Chinese astronauts have just created rocket fuel and oxygen in space using a new type of “artificial photosynthesis.” The breakthrough technology, which used fairly basic equipment and minimal energy, could one day be put to use on China’s proposed moon base, which is scheduled to be completed within a decade. The new experiments were carried … Read more
Chemical fingerprints of life have been found on a distant exoplanet by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is the “most promising” evidence yet for alien life, scientists say. These chemicals were detected in the atmosphere of an exoplanet named K2-18b, which is located 124 light-years away from Earth and orbits its star in … Read more
Monstrous dust storms often ravage Mars, engulfing the Red Planet for months. Now, a new study suggests these global storms may be related to a peculiar energy imbalance recently discovered across the Martian surface. The solar system’s planets and moons absorb energy from the sun, but they also emit energy back into space. The difference … Read more
For the many wondrous things humans can do, we can’t fly on our own. But if we could, how big would our wings be? Of course, the answer depends on the person’s size. But someone who’s about 155 pounds (70 kilograms) and at least 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall would have a wingspan of about … Read more
In the quest for a reliable way to detect any stirrings of a sentient “I” in artificial intelligence systems, researchers are turning to one area of experience — pain — that inarguably unites a vast swath of living beings, from hermit crabs to humans. For a new preprint study, posted online but not yet peer-reviewed, … Read more
Scientists say artificial intelligence (AI) has crossed a critical “red line” and has replicated itself. In a new study, researchers from China showed that two popular large language models (LLMs) could clone themselves. “Successful self-replication under no human assistance is the essential step for AI to outsmart [humans], and is an early signal for rogue … Read more
Chemists have invented a new material that could be the future of body armor — chainmail. But this isn’t the Middle Ages all over again; the new super-strong material is made of molecules that are interlocked on a nanoscale, scientists say. Researchers fused lines of molecules like links in a chain to create sheets of … Read more
There’s a lot more to Earth than meets the eye. Far from being just a roundish rock barreling through space, our planet is composed of several layers held together by intense forces of gravity. Our planet’s interior is much too deep and hot to explore with probes, so scientists rely on seismic waves to understand … Read more
A planet-size object that possibly once visited the solar system may have permanently changed our cosmic neighborhood by warping the orbits of the four outer planets, a new study suggests. The findings may shed light on why these planets’ paths have certain peculiar features. For decades, astronomers have debated how the solar system’s planets formed. … Read more
Scientists have just resurrected “ELIZA,” the world’s first chatbot, from long-lost computer code — and it still works extremely well. Using dusty printouts from MIT archives, these “software archaeologists” discovered defunct code that had been lost for 60 years and brought it back to life. ELIZA was developed in the 1960s by MIT professor Joseph … Read more
