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September 26, 2026
Top Science Headlines
updated 11:27am EDT
Sep. 26, 2026 Scientists have found that a famous 2-billion-year-old chemical signature, once thought to record a massive global change in Earth’s carbon cycle, may instead have been produced by local magma, ...
Sep. 26, 2026 Scientists discovered that tiny amounts of lead in ancient ink can make writing inside burned papyrus scrolls stand out dramatically in X-ray scans. The technique could help unlock lost Greek and ...
Sep. 26, 2026 Scientists recreated a particle-forming process linked to the extreme physics of the early universe using a 13-ion quantum simulator. The breakthrough suggests quantum computers could eventually help ...
Sep. 26, 2026 Artemis II astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are transitioning to emeritus status at NASA after their historic journey around the Moon ...
Sep. 26, 2026 Tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound, activated calorie-burning brown fat in obese mice, revealing a potential metabolic effect beyond appetite suppression. If confirmed in humans, the finding ...
Sep. 26, 2026 Scientists discovered a surprising energy paradox in the brain during REM sleep, the stage most closely associated with dreaming. Blood supply to the ...
Sep. 25, 2026 Scientists think beneficial fungi could help transform nutrient-poor lunar and Martian regolith into a material capable of supporting crops. By helping plants access nutrients and withstand harsh ...
Sep. 25, 2026 Scientists discovered rare flavoalkaloids in Cannabis leaves for the first time, along with dozens of other phenolic compounds that had never been ...
Sep. 25, 2026 Scientists discovered two strange new sea spider species in the Salish Sea, including a hairy-legged, red-eyed species that can groom itself with ...
Sep. 25, 2026 A major analysis suggests Phelan-McDermid syndrome, a genetic disorder closely linked to autism, may affect about 1 in 7,300 people and more than ...
Sep. 26, 2026 A new analysis suggests mammograms may lead to far less breast cancer overdiagnosis than some earlier studies indicated. Researchers reexamined all ...
Sep. 26, 2026 Researchers found that scented cleaners can react with ozone indoors to create billions or trillions of invisible nanoparticles that can penetrate deep into the lungs. The pollution forms within ...
Sep. 25, 2026 Researchers used CRISPR to remove CD33 from donor stem cells, potentially giving doctors a way to attack aggressive blood cancers without destroying ...
Sep. 24, 2026 A magnet-producing bacterium extended the average lifespan of C. elegans worms by more than 43% while helping protect their neurological and intestinal health. Researchers traced much of the effect ...
Sep. 24, 2026 Scientists discovered a surprising backup system that lets mammalian cells make the essential amino acid cysteine even when the pathways once ...
Sep. 24, 2026 A 70-year-old leukemia drug is still revealing new secrets. Researchers found that removing a protein called NUDT5 protected cells from the drug, even though simply blocking the protein had little ...
Sep. 24, 2026 A newly identified breakdown in communication between nerves and muscles could help explain why people lose strength as they age. Researchers were able to improve muscle strength in an animal model ...
Sep. 23, 2026 A large study tracking more than 95,000 people suggests that how you sleep may be linked to your risk of developing dozens of diseases. People who spent more time in REM sleep had lower risks of 83 ...
Sep. 23, 2026 Children taking GLP-1 medications (such as Victoza, Saxenda, Trulicity, and Ozempic) for weight loss, prediabetes, or type 2 diabetes may face an ...
Sep. 23, 2026 A major Swedish study of 3.7 million people has found that rare TORCH infections passed from a pregnant woman to the fetus are linked to much higher risks of autism and intellectual disability later ...
Sep. 24, 2026 The brain may have a built-in way to quickly settle disagreements between regions processing the same scene. Researchers found that matching signals ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Caffeine may make sleep less restorative even when you fall asleep normally and stay in bed for eight hours, with EEG recordings revealing fewer of the slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Researchers have found evidence that long COVID may damage dopamine releasing neurons in the brain, potentially explaining persistent fatigue, low motivation, slowed movement, and memory ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Stem cell transplants helped regenerate stroke-damaged brain tissue in mice, producing new neurons and restoring lost motor function. The treatment also improved blood vessels, inflammation, and the ...
