To reduce nitrogen pollution stemming from synthetic fertilizer and livestock waste, California’s Central Valley relies on five data sets to estimate surplus nitrogen. However, most parts of the United States use just one or two data sets—the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s agricultural survey and census—to estimate nitrogen surplus.

The latest model is lighter and thinner than its predecessor and features an edge-to-edge display. But if you already own the first-generation Colorsoft, there’s little reason to upgrade. 

Mere days after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dramatically expanded the use of an AI air traffic control tool nationwide, the agency issued an extremely rare ground stop for all flights in the entire country this afternoon. Secretary of transportation Sean Duffy tweeted that the ground stop is “following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” adding that “FAA technicians are investigating the issue.” While it remains unclear whether the Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories (SMART) system is connected to the first full ground stop since January 2023, Homeland Security administrator Markwayne Mullin admitted live on TV that his agency was investigating the possibility after a reporter pointed out the suspicious timing. “We’re looking at that,” Mullin told the reporter, referring to SMART. “We’re working with our counterparts throughout all agencies. The government contractor behind SMART, Air Space Intelligence, quickly denied that the ground stop is in any way connected to its tool. “The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC,” the company wrote in a statement. According to a November 10 FAA statement, the SMART system is…

A newly identified prehistoric whale had unusual adaptations that may have allowed it to hunt along the seafloor millions of years ago. An ancient whale that lived millions of years ago had a skull so dramatically distorted that its face appeared pushed to one side. Its bony nostrils were displaced entirely to the left, and […]

Nvidia poured tens of billions into AI startups under Huang. Without him at the helm, founders and VCs are bracing for smaller checks and lower valuations.

Researchers at Penn Dental Medicine have uncovered a previously unknown molecular mechanism by which bacteria rapidly compromise the body’s protective barriers, a finding that could reshape how scientists approach a wide range of serious diseases.

Black Friday is still weeks away, but AirPods discounts are dropping early.

Most DNA in an organism is inherited from its parent or parents. This form of genetic inheritance is referred to as vertical inheritance because genes are passed down from generation to generation.

Living materials created with a 3D printer are like living tissues with one notable exception: You get to choose exactly which cells are in them, as well as their final 3D shape. Depending on the type of bacteria included in the print, the material can clean up contaminated water or break down waste materials such as plastic.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights across the United States citing “extraordinary circumstances” and for “reasons of safety.”

The government cited a nationwide communications failure among air traffic control systems as the reason for the sudden grounding on Friday.

An international team of scientists working with Queensland Museum’s CoralBank project has uncovered previously hidden coral diversity on Australia’s east coast, revealing that 12 corals once considered variations of other species are distinct species in their own right.

Extra time on assignments. Frequent breaks. A quiet place to work. For students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), these are some of the most common accommodations schools provide to make learning easier. But are they actually helping children succeed? A new study from Florida International University (FIU) suggests that some widely used approaches may be falling short.

Dogs, having lived alongside humans for tens of thousands of years, are keenly tuned in to our emotions. Behavioral experiments, brain studies and even measurements of heart rate all suggest dogs respond differently depending on the emotional expressions they encounter in humans.

They say opposites attract, and many couples do fit this pattern. One is pragmatic and down-to-earth, while the other is a dreamer with their head in the clouds. Yet, these differences make them perfect for each other. According to researchers at ICFO, chemical interactions between atoms are not that different. Ruthenium, for instance, belongs to the “dreamer” class. It is commonly used in single-atom catalysts that speed up water electrolysis, which splits water to obtain green hydrogen. However, on its own, ruthenium tends to over-oxidize and dissolve during operation, like an idealist who takes flight without looking back.

X-ray scans cracked an Elizabethan padlock’s code, revealing how a centuries-old security mechanism worked without damaging an unusually well-preserved piece of maritime history. For more than 400 years, a brass combination lock recovered from a shipwreck off the Welsh coast kept its secret. Lost when a violent storm wrecked the Ann Francis, the remarkably well-preserved […]

It probably walked on two legs and weighed about 400 kilograms (880 pounds), despite still being a youngster. Meet Nyana rooiwalensis, a newly identified dinosaur species that lived more than 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa.

Drogue is harvesting heat from the ocean to power data centers on floating vessels. The first prototype should be bobbing around the ocean, crunching bits, in less than two years.

