A massive asteroid slammed into the North Sea and triggered a 330-foot tsunami

A long-running debate about a mysterious crater hidden beneath the North Sea has finally been settled. Researchers have confirmed that the Silverpit Crater was created when an asteroid or comet slammed into the region roughly 43 to 46 million years ago.

Why scientists fear we're missing evidence of extraterrestrial life

That question is at the center of a new paper published in Nature Astronomy, where researchers examine the often-overlooked problem of "false negatives" in the search for extraterrestrial life. These are cases in which life exists, or once existed, but scientists fail to detect it.

Millions of exploding stars could soon reveal dark energy's secrets

Researchers led by the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) have developed a new technique that could greatly improve how scientists study the expansion of the Universe and investigate the mysterious force known as dark energy.

US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028 | New Scientist

The US government wants to get hold of a quantum computer good enough to contribute to scientific breakthroughs in just two years. It will use it to try to accelerate the research and development of new materials, pharmaceuticals and molecules useful in agriculture and manufacturing.

New solid-state material converts sunlight into higher-energy UV light

Imagine pouring together two cups of warm water and somehow ending up with a cup of boiling water. That cannot happen in everyday life, but at the quantum level, something similar is possible. Multiple low-energy particles of light can combine their energy to create a single particle with much higher energy.

A quantum state that lasts forever may finally be within our grasp | New Scientist

Autism may have two distinct subtypes that vary by brain activity | New Scientist

Some autistic people seem to have unusually strong connections between different regions of their brain, while others have weakened links. These two connectivity patterns appear to be associated with different mechanisms within the brain, adding to the growing evidence that there are several kinds of autism that are at least somewhat distinct from each other.

Scientists found a way to explain bird flocks that “defy” Newton’s third law

Birds can see a large portion of the world around them, but when they fly in flocks, they pay attention only to birds beside them or ahead of them. They do not align their movements with birds behind them. That behavior appears to conflict with Newton's third law, the famous action and reaction principle often summarized as "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Scientists just found a hidden weakness in forever chemicals

PFAS, widely known as "forever chemicals," are among the most stubborn pollutants scientists face today. Because these compounds are extraordinarily stable, they can remain in water supplies, ecosystems, and even the human body for decades. Their persistence has made PFAS contamination a growing environmental and public health concern around the world.

Alien messages may have reached Earth without us realizing it

A new study from the SETI Institute suggests that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence may be facing an unexpected challenge. The same stellar activity that shapes conditions around distant planets could also make alien radio signals much harder to detect.