Sep. 21, 2026 A new needle-thin brain implant can record neural activity, deliver drugs, and stimulate multiple brain regions using a single flexible fiber. ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Scientists have found that the human brain develops from two distinct cellular systems, suggesting that evolution fused together two ancient nervous ...
Sep. 19, 2026 Complex systems may work better when their parts are not perfectly alike. Northwestern physicists found that carefully balanced variation, or “disorder,” can make networks such as power grids, ...
Sep. 18, 2026 Newer blood thinners may do more than prevent strokes in people with Alzheimer’s disease and atrial fibrillation. Researchers found that patients ...
Sep. 17, 2026 Scientists discovered that brain-cell axons may not be smooth tubes as textbooks have shown for more than a century, but instead naturally resemble strings of tiny pearls. Those pearl-like structures ...
Sep. 16, 2026 Scientists discovered a hidden “immune organ” inside the skull that acts as a rapid first responder against brain cancer in mice. Strengthening this local immune defense improved tumor rejection ...
Sep. 22, 2026 A minimally invasive procedure called genicular artery embolization could offer a new middle ground between conservative treatments and knee replacement for osteoarthritis. By blocking tiny blood ...
Sep. 21, 2026 A large study suggests the cardiovascular benefits of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound can disappear surprisingly quickly when treatment stops. After two years off the ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Chronic inflammation tied to stress, lifestyle, mental health, and socioeconomic conditions may silently change the heart for years before any symptoms appear. People with the highest inflammation ...
Sep. 20, 2026 A sweeping review of more than 153,000 adults found that calcium and vitamin D supplements, alone or together, do little to prevent fractures or ...
Sep. 20, 2026 Common preservatives hiding in processed foods may carry unexpected heart risks, with heavy consumption linked to substantially higher rates of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. ...
Sep. 17, 2026 Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications can improve blood sugar, weight, and cardiovascular health, but researchers found little evidence that they also improve mental health, employment, marriage, or ...
Sep. 17, 2026 A kimchi-derived bacterium can bind to nanoplastics under gut-like conditions and may help carry them out of the body. In mice, the probiotic more than doubled the amount of nanoplastics detected in ...
Sep. 17, 2026 A natural compound produced by gut bacteria after digesting foods such as pomegranates, walnuts, and berries may help repair and protect the intestinal lining. The discovery reveals a surprising ...
Sep. 16, 2026 Scientists found that black and green Japanese rice contain unusual, potentially beneficial fats and may be digested more slowly than ordinary white rice. The combination could make these colorful ...
Sep. 16, 2026 Eating four to six servings of whole grains a day may deliver meaningful benefits for heart health, according to a large review of 87 clinical trials. Researchers found improvements in body weight, ...
Sep. 25, 2026 CERN has started replacing some of the Large Hadron Collider’s most important magnets as part of its High-Luminosity upgrade. The new superconducting magnets will produce fields about 40% stronger, ...
Sep. 25, 2026 Researchers have shown that exotic quantum particles called non-Abelian anyons can perform the full range of operations needed for universal quantum computing. Using 54 qubits on Quantinuum’s H2 ...
Sep. 24, 2026 Ancient grains inside one of the oldest known meteorites reveal that a surprisingly strong magnetic field existed during the solar system’s first ...
Sep. 24, 2026 Researchers have shown that multiple time crystals inside a semiconductor can synchronize their oscillations, much like pendulum clocks gradually falling into the same rhythm. The coupling is carried ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Physicists searching through Large Hadron Collider data found no evidence that the machine has been producing microscopic quantum black holes, but the result sharply narrows where such exotic physics ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Stanford researchers have recorded the first real-time quantum jumps of sound, watching single phonons abruptly vanish from one energy state to another. The breakthrough could open new paths for ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Scientists have found evidence that black holes of vastly different sizes may launch powerful jets according to the same universal rule. Supermassive black holes can produce jets soon after tearing ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a surprisingly simple way to turn polyethylene, the common plastic used in shopping bags and cutting boards, into gasoline and diesel-like ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Physicists have put a decades-old idea about why the strange rules of quantum mechanics disappear in our everyday world to one of its toughest experimental tests yet. Deep beneath Italy’s Gran ...
Sep. 20, 2026 Scientists have developed ultra-bright nanoparticles that can detect tiny amounts of chemicals and distinguish between molecules that look almost identical. The technology could one day provide a ...
