Science

High times

War in Iran Spiked Oil Prices. Trump Will Decide How High They Go

The conflict in the Middle East is driving oil prices up in a midterm year when Americans are already focused on high energy bills.

Moon Shot

NASA Is Making Big Changes to Speed Up the Artemis Program

Things Fall Apart

This Is the Worst Thing That Could Happen to the International Space Station

Health

The CDC Has a Leadership Crisis

A 2023 law championed by Republicans requires the CDC have a director confirmed by the Senate. For months, though, it’s had only acting directors—and the White House won’t say when that will change.

AI Digital Twins Are Helping People Manage Diabetes and Obesity

As patients and employers look for alternatives to pricey GLP-1 drugs, Silicon Valley startup Twin Health is using AI and wearable sensors to help people make healthier choices.

RFK Jr. Says Americans Need More Protein. His Grok-Powered Food Website Disagrees

The site Realfood.gov uses Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot to dispense nutrition information—some of which contradicts the government’s new guidelines.

Public Health Workers Are Quitting Over Assignments to Guantánamo

Doctors, nurses, and other officers are increasingly being deployed to ICE detention centers. Some have resigned in protest, while others offer a rare look into bleak conditions.

Environment

The Last Mystery of Antarctica’s ‘Blood Falls’ Has Finally Been Solved

New research sheds light on what drives reddish water to emerge from underground to pour onto the Taylor Glacier.

A North Atlantic Right Whale Baby Boom Is On—but the Species Remains at Risk

Researchers have documented the births of nearly two dozen North Atlantic right whale calves this season. It’s an encouraging sign for a species whose population is estimated to be below 400.

‘Veronika’ Is the First Cow Known to Use a Tool

This is the first recorded instance of a bovine using tools from her environment to relieve an itch—leaving scientists astonished.

Trump’s Agriculture Bailout Is Alienating His MAHA Base

The administration’s pro-industry tilt—across three executive agencies—is feeding the MAHA movement’s growing discontent.

Climate

The US Had a Big Battery Boom Last Year

Despite Donald Trump’s unrelenting attacks on renewable energy, there’s a quiet revolution happening on US grids.

Could AI Data Centers Be Moved to Outer Space?

Massive data centers for generative AI are bad for the Earth. How about launching them into orbit?

Big Tech Says Generative AI Will Save the Planet. It Doesn’t Offer Much Proof

A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all.

Record Low Snow in the West Will Mean Less Water, More Fire, and Political Chaos

Snowpack levels across a wide swath of western US states are among the lowest seen in decades, even as regulators struggle to negotiate water rights in the region.

Energy

The Data Centers Have Arrived at the Edge of the Arctic Circle

As AI labs gorge themselves on compute, data center operators have headed north in search of cheap and plentiful energy.

The Nothing That Has the Potential to Be Anything

You can never truly empty a box. Why? Zero-point energy.

New York Is the Latest State to Consider a Data Center Pause

Red and blue states alike have introduced legislation in recent weeks that would halt data center development, citing concerns from climate to high energy prices.

Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom

Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.

Space

NASA Delays Launch of Artemis II Lunar Mission Once Again

A failure in the helium flow of the SLS rocket has prompted NASA to delay the Artemis II moon mission. Rather than March 6, the launch is now targeted for April.

How to View the ‘Blood Moon’ Total Lunar Eclipse on March 3

Next month, the Earth will come between the sun and the moon, causing the moon to take on an eerie reddish hue.

A Galaxy Composed Almost Entirely of Dark Matter Has Been Confirmed

What scientists thought were four separate star clusters are actually part of one nearly invisible system.

Astronomers Are Closing In on the Kuiper Belt’s Secrets

As next-generation telescopes map this outer frontier, astronomers are bracing for discoveries that could reveal hidden planets, strange structures, and clues to the solar system’s chaotic youth.

Physics and Math

Two Titanic Structures Hidden Deep Within the Earth Have Altered the Magnetic Field for Millions of Years

A team of geologists found for the first time evidence linking regions of low seismic velocity and the shape of the Earth’s magnetic field.

How to Use Physics to Escape an Ice Bowl

Here are three smart tricks, based on an understanding of frictional forces, to beat a slippery slope.

How Does the Hive Mind Work in Pluribus?

The “Joining” seems to connect people via radio waves. Let’s dig into the physics at play.

A New Bridge Links the Strange Math of Infinity to Computer Science

Descriptive set theorists study the niche mathematics of infinity. Now, they’ve shown that their problems can be rewritten in the concrete language of algorithms.

Biotech

This Chinese Startup Wants to Build a New Brain-Computer Interface—No Implant Required

Gestala is the latest company to emerge from China’s burgeoning brain-computer interface industry. It plans to access the brain with noninvasive ultrasound technology.

He Went to Prison for Gene-Editing Babies. Now He’s Planning to Do It Again

Chinese scientist He Jiankui wants to end Alzheimer’s and thinks Silicon Valley is conducting a “Nazi eugenic experiment.”

OpenAI Invests in Sam Altman’s New Brain-Tech Startup Merge Labs

Merge Labs has emerged from stealth with $252 million in funding from OpenAI and others. It aims to use ultrasound to read from and write to the brain.

Crispr Pioneer Launches Startup to Make Tailored Gene-Editing Treatments

Aurora Therapeutics, cofounded by Nobel Prize–winning scientist Jennifer Doudna, plans to use gene editing and a new FDA regulatory pathway to commercialize treatments for rare diseases.

Psychology and Neuroscience

Study of Buddhist Monks Finds Meditation Alters Brain Activity

Meditation isn’t thinking about nothing. New research reinforces that it’s a mind-altering, dynamic state that promotes focus, learning, and well-being.