Elephants live in some of the most complex and resilient societies in the animal kingdom. Individuals die or move away, calves grow up, and newcomers join, but the local communities as a whole usually hold together. Long-term studies of African savanna elephants have shown that, even after poaching or other spikes in deaths, survivors tend to rebuild their lost connections over time. But a new study suggests that resilience may not keep the community intact when steady losses accumulate over time. Anastasia Madsen, a behavioral ecologist at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues analyzed 12 years of observations of wild Asian elephants in Sri Lanka. They found that, once losses began to outpace newcomers, the elephants’ society didn’t just get smaller. It fractured. Accidental savanna Udawalawe National Park in southern Sri Lanka was created in the 1970s around a reservoir on one of the country’s four major rivers. “Before that, it was basically a tropical deciduous forest,” said Shermin de Silva, an ecologist at UC San Diego and senior author of the study (de Silva started the Udawalawe Elephant Research Project in 2006).Read full article Comments

It took years, but a worthy use case for AI has finally emerged. In the United Kingdom, a south London man successfully argued against a petty rent-hike imposed by his landlord using generative AI, the independent publication London Centric reported. The renter, identified as David, was notified that his rent would go up by a rate of £17.92 a month, or a little under $24 US. That might not sound like much, but given that he was already paying $3,400 for a one-bedroom apartment — which is high even by London’s ridiculously expensive standards — David decided to fight back, using his right to challenge private-market rent hikes, a feature of the UK’s housing system. He began by checking similar properties on the renting platform Zoopla, LonCen reported, before tasking an AI model to draft paperwork arguing his case according to England’s Renter’s Rights Act. Basically, David contended that the rent increase was disproportionate to prices in the surrounding area, and used AI to check his work and compile the evidence. The issue was then escalated to an independent property tribunal in accordance with the UK’s renter’s rights laws, which concurred with the AI chatbot’s assessment that the hike was uncalled…

A silicone frog built by engineers at Denmark’s Aarhus University can’t swim nearly as fast as its amphibian inspiration, but it still manages to get the job done without any moving parts. The odd invention owes its slow-but-steady aquatic maneuvering to a set of six artificial muscles specially designed to contract when exposed to near-infrared light. The team’s novel system is detailed in a study recently published in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies. Although similar setups may one day boost the capabilities of soft robots tasked with search and rescue or environmental monitoring, its creators are a bit more realistic about this frog-bot’s near-term uses. “I could easily imagine these robots being used as toys before we see them on rescue missions,” Cecilie Ryberg, Aarhus University chemist and study co-author, said in a profile. “I think people would have fun playing with a frog like this using a suitable light source.” Each of the robot’s muscles is built using crystal elastomers. These materials are specifically manufactured to contract while they are heating, and then revert back to their original shape once cooled. In this case, Ryberg and her collaborators also added a molecule that converts near-infrared light into heat. This…

Mercury contamination presents an obvious challenge: it is invisible. A glass of water or a piece of fruit can seem perfectly normal to the naked eye, even when trace amounts of toxic mercury are present. Detecting such minute levels usually requires specialized laboratory tools and trained experts.

For Black Friday, a new quarterly option delivers three bags at a time, each from a different country.

I’ve already found early deals on our favorite WIRED-tested mattresses and sleep accessories.

Stonehenge’s six-ton Altar Stone has led scientists from Wales to Scotland, yet even its most detailed geological examination has failed to reveal where it came from. Scientists have spent more than a century trying to determine where Stonehenge’s six-ton Altar Stone came from. Once thought to originate in Wales, the massive sandstone slab has since […]

Researchers at University of Tsukuba and collaborating institutions have identified short antimicrobial peptides derived from Nemuri, a sleep-inducing protein in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

LangChain now claims 7,000 customers of its model and platform agnostic agent management tool LangSmith.

The enormous trove of galaxies and quasars will help astronomers piece together the most in-depth 3D map of the universe yet made

For around 10,000 years, humans have selectively bred sheep for desirable traits. Generation after generation, we have chosen animals for their wool, size and reproductive characteristics and gradually left our mark on their DNA.

China has begun preparations for a mission to Jupiter that could place a robotic lander on Callisto, one of the planet’s largest moons, and investigate evidence of a possible ocean beneath its ancient, icy surface. China Takes a Concrete Step Toward Exploring Jupiter’s Moons The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on November 13, 2026, that it had begun soliciting proposals for scientific instruments aboard Tianwen 4, an ambitious robotic mission designed to study Jupiter and land on Callisto. According to China Daily, the agency’s Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center is seeking research and development proposals for 12 scientific payloads that will be distributed between an orbiter and a lander. The announcement marks a concrete development in China’s plans to extend its planetary exploration program into the outer solar system, where spacecraft must operate across immense distances and endure demanding radiation and thermal environments. Previous planning information indicates that Tianwen 4 is scheduled to launch around 2029 aboard a Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province. The mission would represent a substantial technological undertaking. Unlike Mars, Jupiter lies hundreds of millions of miles farther from the Sun, making communication, navigation, power generation,…

The oldest directly dated evidence of intoxicating cannabis use comes from a Scythian tomb, suggesting the plant’s mind-altering effects had a place in ancient burial rituals. About 1,000 cannabis seeds recovered from a princely tomb in southern Siberia could not, on their own, tell archaeologists whether anyone had used the plant to get high. Cannabis, […]

The company says a bad update—not a cyberattack or AI—caused its servers around the world to crash.

