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February 3, 2026
Top Science Headlines
updated 10:09am EST
Feb. 3, 2026 Plants make chemical weapons to protect themselves, and many of these compounds have become vital to human medicine. Researchers found that one powerful plant chemical is produced using a gene that ...
Feb. 3, 2026 A newly identified tiny dinosaur, Foskeia pelendonum, is shaking up long-held ideas about how plant-eating dinosaurs evolved. Though fully grown adults were remarkably small and lightweight, their ...
Feb. 3, 2026 Researchers have found that manganese, an abundant and inexpensive metal, can be used to efficiently convert carbon dioxide into formate, a potential hydrogen source for fuel cells. The key was a ...
Feb. 3, 2026 Astronomers have produced the most detailed map yet of dark matter, revealing the invisible framework that shaped the Universe long before stars and galaxies formed. Using powerful new observations ...
Feb. 3, 2026 A newly detected gravitational wave, GW250114, is giving scientists their clearest look yet at a black hole collision—and a powerful way to test ...
Feb. 3, 2026 A new brain imaging study reveals that remembering facts and recalling life events activate nearly identical brain networks. Researchers expected clear differences but instead found strong overlap ...
Feb. 2, 2026 Chronic stress can damage the gut’s protective lining, triggering inflammation that may worsen depression. New research shows that stress lowers levels of a protein called Reelin, which plays a key ...
Feb. 2, 2026 As demand for critical metals grows, scientists have taken a rare, close look at life on the deep Pacific seabed where mining may soon begin. Over five years and 160 days at sea, researchers ...
Feb. 2, 2026 SAR11 bacteria dominate the world’s oceans by being incredibly efficient, shedding genes to survive in nutrient-poor waters. But that extreme streamlining appears to backfire when conditions ...
Feb. 2, 2026 MACE is a next-generation experiment designed to catch muonium transforming into its antimatter twin, a process that would rewrite the rules of particle physics. The last search for this effect ended ...
Feb. 2, 2026 MMS has long been promoted as a miracle cure, but new research shows it’s essentially a toxic disinfectant. While it can kill bacteria, it only works at levels that also damage human cells and ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Researchers studying nearly 2 million older adults found that cerebral amyloid angiopathy sharply raises the risk of developing dementia. Within five years, people with the condition were far more ...
Feb. 1, 2026 When the brain rests, it usually replays recent experiences to strengthen memory. Scientists found that in Alzheimer’s-like mice, this replay still occurs — but the signals are jumbled and poorly ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Middle age is becoming a tougher chapter for many Americans, especially those born in the 1960s and early 1970s. Compared with earlier generations, they report more loneliness and depression, along ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Researchers found that small doses of an antibiotic can coax gut bacteria into producing a life-extending compound. In worms, this led to longer lifespans, while mice showed healthier cholesterol and ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Researchers in Bangladesh have identified a bat-borne virus, Pteropine orthoreovirus, in patients who were initially suspected of having Nipah virus but tested negative. All had recently consumed raw ...
Jan. 31, 2026 Statins are a cornerstone of heart health, but muscle pain and weakness cause many patients to quit taking them. Scientists have now identified the precise molecular trigger behind these side ...
Jan. 31, 2026 Lowering salt in everyday foods could quietly save lives. Researchers found that modest sodium reductions in bread, packaged foods, and takeout meals could significantly reduce heart disease and ...
Jan. 30, 2026 People who naturally stay up late may be putting their hearts under added strain as they age. A large study tracking more than 300,000 adults found that middle-aged and older night owls had poorer ...
Jan. 30, 2026 Men start developing heart disease earlier than women, with risks rising faster beginning around age 35, according to long-term research. The difference is driven mainly by coronary heart disease, ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Scientists warn that rapid advances in AI and neurotechnology are outpacing our understanding of consciousness, creating serious ethical risks. New ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Scientists in Sweden and Norway have uncovered a promising way to spot Parkinson’s disease years—possibly decades—before its most damaging symptoms appear. By detecting subtle biological ...
