Scientists made AI agents ruder — and they performed better at complex reasoning tasks
A new project allowed AI chatbots to interrupt, stay silent or speak up the way humans do in conversation, and it made them smarter and more accurate.
Space
The sun just experienced its first 'spotless days' in 4 years — but we're not in the clear yet
Earlier this week, the number of visible sunspots on our home star fell to zero for the first time in 1,335 days. This normally indicates a period of greatly reduced solar activity, but it's still too soon to relax, experts say.
NASA announces sweeping overhaul of Artemis return to moon
A major shakeup to NASA's Artemis program will step rocket launches up to an annual basis, and discard a Boeing-designed upper stage.
Chinese astronauts describe moment a crack was discovered on Shenzhou-20 spacecraft
Taikonauts from the ill-fated Shenzhou-20 mission have described what happened when they discovered cracks on their spacecraft as they prepared to depart China's Tiangong space station last year.
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'Rare and enigmatic' structures found at the Milky Way's center in largest-ever map of its kind
Scientists using the ALMA telescope have created the most-detailed-ever map of the Milky Way's chaotic center. The observations could open a window to the ancient universe as it appeared shortly after the Big Bang.
Planet Earth
Incomplete remains of world's 'youngest' impact crater spotted lurking in Chinese forest
Earth from space A 2021 satellite photo shows off the recently uncovered Yilan crater in China, which is most likely the youngest impact structure on Earth. The incomplete ring is also the largest of its kind and only the second impact crater ever found in the country.
How can deserts form next to oceans?
Deserts are notoriously dry, so why do so many of them border oceans?
Ancient 'Asgard' microbe may have used oxygen long before it was plentiful on Earth, offering new clue to origins of complex life
A new study suggests that ancient microbes once cast as oxygen haters may have actually learned to use the gas, offering a clue to how the first complex cells — and, eventually, all plants and animals — evolved.
Solar flares may be triggering earthquakes, controversial study claims
Researchers have proposed that changes in Earth's ionosphere could trigger electrical forces that nudge fragile areas of the crust into creating an earthquake.
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The biggest trees in the Peruvian Amazon store the most carbon — and they also face the greatest threat from humans
The Amazon's biggest trees store disproportionately more carbon than smaller trees do, new study finds. But in the Peruvian Amazon, large trees are currently prioritized for harvest.
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archaeology
Stone Age boy in Sweden was buried in deerskin and a woodpecker headdress, archaeologists discover
A new method of studying the contents of soil samples has revealed Stone Age people in Sweden were buried in decorated fur-and-feather clothing.
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Babies weren't supposed to be mourned in the Roman Empire. These rare liquid-gypsum burials prove otherwise.
Despite historical records saying otherwise, Roman babies were mourned at death, research into unique plaster burials from York reveals.
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14,000-year-old ivory tools found in Alaska hint at how Clovis ancestors first arrived in the New World
Ancient artifacts unearthed in Alaska revealed migrants from Asia might have come to the Americas via an inland route, and not a coastal path.
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LATEST ARTICLES
Animals
Kazakhstan plants tens of thousands of trees in giant effort to reintroduce tigers
Kazakhstan planted 37,000 seedlings and cuttings in South Balkhash last year to prepare for the return of its tigers, which disappeared more than 70 years ago.
Scientists find genetic 'switch' in mice that turns caring dads into violent brutes
A new study suggests that the Agouti gene in the brains of male African striped mice can act as a molecular "switch," making them caring or violent toward their young.
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95 million-year-old Spinosaurus had a scimitar-shaped head crest and waded through the Sahara's rivers like a 'hell heron'
Researchers have identified a new Spinosaurus species with a blade-like crest in Niger, changing our understanding of dinosaur evolution and behavior.
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Our adorable, noodle-like ancestor had 4 eyes, half-a-billion-year-old fossils reveal
The earliest recorded vertebrates had four eyes to escape predators in the ancient Cambrian ocean, according to half-a-billion-year-old fossils from China that shed light on our evolutionary origins.
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Snakes keep evolving into cannibals — here's what scientists think is going on
A review of over 500 reports of cannibalistic behavior in snakes finds it's appeared multiple times in different evolutionary lineages, leading researchers to hypothesize it's beneficial for snakes under certain circumstances.
Health & Human Behavior
'It doesn't lie. So who are you?': What happens when DNA tests show a woman is not the mother of the child she gave birth to?
"At first, I kind of laughed … But they were serious. I could just see the seriousness in their faces." In this book excerpt, Lise Barnéoud explores the limitations of DNA testing.
COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy may cut risk of preeclampsia
A study of more than 6,500 mothers found that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy significantly lowered the risk of preeclampsia, a dangerous blood-pressure disorder.
A parasite never before seen in humans was behind a woman's lung infection, organ damage and forgetfulness
A woman developed a persistent infection, and doctors couldn't pinpoint the cause for many months.
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Obesity is linked to 1 in 10 deaths from infection worldwide — and scientists are still learning why
A new study finds that people with obesity are more likely to be hospitalized with or die from severe infections.
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Technology
Acing this new AI exam — which its creators say is the toughest in the world — might point to the first signs of AGI
Humanity’s Last Exam is a PhD-level benchmark designed to test the limits of AI reasoning. Although Google’s Gemini 3 scored a staggering 48.4%, experts stress that this does not indicate the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Physics, Math & Chemistry
Science history: Carbon-14 is discovered, opening a window into past civilizations — Feb. 27, 1940
Martin Kamen and Samuel Ruben's discovery of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 in 1940 helped usher in a new era of dating artifacts from past civilizations.
We now know why shoes squeak, and it involves miniature lightning bolts
Harvard engineers think they've found the reason basketball shoes squeak, and it's due to pockets of friction between the rubber and the court.
'Proof by intimidation': AI is confidently solving 'impossible' math problems. But can it convince the world's top mathematicians?
AI could soon spew out hundreds of mathematical proofs that look "right" but contain hidden flaws, or proofs so complex we can't verify them. How will we know if they're right?
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Quizzes & Games
Can you crack our science word of the day puzzle?
Chain word You have six chances to guess our five letter word of the day. Can you figure it out and top the leaderboard?
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Just in time for the total lunar eclipse, this beginner-friendly telescope is now $100 off at Amazon
Deals The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 5-inch Schmidt-Cass is now down to $479 at Amazon, making it easy to enjoy the blood moon eclipse on March 3.
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