Google AI researcher Pietro Miotti let his AI agents loose on some NASA lidar data — where, according to him, they made a staggering discovery: an ancient Maya site lurking deep under the thick canopy of the jungles of Mexico. “By analyzing NASA lidar data, my AI agents discovered a Maya site in Mexico that, as far as anyone can tell, no one had reported before,” Miotti wrote in a breathless blog post. “It took less than 72 hours to go from a random thought while traveling to an official reply from the Mexican government.” “This is by far the best time ever to be alive,” the researcher, who admitted that he’s “not an archeologist,” gushed. “I think we’re on the brink of a revolution across every science, not just coding, physics and math,” he tweeted. The discovery blew up on social media, with users lauding him for “finding ancient mayan sites from your desk chair” and arguing that the discovery justified AI data centers. (Naturally, they also shared AI slop images of what the site could look like once unearthed.) The news even caught the attention of media outlets, including The Verge and TechRadar. But it didn’t take long…

Surface rocks can reveal records of regions they occupied millions of years ago, even if those areas were kilometers below ground. On Türkiye’s Marmara Sea’s southern shores and islands, granitic rocks that are now exposed originated as molten material deep in Earth’s crust.

What makes the human brain so much larger and more complex than the brains of many other mammals? Scientists have long sought clues in our DNA. Some discoveries show how genetic changes enable the developing brain to produce more cells. Others help explain how long those cells can continue to multiply.

Mountain ranges grew higher throughout Earth’s history in two distinct “spurts” that correlated with the flourishing of biological diversity on our planet, according to new research published in the journal Science Advances. The study suggests mountains may have played a key role in sparking complex life.

The documentary offers a window into scientists’ wonder and joy in their work as they discover new life forms in the depths of the Southern Ocean.

It took a few hours longer than expected, but the SS United States now rests at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The nearly 1,000-foot-long ocean liner sank off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, to a depth of about 190 feet on November 11, where it is now officially the world’s largest artificial reef. In the years ahead, biologists and conservationists will monitor the vessel’s remains as numerous marine species slowly convert the ship into their own home. Ahead of the next phase in the United States’ recycled life, divers from the RV Explorer swam to document the vessel’s location and post-scuttling condition. On November 13, the team released a brief video of their successful excursion. Interestingly, the footage shows the ship is resting upright on the ocean floor despite initially sinking on its side. “It was just epic,” diver Rustin Cassway told a local Philadelphia news outlet. “It was very cleaned up. I mean, you could see people really took their time to clean it really nicely.” The project marks the first time ecologists will be able to monitor a shipwreck’s transformation in real-time. Researchers now plan to conduct annual visits to the SS United States to chart…

A team of astronomers recently identified a red giant star with an unseen binary companion after examining data from the Large Sky Area MultiObject Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). Although the companion object can’t be observed visually, astronomers can see the gravitational effects it has on the red giant star.

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket is scheduled to return to space on November 14 after a nine-month absence, carrying 40 Amazon broadband satellites and a redesigned booster component that could shape the rocket’s future. A Nine-Month Wait Ends With a High-Stakes Launch The mission, designated Vulcan Leo 1, is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 12:32 p.m. EST (1732 GMT) on Saturday. The launch was delayed after a power issue affected a nitrogen facility involved in ground propellant operations. ULA confirmed that the setback did not affect the flight hardware, stating, “The vehicle and spacecraft are healthy.” The launch marks Vulcan’s fifth flight since its January 2024 debut and its first mission dedicated to Amazon’s growing satellite internet network. Viewers can follow the launch through ULA’s official broadcast, with coverage scheduled to begin approximately 20 minutes before liftoff. For United Launch Alliance, the mission carries significance beyond delivering commercial satellites. Vulcan is intended to replace the company’s aging Atlas V, which has only a handful of missions remaining. Its ability to operate reliably will help determine how quickly ULA can transition its commercial and national security launch commitments to the newer vehicle.…

The 15th spaceflight of SpaceX’s giant launch vehicle aims for something unprecedented: snatching both rocket stages from midair after a journey to orbit

New research shows the most advanced AI models from China were trained on banned Nvidia chips.

