Summary: New research reveals that brain structure varies with reading ability, particularly in the left hemisphere. Better readers have distinct traits, including a larger anterior temporal lobe for integrating word meaning and a thicker left Heschl’s gyrus for phonological processing.
Physicists discovered strange supersolids, constructed new kinds of superconductors, and continued to make the case that the cosmos is far weirder than anyone suspected.
Some 45,000 years ago, in the frigid reaches of Ice Age Europe, a small band of humans trudged across the tundra, their dark skin warmed by fur-lined cloaks. They hunted woolly rhinos, fashioned distinctive stone tools, and perhaps exchanged stories around fires in caves.
Biologists used artificial intelligence to make discoveries about molecules and the brain, and overturned long-held assumptions about the immune system and RNA.
Researchers got a better look at chatbots’ thoughts, amateurs learned just how complicated simple systems can be, and codes became expert self-fixers. The end of 2024 seems a particularly uncertain time in history, and theoretical computer science is no exception.
Astronomers have made a shocking new discovery about our solar system. The research was conducted by astronomers at the Max Planck Institute in Germany led by Dr. L. L. Sala.
Archeologists recently uncovered a massive cache of jewelry, silver coins, and other relics at ancient gravesites in western Norway. At least three of them appear to belong to a trio of highly respected and wealthy Viking women.
For the second year in a row, we asked listeners to tell us about a new song they obsessed about in 2024 — one they couldn't stop listening to because of how it made them feel. On this episode we share some of the picks and the stories listeners shared about why they were so moved.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered a novel way to generate bright, twisted light—known as chiral light—using technology reminiscent of Thomas Edison’s Lightbulb.
The end of the year typically brings with it an emotional look back at the days gone by. For archaeologists, looking back into the past is pretty much an every day thing. That said, here are 10 of the most interesting archeological findings that Popular Science covered this year.
You can't always know that it's a great year for new music while it's happening, but there was a sense from the very start of 2024 that we were in for a ride.
Earth has existed for 4.54 billion years, and during that time, our planet has undergone a number of violent transitions. This makes it difficult for researchers to find out what happened during Earth's early history, as most of the evidence was destroyed eons ago.
As humans we are endlessly curious about our past – especially the ancient past. What were our ancient ancestors doing thousands of years ago? Probably not getting hooked on social media platforms like Tik Rock and Twigger (later renamed to Eggs).
Life Single-celled organisms called archaea can become multicellular when compressed, highlighting the role of physical forces in evolution 28 October 2024 Illustration of a protein from a single-cell
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is naturally removed from the air when it reacts with certain types of rock. We can accelerate this process by crushing suitable rocks and spreading them over agricultural fields.
A felted swan from Iron Age Siberia was crafted from reindeer wool and symbolized life in three spheres: air, land and water. (Image credit: Dima Moroz via Shutterstock) Name: The Pazyryk Swan What it
Humans Ancient stone goods found across France may have been made by skilled craftspeople in what is now Paris, who traded along vast networks 28 October 2024 Blades and other artefacts were traded ac
A colossal structure in the distant Universe is defying our understanding of how the Universe evolved. In light that has traveled for 6.9 billion years to reach us, astronomers have found a giant, alm
Stay on top of the latest psychology findings: Subscribe now! In a new study published in Neuron, researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India uncovered how the little-known psyc
At the start of the 20th century, difficult as it is to believe, we knew almost nothing about the Universe. Sure, we knew about nearby, bright stars, as well as fainter, more distant ones and an ever-growing number of nebulae in the night sky. But all of the stars we knew of were within our Milky…
The fight against climate change may have found a new secret weapon in the form of a carbon-capturing powder that is capable of sucking up and storing as much carbon dioxide as a fully-grown tree. Att
Summary: Researchers have discovered that the gut bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae can migrate to the brain, leading to inflammation and cognitive decline that mimic Alzheimer’s symptoms. The study sugg
Apart from their disconcerting cuteness, tardigrades are famed for the fact that they’re nigh on indestructible. These tiny creatures are extremophiles, adapted for life in environments that would kil
On October 16 1843, the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton had an epiphany during a walk alongside Dublin's Royal Canal. He was so excited he took out his penknife and carved his discovery rig
Researchers at the University of Maryland have uncovered a hidden and unexpected auditory “sixth sense” in geckos. In a study published in Current Biology, scientists revealed that geckos use a specia
The interaction between two distant galaxies, captured by Euclid ESA A mosaic of images from the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope captures more than 14 million galaxies, offering a first
The Euclid Space Telescope has revealed the "first page" of the cosmic atlas it is building. The section of the map of the cosmos being built by Euclid was released on Monday (Oct. 15), and it feature
For the first time, quarks and gluons were used to describe properties of atomic nuclei, which until now had been explained by the existence of protons and neutrons. The temporary pair of correlated n
Mountainous regions have long attracted early human populations, but the reasons behind this preference are becoming clearer thanks to new research. A recent study published in Science Advances1 by sc
New laboratory experiments simulating conditions beneath the Earth’s crust show it is possible to tap into energy from superhot rocks deep underground. Sometimes referred to as the “Holy Grail” of geo
Highly reactive complex molecules finding some sort of stability was a necessary step towards life getting started on Earth. Scientists think they've just discovered how these first began to stay inta
Reddit Vote Flip Share 0 Shares Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) have made significant progress in various applications using the power of Transformer models and their attention mechanisms. Ho
A review of research of over a hundred geographical sites worldwide, outlining every continental landmass, has revealed a globally extensive gap in the geologic record. Credit: Bernd Dittrich/Unsplash
Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted an ‘inside-out’ galaxy that formed around 13 billion years ago. Like a large city, the galaxy has its densest collection of stars at its co
Atmospheric rivers – those long, narrow bands of water vapor in the sky that bring heavy rain and storms to the U.S. West Coast and many other regions – are shifting toward higher latitudes, and that’
JWST is helping us understand how the early universe ticked.
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Galaxies in the universe today have come a long way from the first structures that emerged after the Big Bang. Galaxies like our own…
The icon indicates free access to the linked research on JSTOR. In 1798, Henry Cavendish looked through his telescope into a darkened room. Inside the room, large lead spheres hung next to small two-i
Fungi are fascinating lifeforms that defy conventional notions of animal intelligence. They don’t have brains, yet display clear signs of decision making and communication. But just how complex are th
This week Professor Matthew Bailes won the Prime Minister’s 2024 Prize for Science for his ground-breaking work on gravitational waves and fast radio bursts. Two years ago Bailes talked to our reporte
Humans seem to have been adapted to the last ice age in similar ways to wolves and bears, according to our recent study, challenging longstanding theories about how and where our ancestors lived durin
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