Status: Featured

Stanford researchers have developed a brain-computer interface that allowed a woman to “type” 62 words per minute using only her thoughts.

More than any other nation, Japan tends to feel comfortable with the idea of humanoid robots entering the home.

The RISC-V architecture for microchips is transitioning from a novelty to a major player in the tech world.

The FDA has cleared Wandercraft's self-balancing, hands-free Atalante exoskeleton for use during stroke rehab.

The US’s first certification of a small modular reactor design could lead to cheaper, safer nuclear power plants.

Autonomous race cars took to the track at CES, opening new forms of competition and setting speed records.

The US’s first two-story 3D-printed house is being built in Houston, Texas, from a mix of concrete and wood.

BioNTech is sending a modular mRNA vaccine factory that can produce 50 million COVID-19 vaccines annually to Africa.

The device performs similarly to its commercial counterparts but costs one-tenth the price.

NASA has announced that it is developing the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a new space telescope optimized to hunt for extraterrestrial life.

Mercedes-Benz has permission to deploy its Level 3 autonomous driving system, DRIVE PILOT, in Nevada, and California could soon follow.

A new test flight puts the world’s largest plane one step closer to helping the US develop — and respond to — hypersonic weapons.

A “morning after” antiviral nasal spray could be created using new knowledge about how SARS-CoV-2 invades your nose.

SpaceX has signed an agreement with the National Science Foundation detailing its plans to minimize Starlink’s impact on astronomy.

MRI-guided focused ultrasound has been used to deliver chemo into the brain of a pediatric cancer patient for the first time.

French startup Meropy has developed an agricultural robot that can autonomously inspect crops from above and below.

CRISPR-Cas12a2 — a system that causes cells to self-destruct — could lead to new cancer treatments, better diagnostic tests, and more.

The USDA has conditionally approved a honey bee vaccine to protect the important insects from American foulbrood, a brutal bacterial infection.

Biotech startup Rejuvenate Bio says it has extended the lives of elderly mice by 7% using a technique called “partial reprogramming.”

Lecanemab, a new Alzheimer’s medication shown to slow cognitive decline in patients, has been granted accelerated approval by the FDA.

500 billion devices will be online by 2030. Here’s how that connectivity can power a sustainable future.

Maine researchers are testing a new approach to 3D printing homes, swapping out the standard concrete “ink” for a material made of wood waste.

Two upcoming space missions by NASA and ESA could help bring satellite navigation (satnav) to the moon and cislunar space.

Artificial penis tissue that restored erections in injured pigs might one day do the same for people with erectile dysfunction.

Language models could transform the ways we engage with search engines.

A new therapy that treats children with rare mtDNA mutations using mitochondria sourced from their mothers has now been tested in patients.

A new universal flu vaccine candidate that uses mRNA to target all known flu subtypes looks promising in animal models.

After withering criticism from the EPA, Biden officials, and 16 states, the USPS has announced it will order more electric delivery vehicles.

McDonald’s has opened a new highly automated restaurant, giving customers a first look at the potential future of fast food.

A microbiologist devised a quiz that would be appropriate as a final exam for college-level microbiology students. ChatGPT blew it away.

Former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold custom built a camera system to take the world’s highest-resolution pictures of snowflakes.

Quantum simulations have identified a cheap way of extracting hydrogen fuel from liquid ammonia using LED light.

2023 will see the launch of new rockets, the return of OSIRIS-REx, and a mission to Jupiter that could help us find extraterrestrial life.

A roundup of major science and tech achievements that flew under the radar in 2022, including new vaccines, advanced solar cells, and more.

The tech behind ChatGPT isn’t ready to overthrow Google, but it could fix what’s wrong with search engines.

In a small proof-of-concept study, an engineered E. coli was able to reduce levels of a kidney stone-causing chemical.

Baylor College of Medicine researchers have developed an electrode-based “mood decoder” capable of mapping brain activity to mood.

MIT researchers are developing a therapy that uses 40-Hz light and sound to alter Alzheimer’s patients’ gamma waves.

Israeli startup Believer Meats is building the world’s biggest cultivated meat factory in Wilson, North Carolina.

It's made headlines so often that there is no question that 2022 will be remembered as the year that Generative AI stunned the world.

A new type of room temperature sodium-sulfur (RT Na-S) battery could help solve the renewable energy storage problem.

The ad-free Neeva search engine is adding an AI feature that will answer user queries with conversational text, rather than lists of links.

A first-of-its-kind CAR T-cell therapy sent a UK girl’s blood cancer into remission when all other treatments failed.

NASA has announced plans to launch the world’s first asteroid-hunting spacecraft — the $1.2 billion NEO Surveyor — in 2028.

Moderna’s new mRNA cancer vaccine reduced melanoma patients’ risk of recurrence or death by 44% compared to a standard treatment alone.

A lunar lander built by Japanese aerospace startup ispace is poised to be the first private spacecraft to soft land on the moon.

A cheap, readily available drug used to treat liver disease could also prevent COVID-19 infections — regardless of the variant.

Australian researchers have developed a gene drive that renders female mice infertile, opening the door to a new type of pest control.

