We can’t blame the Neolithic Transition for the plague anymore. Plague swept through groups of hunter-gatherers in southeastern Siberia 5,500 years ago, leaving dozens dead in its wake—with DNA from Yersinia pestis bacteria still trapped inside their teeth. University of Oxford ancient DNA researcher Ruairidh Macleod and his colleagues…
Elsewhere, beyond-classical quantum hardware, plus classical computing fires back. Quantum computing news usually picks up near the end of the year, as companies try to provide evidence that they are hitting benchmarks on time. However, there have been interesting announcements as the summer starts this year, from incremental progress…
Transferring genes across species doesn’t just happen in microbes. Last week, we looked at a new study of the origin of complex cells, one that showed that our ancestors’ genomes were pieced together from bits and pieces of multiple species. It put a spotlight on a phenomenon called horizontal…
Legal victories have dampened the Trump admin’s efforts to halt wind and solar power. The Trump administration has abandoned its effort to halt wind energy projects across the United States and dropped its challenge to the court ruling that tossed President Donald Trump’s order freezing federal permitting and leasing…
Isar Aerospace is not hurting for money, but it is sorely lacking in the currency of flight experience. Isar Aerospace still commands top position among a new generation of European rocket startups, but the company’s efforts to launch a critical test flight of its Spectrum rocket continue to encounter…
Will the Sun roast Earth’s plants or starve them? It’s a bit worrying when a scientific paper begins, “How long will life on Earth survive?” But in this case—a study by Jacob Haqq‐Misra of Blue Marble Space and Eric Wolf at the University of Colorado Boulder—the billion-plus-year timeline under…
University of Leicester historian thinks Eilmer of Malmesbury saw two different comets: in 1018 and 1066 Early in the 11th century, a young Benedictine monk named Eilmer jumped from the 150-foot tower of his abbey in the small English town of Malmesbury, wearing a pair of crude wings he’d…
Researchers have quantified the length and mass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks globally. Hidden underground around the world lie 110 quadrillion kilometers of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks—webs of ultra-thin threads that, if connected in a single line, would stretch almost a billion times the distance between the Earth and…
A pending report on climate attribution may be setting the stage for conflict. Founded during the US Civil War to provide advice to the government, the National Academies of Science have become one of the most prestigious scientific organizations. Its primary function is to prepare comprehensive reports on scientific…
“Some missions are using more than what their paperwork would say.” NASA pushed its Deep Space Network beyond its limits during the Artemis I mission nearly four years ago. The global array of deep space communications antennas couldn’t keep up with the routine demands of 40 robotic science missions…