Jan. 28, 2026 A massive international study of more than 3,100 long COVID patients uncovered a striking divide in how brain-related symptoms are reported around the world. In the U.S., the vast majority of ...
Jan. 28, 2026 Where your body stores fat may matter just as much as how much you carry—especially for your brain. Using advanced MRI scans and data from nearly 26,000 people, researchers identified two ...
Jan. 28, 2026 AI may learn better when it’s allowed to talk to itself. Researchers showed that internal “mumbling,” combined with short-term memory, helps AI adapt to new tasks, switch goals, and handle ...
Jan. 27, 2026 A common parasite long thought to lie dormant is actually much more active and complex. Researchers found that Toxoplasma gondii cysts contain multiple parasite subtypes, not just one sleeping form. ...
Jan. 27, 2026 Findings could create new opportunities to treat and study neurodegenerative diseasesScientists discovered that sugar metabolism plays a surprising role in whether injured neurons collapse or cling ...
Jan. 27, 2026 Carbohydrates don’t just fuel the body—they may also influence how the brain ages. A large long-term study found that diets high in fast-acting carbs that rapidly raise blood sugar were linked to ...
Jan. 26, 2026 A new genetic study suggests that obesity and high blood pressure may play a direct role in causing dementia, not just increasing the risk. By analyzing data from large populations in Denmark and the ...
Jan. 26, 2026 Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the ...
Jan. 30, 2026 Two decades after a breast cancer vaccine trial, every participant is still alive—an astonishing result for metastatic disease. Scientists found their immune systems retained long-lasting memory ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Zepbound can drive impressive weight loss, but stopping them is often followed by rapid weight regain. Researchers found that ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Helping care for grandchildren may offer an unexpected boost to brain health later in life. Researchers found that grandparents who provided childcare scored higher on memory and verbal skills than ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Drinking heavily over many years is linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer, especially rectal cancer, according to new research tracking U.S. adults for two decades. People who drank heavily ...
Jan. 28, 2026 Cancer immunotherapy has been a game-changer, but many tumors still find ways to slip past the immune system. New research reveals a hidden trick: cancer cells can package the immune-blocking protein ...
Jan. 28, 2026 Drinking tea, particularly green tea, is linked to better heart health, improved metabolism, and lower risks of chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer. It may also help protect the brain and ...
Jan. 27, 2026 A sweeping scientific review highlights wild blueberries as a standout food for cardiometabolic health. The strongest evidence shows improvements in blood vessel function, with encouraging signs for ...
Jan. 27, 2026 Researchers have discovered a biological switch that explains why movement keeps bones strong. The protein senses physical activity and pushes bone marrow stem cells to build bone instead of storing ...
Jan. 27, 2026 A long-term study found that while a ketogenic diet prevented weight gain, it also triggered major metabolic problems. Mice developed fatty liver disease, abnormal blood fats, and an impaired ability ...
Jan. 27, 2026 A large French study tracking more than 100,000 people over a decade has found that higher consumption of certain food preservatives—commonly found in processed foods and drinks—is linked to a ...
Feb. 2, 2026 A new light-based breakthrough could help quantum computers finally scale up. Stanford researchers created miniature optical cavities that efficiently collect light from individual atoms, allowing ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Researchers have discovered a hidden quantum geometry inside materials that subtly steers electrons, echoing how gravity warps light in space. Once thought to exist only on paper, this effect has now ...
Jan. 31, 2026 A strange, glowing form of matter called dusty plasma turns out to be incredibly sensitive to magnetic fields. Researchers found that even weak fields can change how tiny particles grow, simply by ...
Jan. 31, 2026 nside electrochemical devices, strong electric fields dramatically alter how water molecules behave. New research shows that these fields speed up water dissociation not by lowering energy costs, but ...
