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How AI helps scientists design the next generation of medicines

MIT Technology Review

As generative AI captures public attention, a different kind of AI is reshaping drug discovery. Machine learning models are helping to compress decade-long timelines and cracking problems that were previously unsolvable. Designing and developing a new medicine is an expensive, failure-prone scientific challenge. A new drug can take many years to develop, at the cost of a significant investment. And even then, most possible candidates never reach the patient. For biologic medicines, therapies made from engineered proteins rather than synthetic chemistry (which are often used to treat conditions across most major acute and chronic diseases), the complexity is even greater.


Australian cave home to 25,000 years of healing--and curses

Popular Science

Ancient burnt grass reveals millennia of spiritual rituals inside Cloggs Cave. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . The entry into the limestone cavern known as Cloggs Cave resembles a massive cathedral door.


Advancing next-gen AI with materials science innovation

MIT Technology Review

As artificial intelligence pushes semiconductors and data centers to new physical limits, advances in materials science are becoming essential to sustaining the pace of innovation. The conversation about AI often centers on algorithms, computing power, or huge investments in new semiconductor fabrication plants and hyperscale data centers. But beneath each of these advances is another layer of innovation that makes them possible: advanced materials. Every increase in computing performance increases the physical demands placed on the systems that make and run AI. Delivering these gains depends not only on advances in chip design and system architecture, but on advances in the materials that enable them to perform under extreme conditions. As AI continues to push the physical limits of semiconductors and data center infrastructure, advanced materials are no longer simply supporting innovation in this area; they are defining the limits of what is possible.


Mars' desolate desert landscape captured by asteroid-bound NASA spacecraft

Popular Science

Science Space Solar System Mars Mars' desolate desert landscape captured by asteroid-bound NASA spacecraft More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. The time-lapse video shows the approach, close approach, and departure of NASA's Psyche spacecraft at Mars as it used the planet's gravity for a boost on its way to the asteroid Psyche. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . NASA's asteroid-hunting spacecraft recently needed a little gravitational assist from Mars to keep speeding towards its intended target, but it didn't leave the Red Planet empty-handed.


'Mind-blowing' ancient bones discovery sparked by family holiday

BBC News

'Mind-blowing' ancient bones discovery sparked by family holiday To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A family holiday sparked a series of remarkable archaeological discoveries which one expert says could change what is currently known about Britain's prehistory. John Bolton, an archaeologist, was visiting the 11th Century Pembroke Castle in 2010 when he heard there was a cave beneath it. His interest grew when he discovered that the cave, known as Wogan Cavern, showed little signs of previous excavation - so he badgered Dr Rob Dinnis, from the University of Aberdeen, to take a look. Small digs have since uncovered extremely rare evidence of early humans and animals - including the bones of a hippopotamus which roamed Wales 120,000 years ago.


Chiseled Egyptian princesses knew their way around weapons

Popular Science

Before they were mummies, four royal sisters wielded the daggers, bows, and arrows 4,000 years ago. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. A daughter of Pharaoh Amenemhat II, Princess Ita likely wielded an ornate dagger among other weapons. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .


Header goals are disappearing from the World Cup

Popular Science

One of soccer's most iconic techniques is still pretty popular, though. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Nicolas Tagliafico #3 of Argentina wins a header against Djibril Sow #15 of Switzerland during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final match between Argentina and Switzerland at Kansas City Stadium on July 11, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .


Rare coin from Norway's last Viking king mistaken for old button

Popular Science

Science Archaeology Rare coin from Norway's last Viking king mistaken for old button King Magnus Barefoot's brutal reign also included currency reform. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . Metal detectorists encounter plenty of junk beneath the ground, but the good ones know the importance of always giving their discoveries a closer inspection .


Farewell, atom-smashing Large Hadron Collider

Popular Science

More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. The LHC was integral in confirming the existence of the Higgs boson particle, aka the God particle. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . It's difficult to overstate just how much the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has helped advance our understanding of the universe.


The best new popular science books of July 2026

New Scientist

From friendship in a world of chatbots to what it means to be alive, this month's new popular science books are asking some big questions. Australia's tiger quoll - as featured in Dan Werb's Our Wild Familiars, out this month Life, being alive and death are big themes in the new popular science books out in July, not to mention that small thing of being a human and all the messy feelings and sensory stuff that goes with it. Then there's also AI filling the future - in ways that worry one of the world's leading forensic scientists, as well as ethicists who are paid to think about this sort of thing. I'm looking forward to delving into the worlds of volcanoes and pharmacology, which look positively safe and stable in comparison Can friendship with a chatbot ever be as good as friendship with a gang of flesh-and-blood besties? Is there still and will there - can there - always be something about human friendships that will elude the smartest of simulations?