The ocean has been absorbing carbon dioxide from fossil fuel emissions at an increasing rate since 1990, while the net uptake of carbon by forests, soils and other land ecosystems has not grown, according to a new study led by scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

A rare total solar eclipse will plunge parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East into darkness for more than six minutes, creating one of the longest and most accessible astronomical spectacles of the century. Yet where observers choose to stand could make the difference between an unforgettable view and a sky obscured by clouds or dust. A Solar Eclipse That Will Cross 10 Countries On August 2, 2027, the Moon’s shadow will sweep across approximately 15,227 kilometers (9,462 miles) of Earth’s surface, passing over regions inhabited by an estimated 89 million people. The path of totality will reach a maximum width of 259 kilometers (161 miles), creating an unusually broad corridor from which the Sun’s outer atmosphere can be observed. According to Sky & Telescope, the eclipse has attracted attention because of its remarkable duration and favorable viewing prospects across North Africa. The Moon’s shadow will first touch land in southern Spain and northern Morocco before moving across Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. It will then cross the Red Sea, reaching Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Somalia before disappearing over the Indian Ocean. Near Luxor, Egypt, totality will last approximately 6 minutes and 22 seconds, making this the longest…

One little bear cub in Southeastern Alaska’s Tongass National Forest is a true model of bravery. The park’s rangers have awarded the unnamed black bear (Ursus americanus) cub with the 2026 Courageous Cub award for persevering when he got himself in a little pickle this summer. The cub belongs to a forgetful mother bear named Dory, who had two cubs this season.  “This little cub of Dory’s went on a big adventure. He got lost, ran down the trail a half mile and approached visitors as if to ask, ‘Are you my mommy?’ Then got scared and ran off in the wrong direction,” the Tongass rangers write. “Hours later he came running back up the trail sniffing out where mama was.” Black bears like this family have a very keen sense of smell. It is debated just how far away they can smell, but it is at least two miles and could be up to 20. Fortunately, the cub was able to use some of that sniffing power to find both Dory and his other sibling. Meet the bears of Anan Creek The rangers at Tongass National Forest are currently awarding the Anan Bear Awards to the 39 bears spotted…

Palantir has become synonymous with mass surveillance. The software company is literally named after an ominous all-seeing orb in the “Lord of the Rings” books that lets its wielder spy on anything in the land. You can forgive our consternation, then, that its CEO Alex Karp is now warning about the dangers of the very high-tech panopticon he’s helping to build — a concern that seemingly stems from how it could get affect fat cats like himself. In an interview on The Builders with Walter Isaacson podcast, Karp deployed an astounding new argument. Basically, he reasoned that enforcing a wealth tax that accounts for everything that the richest people own would be bad because the resulting dragnet could end up requiring even more surveillance than we already have, thereby backfiring on us poors begging for even a crumb of billionaire dough to be put toward keeping whatever’s left of our DOGE-decimated government intact. “To enforce a wealth tax, you’re going to need surveillance. Because I’m going to need to know what is the bench in your house in New Orleans worth,” Karp began, a problem that working class Americans can surely all relate to.  His point being: you need to…

Two new studies involving Newcastle University marine scientist Dr. Theresa Rueger have highlighted how the tusked goby’s relationship with its host sponge shapes almost every aspect of its life. Rueger, a senior lecturer in tropical marine sciences at Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, is senior author of one study and co-author of the other, which together uncover the influence of sponges on the tiny Caribbean reef fish’s social behavior, growth, reproduction and microbiome.

Soil respiration (Rs), the efflux of CO₂ from soils to the atmosphere driven by root and microbial activity, is one of the largest terrestrial carbon fluxes and a primary determinant of net carbon sequestration. The important role of nitrogen in driving terrestrial carbon sequestration has long been recognized. However, the role of nitrogen in the temporal dynamics of Rs has not been well understood.

Astronomers have uncovered a case of mistaken identity in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A stellar system once believed to harbor a dormant black hole actually contains two luminous stars, one of which spins at extraordinary speed. The discovery challenges earlier interpretations of the system and reveals how interactions between stars can produce signals that resemble those of an invisible black hole. A Black Hole Candidate That Raised Questions The system, known as NGC 1850 BH1, lies within the young star cluster NGC 1850 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. For years, astronomers have examined this unusual binary system because its orbital behavior suggested that one of its components might be an unseen compact object. In 2022, researchers proposed that the system contained a black hole approximately 11 times the mass of the Sun, accompanied by a visible star weighing roughly five solar masses. The apparent absence of light from the heavier companion supported the interpretation that it was a dormant black hole. Unlike black holes actively consuming material, dormant black holes produce little or no detectable X-ray emission. Astronomers typically identify them by measuring how their gravity influences nearby stars. The challenge is that…

More than 5,000 years ago, brewers in eastern China appear to have used red mold to make rice alcohol, then strained the drink through cloth. Microscopic residues on ancient pottery show evidence of both the fermentation method and the filtering process to separate the liquid from leftover grain.