Science

Marine biologists on the Tara Oceans global oceanographic research expedition have identified nearly 196,000 marine virus species, which vastly exceeds the 15,000 known from prior ocean surveys and the approximately 2,000 genomes available from cultured viruses of microbes. Microbes drive most ecosystems and are modulated by viruses that impact their …

  As the AI hype-cycle has built, we’ve been treated to a plethora of claims about what sorts of improvements and breakthroughs the technology can deliver. One of the most fundamental — and potentially important — has been the idea that we can use AI to find new medicines and …

  Last month, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule successfully flew to the International Space Station, as part of an important test of its flight and landing capabilities. This past weekend, while prepping for launch abort tests to be carried out later this summer, the vehicle catastrophically exploded. Luckily, no one was …

A research team led by Vanderbilt University scientists has identified a set of high-confidence risk genes for schizophrenia. The team’s results support the view that schizophrenia is a developmental disease, one which potentially can be detected and treated even before the onset of symptoms. Wang et al predicted a set …

The fabella (Latin for ‘little bean’), a small bone in a tendon behind the knee, was once rare in humans. Now, a team of researchers from the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, UK, has found that fabellae are becoming more common. Their results, published in the Journal of …

Gravitational (Rayleigh-Taylor, or R-T) instabilities are produced by the interactions of two fluids of different densities that do not mix — oil and water, for example — because the lighter fluid pushes aside the heavier one. Now, a team of researchers from Columbia University and ETH Zurich has observed an …

A new study into one of the world’s oldest types of fish, the coelacanth, illuminates for the first time the development of the brain and skull of this iconic animal and provides new insights into the evolution of the vertebrate skull. A coelacanth. Image credit: Laurent Ballesta, Gombessa expeditions, Andromede …

  As the AI hype-cycle has built, we’ve been treated to a plethora of claims about what sorts of improvements and breakthroughs the technology can deliver. One of the most fundamental — and potentially important — has been the idea that we can use AI to find new medicines and …

  In 2022, if all goes well, NASA will launch Psyche, a space probe intended to visit the asteroid of the same name (16 Psyche is its formal designation). It’s a particularly exciting mission given Psyche’s unique nature and highly unusual composition. The asteroid belt is composed of three types …

A gigantic meat-eating mammal has been discovered — after its jaw, portions of its skull, and parts of its skeleton spent several decades sitting in a museum. Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, a hyaenodont that was larger than a polar bear. Image credit: Mauricio Anton. Dubbed Simbakubwa kutokaafrika (means ‘Big lion from Africa’ …