Using vibrations to reveal what lies beneath other planets’ surfaces
Modern space exploration hasn’t quite reached “Star Trek” levels of boldly going where no one has gone before. But if, like the denizens of the USS Enterprise, astronauts one day want to land on an uncharted planet, they’d first…
How hackers are turning grocery store freezers into heaters
By hijacking built-in defrost controls, attackers have spoiled millions of euros’ worth of food across Europe. U.S. military bases may have been hit, too Go to Story
The most impractical calculator in the world only has two buttons
Modern calculators have many buttons, including ones for sine, square root, pi and exponents. But it’s possible just two could suffice Go to Story
Inca children were given hallucinogens before they were sacrificed to the gods
New toxicology tests of Inca mummies found the kids were given not just cocaine but also alcohol and chemicals found in ayahuasca before the ceremony Go to Story
New York’s first measles death in 30 years is an omen of worse to come
A child died after contracting the disease amid the largest national measles outbreak in more than three decades Go to Story
Self-flying cargo planes are coming. Can they be safe with no one aboard?
A start-up valued at more than $1 billion wants to fly cargo planes with no one in the cockpit. First it needs to prove to regulators that they’re safe without a human aboard Go to Story
The 2026 midterms are today-here’s what scientists say is at stake
The second Trump administration has dismantled, disrupted or weakened many of the country’s scientific bodies Go to Story
Do cats fart? An investigation into the mysteries of feline flatulence
Dogs are constantly passing gas. So why don’t cats seem to? Go to Story
This bull and donkey show interspecies homosexual bonds can run deep
The unlikely pairing suggests that social relationships between males are more complex than we thought Go to Story
How to tell if a voice recording is AI-generated
I can clone my voice in seconds—but there are tricks to help tell real speech from AI Go to Story