The Omicron Variant Has New Versions Already. What Comes Next?
Viruses keep evolving until they run out of hosts to infect. Worldwide, billions remain unvaccinated against Covid—which means Omicron isn’t…
Extreme Heat in the Oceans Is Out of Control
More than half of the sea now logs temperatures once considered extreme, threatening countless species, livelihoods, and the air we…
What It’ll Take to Get Electric Planes off the Ground
The lithium-ion battery is good for moving cars short distances, but aviation requires longer-lasting power. Maybe we need to try…
Here Come the Underdogs of the Robot Olympics
Can a scrappy team of robotics undergrads play to win against the best-funded labs in the world? At the Darpa…
Maybe Green Energy Needs ‘Information Batteries’ Too
Researchers are exploring whether tech giants can precompute certain data when the grid is humming with solar or wind power,…
How to Deal With Rocket Boosters and Other Giant Space Garbage
As an errant SpaceX rocket booster careens toward the moon, here are some of the ways space agencies and companies…
Mathematicians Outwit a Hidden Number ‘Conspiracy’
Decades ago, a mathematician posed a warmup problem for difficult questions about prime numbers. It turned out to be just…
Kombucha Cultures Could Be the Key to Better Water Filters
A study found that filtration membranes formed from SCOBYs are more effective at preventing bacterial growth than commercial equivalents....
What It’s Like to Give Up Air Travel to Curb Climate Change
These three families gave up flying to reduce their emissions. Here's how it's shaping their relationship to people and places....
Inside the International Effort to Save One Tiny Mexican Fish
Scientists and schoolchildren worked together to bring the tequila fish back from extinction in the wild....