Science

Claire Montegut (second from right), 16, and Anika Zhou (right), 17, are members of the Space Cookies, a FIRST Robotics Competition team composed of all Girl Scouts. Here they fix their robot's roller "claw" designed to pick up cones and cubes to score points.

Meet the high school sport that builds robots — and the next generation of engineers

6:01am October 07, 2023

The FIRST Robotics Competition has evolved from a fascinating after-school activity to having an impact on the tech and engineering world, involving tens of thousands of teens across the globe.

Scientists studying fossil human footprints in New Mexico say their age implies that humans arrived in North America earlier than thought.

Science

Fossil footprints in New Mexico suggest humans have been here longer than we thought

5:00am October 07, 2023

by Alice Fordham

A new study of fossil footprints in White Sands National Park bolsters the argument that humans may have lived in North America longer than thought.

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Researchers want to see through the eyes of baby turtles

1:43pm October 06, 2023

by Benjamin Payne

To figure out what baby turtles see when they hatch, researchers in Georgia are collecting images from their point of view.

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NASA Harvest analysis of unharvested crops (in purple), along the front line of the war in Ukraine.

The bruising artillery battle in Ukraine has left a scar that is visible from space

9:50am October 06, 2023

NASA-backed researchers say that millions of acres of farmland have been abandoned due to the conflict.

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White Sands fossil footprints challenge notions about human history

5:24pm October 05, 2023

by Alice Fordham

How long have humans lived in North America? For decades, the commonest answer has been perhaps 14,000 years — but new findings add weight to arguments for a longer human history in the Americas.

This week in science: Elusive antimatter, a brightening night sky and Fat Bear Week

5:12pm October 05, 2023

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Regina Barber and Aaron Scott of Short Wave about elusive antimatter, a brightening night sky and a competition among super-sized grizzly bears: Fat Bear Week.

Pregnancy really does change the brain, study shows

4:42pm October 05, 2023

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists have shown how pregnancy hormones alter a brain circuit in mice. The finding helps explain how hormones induce maternal behavior in a range of mammals.

Pyxis Ocean sets sail in August on its first voyage since being retrofitted with WindWings.

New technology uses good old-fashioned wind to power giant cargo vessels

2:33pm October 05, 2023

by Scott Neuman

Cargo ships equipped with massive rigid sails called WindWings could save a substantial amount of fuel, considering how much of the world's goods are transported by sea.

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The world is guzzling more and more sugary beverages, a new study says

7:58am October 05, 2023

by Ari Daniel

Worldwide, between 1990 and 2018, intake of sugary drinks was up by almost 16%, according to findings of a study published in the journal Nature Communications.

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A visualization of the accretion disk around a black hole.

Science

Black holes can teach us how to live our best lives

5:00am October 05, 2023

by Regina G. Barber

Black holes may seem like interstellar enigmas, but they hold some key lessons on how to move through the universe.

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