Jan. 30, 2026 Researchers have found a way to make ordinary aluminum tubes float indefinitely, even when submerged for long periods or punched full of holes. By engineering the metal’s surface to repel water, ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Order doesn’t always form perfectly—and those imperfections can be surprisingly powerful. In materials like liquid crystals, tiny “defects” ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Scientists have created a device that captures carbon dioxide and transforms it into a useful chemical in a single step. The new electrode works with realistic exhaust gases rather than requiring ...
Jan. 26, 2026 Physicists have discovered that hidden magnetic order plays a key role in the pseudogap, a puzzling state of matter that appears just before certain materials become superconductors. Using an ...
Jan. 26, 2026 For years, scientists noticed that magnetic fields could improve steel, but no one knew exactly why. New simulations reveal that magnetism changes how iron atoms behave, making it harder for carbon ...
Jan. 26, 2026 When materials become just one atom thick, melting no longer follows the familiar rules. Instead of jumping straight from solid to liquid, an unusual in-between state emerges, where atomic positions ...
Feb. 2, 2026 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 team has entered a carefully controlled two-week quarantine as the countdown begins for their journey to the International Space Station. The four astronauts—representing ...
Feb. 2, 2026 NASA’s Perseverance rover has just made history by driving across Mars using routes planned by artificial intelligence instead of human operators. A vision-capable AI analyzed the same images and ...
Feb. 2, 2026 Hidden lava tunnels on the Moon and Mars could one day shelter human explorers, offering natural protection from radiation and space debris. A European research team has unveiled a bold new mission ...
Jan. 31, 2026 Jupiter’s swirling storms have concealed its true makeup for centuries, but a new model is finally peeling back the clouds. Researchers found the planet likely holds significantly more oxygen than ...
Jan. 31, 2026 A young star called V1298 Tau is giving astronomers a front-row seat to the birth of the galaxy’s most common planets. Four massive but extremely low-density worlds orbiting the star appear to be ...
Jan. 28, 2026 Low-Earth orbit is more crowded—and fragile—than it looks. Satellites constantly weave past each other, burning fuel and making dozens of evasive maneuvers every year just to stay safe. A major ...
Jan. 28, 2026 JWST has revealed a strange early universe filled with ultra-bright “blue monster” galaxies, mysterious “little red dots,” and black holes that seem far too massive for their age. A new study ...
Jan. 28, 2026 A repeating fast radio burst has just given up one of its biggest secrets. Long-term observations revealed a rare signal flare caused by plasma likely ejected from a nearby companion star. This shows ...
Jan. 28, 2026 For the first time, astronomers have captured radio signals from a rare exploding star, exposing what happened in the years leading up to its death. The radio waves reveal that the star violently ...
Jan. 27, 2026 Bright white rocks spotted by NASA’s Perseverance rover are rewriting what we thought we knew about ancient Mars. These aluminum-rich clays, called kaolinite, usually form on Earth only after ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Dinosaur footprints have always been mysterious, but a new AI app is cracking their secrets. DinoTracker analyzes photos of fossil tracks and predicts which dinosaur made them, with accuracy rivaling ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Quantum computers need extreme cold to work, but the very systems that keep them cold also create noise that can destroy fragile quantum information. Scientists in Sweden have now flipped that ...
Jan. 27, 2026 Quantum technology has reached a turning point, echoing the early days of modern computing. Researchers say functional quantum systems now exist, but scaling them into truly powerful machines will ...
Jan. 26, 2026 Researchers have demonstrated that quantum entanglement can link atoms across space to improve measurement accuracy. By splitting an entangled group of atoms into separate clouds, they were able to ...
Jan. 25, 2026 A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. ...
Jan. 23, 2026 Blockchain could make smart devices far more secure, but sluggish data sharing has held it back. Researchers found that messy network connections cause massive slowdowns by flooding systems with ...
Jan. 21, 2026 Scientists have discovered that the human brain understands spoken language in a way that closely resembles how advanced AI language models work. By tracking brain activity as people listened to a ...
