Neanderthal brains measure up to ours—literally
If you look at a Neanderthal skull and a Homo sapiens skull, they’re visibly different: Neanderthal skulls are lower and longer, whereas ours tend to be rounder. However, those differences…
2026
Put it in pencil: NASA’s Artemis III mission will launch no earlier than late 2027
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told lawmakers on Monday that SpaceX and Blue Origin, the agency’s two lunar lander contractors, say they could have their spacecraft ready for the next Artemis…
Open source package with 1 million monthly downloads stole user credentials
Open source software with more than 1 million monthly downloads was compromised after a threat actor exploited a vulnerability in the developers’ account workflow that gave access to its signing…
Study: Infrasound likely a key factor in alleged hauntings
The next time you walk into a purportedly “haunted” house and sense a ghostly presence, consider that those feelings might be due to vibrating pipes, mechanical or climate control systems,…
National Science Board eviscerated; Trump admin fires all 22 members
All 22 members of the National Science Board were terminated by the Trump administration via a terse email on Friday. The administration has provided no explanation for purging the board,…
Next El Niño could be tipping point for a hotter climate
The Pacific Ocean is a giant climate cauldron, with a powerful heat engine that affects storms, fisheries, and rainfall patterns half a world away, and scientists are watching closely to…
Do humanoids dream of becoming human?
Stories of human-like dolls yearning to become real people turn up everywhere. Pinocchio wants to be a real boy. The robot child in Spielberg’s A.I. wants to be loved like…
New robotic control software avoids jamming their joints
Switching from one smartphone to another is mostly a smooth procedure. You log into your accounts and your apps, preferences, and contacts should sync to the new hardware. But in…
Artemis II broke Fred Haise’s distance record, but he is happy to pass it on
With the circumlunar flight of Artemis II, and the prospect of landing astronauts on the lunar surface within a few years, humanity is preempting an era where the imprint of…
This is who’s developing Golden Dome’s orbital interceptors—if they’re ever built
The US Space Force released a list Friday of a dozen companies working on Space-Based Interceptors for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome initiative, a multilayer defense system to shield US territory…