Stay informed about scientific discoveries, research developments and new findings from around the world.
The circadian clock is an internal biological system that regulates sleep-wake cycles, as well as many physiological functions such as body temperature and hormone production. In many animals, this clock relies on a network of neurons that generates rhythms of approximately 24 hours.
Project Suncatcher is aimed at testing Google's AI chips in the harsh environment of space
MIT Future Fest launched on Wednesday afternoon, featuring a visit from Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey before an opening panel at Kresge Auditorium.Both Healey and MIT President Sally Kornbluth emphasized the power of curiosity and innovation during introductory remarks, while formally kicking off MIT Future Fest as a new kind of event that opens MIT’s doors to the world.Spanning five days and featuring talks from leading MIT scholars, panel discussions, open labs, exhibitions, performances, screenings, and much more, MIT Future Fest adds up to a demonstration of campus research, teaching, thinking, and discovery.“MIT and Massachusetts are known around the world as leaders in innovation...
The Princeton University Board of Trustees has approved the appointment of seven faculty members, including one full professor, two associate professors and four assistant professors.
A new AI tool that analyzes speech could give users a glimpse of how they are aging and whether they're at risk of dementia, a new study suggests.The tool analyzes hundreds of speech and language patterns to estimate the user's chronological age from the way they talk. In a study involving nearly 3,000 Spanish-speaking adults, those whose estimated age was higher than their actual age were more likely to have cognitive problems, dementia and signs of accelerated biological aging, researchers reported Wednesday (Sept. 30) in the journal Science Advances. They were also more likely to have less favorable social and economic circumstances than other study participants.This voice-analyzing tool ...
The geographic poles can shift at surprisingly high ratesPlanet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The Earth’s geographic poles – the points where the imaginary axis of the planet’s rotation is located – may be far less immutable than previously known, with a new study finding that ancient sea-level changes provide a clue to their movement. Earth has two main pairs of poles: its magnetic poles, resulting from its magnetic field, and its geographic poles based on its rotation. The magnetic poles are constantly in movement and are often hundreds of kilometres away from the geographic north and south poles. They can even flip altogether. The geographic poles are much more stable. ...
An analysis of ancient sea-level changes reveals that the whole solid Earth has shifted multiple times
Moderator Laura Meckler (from left), Kevin Roberts, and Cornell William Brooks.Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Nation & World What role should ‘diversity,’ ‘pluralism’ play in higher education? Cornell William Brooks, Kevin Roberts spar over whether race-conscious programs still needed Jacob Sweet Harvard Staff Writer October 1, 2026 3 min read The participants at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum debate last week on “diversity” and “pluralism” in higher education were clearly suitably matched. Kevin Roberts is president of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. His group published Project 2025, a 900-page policy document that has heavily influenced President Trump’s second-term ...
Scientists have created the most accurate atomic clock ever made — and it could literally redefine the second. Researchers recently unveiled the record-breaking device, which uses the vibration of atoms of an element called lutetium to precisely measure each microsecond. It is accurate up to 19 decimal places — a 41% improvement over the previous record holder. The results were published Sept. 23 in the journal Nature.Atomic clocks have been around since the 1950s. The first atomic clocks were made with the radioactive isotopes of the element cesium, a silvery metal that quickly became the gold standard for timekeeping. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) revised its de...
The world's smallest crocodiles use a sneak attack to hunt bats in hellish underground caves filled with poop, a new video reveals. The footage of the never-before-seen behavior was captured for the upcoming National Geographic series "Africa: Earth's Wild Home" and offers a rare glimpse into the lives of Gabon's mysterious cave-dwelling dwarf crocodiles. Dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis), which grow to only around 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, live across West and Central Africa and are typically found in forests, rivers, swamps and similar surface habitats. However, the cave population filmed in the new series is unique. Discovered in 2008, these subterranean explorers spend their days ...
Meriah DeJoseph grew up below the poverty line, so she was intrigued in college when she started reading what researchers had to say about people from low-income backgrounds. But there was something eating away at her. Although well-intentioned, the early research mainly focused on the risks of growing up in poverty. As she progressed through her education, studying how poverty affects children, she'd go home and describe research in the field to her mom and her friends. The looks on their faces seemed to be saying "Is that really everything? Is that all it says? Is that what you think?" She realized the research was missing the strengths people she grew up with exhibited, such as creative p...
