Blogs - Page 38 of 91 - This Week in Science

Biology

Ancient Engravings 250,000 Years Older Than You Think

In the pitch-black depths of a South African cave, 30 meters underground and far from daylight, a mystery was carved into stone—long before our own species even existed. The year is not 2023 but somewhere between 241,000 and 335,000 years ago. The artist? Almost certainly not Homo sapiens. Instead, the likely creator was Homo naledi, […]

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Biology

3 Lessons from Indonesia’s Seagrass Carbon Story

Did you know Indonesia’s underwater seagrass meadows can store more carbon than tropical rainforests? A new study from Pari Island shows how dredging and restoration are reshaping the nation’s “blue carbon” future. 1. Healthy seagrass = carbon gold Persistent seagrass meadows around Pari Island hold up to 234 metric tons of carbon per hectare, far […]

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Astronomy

What Makes 3I/ATLAS the Strangest Comet We’ve Ever Seen?

On July 1, 2025, astronomers announced something extraordinary: a new interstellar object was speeding into our solar system. Named 3I/ATLAS, this icy traveler has journeyed for billions of years before dropping by our celestial neighborhood. Thanks to the keen eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scientists got a rare chance to peek at […]

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Biology

Flies Can Taste Odors—Here’s the Proof

If you’ve ever walked past a bakery and suddenly needed a pastry, you know how powerful smell can be in jump-starting hunger. But what if I told you that in fruit flies, smell doesn’t just tickle the nose—it actually activates their taste buds? That’s the wild takeaway from a new study on Drosophila melanogaster (our […]

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Environment

3 Ways AI Is Making Water Cleaner

What if an algorithm could tell us if our drinking water is safe before it’s tested in a lab? A new study shows how advanced machine learning can predict water quality with near-perfect accuracy, making clean water monitoring faster, cheaper, and smarter. 1. AI Can Predict Water Quality Better Than Experts Researchers trained a “stacked […]

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Biology

Chesapeake Bay Dead Zones: Causes, Impacts, and Solutions

A few years ago, I got into ultra-low-budget found footage movies. You know the convention. Someone is recording while a disaster or horror is unfolding. Think Blair Witch. This article, coincidentally, also takes place in Maryland. So, imagine that a small town on the Chesapeake Bay’s eastern shore is plagued by mutant parasites, turning the […]

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News

Next Week in Science, August 22, 2025

Not a great week for science policy, with news of NASA’s refocusing away from climate research. There’s also some chatter about comet 3I/Atlas, though Avi Loeb’s recent track record is a little fuzzy. Here’s what’s been showing up in the research. Trends in the News And what’s showing up in the news. The future of […]

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AI

The Complete Guide to LLM Hallucinations: Types, Examples, and How to Spot Them

Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are transforming the way we search, write, and create. They can summarize research, draft articles, generate code, and even answer complex questions. But they have a serious flaw: they sometimes make things up. This flaw is called hallucination. This is when an LLM generates text that […]

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Biology

How New Brain Stimulation Research Could Help Restore Consciousness

Picture this: A person you love is in a hospital bed. Their eyes might open, but they don’t respond. Weeks turn into months. Doctors say they’re in a “disorder of consciousness”—a condition where the brain can’t fully switch back on after severe injury. There are no proven treatments. Families are left hoping for a miracle. […]

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