Jan. 20, 2026 Quantum computers could revolutionize everything from drug discovery to business analytics—but their incredible power also makes them surprisingly vulnerable. New research from Penn State warns ...
Jan. 19, 2026 Physicists have unveiled a new way to simulate a mysterious form of dark matter that can collide with itself but not with normal matter. This self-interacting dark matter may trigger a dramatic ...
Jan. 17, 2026 Engineers have created a device that generates incredibly tiny, earthquake-like vibrations on a microchip—and it could transform future ...
Feb. 3, 2026 Even in some of the most isolated corners of the Pacific, plastic pollution has quietly worked its way into the food web. A large analysis of fish caught around Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu found ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Despite growing into the largest animals ever to walk on land, sauropods began life small, exposed, and alone. Fossil evidence suggests their babies were frequently eaten by multiple predators, ...
Jan. 31, 2026 Termites did not evolve complex societies by adding new genetic features. Instead, scientists found that they became more social by shedding genes tied to competition and independence. A shift to ...
Jan. 30, 2026 On a remote Alaskan island, gray wolves are rewriting the rulebook by hunting sea otters — a behavior few scientists ever expected to see. Researchers are now uncovering how these coastal wolves ...
Jan. 30, 2026 A fast-aging fish is giving scientists a rare, accelerated look at how kidneys grow old—and how a common drug may slow that process down. Researchers found that SGLT2 inhibitors, widely used to ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Small mammals are early warning systems for environmental damage, but many species look almost identical, making them hard to track. Scientists have developed a new footprint-based method that can ...
Jan. 28, 2026 What looked like a pearl necklace on a tiny spider turned out to be parasitic mite larvae. Scientists identified the mites as a new species, marking the first record of its family in Brazil. The ...
Jan. 27, 2026 The Ediacara Biota are some of the strangest fossils ever found—soft-bodied organisms preserved in remarkable detail where preservation shouldn’t be possible. Scientists now think their survival ...
Jan. 26, 2026 Our genome isn’t as peaceful as it looks—some DNA elements are constantly trying to disrupt it. Scientists studying fruit flies discovered that key proteins protecting chromosome ends must evolve ...
Jan. 25, 2026 After analyzing 40 years of tree records across the Andes and Amazon, researchers found that climate change is reshaping tropical forests in uneven ways. Some regions are steadily losing tree ...
Feb. 1, 2026 Old Indian poems and folk songs are revealing a surprising truth about the land. Scientists found that descriptions of thorny trees and open grasslands in texts written as far back as the 1200s ...
Jan. 29, 2026 Scientists studying ancient ocean fossils found that the Arabian Sea was better oxygenated 16 million years ago, even though the planet was warmer than today. Oxygen levels only plunged millions of ...
Jan. 23, 2026 Rare rocks buried deep in central Australia have revealed how a valuable niobium deposit formed during the breakup of an ancient supercontinent. More than 800 million years ago, tectonic rifting ...
Jan. 21, 2026 A new building material developed by engineers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute could change how the world builds. Made using an enzyme that turns carbon dioxide into solid minerals, the material ...
Jan. 21, 2026 Mountain regions around the world are heating up faster than the lands below them, triggering dramatic shifts in snow, rain, and water supply that could affect over a billion people. A major global ...
Jan. 19, 2026 Plastic-coated fertilizers used on farms are emerging as a major but hidden source of ocean microplastics. A new study found that only a tiny fraction reaches beaches through rivers, while direct ...
Jan. 17, 2026 Tiny plastic particles drifting through the oceans may be quietly weakening one of Earth’s most powerful climate defenses. New research suggests microplastics are disrupting marine life that helps ...
Jan. 17, 2026 Scientists are uncovering a hidden and surprisingly complex earthquake zone beneath Northern California by tracking swarms of tiny earthquakes that are far too weak to feel. These faint tremors are ...
