Science news

This weight-loss hormone may protect the liver even without weight loss

A hormone already known for curbing appetite and supporting weight loss may have a surprising second job: protecting the liver from inflamm…

2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck reveals ancient waterproofing secrets

Scientists analyzing a 2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck found that its hull was coated with pine tar and, in one area, a mixture of tar and b…

A strange new quantum droplet can hold itself together

Two very different types of quantum particles may be able to form stable droplets that hold themselves together, challenging decades of con…

Hidden magnetism inside atoms may explain mysterious gamma rays

For decades, scientists have puzzled over why certain atomic nuclei unexpectedly produce large numbers of low-energy gamma rays. A new expe…

A lost mega-cliff may explain the Grand Canyon’s missing billion years

A colossal cliff system created as the supercontinent Rodinia broke apart may have exposed the heart of the Grand Canyon nearly a billion y…

“One-in-a-million” sea creature fossil preserves soft tissue for 450 million years

Scientists have identified exceptionally rare soft tissue preserved in a 450-million-year-old crinoid fossil, more than 200 million years o…

Ozempic does something unexpected to the brain’s hunger neurons

Ozempic may work in the brain in almost the opposite way scientists expected, activating hunger-linked neurons that appear essential for su…

Schizophrenia’s lost brain connections follow a surprising pattern

Specialized brain scans reveal that schizophrenia is linked to widespread loss of the synapses that connect brain cells, with the left side…

Scientists say the human family tree may need a major rewrite

The human family tree may be due for a major rewrite. Researchers argue that Australopithecus and Paranthropus should be folded into the ge…

Scientists crushed diamond beyond Neptune-like pressures—and solved a 20-year mystery

Extreme experiments have revealed how diamond behaves at crushing pressures beyond those inside Neptune and Uranus, resolving a decades-old…

A SpaceX rocket smashed into the Moon — NASA just revealed the crater

A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 stage crashed into the Moon on Aug. 5, leaving behind a newly formed crater about 60 feet wide. NASA’s Lunar Re…

This total solar eclipse looked strangely golden — here’s why

Spain’s total solar eclipse delivered an unexpected sight: a corona glowing gold instead of its usual pearly white. Because the Sun was set…

MIT physicists discover electrons rebuilding like ice inside a quantum material

MIT physicists found that two electronic phases inside the same quantum material emerge through surprisingly different mechanisms—one smoot…

Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub

The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cort…

Coffee drinkers have less fat, more muscle, and surprising hormone differences

Coffee drinkers may be getting more than an energy boost. A Finnish study found that people who drank more coffee tended to have less total…

Tiny quantum engines reveal useful energy hiding in “waste heat”

A tiny machine made from just an atom and particles of light may sound impossibly simple, but it raises a surprisingly difficult question: …

Pollen has a surprising problem — and honeybees have found a way around it

Honeybees can apparently detect when their food has the wrong balance of essential nutrients and adjust how much they eat to avoid potentia…

This 23-foot crocodylian may have ruled South America’s food chain

Miocene South America was packed with giant prey—and the predators hunting them were just as spectacular. Fossil bite marks suggest crocody…