Science + Technology – The Conversation – new research, AI, space, psychology and more

split image of little girl holding a flower paired with a nuclear mushroom cloud

split image of little girl holding a flower paired with a nuclear mushroom cloud

Fear-based campaign ads can grab attention, but whether they win votes is less clear

Monique Mitchell Turner, Michigan State University

black and white photos in a spread out pile

black and white photos in a spread out pile

Ancestors all around – millions of dead people linger in Americans’ memories

Emily Smith-Greenaway, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Ashton Verdery, Penn State

a pyramid of wooden building blocks, one on top of two on top of three on top of four, with the middle of the three colored red

a pyramid of wooden building blocks, one on top of two on top of three on top of four, with the middle of the three colored red

PHP is in the foundation of 70% of websites – here’s what it is and why a flaw in the software is a major hacking threat

Doug Jacobson, Iowa State University

view of a movie theater audience looking toward the screen

view of a movie theater audience looking toward the screen

Horror films exploit how human vision works to deliver movies’ best scares

Arryn Robbins, University of Richmond

Human rights could improve – or worsen – based on how nations use the UN treaty against cybercrime

Meridith LaVelle, University of Mannheim and Mary Lind, Binghamton University, State University of New York

A man walk past a billboard with a blue background and two words

A man walk past a billboard with a blue background and two words

Why calling for a ‘kill switch’ is the wrong way to think about reining in AI

Trent Wintermeier, The University of Texas at Austin

a person's thumb pressing a large red button

a person's thumb pressing a large red button

Mars, shown in its entirety in space

Mars, shown in its entirety in space

NASA’s Mars orbiter fleet is getting old – here’s how that could affect future exploration

Margaret Landis, Arizona State University

An AI model’s false tip to Philadelphia police reveals how digital agents can do as they’re told and still cause trouble

Anat Lior, Drexel University

Closeup of flashing lights on police patrol car

Closeup of flashing lights on police patrol car

Why haven’t farm animals evolved against humans? A biologist explains why there won’t be a chicken uprising anytime soon

Alida de Flamingh, University of Tennessee

Rooster staring directly into a camera, other chickens milling in the bacground

Rooster staring directly into a camera, other chickens milling in the bacground

Leap seconds have helped keep clocks synchronized with Earth’s rotation, but their time is now over – here’s why

Vahe Peroomian, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

A zoomed-in shot of the upper right corner of a clock, from 12 to 3, with all three hands pointing between 12 and 1

A zoomed-in shot of the upper right corner of a clock, from 12 to 3, with all three hands pointing between 12 and 1

Cystic fibrosis patients got their ‘miracle drug’ thanks to federal research funding – new Trump administration rules may cut future miracles short

Fred D. Ledley, Bentley University

Three children sitting in beach chairs and the back of a van at the beach, wearing nebulizers on their faces

Three children sitting in beach chairs and the back of a van at the beach, wearing nebulizers on their faces

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Space

A building with a tower at each end stands in the middle of a barren ice sheet, with the Moon rising behind it.

A building with a tower at each end stands in the middle of a barren ice sheet, with the Moon rising behind it.

Physics Nobel highlights Antarctica’s role in exploring the cosmos

Daniella McCahey, Texas Tech University and Jean de Pomereu, University of Cambridge

IceCube is built on decades of research into tiny ‘ghost particles’ – but it was the first to find neutrinos coming from deep space

Doug Cowen, Penn State

The IceCube research station, a rectangular building with three pillars attached, sitting on snowy ground.

The IceCube research station, a rectangular building with three pillars attached, sitting on snowy ground.

I’m a physicist who worked on the Nobel-winning neutrino search – here’s how a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice became a telescope for ghost particles from space

Tyce DeYoung, Michigan State University

building on snowy ground with aurorae in the night sky

building on snowy ground with aurorae in the night sky

Starship’s first orbital flight put its heat shield to the test – how it fares could determine if SpaceX’s vision is possible

Sven Bilén, Penn State

A rocket lifting off from a launchpad, with a plume of flame and smoke beneath it.

A rocket lifting off from a launchpad, with a plume of flame and smoke beneath it.

An overlooked era of cosmology is stealing the show in the quest to understand the cosmos

Cara Giovanetti, University of California, Berkeley

A telescope on a mountaintop set in a box with two antenna disks

A telescope on a mountaintop set in a box with two antenna disks

More articles about space

Digital life

a man sitting at a desk looks at eight computer monitors, with three more visible on the wall behind them

a man sitting at a desk looks at eight computer monitors, with three more visible on the wall behind them

As AI takes on more tasks, what happens when people have to jump in to clean up after it?

Murugan Anandarajan, Drexel University

‘Make this face look gay’: AI models alter faces to give people stereotypical ‘gay,’ ‘straight’ or ‘criminal’ features

Ashique KhudaBukhsh, Rochester Institute of Technology

thrree wooden blocks with letters and line drawings on a surface

thrree wooden blocks with letters and line drawings on a surface

Florida’s limited ban on Flock cameras only scratches the surface of widespread surveillance concerns

Abigail Hall, University of Tampa

camera with solar panel aimed at a highway with the Miami skyline in the background

camera with solar panel aimed at a highway with the Miami skyline in the background

Want to use AI to improve your work? Have it disagree with you

Monideepa Tarafdar, UMass Amherst

cartoon image of a humanoid robot and a man both wearing boxing gloves and facing each other, arms raised

cartoon image of a humanoid robot and a man both wearing boxing gloves and facing each other, arms raised

As AI political deepfakes go viral, lawmakers struggle to keep up – 2 states’ laws show limits of what they can do

Stefani Langehennig, University of Denver

A woman looks at a hand-held computer screen with two men depicted on it.

