Science

A new neural implant is so small it can rest on a grain of salt, yet it can track and wirelessly transmit brain activity for over a year. It’s powered by laser light that safely passes through tissue and communicates using tiny infrared signals. This ultra-miniature device could transform how scientists study the brain without invasive wiring.

NASA has outlined an ambitious strategy to start working on a moon base and send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars by the end of 2028 — leading some observers to wonder whether the timeline was realistic or wise.

Galactic archaeology uses chemical fingerprints in the Milky Way to trace its formation and evolution. Now a team of researchers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian have employed it for the first time in a distant galaxy. This is the first example of extragalactic archaeology, and it relies on help from the powerful Illustris TNG simulations.

Our solar system’s rocky planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – may have formed from two rings around the young sun, rather than a single disc

Infections are increasingly being linked to a higher risk of dementia. In the latest research, scientists have found that being treated in hospital for a severe infection seems to raise the risk of developing the condition over the next five to six years

The days are getting longer. Not by much though since we're talking about fractions of a millisecond, but the rate at which our planet is slowing down is, according to a new study, completely without precedent in the last 3.6 million years. The culprit isn't the Moon, the Sun or anything in Earth's interior. It's us, homo sapiens.

A quarter-century after its first observations of the full Crab Nebula, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken a fresh look at the supernova remnant. The result is an unparalleled, detailed look at the aftermath of a supernova and how it has evolved over Hubble’s long lifetime. A paper detailing the new Hubble observation was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

High in the Chilean Andes, at an altitude where the air is thin and the Sun is intense, a salt flat is hiding something remarkable. Locked inside ancient crystals of gypsum are the preserved remains of microscopic life, fossils of organisms that lived thousands of years ago, sitting alongside communities of microbes that are alive right now. Scientists studying this extraordinary place think it could be the closest thing on Earth to where life might once have existed on Mars.

Detecting gravitational waves has always demanded enormous machines; kilometre scale instruments capable of sensing distortions smaller than a proton. But a new theoretical study suggests the universe may have been leaving its calling card in the light emitted by individual atoms. If the idea holds up, the future of gravitational wave detection might not be sprawling observatories carved into the landscape, but something you could hold in the palm of your hand.

We've always thought that Tyrannosaurus rex was an unchallenged apex predator during the dying days of the dinosaurs. But a fresh look at controversial fossils has prompted palaeontology’s biggest-ever U-turn

CERN is working on building an antimatter delivery service. The project passed a big test by successfully transporting 92 antiprotons around a 4-kilometre loop of road

Heat shield design is one of the most critical aspects of missions that plan to either land on a planet’s (or moon’s) surface or return to our own. Spacecraft that have to survive the fiery, hypersonic plunge through an atmosphere require these systems. For decades, heat shields have been designed to slowly burn away in a process called ablation, which is intended to dissipate the incredible thermal energy or reentry. But, there’s another, less understood phenomenon that affects them too - spallation, where a heat shield sheds material in violent, unpredictable “bursts”. This second mode of destruction seems to be particularly prevalent in oxygen-deprived atmospheres, like that of Titan, where the Dragonfly helicopter plans to land in the not too distant future. A new paper published in Carbon from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) performed some tests showing just how different those heat shields might need to be.

Physicists are grappling with how the increasing presence of AI will change the nature of their profession

Astronomers have finally cracked a decades-old mystery about red giant stars—how material from their deep interiors makes its way to the surface. Using cutting-edge supercomputer simulations, researchers discovered that stellar rotation plays a powerful role in mixing elements across a previously unexplained barrier inside the star.

Astronomers have finally cracked a decades-old mystery about red giant stars—how material from their deep interiors makes its way to the surface. Using cutting-edge supercomputer simulations, researchers discovered that stellar rotation plays a powerful role in mixing elements across a previously unexplained barrier inside the star.

As the science fiction author publishes the latest novel in his Children of Time series, Children of Strife, he talks to Alison Flood about mantis shrimp, the pleasures of sci-fi and why empathy is so important in his writing

Are we evolving to be more stupid? Humans have a relatively high genetic mutation rate, which has been thought to be driving down our physical and mental fitness – but columnist Michael Le Page finds these mutations aren’t the health risk some make them out to be

Scientists have turned simple glass into a powerful quantum communication device that could safeguard data against future quantum attacks. The chip combines stability, speed, and versatility—handling both ultra-secure encryption and record-breaking random number generation in one compact system.

Scientists have found a clever way to supercharge ultra-thin semiconductors by reshaping the space beneath them rather than altering the material itself. By placing a single-atom-thick layer of tungsten disulfide over tiny air cavities carved into a crystal, they created miniature “light traps” that dramatically boost brightness and optical effects—up to 20 times stronger emission and 25 times stronger nonlinear signals. These hollow structures, called Mie voids, concentrate light exactly where the material sits, overcoming a major limitation of atomically thin devices.

Scientists have found a clever way to supercharge ultra-thin semiconductors by reshaping the space beneath them rather than altering the material itself. By placing a single-atom-thick layer of tungsten disulfide over tiny air cavities carved into a crystal, they created miniature “light traps” that dramatically boost brightness and optical effects—up to 20 times stronger emission and 25 times stronger nonlinear signals. These hollow structures, called Mie voids, concentrate light exactly where the material sits, overcoming a major limitation of atomically thin devices.