Science

Life After 5,300 Years: Ötzi the Iceman’s Microbes Are Still Growing Published: June 7, 2026, 15:58 UTC Ötzi the Iceman has been frozen in the alpine ice of the Ötztal Alps for 5,300 years. Since his discovery by hikers in 1991, scientists have studied his tattoos, his last meal, his clothing, his weapons, and even […]

CDC Model Warns Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak Could Reach 20,000 Cases Without Rapid Intervention Published: June 7, 2026, 15:44 UTC The ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in Central Africa has already become the largest outbreak of this virus strain in history. Now a new modeling study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published as […]

Are We Getting Close to Safe Heritable Gene Editing? Not Yet, But the Gap Is Narrowing Published: June 7, 2026, 14:25 UTC In 2018, the Chinese researcher He Jiankui announced that he had used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit the genomes of three babies, altering a gene called CCR5 in an attempt to make them resistant to […]

For decades, materials scientists have known that you can control the electronic properties of semiconductors by introducing precisely engineered interfaces. Polarization at semiconductor junctions is the backbone of transistors, LEDs, and solar cells. Metals, by contrast, have been considered stubbornly uniform. Their electronic structure — the dense sea of […]

You reach for chocolate when you are stressed. You crave a steak when you have not had red meat in weeks. The gut is talking to the brain constantly, but scientists have only begun to map the conversation. A study published May 21 in Science reveals a surprisingly direct […]

Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) is defined by the loss of orexin-producing neurons in the hypothalamus, leading to excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, and fragmented nighttime sleep. A definitive diagnosis can be made by measuring orexin levels in cerebrospinal fluid, a test with high specificity. Yet in Australasia, this diagnostic tool […]

Primary dysmenorrhea affects a large proportion of young women, causing recurring menstrual pain that often disrupts sleep, limits physical activity, and reduces quality of life. Pain relievers are the standard approach, but non-pharmacological options are increasingly of interest. A new randomized controlled trial from Turkey examined whether a 12-week […]

When the spinal cord is damaged, the nerve fibers that carry movement signals from the brain rarely grow back. That is why paralysis after spinal cord injury is usually permanent. The neurons themselves do not die, but they lose the ability to extend their axons across the damaged site […]

In 2003, Gloria Mark, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, began measuring how long people could focus on a single task while using digital devices. She set up “living laboratories,” equipping adult volunteers with sensors and trackers to monitor their attention, mood, and behavior throughout the workday. […]

How homing pigeons navigate across hundreds of kilometers to return to their lofts has puzzled scientists for centuries. They use the sun as a compass when it is visible. They use the Earth’s magnetic field when it is not. But the biological hardware that allows them to sense magnetism […]