Sep. 24, 2026 A dead white dwarf with no detectable disk has somehow produced a powerful shock wave that appears to have persisted for at least 1,000 years. Its ...
Sep. 24, 2026 Ariel, one of Uranus’ moons, may once have contained a subsurface ocean more than 100 miles deep beneath its fractured icy shell. The finding, ...
Sep. 24, 2026 Hubble observations of massive stars in metal-poor dwarf galaxies are revealing clues to why the early universe looks so unusual. Researchers found that stellar winds weaken sharply at extremely low ...
Sep. 23, 2026 Astronomers have discovered the first globular cluster stellar stream beyond the Milky Way, opening a new way to study dark matter in distant galaxies. These faint trails of stars trace a galaxy’s ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Ancient iron meteorites reveal that some of the Solar System’s first solid bodies were built mostly from tiny heat-forged rock beads called chondrules, while water-rich dust was largely excluded. ...
Sep. 22, 2026 An amateur astronomer searching satellite maps for a Quebec camping spot accidentally discovered a massive ancient impact crater. Scientists later ...
Sep. 21, 2026 NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has successfully activated its 300-megapixel infrared camera, which will capture enormous stretches of the cosmos with Hubble-like sharpness. Its planet-hunting ...
Sep. 20, 2026 A decade-long NIST experiment has produced a new measurement of the universal gravitational constant that differs unexpectedly from another leading ...
Sep. 19, 2026 A massive crater on Mars’ moon Phobos may hide a dense region of compressed material that could reveal whether the moon is a captured asteroid or debris from an ancient impact on Mars. Japan’s ...
Sep. 18, 2026 NASA’s Roman Space Telescope may now have enough fuel for at least 22 years of science, more than double its original 10 year design life. An ...
Sep. 22, 2026 A new AI control system lets MIT’s tiny flying robot move with insect-like agility, boosting its speed by about 450 percent and allowing it to pull off 10 somersaults in 11 seconds. The technology ...
Sep. 19, 2026 A single-celled organism can shrink to one-quarter of its length in milliseconds using a remarkable calcium-powered protein “fishnet.” Scientists hope its unusual machinery could inspire ...
Sep. 18, 2026 A new Caltech device can redirect a beam of light in just 74 femtoseconds using another beam and a nanoscale silicon metasurface. The breakthrough could pave the way for dramatically faster photonic ...
Sep. 17, 2026 A pocket-sized, roughly $100 detector can reveal the invisible stream of cosmic particles constantly passing through Earth and even through our bodies. What began as a student physics project is now ...
Sep. 17, 2026 New supercomputer simulations suggest JWST’s puzzling Little Red Dots are rapidly growing black holes from the early Universe. Extreme radiation ...
Sep. 15, 2026 A mathematical shape famous for covering a surface without ever repeating has revealed an unexpected ability to twist light into unusual chiral patterns. The discovery could lead to new ways of ...
Sep. 13, 2026 Scientists are combining an electron microscope with a quantum computer to squeeze far more information from each electron. The approach could reveal faint details with fewer electrons, helping ...
Sep. 13, 2026 Researchers have experimentally demonstrated the optical Magnus effect for the first time, revealing that a tightly focused laser interacts most strongly with an atom slightly away from the beam’s ...
Sep. 13, 2026 AI analysis of 400,000 Reddit posts found that users of drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound reported unexpected symptoms including menstrual changes, chills, hot flashes, and ...
Sep. 12, 2026 Researchers at Harvard have demonstrated a way to protect quantum information using microscopic sound waves. By continuously surrounding a diamond-based qubit with mechanical vibrations, they ...
Sep. 24, 2026 Scientists discovered two tiny new snail species in Montenegro, showing that even Europe still holds animals unknown to science. One lives in the threatened Komarnica Canyon, where a proposed ...
Sep. 23, 2026 A broken rib from Scotty, the largest known T. rex skeleton, contains an extraordinary fossilized network of blood vessels formed while the dinosaur ...
Sep. 23, 2026 Some tropical trees have evolved a clever way to survive drought by taking in carbon dioxide at night, allowing them to keep their pores closed during the hot daytime and conserve water. By comparing ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Researchers observed a humpback whale mother staying beside her presumed stillborn calf for hours and possibly days off Australia’s Gold Coast. She maintained eye contact and remained close to the ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Genetic evidence has revealed a previously unknown gentoo penguin species on the remote Kerguelen Islands and shown that gentoos actually consist of four distinct species. The discovery also ...
