Science

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It’s Turbine Time

The Real Reason Data Center Gas Power Plants Are So Dirty

A massive new gas plant in Texas will be built with much less efficient technology than regular gas plants. It’s far from the only data center power project to rely on dirty turbines.

Molly Taft

Organ Trail

There’s a Fatty Liver Epidemic. AI Could Help Get Ahead of It

David Cox

Total Recall

The Best Photos of the Big Solar Eclipse

Fernanda González

Health

AI Is Helping Solve the Intricate Genetic Puzzle of Schizophrenia

Recent findings provide one of the most detailed pictures to date of the genetic architecture of schizophrenia, opening up new avenues for research into the disorder.

Jorge Garay

A New Device Eases One of the Most Annoying Parts of Routine Physicals

Nobody likes getting a swab shoved up their nose. A startup in Japan has developed a much less intrusive system.

Daisuke Takimoto

Tropical Diseases Like Dengue Fever and Chikungunya Are on the Rise in Europe

Climate change is helping invasive species to not only establish themselves across the continent but to stay alive for longer. Scientists suggest we get used to it.

Victoria Turk

Measles Is Becoming So Common That Treatments May Soon Be Needed

As the US sees its highest number of measles cases in decades and vaccination rates fall, researchers are developing drugs to help those who contract the virus or who are particularly vulnerable.

Emily Mullin

Environment

Two Fossil Fuel Companies Are Betting Big on Data Centers

Chevron and Williams are big winners in the race to power artificial intelligence as they build out gas-fired power plants and pipelines.

Molly Taft

Cougars Lower the Risks of Car Crashes by Hunting Deer

A new study shows how the big cats cause deer to move away from roads and deeper into the forest, where they pose less of a hazard to motorists.

Molly Taft

How Data Centers Broke American Politics

What the Unabomber, Steve Bannon’s tech guy, and Bernie Sanders taught me about the great data center backlash of 2026.

Molly Taft

Contagious Cancer Found in North American Catfish

Scientists identified the first known cancer transmissible among freshwater fish in a lake that spans the US and Canada.

Javier Carbajal

Climate

Spokane Shows What the New Era of Wildfires Looks Like

With rising temperatures and drier conditions, fires are more likely to explode. And with more people living next to forests, the results can be catastrophic.

Sachi Kitajima Mulkey

DeepMind Says Its AI Can Predict Hurricanes Earlier Than Everyone Else

Its WeatherNext model, which will be open-sourced, can accurately predict a storm’s track and intensity using lower-resolution weather data. Researchers don’t yet fully understand how it does this.

Victoria Turk

What’s Behind the Heat Wave Scorching Huge Parts of the World

A combination of El Niño, unusually hot ocean waters, and jet stream changes is sending temperatures soaring in the US, Europe, and Asia.

Molly Taft

How to Bring a Geothermal Well Back From the Dead

Startup Zanskar has created one of the most productive geothermal wells in the US at a power plant that had been in decline for years.

Molly Taft

Energy

AI Could Help Fossil Fuel Companies Create More Emissions

New research finds that by making the fossil fuel industry more productive, AI could help increase carbon emissions by up to nearly 5 percent—vastly outpacing the impact of data centers.

Molly Taft

A California Program Is Bringing Down the Cost of Heat Pumps by Buying Bulk

The approach is like a Costco for heat pumps, and it’s helping make installations more accessible as heat waves worsen.

Chris Baraniuk

China’s EV Market Is Booming. There’s Just One Problem

More EVs reaching the end of their life means more batteries to recycle. But waste management companies have yet to catch up to the new reality.

Andrew Liu

The Solution to the Power Grid's Woes Might Just Be Sitting in Your Driveway

More electric vehicles are becoming capable of providing backup power at a time when the US is increasingly in need of more electrons.

Matt Simon

Space

How and When to View the Perseid Meteor Shower This Week

The Perseids will peak between August 12 and 13. Here’s what time—and where—you can get the best view, and why 2026 will be an exceptional year.

Jorge Garay

Space Agencies Are Trying to Keep Astronauts From Losing Their Sight

A device currently being used to help octogenarians do self-administered eye exams could be part of future space missions to monitor astronauts’ ocular health.

Isabella Ward

The Sharpest Image Ever Taken of the Sun Reveals a Hidden Phenomenon

The photograph, taken in visible light, made it possible to observe for the first time the tiny plasma vortices that had been predicted for more than a century.

Jorge Garay

Here Are the First Images of the Crater Left on the Moon by SpaceX’s Rocket

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute shared images that show the gash on the surface. It’s pretty small.

Jorge Garay

Physics and Math

Microsoft’s Quantum Chief Doesn’t Care That Scientists Don’t Believe His Results

Zulfi Alam thinks his team doesn’t need to “prove” they engineered a new state of matter in their bid to reinvent computing. Science would disagree.

Isabella Ward

What Is Entropy, Really?

Never mind the “heat death of the universe.” Entropy is just a bridge between two levels of reality.

Rhett Allain

Drive Slower, Save Money on Gas. Thanks, Physics!

Planning a Fourth of July getaway? Use less gas—and cut your emissions—by easing up on the pedal.

Rhett Allain

Venezuela’s Powerful Earthquakes Were a Rare ‘Seismic Doublet’

The country was hit hard by a pair of quakes that happened in quick succession and were likely driven by stress being transferred from one part of the fault that runs through the country to another.

Fernanda González

Biotech

Seedless Blackberries and Cherries That Grow on Bushes Vie to Be the Future of Food

Startups and Big Ag are using Crispr gene editing to create crops that taste better and grow on a hotter planet. But will they find a market?

Mike Grunwald

AI Is Dead. Organoids Are Alive

Mini human brains are being grown in labs all over the world. Soon, they could outthink neural networks.

Claire L. Evans

Scientists Used AI to Create 16 New Viruses

The use of AI systems to create viruses opens up new possibilities for combating bacterial resistance. It also raises concerns about the pace at which technology is outstripping regulation.

Fernanda González

Gene-Edited Puppies Will Melt Your Heart—but Won’t Trigger Your Allergies

A startup has created beagles without the gene that causes runny noses and watery eyes for allergy sufferers.

Emily Mullin

Psychology and Neuroscience

Big Tech Wants to Harvest Your Thoughts

Silicon Valley companies are already working on neurotechnology products that track your brain activity. The next privacy frontier might be the things you only think.

James Crawford

Study of Buddhist Monks Finds Meditation Alters Brain Activity

Meditation isn’t thinking about nothing. New research reinforces that it’s a mind-altering, dynamic state that promotes focus, learning, and well-being.

Javier Carbajal