Jan. 16, 2026 Hydrogen cyanide, a toxic chemical, may have helped spark the chemistry that led to life. When frozen, it forms crystals with highly reactive surfaces that can drive unusual chemical reactions, even ...
Jan. 15, 2026 New research shows tropical forests can recover twice as fast after deforestation when their soils contain enough nitrogen. Scientists followed forest regrowth across Central America for decades and ...
Jan. 31, 2026 Archaeologists in central China have uncovered evidence that early humans were far more inventive than long assumed. Excavations at the Xigou site reveal advanced stone tools, including the earliest ...
Jan. 27, 2026 Scientists have found compelling new evidence that humans, not glaciers, brought Stonehenge’s bluestones to the site. Using advanced mineral analysis, researchers searched nearby river sediments ...
Jan. 26, 2026 A 5,500-year-old skeleton from Colombia has revealed the oldest known genome of the bacterium linked to syphilis and related diseases. The ancient strain doesn’t fit neatly into modern categories, ...
Jan. 25, 2026 A Roman-era skeleton discovered in southern England has finally given up her secrets after more than a decade of debate. Known as the Beachy Head Woman, she was once thought to have roots in ...
Jan. 25, 2026 Long before farming took hold, ancient Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest were already shaping the future of a wild potato. New evidence shows that this small, hardy plant was deliberately ...
Jan. 23, 2026 A rare fossil discovery in Ethiopia has pushed the known range of Paranthropus hundreds of miles farther north than ever before. The 2.6-million-year-old jaw suggests this ancient relative of humans ...
Jan. 19, 2026 Long before humans became master hunters, our ancestors were already thriving by making the most of what nature left behind. New research suggests that scavenging animal carcasses wasn’t a ...
Jan. 19, 2026 Sensitive hearing may have evolved in mammal ancestors far earlier than scientists once believed. By modeling how sound moved through the skull of Thrinaxodon, a 250-million-year-old mammal ...
Jan. 5, 2026 One of the most complete human ancestor fossils ever found may belong to an entirely new species, according to an international research team. The famous “Little Foot” skeleton from South Africa ...
Jan. 4, 2026 New research shows Karnak Temple was built on a rare island of high ground formed as Nile river channels shifted thousands of years ago. Before that, the area was too flooded for settlement, making ...
Jan. 19, 2026 Researchers found that autistic and non-autistic people move their faces differently when expressing emotions like anger, happiness, and sadness. Autistic participants tended to rely on different ...
Jan. 16, 2026 Humans pay enormous attention to lips during conversation, and robots have struggled badly to keep up. A new robot developed at Columbia Engineering learned realistic lip movements by watching its ...
Jan. 12, 2026 Waiting to eat when your food arrives first feels polite—but it may be mostly for your own peace of mind. Researchers found people feel far more uncomfortable breaking the “wait until everyone is ...
Jan. 9, 2026 A new study finds that TikTok videos about gout frequently spread confusing or inaccurate advice. Most clips focus on diet changes and supplements, while barely mentioning the long-term treatments ...
Jan. 6, 2026 Dogs began diversifying thousands of years earlier than previously believed, with clear differences in size and shape appearing over 11,000 years ago. A massive global analysis of ancient skulls ...
Jan. 5, 2026 Nearly all women in STEM graduate programs report feeling like impostors, despite strong evidence of success. This mindset leads many to dismiss their achievements as luck and fear being “found ...
Jan. 4, 2026 Researchers compared a traditional Chinese medicine, Yueju Pill, with a standard antidepressant and found both reduced depression symptoms. However, only Yueju Pill increased a brain-supporting ...
Jan. 4, 2026 UK experts are warning that access to new weight-loss drugs could depend more on wealth than medical need. Strict NHS criteria mean only a limited number of patients will receive Mounjaro, while many ...
Jan. 1, 2026 Moss may look insignificant, but it can carry a hidden forensic fingerprint. Because different moss species thrive in very specific micro-environments, tiny fragments can reveal exactly where a ...
