SCIENCE
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Polymetallic Nodules, a Source of Rare Metals, May Hold the Secrets of ‘Dark Oxygen’
This story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and co-published with the Post and Courier. On July 22, 2024, a team of researchers released a shocking discovery: deep-sea rock concentrations appeared to be producing oxygen in the blackness of the ocean’s abyss. The two of us were in the middle of filming a documentary about these potato-sized…
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How Humility Can Restore Trust in Expertise
Whom would you trust more: an expert who seems to have all of the answers or one who admits what they don’t know? We have spent the past five years studying that question and the many ways people may respond. Our research was sparked by a recurring tension we both noticed early in our academic careers. Our graduate studies made…
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Can U.S. Math Research Survive NSF Funding Cuts?
Mathematics research typically requires few materials. To explore the secrets of prime numbers, investigate unimaginable shapes or elucidate other fundamental mysteries of our universe, mathematicians don’t usually need special labs and equipment or to pay participants in clinical trials. Instead funding for mathematicians goes toward meetings of the mind—conferences, workshops and institutes where they gather for intensive sessions to work…
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Doctors Discover New Blood Type—And Only One Person Has It
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. In a routine blood test that turned extraordinary, French scientists have identified the world’s newest and rarest blood group. The sole known carrier is a woman from Guadeloupe whose blood is so unique that doctors couldn’t find a single compatible donor. The discovery…
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Elon Musk’s New Grok 4 Takes on ‘Humanity’s Last Exam’ as the AI Race Heats Up
New Grok 4 Takes on ‘Humanity’s Last Exam’ as the AI Race Heats Up Elon Musk has launched xAI’s Grok 4—calling it the “world’s smartest AI” and claiming it can ace Ph.D.-level exams and outpace rivals such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s o3 on tough benchmarks By Deni Ellis Béchard edited by Dean Visser Elon Musk released the newest artificial…
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Tracking Coral Reef Health with Bioacoustics
Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. In case you missed it we’re spending this week revisiting some of our favorite episodes from the past year. Today we’re diving into the subject of coral reefs. Even if you’re not an avid snorkeler or diver, chances are that movies and childhood trips to the aquarium have given you…
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Math’s Block-Stacking Problem Has a Preposterous Solution
This Block-Stacking Math Problem Has a Preposterous Solution You Need to See to Believe In principle, this impossible math allows for a glue-free bridge of stacked blocks that can stretch across the Grand Canyon—and into infinity By Jack Murtagh edited by Jeanna Bryner Here’s a mind-blowing experiment that you can try at home: Gather some children’s blocks and place them…
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New Interstellar Object Comet 3I/Atlas—What We Know So Far as It Zips through the Solar System
New Interstellar Object Stuns Scientists as It Zooms through Solar System All eyes are on Comet 3I/Atlas as astronomers worldwide chase the exotic ice ball through our solar system By Nora Bradford edited by Lee Billings A diagram shows the trajectory of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system. It will make its closest approach to the…
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Why Did the Company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline Sue Greenpeace?
Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. In 2016 a group of activists who called themselves water protectors—led by members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe—set up camp on the windswept plains of North Dakota. Their protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline quickly grew into one of the largest Indigenous-led movements in recent U.S. history. At the…
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Meditation’s Benefits Stretch Beyond the Person Who Meditates
Meditation’s Benefits Stretch Beyond the Person Who Meditates Often framed as a boon for personal wellness, meditation helps us connect with and support others, too By Mariah G. Schug edited by Daisy Yuhas Richard Drury/Getty Images Listening to the daily news, with stories of war and conflict, can be disheartening. Unsurprisingly, data suggest that a majority of Americans feel exhausted…
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