SCIENCE
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The Rubin telescope just began the largest cosmic time-lapse in history
The biggest and best movie of the universe began production this week—at the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, rather than in Hollywood. This unique telescope is using the world’s largest digital camera to scan the entire southern sky every few nights, assembling what will become the most lavishly detailed time-lapse of the cosmos humanity has ever envisioned. Rubin…
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How to tell a comet from an asteroid and a meteor from a meteorite
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Have you ever been out at night and seen a streak of light blast across the sky and disappear? Ever wonder where that shooting star came from, or how it got to be in your sky? As the director of the Peters Observatory…
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France just hit its hottest day ever recorded
A historic heatwave is slamming France: On Wednesday, national temperature averages reached an all-time high of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) across day and night, according to Météo-France, the country’s national weather service—breaking the previous all-day temperature record, set in July 2019 at 29.4 degrees C (84.9 degrees F). The national average temperature collates readings from 30 stations across…
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS is almost as old as the universe itself
The latest interstellar visitor to be discovered in our solar system was born somewhere in the universe that was nothing like our home and, according to a new study, a time long before the solar system even formed—in the infancy of the cosmos. Spotted in 2025, 3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar comet that astronomers have identified flying through our solar…
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Scientists pop the cork on the hidden chemistry inside wine bottles
In most lines of work, an office filled with wine bottles might raise eyebrows. At the Food and Wine Science & Technology laboratory, located in the heart of France’s Burgundy wine region, it would be more concerning if there weren’t any. Researchers at the lab study what happens to wine after it leaves the winery, investigating the physical and chemical…
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Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk breach exposed patients’ clinical trial data
Last week Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, the maker of the popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, revealed it had suffered a data breach involving “unauthorized access” to clinical trial data. The company said in a statement and letter to patients that the incident doesn’t appear to pose “any immediate risks” to trial participants. The apparent hack exposed…
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U.S. Industries Push to Revive Tungsten Production Amid Shortage
The conflict in Iran is fueling U.S. chatter about restoring the domestic production of tungsten—a supermetal critical to the defense industry. Tungsten, which is widely used in munitions, reportedly including in Tomahawk missiles, has become exceedingly scarce since China, the leading global producer, put export restrictions on it in 2025. U.S. companies stopped mining tungsten in 2015 when the cost…
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Report of gene-edited human embryos sparks worries about the technology’s future uses
A preprint describing genetically edited human embryos is raising concerns among scientists that the U.S. is becoming more accepting of using gene editing to enhance embryos. “The cat’s out of the bag,” says Alexis Komor, deputy director of the Sanford Stem Cell Innovation Center at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the new finding. A…
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How math can help you decide what to order for dinner
In a scene that could have easily featured in an episode of the US television sitcom The Big Bang Theory, the late US physicist Richard Feynman once turned a visit to a Thai restaurant he often dined at into a mathematical riddle: how adventurous should we be in trying new dishes? Feynman promptly solved this on a sheet of paper.…
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A flesh-eating New World screwworm was just found in a Texas cow—here’s what to know
The first case of the New World screwworm in a U.S. cow in about 60 years has been detected, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed yesterday. It is the first instance of the agricultural pest in cattle since it was eliminated in the U.S. in 1966. Screwworms are parasitic flies that lays their eggs in open wounds or cuts or…
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