Sep. 20, 2026 Cats may identify one another through a surprisingly durable chemical “calling card” made from 13 unusual fatty acids in their urine. The compounds appear linked to mysterious fat droplets in the ...
Sep. 20, 2026 Chemical clues preserved inside fossilized T. rex teeth reveal that the dinosaur maintained a body temperature of about 97 degrees Fahrenheit, almost identical to humans. The finding provides direct ...
Sep. 19, 2026 A chemical that stops drywood termites from building new exoskeletons killed about 95% of colonies in testing, offering a potentially safer alternative to traditional fumigation. Because termites ...
Sep. 19, 2026 A deep-sea microbe uses an exceptionally heat-resistant enzyme to turn atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia at temperatures that would destroy most proteins. Its unusual structure and a newly observed ...
Sep. 18, 2026 A 150-million-year-old dinosaur fossil from Spain has been identified as the first confirmed Diplodocus ever found outside North America. The giant sauropod measured about 25 meters long and was ...
Sep. 25, 2026 Scientists have captured a subduction zone off Vancouver Island in the process of tearing itself apart, revealing that these massive tectonic systems may die piece by piece rather than all at once. ...
Sep. 23, 2026 The Cascadia subduction zone and northern San Andreas fault may sometimes rupture in rapid succession, according to evidence preserved in 3,100 years ...
Sep. 23, 2026 The Arctic sea ice melt season is roughly 40 days longer than it was in 1979, yet its rapid expansion unexpectedly leveled off around 2010. ...
Sep. 23, 2026 Stonehenge’s six-ton Altar Stone may have been carried from Scotland to Dogger Bank by glaciers before prehistoric people transported it hundreds of kilometers to Salisbury Plain. The possible ...
Sep. 23, 2026 Scientists have found strong observational evidence that a key part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation has been weakening across a ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Lake Powell has fallen to its lowest level on record after an exceptionally dry and warm winter left the Colorado River Basin with little mountain snow to melt. Lake Mead also reached record lows, ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Researchers have created a concrete mixture that is both stronger and capable of absorbing carbon dioxide. The best formula, combining zeolite with bamboo biochar, boosted compressive strength by ...
Sep. 22, 2026 A Yellowstone super-eruption would begin not with a sudden surprise, but with weeks of increasingly alarming warning signs such as migrating ...
Sep. 21, 2026 A large Amazon study suggests the most powerful conservation move may be protecting the forests that are already standing. Preventing damage from ...
Sep. 20, 2026 Nearly three decades of Hurricane Hunter data reveal four features that can help a tilted tropical cyclone straighten its circulation and become ...
Sep. 23, 2026 Scandinavian museums are trying to move beyond the familiar image of Vikings as sword-wielding male warriors, highlighting women, farmers, traders, and a far more complicated society. But the ...
Sep. 20, 2026 Researchers may have solved a long-running mystery surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls by proposing that the Qumran sect really did use its distinctive 364-day calendar. Its perfectly ordered 52-week ...
Sep. 16, 2026 A newly identified 240-million-year-old animal from Tanzania is forcing scientists to rethink the early dinosaur timeline. Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda belongs to a group previously known only from ...
Sep. 15, 2026 Microscopic plant remains are revealing how GunaiKurnai ancestors used Cloggs Cave for ritual practices over thousands of years. People deliberately gathered whole grasses, carried them into the dark ...
Sep. 15, 2026 A 125-million-year-old crocodile fossil has revealed preserved skin, possible sensory organs, sophisticated respiratory structures, and an unexpected pattern on its tail. Ultraviolet light exposed ...
Sep. 14, 2026 Ancient DNA reveals that plague was already killing hunter-gatherers in Siberia 5,500 years ago, long before cities and flea-driven epidemics. The ...
Sep. 13, 2026 Mount Etna’s ancient eruptions followed radically different paths, with some magma lingering near the surface for weeks while other magma raced upward from nearly 30 kilometers deep in just hours. ...
Sep. 11, 2026 A feather discovered inside 66-million-year-old fossilized dinosaur poop may help explain why modern birds survived the asteroid catastrophe. The ...
