The science section covers breakthroughs in medicine, physics, biology, and technology. We surface discoveries that expand what humanity can do, from new treatments reaching clinical trials to engineering feats that seemed impossible a decade ago. Every link goes to the original publisher so you can read the full study or press release yourself.
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Did you know that every time the brain learns something, it changes physically? A study in PLoS Biology is the first to track exactly what those changes are, and f…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Here’s some food for thought: for students, free lunch ends when school does. For the millions of children who rely on subsidized cafeteria meals during the year, …
Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News In Memoriam Announcements Archives IGARSS 2026 Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Boot…
NASA/Pablo Garcia Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408, shown in this Aug. 5, 2026, artist’s con…
3 Min Read NASA’s Lunar Development and Test Facility Prepares Artemis Hardware for Moon The Handheld Lunar Electrostatic Dust Mitigation tool is tested inside the Lunar Development and Test Facility …
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 7 - … Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different…
Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Sensing the Poles’ Hidden Heat Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human D…
Put 12 August in the diary for some of the best astronomical events of the year.
Astronomers watch the whole process as a huge star dies Reuters
More than 5,000 years after his death, Ötzi the Iceman is still hosting a remarkable mix of ancient and modern microorganisms. Researchers separated microbes that lived in his body during his lifetime…
Metal-rich asteroids could one day become hardware stores for Mars, supplying the materials needed to build and repair a growing colony. A new analysis shows that carefully selected asteroids may be r…
Several enormous Megalodon vertebrae thought to have been destroyed in 1989 were found sitting unnoticed on a museum shelf. Their analysis strengthens evidence that the giant shark could exceed 24 met…
How much ice is stored in the world's glaciers? And where exactly is it located? A new study led by Ca' Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with the Institute of Polar Sciences of the Natio…
Oxygen provides the driving force for many vital chemical reactions. Two well-known examples include respiration, the process that allows living things to break down food to release its energy, and co…
By rapidly twisting a microscopically small tip back and forth, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have unlocked a new way to detect subtle changes on the surface of a material flexing in…
In Goethe's ballad "Erlkönig," immortalized in Schubert's fevered 1815 setting, a dying boy riding through the night sees a spectral king beckoning from the darkness. His father calms him: "Mein Sohn,…
When most baby turtles hatch, their sex depends on the temperature of the sand or soil where their mother laid her eggs. Warm incubation produces females, while cool nests produce males.
Scientists in China predict that stacking two microscopic layers of boron could set a new record for superconductivity. Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance. Tra…
A new genomic resource from the Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant genomics team is providing a powerful new foundation for faster, more precise turfgrass genetics and breeding. The team discovered a b…
An international team of researchers has uncovered a previously undetected structure in the birdsong of Bengalese finches that has the same statistical patterns found in human languages.
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