 2016, a large clinical trial of a contraceptive injection was stopped early, after…

Health Ed Cara Jan 19

Test of Einstein’s Theory Confirms the Sun Is Losing Mass

The best planet, Mercury, is in the midst of telling us something important about our sun: It’s losing mass. Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, has a history of helping us study gravity. Albert Einstein demonstrated that Newton’s laws of motion break down when dealing with very large masses. He created his theory of…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 19

Look at These Insane Waves Battering the Northwest

The West Coast has been the land of apocalypse weather this winter. First fires. Then mudslides. Now huge waves are pummeling the Oregon, Washington and British Columbia coasts along with tropical storm-force winds. Northern California is also getting pounded to the point where a big wave surf competition is on hold because the waves are…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Jan 19

This Pic Pretty Much Sums Up the Winter We’ve Been Having

Taken just yesterday, this satellite photo shows the extent of snow cover in the eastern United States. From Saginaw, Michigan down to Huntsville, Alabama, it’s been that kind of winter. Back in October, meteorologists predicted wetter-than-average winter conditions for large swaths of the United States. That extra precipitation could have come down as rain, or…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jan 19

Astronaut Slated to Be First African-American ISS Crew Member Unexpectedly Grounded

Astronaut Jeanette Epps, slated to be the first African-American crew member on board the International Space Station, will not be flying in 2018, according to a NASA announcement. Epps was slated to be a flight engineer on board the station in a mission scheduled to launch in May. She will instead assume duties in the…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 19

Saturn’s Fascinating Moon Titan Has Yet Another Thing in Common With Earth

Titan—Saturn’s largest moon—is remarkable in that it features a dense atmosphere and stable liquid at the surface. The only other place in the solar system with these particular characteristics is, you guessed it, Earth. Thanks to a pair of new studies, we can add a third trait to this list of shared characteristics: a global…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Jan 18

Apple Health Data Is Being Used in a Murder Trial

In a German murder trial in which an Afghan refugee has been accused of rape and murder, health data from the refugee’s iPhone is being used by the prosecution as proof of murder. Hussein K admitted to raping and strangling 19-year-old medical student Maria Ladenburger in a park in Freiburg, Germany in October 2016 until…

Health Kristen V. Brown Jan 18

There’s No Excuse For Not Getting a Woman Scientist’s Input Anymore

In September, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard visited Colorado State’s Fort Collins campus to give a talk on conservation. After his remarks, a panel featuring local science, business, and policy leaders discussed the implications of climate change. All four panelists were white dudes. So was the moderator. Katarzyna Nowak, a fellow at The Safina Center and…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Jan 18

Even the Tuna Conservationists Want a Piece of This Blockchain Action

China Has Already Gene-Edited 86 People With CRISPR

The Government Shutdown Won’t Stop the CDC From Tracking the Flu

Google CEO Reaffirms Firing James Damore Was the Way to Go, ‘I Don’t Regret It’

Fed-Up Hospitals Are Starting Their Own Drug Company so They Can Lower Generic Drug Prices

Fool’s Gold Suggests Ancient Life in ‘Oxygen Oases’ Far Before There Was Atmospheric Oxygen

The Consumer DNA Testing Market Is Already Booming, but It’s About to Explode

It’s Much Easier to Catch the Flu Than We Realized, New Research Finds

Our Universe Could Be Littered With Alien Viruses—and We Should Be Looking for Them

This Picture of Jupiter’s Swirly Blue Pole Is Magnificent

NASA Runs Successful First Tests of Compact Nuclear Reactor for Mars Base

Experts Are Pushing Hard to Redefine What It Means to Be Legally Drunk

A Toxic Plant Might Help Us Find a Legit Male Birth Control Drug

Test of Einstein’s Theory Confirms the Sun Is Losing Mass

Look at These Insane Waves Battering the Northwest

This Pic Pretty Much Sums Up the Winter We’ve Been Having

Astronaut Slated to Be First African-American ISS Crew Member Unexpectedly Grounded

Saturn’s Fascinating Moon Titan Has Yet Another Thing in Common With Earth

Apple Health Data Is Being Used in a Murder Trial

There’s No Excuse For Not Getting a Woman Scientist’s Input Anymore

Jackery Portable Power Station Bundle With 200W Solar Panel Briefly Drops to Nearly 50% Off on Amazon

‘The Testaments’ Showrunner Lifts the Lid on That Major Reveal

8GB of RAM Hasn’t Hurt MacBook Neo Sales at All

Forget Mac Mini, Kamrui Windows 11 Pro Mini PC Is Practically a Steal at 44% Off for Amazon Prime Members Only

Steven Soderbergh Is Done With His Ben Solo Movie Idea, Now That We All Know About It

Google Nest Doorbell (Wired, 3rd Gen) Hits Its Cheapest Price, Making Home Security More Affordable

Mint Mobile Takes on Big Cable With One Simple Plan, Bundle Internet and Wireless for Just $45/Month

Toshiba 43-Inch Smart Fire TV Crashes 53%, Now Costs About as Much as a Small Portable Monitor

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

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