What's up in
Science
Physics, climate, planetary science, and the research that shapes how we understand the universe and our place in it.
The danger now is not only that the planet is warming, but that the pace of human-driven warming is accelerating — quietly bringing forward the climate deadlines many people assumed were still years away.
Scientists have discovered that air filters can capture DNA floating in the atmosphere and it can identify wildlife, viruses, and even plants linked to drugs nearby
China produces about 99 percent of the world's raw gallium, the metal hidden inside the radio chips of almost every smartphone, and in late 2024 it banned exports of it to the United States as the chip war escalated
Fold a single sheet of paper just 42 times and it would be thick enough to reach the Moon, because each fold doubles the thickness and doubling grows far faster than anyone expects
Meta's smart glasses companion app was downloaded more than 50 million times before anyone disclosed that it already contained three AI models capable of detecting a face, generating a biometric fingerprint, and firing a notification that read 'Person Recognized'
China approved the world's first commercial brain implant before Neuralink — and the key difference is that NEO's sensors rest on top of the brain's protective membrane rather than piercing the cortex itself
If the Sun vanished this instant, we would carry on in full daylight for about eight minutes and 20 seconds before anything seemed wrong, because that is how long its light takes to reach us
The most remote spot in the world is so remote that the nearest humans are often not on Earth at all
Bananas sold in supermarkets are nearly all the Cavendish cultivar, genetic clones of a single plant, which is why a fungal disease called Tropical Race 4 spreading through plantations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America could gradually erase the commercial banana just as Race 1 did its predecessor.
Honey recovered from Egyptian tombs sealed more than 3,000 years ago can remain edible because honey’s low water content, acidic pH, and bee-made peroxide chemistry make it almost impossible for bacteria and fungi to grow
