“We achieved within a few years what had taken the European space industry decades before.” Isar Aerospace, founded in 2018 by three students at a German university, successfully launched a privately-developed rocket into low-Earth orbit Saturday from a Norwegian spaceport inside the Arctic Circle. The two-stage rocket, named Spectrum,…
The shift in the fish’s diet is having significant downstream impacts on the environment and climate. Eat more fatty fish. That dietary advice has changed the way the world consumes salmon, pushing consumer demand ever upward and production to higher and higher levels. Most of that demand is being…
Other archives and libraries around the world may also contain genetic traces of past disease outbreaks. Sheeppox is a highly contagious, often fatal viral disease that was largely eradicated from much of European livestock in the 20th century. But there is still the occasional regional outbreak, such as the…
Every neuron and connection in the brain of a fly has been mapped—twice. On Friday, researchers announced the completion of a map of every neuron in the brain of a male fruit fly. The “connectome” provides a tool that can accelerate neurobiology research. But it also provides an opportunity…
Insect-inspired “sparse coding” does fast learning, avoids catastrophic forgetting. Fruit flies aren’t exactly famous for their brainpower; you’ve probably drowned more than one in a wine glass left too long on the patio table. And yet, working with roughly 140,000 neurons—a brain smaller than a poppy seed—Drosophila can sort…
The annual award ceremony features miniature operas, scientific demos, and “24/7” lectures. It’s that time of year again, when we learn which lucky scientists are among the winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes. This year, the prizes honor research on designing the perfect splash-free urinal; using mosquito proboscises to…
Congress pauses the OMB’s attempt to rewrite how research is funded. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a stopgap measure that would continue funding the US government through early December. While the measure still requires the signature of President Trump, it’s widely expected that he will act to…
“Black hole stars,” making cookies from plastic, tiny sound-powered drones, and more. It’s a regrettable reality that there is never enough time to cover all the interesting scientific stories we come across. So every month, we highlight a handful of the best stories that nearly slipped through the cracks.…
NASA’s cost estimate for SR-1 Freedom is $2.1 billion, but that doesn’t include the helicopters. For the first time in more than 30 years, NASA has no firm plans to send any new landers or rovers to Mars. Instead, the agency’s near-term focus at the red planet is on…
Finding reveals an overlooked way that water can damage surfaces. The standard explanation for why rain causes corrosion is that water carries dissolved salts and acids to a surface, constant drumming of raindrops abrades whatever protective coating is on it, and oxygen does the rest. Nearly all our tools…
