Parasitic zombie-ant fungus thrives in mosses, too
The parasitic fungi in the Cordyceps genus are a favorite subject of nature documentaries. They’ve also infiltrated popular culture via the zombie-apocalypse video game The Last of Us (2013) and…
Infrared glasses could push the boundaries of human eyesight
A team of engineers created new, Blade Runner-esque eyewear that gives wearers a glimpse into the hidden world of infrared light. Though it’s literally all around us, humans can’t naturally…
Thousands of servers can be backdoored by exploiting buggy motherboard controllers
Thousands of Internet-connected servers sold by the world’s biggest manufacturers can be remotely backdoored by exploiting critical vulnerabilities—some more than a decade old—that lurk deep inside system motherboards, according to…
This Atlantic hurricane season is looking like a dud, but there will be a price to pay
The city of Houston, where I live, has been ground zero for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. So far this year there have been two named storms, Arthur and Bertha,…
D-Wave shows off its new entry in quantum computing race
D-Wave is a bit of an oddity in the quantum computing space, having been founded back in the last century. And its initial offering wasn’t a quantum computer like those…
Plasma waves spotted on sun’s surface for the first time
With the power of the world’s largest solar telescope, astronomers have successfully glimpsed the sun’s roiling surface in never-before-seen detail. In some of these new images, the cresting vortices that…
During WWII, England poisoned sheep with anthrax on an idyllic Scottish island
Any tourists driving the remote coasts of Wester Ross in the northwest Scottish Highlands would be forgiven for overlooking Gruinard Island. After all, this low, featureless hump has nothing on…
Do not share fake images of Jackie the bald eagle
As internet-famous bald eagle mother Jackie continues her treatment for anemia, well wishes keep pouring in from around the globe. She is beloved by millions, but some new challenges are…
Unlike humans, ants work better in larger groups
Collaborative projects can often succumb to the “too many cooks” problem. Task an excessive number of people with achieving a specific goal, and it may not take long until the…
Massive, metal-encrusted megalodon teeth litter deep ocean floor
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a little over halfway through a nearly month-long deep sea survey of the South Pacific near the Cook Islands. Its remotely operated…