The Chroma AI's ability to design proteins with structures no one has ever seen before could revolutionize medicine.

A massive, 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite located in Somalia contains two new minerals never seen before in nature.

Startup Archer Aviation has just unveiled Midnight, its first electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle.

Internet users are getting creative with OpenAI’s new chatbot, ChatGPT, using it to plot movies, write menus, and more.

Neoplants' $179 genetically engineered houseplant pulls VOCs from the air 30 times more efficiently than plants found in nature.

The FDA has approved Rebyota, a slurry used during fecal transplant therapy to treat recurrent C. difficile infections.

LA-based startup Bionaut Labs is developing micro-sized medical robots that are guided through the body by magnets.

Tech giant Naver Corporation designed its new headquarters, 1784, to be a "robot-friendly" testing ground for its latest technologies.

Freethink interviews OpenAI’s ChatGPT, an AI chatbot capable of generating conversational text, code, and more in response to prompts.

Rolls-Royce and easyJet have demonstrated for the first time that a modern plane engine can be safely powered by hydrogen fuel.

The game of Diplomacy, based on social skills, has long been seen as a tough challenge for AI. But Meta’s CICERO has proven itself up to the task.

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, we now know more about the atmosphere of WASP-39b, a distant gas giant, than any other exoplanet.

Ultra-thin solar cells could extend the operational lifetimes of satellites while also making missions less costly and more efficient.

Gilmour Space expects to launch its first rocket in 2023, which will add Australia to the short list of nations to send rockets to space.

Northwest Biotherapeutics reports that its new brain cancer vaccine can extend glioblastoma patients’ lives by months or even years.

Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar has demonstrated its first battery-electric large mining truck.

A fully implantable chemo pump could help extend the lives of people with deadly brain tumors while minimizing treatment side effects.

The FDA has approved biotech company CSL Behring's Hemgenix, a hemophilia B treatment that costs $3.5 million per dose.

The new website From Numbers to Names uses facial recognition tech to identify previously anonymous faces in Holocaust photos.

A lab-made version of tetrataenite, a mineral found in meteorites, could replace rare earth elements in the production of permanent magnets.

Two people with binge eating disorder reported that deep brain stimulation helped them control their eating and lose weight in a small study.

A new personalized CRISPR cancer treatment modifies the immune system's T cells to help them recognize a specific patient's tumor cells.

NASA has shared the first images from its Orion spacecraft, which is expected to do a lunar flyby on November 21.

Startup UPSIDE Foods’ lab-grown chicken has passed a key FDA checkpoint, putting cultured meat one step closer to sale in the US.

There are 37 trillion cells in your body. This discovery platform lets scientists map them.

Moderna is reportedly nearing a deal with the DoD to develop mRNA vaccines for biological threats like Ebola

A deep brain stimulator powered by breathing could eliminate the need for patients to undergo regular battery-change surgeries.

Swiss researchers have used epidural electrical stimulation to restore walking in nine people with chronic spinal cord injuries.

Tuberculosis kills over a million people a year. Researchers in Malawi are pushing for a clinical trial that may help change that.

An International Space Station experiment to test 3D-printing in microgravity could help end the organ shortage on Earth.

An antibody designed to prevent malaria infection has proven effective in phase 2 trials in Mali.

General Motors subsidiary Cruise is quickly expanding its commercial robotaxi service to more cities in the US.

Notre Dame researchers have used quantum computing to design a transparent window coating that reflects heat into the atmosphere.

Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on a drug trial that may also put the amyloid hypothesis to its ultimate test.

Chinese researchers have built an autonomous robot to set up an ISRU system for converting lunar soil into fuel and oxygen.

The simple compound costs just a fraction of similar carbon-capturing materials.

Using the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR, researchers are altering crops and animals to add desirable traits and remove undesirable ones.

A newborn hearing screening device made from off-the-shelf earbuds is as effective as expensive commercial options.

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight mission will use reflections from laser light to measure lunar water hidden in permanently shadowed craters.

Dubai built the world’s largest single-site solar plant - and it’s just getting started.

A meteorite impact that caused a marsquake and created a massive new Mars crater could shape our plans to send people to the Red Planet.

A blood vessel isn’t just a simple tube. Researchers at the University of Sydney have developed an implant capable of mimicking its complexities.

Molten salt reactors, a type of nuclear reactor first explored in the 1950s, could be the future of clean energy.

Shutterstock will make AI-generated images available on its website, while also compensating creators for helping train the AI.

The first-in-human trial of FLASH radiotherapy found the experimental cancer treatment to be safe and effective.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite mega-constellation could be used to create a new, more secure global positioning system for the US Army.

Salt Lake City is building a new tiny home village to help Utahns experiencing chronic homelessness get off the street permanently.

By installing a hydroponic farm inside a grocery store, an Egyptian company is combating climate change while delivering a fresher product.

The US is developing a plan to study solar geoengineering, a controversial approach to combatting the effects of climate change.

Aeromine Technologies’ motionless wind energy system promises to increase the amount of renewable energy generated from rooftops.