Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known hand-held wooden tools ever used by humans, and the discovery is changing what we know about early technology. Found...

An upside-down jellyfish drifts in a shallow lagoon, rhythmically contracting its translucent bell. By night that beat drops from roughly 36 pulses a minute to...

From medical implants to soft robots, many emerging technologies need power sources that are flexible, safe, and able to work inside or near living...

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have demonstrated a surprising new way to compute—by using heat instead of electricity. In a proof-of-concept study published in...

Scientists have uncovered the oldest known genetic diagnosis of a rare inherited disease, thanks to advances in ancient DNA research. By analyzing the DNA of...

Sodium-ion batteries are attracting growing attention as a greener and more affordable alternative to today’s lithium-ion batteries. Sodium is abundant, widely available, and cheaper than...

After a nuclear or radiological accident, knowing who has been exposed to radiation—and how much—can save lives. But traditional ways of measuring radiation dose usually...

More than 200 years after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s death, his curiosity about nature is still leading to new discoveries. Scientists in Germany have now...

The chemical is known as thiepine, or 2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-thione (C₆H₆S), a ring-shaped sulfur-bearing hydrocarbon produced in biochemical reactions. When examining the molecular cloud G+0.693–0.027, a star-forming...

Scientists have created the most detailed map yet of dark matter—the mysterious substance that makes up most of the universe and quietly shapes everything...

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide. For decades, mammography screening has been one of the most important tools...

Physicists at Heidelberg University have developed a new theory that brings together two long-separate ideas in quantum physics, offering a clearer picture of how...

Will quantum computers crack cryptographic codes and cause a global security disaster? You might certainly get that impression from a lot of news coverage, the...

Many of the processes that keep us alive also put us at risk. The energy-producing chemical reactions in our cells, for example, also produce free...

Lithium is an essential material for making batteries that power electric cars, smartphones, and other electronic devices. However, traditional ways of extracting lithium from the...

Sound doesn’t just help us hear music or communicate underwater—it can also be used to move objects without physically touching them. Thanks to new research...

About 400,000 years ago, early humans in Europe, Asia and Africa lived alongside giant straight-tusked elephants, far bigger than their modern-day cousins. Their evolution has...