Science

Side by side of mouse embryos. The one on the left appears to be developing normally, but the one on the right has an extra pair of legs.

How turning off one gene causes mice to grow 6 legs

A study of embryo development in mice led to the creation of a mutant mouse fetus with an extra pair of legs in place of genitals.

Kristin Houser

a rendering of three massive silver containers with "Ark" written on them

Food

This startup is trying to solve lab-grown meat’s biggest problem

A biotech startup has developed a new kind of bioreactor that could help increase cultivated meat production.

Kristin Houser

A man in a suit stands next to a robotic arm with computer-brain interfaces on a stage under blue lighting.

Big Tech

In a future with brain-computer interfaces like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, we may need to rethink freedom of thought

In a future with more “mind reading,” thanks to computer-brain interfaces, we may need to rethink freedom of thought.

Parker Crutchfield

CRISPR

CRISPR sausage gets FDA green light for consumption

The FDA has given Washington State University researchers the green light to feed five gene-edited pigs to people.

Kristin Houser

Aerospace

The paper plane world record has been shattered

Boeing engineers who grew up folding paper planes at family days have broken the distance flight record.

B. David Zarley

A drone in the air with a missile-shaped capsule hanging from its underside

Drones

Watch a startup drop science experiments from 2,000 feet up

To help scientists conduct microgravity experiments, UK startup Gravitilab has developed a drone that drops them from high above the Earth.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

Killing this toxic invasive species could help fix the climate

A robot from Seaweed Generation will drag chunks of sargassum 200 meters deep until they burst and die.

Mike Wehner

Animals

Scientists figure out why tardigrades are nearly indestructible

Tardigrades have been frozen, boiled, exposed to extreme doses of radiation, and remarkably still survive. How?

Philip Perry

A black and white photo of a person in a hospital bed.

Brain

Study finds CPR patients may frequently have near-death experiences

In a study of CPR patients across the US and UK, researchers found new evidence about near-death experiences.

B. David Zarley

Oceans

In the turbulent Drake Passage, scientists find a rare window where carbon sinks quickly into the deep ocean

The Drake Passage is one of the most turbulent ocean regions on Earth, but exploring it could help scientists understand how carbon sinks.

Lilian (Lily) Dove

Animals

Macaque monkeys shrink their social networks as they age — just like elderly people

Macaque monkeys reduce their social networks as they get older – research suggests evolutionary roots of the same pattern in elderly people.

Noah Snyder-Mackler and Erin Siracusa

Planet Earth

Why Earth is the only planet with plate tectonics

Here in our Solar System, of all the known planets, only Earth — not Mercury, not Venus, and not Mars — possesses plate tectonics.

Ethan Siegel

Oceans

Drone discovers weird underwater volcano off California

An un-crewed sailing drone has discovered an unusually shaped underwater volcano, called a seamount, off California.

B. David Zarley

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