Sep. 10, 2026 Scientists have used DNA from living descendants to identify four more members of the doomed Franklin expedition, including Harry Peglar, whose identity had remained uncertain for 166 years. The ...
Sep. 10, 2026 While clearing debris to protect ancient Egyptian tombs from flash floods, researchers near Luxor stumbled upon an unknown 3,000-year-old tomb. Its remarkably preserved paintings depict an official ...
Sep. 24, 2026 A large Danish study found that children diagnosed with ADHD or autism today more closely resemble their peers in the general population than those diagnosed 10 years ago. The shift suggests that ...
Sep. 20, 2026 Ancient DNA reveals that plague repeatedly returned to Europe for more than 400 years after the Black Death, evolving into new lineages and spreading ...
Sep. 14, 2026 A World War I submarine wreck off Denmark is leaking TNT into the surrounding water, seabed, and marine life more than a century after it sank. Scientists warn that thousands of similar wrecks could ...
Sep. 13, 2026 Scientists have engineered yeast to turn PET plastic and agricultural waste into ingredients for protein-rich, 3D-printed cookies called µBites. Developed partly for NASA’s Deep Space Food ...
Sep. 10, 2026 Ancient human remains from Sulawesi suggest people were habitually using the psychoactive betel nut as far back as 25,000 years ago. Researchers found both unusual tooth wear and traces of arecoline, ...
Devil’s Arrows: Ancient Builders Hauled 55,000-Pound Stones 11 Miles for Britain’s Tallest Stone Row
Sep. 9, 2026 Britain’s towering Devil’s Arrows were built from 25-tonne stones hauled at least 18 kilometers from Brimham Rocks around 4,000 years ago. The ...
Sep. 8, 2026 More than 1,200 genetic variants have been linked to the Big Five personality traits, and many of the same variants are also associated with health, longevity, careers, income, and everyday habits. ...
Sep. 7, 2026 Could math help explain why some relationships survive life’s inevitable stresses while others slowly fall apart? Researchers have spent decades developing mathematical models that treat romantic ...
Sep. 5, 2026 Archaeologists have identified tiny 80,000-year-old projectile points in Uzbekistan that may have been used like arrowheads. Their size, design, and impact damage closely resemble weapons found much ...
Sep. 1, 2026 Where you live in early adulthood may quietly shape your heart health for decades. Researchers found that adverse neighborhood conditions were linked to a higher risk of coronary artery calcification ...
Sep. 2, 2026 Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and ...
July 24, 2026 Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs may deliver excellent health value, but covering them for millions of eligible patients could overwhelm insurance ...
July 24, 2026 Sweden could become an important source of rare earth elements needed for magnets and green technologies. Instead of extracting one target metal, researchers are cataloging everything contained in ...
June 21, 2026 Researchers found that a Chinese sodium-ion battery performs far better than expected, with production quality and design features comparable to ...
June 20, 2026 The global cobalt supply chain is more interconnected—and more vulnerable—than previously thought, with disruptions capable of triggering far-reaching cascades across multiple countries and ...
June 18, 2026 The race to build data centers in space is gaining momentum as AI drives unprecedented demand for computing power. Orbital facilities could tap into abundant solar energy and avoid many of the ...
May 26, 2026 Scientists have created a global “treasure map” for rare earth elements by uncovering where the strange volcanic rocks that contain them are most ...
May 25, 2026 Generative AI is transforming the workplace faster than ever, but new research from the University of Vaasa suggests the biggest threat may not be AI itself — it’s falling behind in learning how ...
May 20, 2026 Scientists in Canada have discovered that ancient underground rocks are naturally producing hydrogen gas — and lots of it. Measurements from mine boreholes in Ontario show the gas can flow ...
Apr. 15, 2026 Feeling mentally “on” isn’t just in your head—it can significantly boost what you accomplish. Researchers found that sharper thinking on a given day leads people to set bigger goals and ...
Aug. 17, 2026 An eight-year Finnish study found that children who spent more time on screens tended to show better cognitive processing as teenagers, challenging ...
Feb. 15, 2026 A new Stanford study suggests math struggles may be about more than numbers. Children who had difficulty with math were less likely to adjust their thinking after making mistakes during number ...
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 ...
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. 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. 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 ...