A woman looks at a hand-held computer screen with two men depicted on it.

More articles about artificial intelligence

New research

Hooked on tuna: People have been harvesting these ocean predators for 44,000 years

Emma Elliott Smith, Smithsonian Institution; University of New Mexico and Torben Rick, Smithsonian Institution

Silvery fish swimming through aqua water with other fish in background

Silvery fish swimming through aqua water with other fish in background

Ancient people relied on genetic variation already present in wild plants to domesticate crops like rice and corn

Ornob Alam, New York University

Green and golden rice plants up close

Green and golden rice plants up close

I teach doctors how to interpret test results – and the labels ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ often hide what matters most

Amiran Baduashvili, University of Colorado Anschutz

Clinician leaning over patient lying in hospital bed, stethoscope on chest

Clinician leaning over patient lying in hospital bed, stethoscope on chest

Your cells keep a record of every workout you’ve ever done – and those gains persist even after a break from exercise

Diego Hernandez-Saavedra, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Yi-Heng (Hank) Huang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Person lying half on a treadmill, half on the ground

Person lying half on a treadmill, half on the ground

Why old dogs might be able to teach Alzheimer’s researchers new tricks

Julie Moreno, Colorado State University

Close-up of dog's face as a person cups its jaw with their hands and kisses the top of its head.

Close-up of dog's face as a person cups its jaw with their hands and kisses the top of its head.

Hunter-gatherer societies are often put on a pedestal as paragons of equality – but the reality is more complicated

Duncan Stibbard Hawkes, Baylor University and Christopher von Rueden, University of Richmond

Two Hadza children play atop a rocky outcrop, with bushland and clouds in the background

Two Hadza children play atop a rocky outcrop, with bushland and clouds in the background

Too many males to choose from can overwhelm female frogs – and change who gets to mate

Claire Therese Hemingway, University of Tennessee; Smithsonian Institution

Three gray frogs on a gray branch.

Three gray frogs on a gray branch.

Hibernating bacteria can invade hospitals and survive outer space – but their high energy bill is a weakness that scientists can strike

Canan Karakoç, Georgia Institute of Technology

Microscopy image of thin, small translucent rods colored purple, blue and white scattered across the screen.

Microscopy image of thin, small translucent rods colored purple, blue and white scattered across the screen.

Brain and mind

Optogenetics wins the Nobel – one neuroscience breakthrough in a line of technological innovations helping scientists map and control the brain

Kimberlee D'Ardenne, Arizona State University

Illustration of brain with several threads of light passing through it

Illustration of brain with several threads of light passing through it

AI behaves more like a brain than a database – cognitive science’s role in its origin story helps explain why

Michael Hout, New Mexico State University and Arryn Robbins, University of Richmond

Yellow brain graphic floats above a tablet with various circuits in the background

Yellow brain graphic floats above a tablet with various circuits in the background

Dozens of men failed to stop an alleged gang rape at Cornell – here’s the misperception that keeps bystanders from intervening and how to short-circuit it

Catherine A. Sanderson, Amherst College

Young men's arms with plastic cups on bar

Young men's arms with plastic cups on bar

Why does your brain mix up memories? A new study examines how memories are misplaced in your brain’s filing cabinets

Ian McDonough, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Three generations of women look at a photo album together while behind them a wall features dozens of framed photos.

Three generations of women look at a photo album together while behind them a wall features dozens of framed photos.

More articles about psychology

Curious Kids

Real kids ask real questions and real experts answer them

Two men stand in thigh-deep water in the rain next to a truck, one is holding a dog under his rain jacket.

Two men stand in thigh-deep water in the rain next to a truck, one is holding a dog under his rain jacket.

How much rain can a hurricane make, and does the storm size matter?

Zachary Handlos, Georgia Institute of Technology

Why can’t people regenerate limbs like salamanders?

Junsu Kang, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Axolotl perched atop some rocks, mouth open like it's smiling at something off-view

Axolotl perched atop some rocks, mouth open like it's smiling at something off-view

Kids ask the questions. Scholars answer them.

Be sure to include your name, age and where you live. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

Send in your question!

Graphic that says 'connecting experts with curious kids', with words in background saying 'how? why? who?'

Graphic that says 'connecting experts with curious kids', with words in background saying 'how? why? who?'

What was the original first-person shooter? Two largely forgotten computer games from the 1970s ushered in the genre

Mark J. P. Wolf, Concordia University Wisconsin

Green lines creating a 3D perspective.

Green lines creating a 3D perspective.

What happened at the end of the Revolutionary War? Here’s how Americans set up a brand-new country once the fighting ended

Sandra Slater, College of Charleston

a black and white image of cornwallis and british forces surrendering to george washington at the battle of yorktown in 1781

a black and white image of cornwallis and british forces surrendering to george washington at the battle of yorktown in 1781

More Curious Kids articles

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For centuries, bird migration was a mystery – a tech revolution is changing that, and could help save these amazing creatures
Peter P. Marra, Georgetown University and Amy L. Scarpignato, Georgetown University