Dec. 31, 2025 A major update to how obesity is defined could push U.S. obesity rates to nearly 70%, according to a large new study. The change comes from adding waist and body fat measurements to BMI, capturing ...
Jan. 26, 2026 Home fireplaces and wood stoves are quietly driving a large share of winter air pollution, even though only a small number of households rely on wood heat. Researchers found that wood smoke accounts ...
Jan. 19, 2026 As global energy demand surges—driven by AI-hungry data centers, advanced manufacturing, and electrified transportation—researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have unveiled a ...
Dec. 28, 2025 Researchers found that U.S. metal mines already contain large amounts of critical minerals that are mostly going unused. Recovering even a small fraction of these byproducts could sharply reduce ...
Nov. 29, 2025 Millions face Medicare decisions each year, but many don’t take advantage of tools that can save them money and stress. Insurance marketing often overshadows unbiased options like SHIP, leaving ...
Nov. 24, 2025 Europe is investing in a coordinated effort to develop high-power optical vortex technologies and train new specialists in the field. The HiPOVor network unites academia and industry to advance ...
Nov. 21, 2025 Scientists have directly measured the minuscule electron sharing that makes precious-metal catalysts so effective. Their new technique, IET, reveals how molecules bind and react on metal surfaces ...
Oct. 6, 2025 Despite massive technological and industrial changes, American cities have stayed remarkably coherent in how their economies fit together. This hidden order governs how cities diversify, grow, and ...
Aug. 21, 2025 Industrial forests, packed with evenly spaced trees, face nearly 50% higher odds of megafires than public lands. A lidar-powered study of California’s Sierra Nevada reveals how dense plantations ...
Aug. 13, 2025 A sweeping international study has revealed that when faced with complex decisions, people across cultures—from bustling megacities to remote Amazon communities—tend to rely on their own judgment ...
May 27, 2025 A new study shows that people who proactively reorganise their family routines -- such as adjusting childcare schedules or redistributing domestic responsibilities -- are more likely to demonstrate ...
Dec. 24, 2025 AI writing tools are supercharging scientific productivity, with researchers posting up to 50% more papers after adopting them. The biggest beneficiaries are scientists who don’t speak English as a ...
Dec. 13, 2025 Researchers discovered that children who went back to school during COVID experienced far fewer mental health diagnoses than those who stayed remote. Anxiety, depression, and ADHD all declined as ...
Dec. 10, 2025 Researchers discovered that unusually high temperatures can hinder early childhood development. Children living in hotter conditions were less likely to reach key learning milestones, especially in ...
Nov. 30, 2025 Five hundred years ago, a Bible accidentally printed with a backwards map of the Holy Land sparked a revolution in how people imagined geography, borders, and even nationhood. Despite the blunder, ...
Nov. 23, 2025 Ideas about Vikings and Norse mythology come mostly from much later medieval sources, leaving plenty of room for reinterpretation. Over centuries, writers, politicians, and artists reshaped these ...
Oct. 27, 2025 New research shows that the rise of Sumer was deeply tied to the tidal and sedimentary dynamics of ancient Mesopotamia. Early communities harnessed predictable tides for irrigation, but when deltas ...
Oct. 2, 2025 Gaslighting, often seen as a form of manipulation, has now been reframed by researchers at McGill University and the University of Toronto as a learning process rooted in how our brains handle ...
Sep. 19, 2025 A sweeping investigation has revealed widespread fraud in mathematics publishing, where commercial metrics and rankings have incentivized the mass production of meaningless or flawed papers. The ...
Sep. 16, 2025 Preschoolers with ADHD are often given medication right after diagnosis, against medical guidelines that recommend starting with behavioral therapy. Limited access to therapy and physician pressures ...
Aug. 30, 2025 Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have unveiled an AI-powered system designed to expose predatory scientific journals—those that trick scientists into paying for publication without ...