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Climate change, driven by humans, is making extreme weather more commonplace
Older adults who changed the balance of fat, carbohydrates, and animal protein in their diets showed signs of reduced biological age after just four weeks. The strongest result appeared in participants eating an omnivorous, lower-fat, higher-carbohydrate diet.
Thousands of most vulnerable children and young people missing out on mental health support Craig Brierley Wed, 09/16/2026 - 00:01 Despite children and young people on child protection plans or in care being significantly more likely to have serious mental health issues, less than one in five of these individuals had contact with mental health services in a given year.In England, just under one in five (18%) children or young people are estimated to have a probable mental health disorder. A third of mental health problems start before 14 years, so getting timely access to appropriate mental health services is a key priority. Yet, fewer than half of children and young people with a probable m...
The rings around a strange small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus look mysteriously different from previous views, new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) suggest.The rings encircle Chariklo, which is a centaur, a strange type of object that shows characteristics of both asteroids and comets. Chariklo is only about 400 miles (250 kilometers) in diameter and is part of a large group of tiny objects in the distant solar system.Scientists first discovered Chariklo's rings in 2013 — making it the first small solar system body found to have rings — and studied them with ground-based telescopes again in 2014 and 2017. When JWST took another look at Chariklo in 2022, a de...
Host Moira Weigel (from left) with panelists Jackson Kernion of Anthropic and Ken Archer of Microsoft.Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Science & Tech Is there a philosopher in the house? Tech insiders call for humanist-scientist discourse amid ‘Copernican moment’ of AI age Sy Boles Harvard Staff Writer September 15, 2026 5 min read Artificial intelligence advances daily. Right now, humans, with our values and beliefs, are the decision-makers who set the agenda, form relationships, create culture. There is a growing sense of profound discomfort over the fact that AI soon may take over some of that. What is our place when we are no longer solely at the center of things? That was the que...
At the beginning of their first year, many MIT undergraduates choose to join one of the Institute’s 44 fraternities, sororities, or independent living groups (FSILGs), some of which are housed across Cambridge, Boston, and Brookline, Massachusetts.There are 30 fraternities, nine sororities, and five independent living groups for students to choose from. Nearly 37 percent of undergrads join an FSILG, and these communities offer students more than a place to live, eat, and socialize; they are places where students create friendships, mentor younger students, work with both alumni and MIT administrators, raise funds for local charities, and learn valuable leadership skills.While each organizati...
A gift from Live Science ProThis is a Live Science Pro article that we're putting out for free. If you liked this story, please consider subscribing.Artificial intelligence (AI) terrifies us partly because it is new and partly because it is disturbingly familiar. We have invented machines that converse, flatter, argue and improvise with uncanny fluency. Confronted by this synthetic reflection, we behave like early humans seeing a mirror for the first time: We project consciousness behind the glass, then populate it with our expected behaviors, emotions, hopes and nightmares. In other words, we scare ourselves. Today's frontier models are impressively good at writing, coding and math. Yet the...
Amid renewed calls to slow frontier AI, experts are considering what an emergency stop would entail—and who would decide when to use it
Related storiesWhy is it still so hard to make nuclear weapons?'The greatest unknown was how much energy would be released by the weapon': How scientists prepared for the Trinity nuclear testWhat stops nuclear weapons from accidentally detonating?For years, the idea of nuclear weapons in space sounded more like science fiction than a realistic threat. That changed Monday (Sept. 14), when U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland that the U.S. had deployed "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action."While the officials have not said that these weapons are nuclear, the announcement...
Illustrations by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff Science & Tech Can you tell an amorphophallus from an aspergillus? Sy Boles Harvard Staff Writer September 15, 2026 1 min read Word nerds, classicists, and botanists, it’s your time to shine in etymology quiz inspired by Div School book Can plants see? Can they pray? If trees could make music, what would it sound like? Those questions and others are explored in “Thinking with Plants and Fungi,” a collection of essays from botanists, anthropologists, artists, and theologians inspired by a conference of the same name, hosted at the Harvard Divinity School’s Center for the Study of World Religions. At the core of the book is an inquiry into how we sho...
