The sun’s outer atmosphere resembles a pufferfish. That’s what scientists have gleaned from the first verified maps of the shifting boundary between the sun and the rest of the solar system. “The structure
Some baby ants don’t ask for help when they contract deadly infections — they ask to be killed. Terminally ill worker ant pupae actively emit a “find me and destroy me” chemical signal,
As he addressed an audience of virologists from China, Australia, and Singapore at October’s Pandemic Research Alliance Symposium, Wei Zhao introduced an eye-catching idea. The gene-editing technology Crispr is best known for delivering
President Donald Trump has made it clear: His vision for Venezuela’s future involves the US profiting from its oil. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies—the biggest anywhere in
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. All of modern mathematics is built on the foundation of set theory, the study of how to organize abstract collections of objects. But
At its heart, science is about the joy of discovery — extending the boundaries of what we know and learning more about the world and our place in it. Research over the last
In the classic American folktale The Little Engine That Could, a small blue locomotive laboriously chugs up a hill hauling cars stuffed full of toys and food for children on the other side.
Chronic back pain is a serious health issue affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is not uncommon for back pain to significantly impair quality of life, forcing people to take time
The spread of influenza became more severe this fall, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated the 2024-25 flu season as
Some of 2025’s scientific discoveries pushed the limits. Earth’s longest lightning and the first AI-generated genomes are among this year’s superlative achievements, along with black holes old and large. Here are the record-breaking
