Health
Cellular Cleanup System Breaks Down in ALS, May Explain Why Motor Neurons Die
In the sacral spinal cord of a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, something strange holds on.
Apr 30, 2026
Health
Your Morning Coffee May Be Activating a Protein That Fights Aging
At a binding affinity of roughly 1.2 micromolar, caffeic acid locks into a protein called NR4A1 with a grip that most pharmaceutical researchers would find encouraging.
Apr 30, 2026
Physics
Physics Law That Turns Every US Election Into a Coin Flip
The numbers keep coming up the same. In 2000, the popular vote margin was half a percentage point; in 2016, just over two; in 2024, 1.5. Three elections across…
Apr 30, 2026
Brain & Behavior
The Brain Has a Warning System for Its Own Electrical Misfires, and We Can Now Read It
Every second of the day, in roughly half of the 50 million people living with epilepsy, the brain stages tiny rebellions.
Apr 30, 2026
Health
Soil Bacteria Kill Insects With a Toxin Related to Diphtheria
Scoop up a handful of garden soil and you are almost certainly holding billions of Streptomyces bacteria.
Apr 30, 2026
Health
Your BMI Doesn’t Predict Which Obesity Complications You’ll Get. A New AI Tool Might.
Sort 200,000 people by body weight and you'd expect a fairly tidy story: heavier means sicker.
Apr 30, 2026
Physics
Breaking the Sound Barrier at Absolute Zero Could Unlock a New Kind of Laser
Chill a sliver of crystal to within a whisker of absolute zero and something strange happens to the electrons inside.
Apr 27, 2026
Physics
Scientists Built a Ball of Chaos in a Tank to Finally Understand Turbulence
On the bottom floor of a University of Chicago research laboratory, there is a tank of water that, several times a week, spontaneously contains a ball of pure chaos.
Apr 27, 2026
Brain & Behavior
The Brain Keeps Its Two Greatest Tricks in Different Rooms. Even in Toddlers.
A three-year-old is watching a cartoon. On screen, a cloud character stuffs a pelican chick with increasingly dangerous animals; the pelican, visibly uncomfortable, tolerates it.
Apr 27, 2026
Health
AI Reads Animal Face to Tell Whether It’s in Pain
The box looks, at first glance, like something from a children's classroom. White plastic, bright orange floor, compact enough to sit on a lab bench without fuss.
Apr 27, 2026
Brain & Behavior
The Silent Frequency That Makes Old Buildings Feel Haunted
The basement feels wrong before you can say why. Something in the air, maybe, or the quality of the silence.
Apr 27, 2026
Physics
AI Spots Hidden Patterns in Quantum Material Maps That Human Eyes Miss
The Fermi surface of a material is, in a sense, a wanted poster for electrons. Drawn from data gathered by firing ultraviolet light at a crystal and measuring…
Apr 27, 2026
Earth & Environment
The Ecological Domino Effect That Could Save the Natural World
In 1995, wildlife managers loaded 14 wolves into crates and drove them into Yellowstone National Park.
Apr 27, 2026
Health
How Hepatitis C Quietly Disrupts the Insulin Signal Before Diabetes Ever Appears
The pancreas sends its message in a wave of insulin, released into a short stretch of blood vessel called the portal vein that runs directly to the liver.
Apr 27, 2026