Editor’s Choice
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Ancient people relied on genetic variation already present in wild plants to domesticate crops like rice and corn
Oryza rufipogon is an ordinary-looking wild grass found today in parts of China, India and Southeast Asia. More than 8,000…
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I teach doctors how to interpret test results – and the labels ‘normal’ and abnormal’ often hide what matters most
Mr. V felt tightness across his chest. His deepest breaths felt shallow. He sought help at an emergency department, where…
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‘Make this face look gay’: AI models alter faces to give people stereotypical ‘gay,’ ‘straight’ or ‘criminal’ features
Ask an artificial intelligence model whether a face looks gay or straight and it will refuse to answer. But ask…
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Leap seconds have helped keep clocks synchronized with Earth’s rotation, but their time is now over – here’s why
You’re probably used to the month of February having an extra day every four years, during the leap year. Timekeepers…
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IceCube is built on decades of research into tiny ‘ghost particles’ – but it was the first to find neutrinos coming from deep space
All visible matter in the universe – stars, planets, you, me – is made up of some combination of 12…
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Many drugs have mirror chemical structures, one helpful and the other harmful – a Nobel‑winning discovery allows chemists to make either on demand
The effects a drug or chemical compound have on the body depend on how its atoms are arranged in space.…
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AI behaves more like a brain than a database – cognitive science’s role in its origin story helps explain why
When people think about what ChatGPT or other large language models are doing behind the scenes, it’s common to reach…
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Your cells keep a record of every workout you’ve ever done – and those gains persist even after a break from exercise
Have you ever taken months off training – maybe due to an injury, a new baby or crushing work deadlines…
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I’m a physicist who worked on the Nobel‑winning neutrino search – here’s how a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice became a telescope for ghost particles from space
Standing at the South Pole is the next-best thing to being on another planet. If you walk a few hundred…
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Falcon 9 ushered in the modern space economy – retiring it could leave the industry vulnerable
More than 50% of the nearly 330 spaceflights to low Earth orbit in 2025 were done on a SpaceX Falcon…
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We discovered an organism that lives at blistering temperatures – but what allows it to take the heat?
Organisms are products of the environments they live and evolve in. While the physical world is governed by universal laws…
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Driverless 18‑wheelers are on a few highways, but widespread use is a long way down the road
Driverless trucks with artificial intelligence on board could dramatically change the landscape of freight shipping. A few companies have begun…
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Earwax is both slippery and sticky – this weird combo might lead to safer insect repellents
Here’s a bit of a riddle for you: What has the consistency of both toothpaste and dough, can absorb twice…
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We studied 1,584 data centers – and found the buildings full of machines are tied to modest local job growth
Data centers require enormous investments: land, buildings, computer equipment and power infrastructure. Yet, once they’re up and running, they tend…
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Where humans build, mosquitoes follow – bringing dengue, West Nile and other diseases with them
A mosquito buzzing in your backyard may seem like a minor annoyance. But these tiny insects, with their taste for…
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