Science

Overcharged
Why US Power Bills Are Surging
Americans are paying more for electricity—and rates will keep rising. But after a period of pain, rates should level off as the benefits of a shift away from fossil fuels begin to be felt.

Scientists Made Human Eggs From Skin Cells and Used Them to Form Embryos
The embryos weren’t used to try to establish a pregnancy, but the researchers behind the technique say it could one day be used to address infertility.

Microplastics Could Be Weakening Your Bones, Research Suggests
The review of more than 60 scientific articles showed that microplastics, among other effects, can stimulate the formation of osteoclasts, cells specialized in degrading bone tissue.

What Is Thirst?
The effects of insufficient water are felt by every cell in the body, but it’s the brain that manifests our experience of thirst.

Could These Eye Drops End the Need for Reading Glasses?
Trials of vision-improving substances are showing good results, though so far only two have been authorized for use in the United States.

The EPA Is Ending Greenhouse Gas Data Collection. Who Will Step Up to Fill the Gap?
With the agency no longer collecting emissions data from polluting companies, attention is turning to whether climate NGOs have the tools—and legal right—to fulfill this EPA function.

The LA Fires Spewed Out Toxic Nanoparticles. He Made It His Mission to Trace Them
Nicholas Spada is one of the only scientists in the world using a nuclear x-ray process to study deadly nanoparticles in wildfire smoke. What he’s uncovered in California is a nightmare.

MAHA Wants Action on Pesticides. It’s Not Going to Get It From Trump’s Corporate-Friendly EPA
The White House’s new Make America Healthy Again strategy makes some asks of the EPA—but critics say the agency is too industry-friendly to make a difference.

US Taxpayers Will Pay Billions in New Fossil Fuel Subsidies Thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill
A report finds that President Trump’s flagship legislation will grant $40 billion in new subsidies to the oil and gas industry over the next decade.

Former Google CEO Will Fund Boat Drones to Explore Rough Antarctic Waters
Scientists have a lot of questions about our planet’s most important carbon sink—and a new project could help answer them.

Coke Designed a Plastic Bottle to Sell the World More Soda
The modern 20-ounce bottle launched Cola-Cola’s iconic shape into the plastic era. It also held more Coke than the glass containers and cans that came before. An excerpt from the new book, Consumed.

The World’s Oceans Are Hurtling Toward a Breaking Point
Climate change, pollution, and fishing are pushing oceans closer to their limits at an unprecedented rate. The pressure of that human impact is expected to double by 2050, according to a new study.

Anti-Trump Protesters Take Aim at ‘Naive’ US-UK AI Deal
Thousands marched in London to protest President Donald Trump’s second state visit. Among them were many environmental activists unhappy with Britain’s new AI deal with the US.

5 More Physics Equations Everyone Should Know
These five equations should be part of your mental toolkit. They might even improve your bowling score.

OpenAI Teams Up With Oracle and SoftBank to Build 5 New Stargate Data Centers
The new sites will boost Stargate’s planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts—about equal to the output of seven large nuclear reactors.

Louisiana Hands Meta a Tax Break and Power for Its Biggest Data Center
Mark Zuckerberg’s company faces backlash after rowing back promises to create between 300 and 500 new jobs to man its subsidiary’s new data center.

Big Tech Dreams of Putting Data Centers in Space
A sci-fi idea is gaining supporters, from billionaires to city councils. Whether it’s feasible is another matter.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Wins Contract to Take NASA Rover to the Moon
The Amazon founder’s space company will transport NASA's VIPER rover to the lunar south pole—if it proves capable of delivering a payload to the moon in an upcoming mission.

How to Watch the Orionids Meteor Shower
This long-lasting meteor shower peaks in late October and is known for producing bright “fireball” shooting stars. Here’s what to know about Orionids and other major showers that will appear in 2025.

Astronomers Have Found 6,000 Planets Outside the Solar System
From lava worlds to gas giants, NASA says the variety of these worlds is staggering—and that signs of a further 8,000 distant planets are awaiting confirmation.

A Collision With Another Planet Could Have Allowed for Life on Earth
Analysis by researchers at the University of Bern suggests that water and other volatile compounds arrived on Earth from outer space—specifically via a collision with a Mars-sized planet billions of years ago.

How Energy-Generating Sidewalks Work
These innovative pavings convert the kinetic energy of footsteps into clean electric energy.

This Giant Subterranean Neutrino Detector Is Taking On the Mysteries of Physics
Located in China, Juno is a 17-country collaboration that will try to detect neutrinos and antineutrinos to learn more about their mass.

The Quest to Find the Longest-Running Simple Computer Program
The Busy Beaver Challenge, a notoriously difficult question in theoretical computer science, is now producing answers so large they’re impossible to write out using standard mathematical notation.

The New Math of Quantum Cryptography
In theory, quantum physics can bypass the hard mathematical problems at the root of modern encryption. A new proof shows how.

This Startup Wants to Put Its Brain-Computer Interface in the Apple Vision Pro
California-based Cognixion is launching a clinical trial to allow paralyzed patients with speech disorders the ability to communicate without an invasive brain implant.

A Startup Used AI to Make a Psychedelic Without the Trip
Mindstate Design Labs, backed by Silicon Valley power players, has created what its CEO calls “the least psychedelic psychedelic that’s psychoactive.”

Crispr Offers New Hope for Treating Diabetes
Gene-edited pancreatic cells have been transplanted into a patient with type 1 diabetes for the first time. They produced insulin for months without the patient needing to take immunosuppressants.

Moderna CEO Responds to RFK Jr.’s Crusade Against the Covid-19 Vaccine
Speaking at a WIRED event Tuesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said he was “encouraged” by the company’s dialogue with the FDA—but acknowledged recent setbacks.

This Is the First Time Scientists Have Seen Decisionmaking in a Brain
Twelve laboratories around the world have joined forces to map neuronal activity in a mouse’s brain as it makes decisions.

An AI Model for the Brain Is Coming to the ICU
The Cleveland Clinic and startup Piramidal are developing an AI model trained on brain wave data to monitor intensive care patients.
There's Neuralink—and There's the Mind-Reading Company That Might Surpass It
Unlike Elon Musk's brain-computer interface, Synchron's doesn't require open-skull surgery, and it has an OpenAI chatbot baked in.

How Do You Live a Happier Life? Notice What Was There All Along
Reacquaint yourself with the good things in life by taking the time to appreciate them—and yes, it’s OK to rush through the bad stuff.
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