Science

​Representative Image of ancient human evolution showing the genetic connections between humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans (AI-generated image) Modern humans already carry small amounts of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA, evidence that our ancestors interbred with other human groups tens of thousands of years ago. Both lineages are known from ancient remains, including fossils from which scientists…

Alyssa Yu (Poolesville High School, Poolesville, MD) A 17-year-old student from Maryland has developed a new mathematical framework to predict how multiple infectious diseases interact and spread through connected populations at the same time. Alyssa Yu, a senior at Poolesville High School in Montgomery County, created the computer model to address a major gap in…

Aashritha Penumudi (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA) By combining laboratory biology with machine learning, a 17-year-old student from Virginia has gained new insights into how protein production can go wrong in cancer cells. Aashritha Penumudi, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, studied a…

Nearly 240,000 miles from Earth, Nasa is preparing a new kind of transportation hub where spacecraft could one day arrive, wait, dock and depart without a single runway, road or parking bay. The Gateway space station, planned for lunar orbit as part of the Artemis programme, is expected to host Orion crew capsules, lunar landers…

A pond in southern Arizona can look quiet from a distance. Beneath the surface, though, the balance between species can be very different from what it was a century ago. Among the animals affected is the northern Mexican gartersnake, a wetland-dependent reptile that hunts along streams, ponds and cienegas across parts of the Southwest.Its decline…

Representative Image (Canva) The human brain is one of the first organs to break down after death, making the discovery of preserved brains at archaeological sites particularly puzzling. Yet thousands of ancient human brains have survived long after other soft tissues disappeared, sometimes remaining as the only preserved soft tissue in otherwise skeletonised remains. New…

Electra takes a different approach to hybrid aviation. Instead of a traditional engine operating the propellers, the aircraft has a gas-powered generator in the nose. (Image: MIT News) A class project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2017 studied a new type of aircraft; now, it has ballooned into a $850 million Ohio…

In Houston, the heat is part of the setting. During the FIFA Fan Festival, though, some of the infrastructure around the event had a rather different experience of the Texas summer. Roofs treated with a thin cooling film stayed dramatically cooler than nearby untreated metal surfaces, even while sitting beneath direct sunlight.The material was not…

Image(s): Left/ Princeton University/Right/Wikipedia While a desk covered in books, papers and unfinished notes may be seen as a sign of an untidy mind, the great scientist Albert Einstein had a different view of this assumption. In particular, he asked, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is…

Porous polymer coating reflects sunlight and releases heat, keeping surfaces cooler than the air As temperatures rise during hot weather, keeping buildings and other structures cool can require large amounts of energy. Air conditioners are a common way to deal with the heat, but they consume electricity and need access to cooling systems and, in…