Most of the drones being used by Russia in the war with Ukraine are controlled by cables several tens of kilometres long. A new defensive tool cuts the cables to stop the drones
An artificial intelligence (AI) model's failed attempt to crack one of math's most notorious unsolved problems has helped a human mathematician make progress on a related puzzle. Earlier this summer, Claude — Anthropic’s AI model — attempted to find a solution to what's widely considered one of the most important unsolved math problems. Known as the Riemann hypothesis, it proposes a hidden order behind the apparently random distribution of prime numbers.And while the bot's attempt failed, it did make a huge leap in progress on a related problem. Now, Youness Lamzouri, an expert in this field at the University of Lorraine in France, has not only confirmed Claude's progress using a different a...
Today Project Suncatcher is sending four AI processors into orbit on a SpaceX rocket to see whether the building blocks of a data center can survive space
Naegleria amoebas’ exploration skills and crawling behaviors could help explain how the brain-eating variety travel into human brains.
Elephants will sometimes use special rumbles to reassure their calvesElephantVoices Elephants appear to harmonise their vocal rumbles when they join together to form choruses, tuning their voices to sound more alike as the chorus unfolds. The findings come from a machine learning study, which also reveals that this convergence is particularly likely to occur during specific kinds of choruses – such as when elephants reconnect with one another or organise group activities – and that the calls themselves may contain information about what the animals are doing. The findings could offer new insights into how elephants communicate and navigate life within their complex societies, says Sara Keen ...
Scientists are piecing together why elephants make these low calls and what they might mean
Countdown starts to The Boat Race 2027 Hilary Fletcher Thu, 10/01/2026 - 15:28 This season has added significance as 2027 is the centenary of the Women’s Race. To mark the anniversary, two new trophies will be awarded to the victorious men’s and women’s crews. As well as this, the order of the races on Sunday 11 April 2027 will be reversed. The Men’s Boat Race will take place first at 15:40, followed by the Women’s Boat Race at 16:40.At yesterday’s event, hosted by broadcaster Claire Balding, Cambridge Presidents Eloise Etherington (Natural Sciences, Gonville & Caius) and Simon Hatcher (Engineering, Peterhouse) challenged Oxford Presidents Kyra Delray and Alex Sullivan to the race on the Tha...
Campus & Community Why we love the Charles “It’s a cute way of interacting with people,” said Harvard Graduate School of Education student Evelyn Huang as she waved to kayakers and rowers from her favorite river nook.Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer Stephanie Mitchell Harvard Staff Photographer October 1, 2026 6 min read Some go to the river to move; others to write, relax, reflect, or just people-watch If asked to imagine the heart of Harvard’s campus, most people would probably picture the Yard. But one could argue the center is the Charles River, which runs through Harvard’s Cambridge and Allston sides. From dawn to dusk the river is thronged with joggers, rowers, c...
Scientists have identified two new species of large Australian stick insects, including one that lays extraordinary “lidded” eggs never before recorded in the group. The discovery also revealed that a familiar stick insect had been misidentified for decades, showing how much biodiversity may still be hiding in plain sight.
A new protective fabric boosted strawberry yields by as much as 3.56 times while blocking insects and still allowing sunlight, rain, and airflow to reach the plants. Originally inspired by research on military clothing, Plant Armor could also help farms reduce pesticide and water use.
Vice-Chancellor's annual address: 'the case for change' Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/01/2026 - 14:29 Full speech transcript:Good morning. A very warm welcome to the new academic year and special congratulations to the proctors for this year, newly elected.I spent quite a while deciding on my topic for this year’s address. As I imagined standing here before you in my cassock, gown and bands, looking for all the world like a 19th century parson delivering the weekly sermon, I wanted to choose a topic that was both timely and timeless: something that speaks to our moment but also to the current shape and direction of the University. It was a difficult summer for this University, one in whic...
A proposed qubit made with superfluid helium could cut quantum computing error rates by around 100 times by shielding quantum information from common forms of electromagnetic noise. If experiments confirm the predictions, the technology could eventually work alongside today’s superconducting qubits or serve as a new kind of quantum memory.
TOPIC:Knowledge sharing Want to develop your skills? Discover the broad range of educational opportunities on offer at CERN. One of them, the course “From needs to solutions: insights”, could change the way you see problems and their solutions Written by: Anaïs Schaeffer — 01 October, 2026 At CERN, the Learning and Development service provides members of the community with numerous opportunities to develop their skills, broaden their horizons and put new approaches into practice across a broad range of courses and workshops. The course “From needs to solutions: insights” is a good example of this. It allows participants to better understand their actual needs, clearly define problems and ide...