In 2021, MIT set campus decarbonization goals as part of its Fast Forward climate action plan. Five years later, many of those goals have been met or are on track for completion, including efforts to make the Institute’s buildings more efficient, expand rooftop solar installations, and attain net-zero emissions. “Decarbonizing our campus goes hand-in-hand with MIT’s playing a leadership role in promoting carbon reduction and climate resilience through its research, innovation, and efforts to inform public policy in this area,” says Glen Shor, executive vice president and treasurer. “Our teams are leveraging that same innovative spirit to meet our campus climate goals.”Creating an energy-effi...
For decades, one of the major complaints about nuclear power in the United States has been the argument that, after all this time, we still have not come up with a dependable strategy for sequestering high-level radioactive waste, including spent fuel from plant operation. This issue is of such importance that Haruko Wainwright has put it at the center of her research agenda as an Atlantic Richfield Career Development Professor in Energy Studies at MIT and an associate professor in the departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering. In an essay called “The best-managed industrial waste in history,” which appeared in the Aug. 27 issue of the journal Nat...
Moser’s circle problem can be used to divide a pizza into one, two, four, eight, 16 or 31 slices. It’s a perfect example of how the numbers in a sequence aren’t as clear-cut as they may first appear
A high-ranking official announced yesterday that the U.S. military has deployed weapons into orbit to counter threats from Russia and China
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a two-story multimedia display that presents immersive, larger-than-life audio and video of threatened and endangered species. The show opens with an artist talk Sept. 22.
The idea of a humanoid robot folding laundry, loading the dishwasher or vacuuming once sounded like a scene from "The Jetsons." Now, as robotics companies race to develop machines that can navigate everyday environments and handle household tasks, the prospect of a robot taking over our chores feels increasingly real. But just because robots can do the work, that doesn't mean people are ready to welcome them into their homes. Live Science recently polled readers on whether they would want a humanoid robot doing their household chores, and the results reveal just how appealing the idea of a robotic housekeeper really is. As of Sept. 15, over 600 people had responded, with 42% choosing to let ...
Experts say free lunch for every child improves academic performance. Whether it does is murky, according to a Scientific American analysis, but there are definite financial and social benefits
After an OpenAI model presented a possible solution to the Navier-Stokes problem, mathematicians are speculating about which major unsolved question could be resolved next
The Hunga Tonga eruption may have triggered a surprising chemical reaction that destroyed some of the methane released into the atmosphere. Scientists say the discovery could reshape estimates of methane pollution and inspire new methods for slowing near-term global warming.
Simply smelling chocolate helped men complete more leg extension repetitions without making the workout feel harder, with dark chocolate producing the strongest effect. The researchers think familiar food aromas may influence appetite and motivation by making the brain anticipate eating.
Four newly described species of Australian plant bug have been named in honor of renowned recording artist Taylor Swift.
The saying that "all roads lead to Rome" may be famous, but a new study finds it's far from true. Extensive new research of the Roman Empire's road system reveals that several other Roman cities were better connected than the Eternal City was during antiquity.Major cities like Antioch, Ancyra (modern-day Ankara) and Byzantium in what is now Turkey, as well as Corinth in Greece, were "better located than Rome" for those traveling by land, the team wrote in a paper published Tuesday (Sept. 15) in the journal Nature Communications.At its height in A.D. 117, the Roman Empire covered almost 2.1 million square miles (5.5 million square kilometers) around the Mediterranean Sea, occupying much of Eu...
How drought is affecting plants and pollinators: expert analysis Abby Munson Tue, 09/15/2026 - 15:51 What happens to the relationship between plants and pollinators during a drought?All plants need water, and the lack of water affects plants in a range of ways that are critical for their flowers. Drought stressed plants redirect growth to their roots, to find more water, and may close their stomatal pores – this prevents any further water loss but also limits access to the carbon dioxide needed for photosynthesis. As a result of these two changes, drought stressed plants often make fewer flowers. The flowers that are produced can also look and smell different when plants are droughted. Evide...
Microscopic plant remains are revealing how GunaiKurnai ancestors used Cloggs Cave for ritual practices over thousands of years. People deliberately gathered whole grasses, carried them into the dark cave, and burned them in thin layers, leaving behind traces that may span 25,000 years. A standing stone erected around 2,000 years ago and other ritual objects strengthen the evidence that the cave was a long-lived spiritual site.