Research roundup: 6 cool science stories we almost missed
It’s a regrettable reality that there is never enough time to cover all the interesting scientific stories we come across. So every month, we highlight a handful of the best…
2026
Ubuntu infrastructure has been down for more than a day
Servers operated by Ubuntu and its parent company Canonical were knocked offline on Thursday morning and have remained down ever since, a situation that’s preventing the OS provider from communicating…
Area 51 just had 17 earthquakes in a single day
Something strange is happening underneath Area 51. According to United States Geological Survey data earlier this week, over 100 people have reported at least 17 earthquakes within the span of…
Scorpions go terminator mode and reinforce their weapons with metal
Scorpions are armed with dual front pincers (technically known as chelae or pedipalp appendages) and a venom-injecting telson, or stinger, on the posterior of their tail. These things look dangerous…
A brain implant to treat depression gets FDA greenlight to start trials
Earlier this week, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a human trial for a blueberry-sized brain implant intended to target treatment-resistant depression. The brain-computer interface (BCI) developed…
Do not open until July 4, 2276: U.S. buries a ‘zombie-proof’ time capsule
It’s been 250 years since the United States decided it was no longer interested in being part of Great Britain. To celebrate the momentous anniversary—called a semiquincentennial—the non-profit America250 has…
The most severe Linux threat to surface in years catches the world flat-footed
Publicly released exploit code for an effectively unpatched vulnerability that gives root access to virtually all releases of Linux is setting off alarm bells as defenders scramble to ward off…
Researchers try to cut the genetic code from 20 to 19 amino acids
The genetic code is central to life. With minor variations, everything uses the same sets of three DNA bases to encode the same 20 amino acids. We have discovered no…
Tennessee man uses lasers to make the world’s thinnest car
A YouTuber armed with a 1988 Ford Festiva and a workshop full of lasers may have created the world’s thinnest street-legal car—-though it required some serious work to get it…
Surgeon wears Apple Vision Pro to fix cataract in medical first
In a world first, Apple’s commercially lackluster Vision Pro virtual reality headset was successfully used to help perform a cataract surgery. New England-based surgeon Dr. Eric Rosenberg of SightMD claims…