discovery
Rare coin from Norway's last Viking king mistaken for old button
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
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
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?
Underwater research lab installed in the Florida Keys
Vanguard is the first facility of its kind in the U.S. in 40 years. 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 Vanguard habitat is located 56 feet underwater. 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 .
Tiny Australian falcons may help aircraft withstand worsening turbulence
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 nankeen kestrel () pulls off aerial maneuvers that put many advanced aircraft to shame. These diminutive falcons rank as some of the most stable fliers in the world, and are evolved to handle Australia's extremely gusty, often violent winds.
The Download: brain-melting heatwaves and unprecedented OpenAI restrictions
Plus: The Trump administration has asked OpenAI to limit its next model release. Scientists are trying to figure out why. It's been hot in London this week. A dangerous heat wave has hit Western Europe. On Wednesday, the UK recorded its highest ever June temperature at 36.1 C (about 97 F). But as the weather app on my phone confirmed, it 39 C. Much of Western Europe is suffering, bringing awful consequences for agriculture, infrastructure, and the health system.
300-year-old shipwreck found near world's largest offshore wind farm
Environment Energy Renewables 300-year-old shipwreck found near world's largest offshore wind farm The three rare ingots discovered under 131-feet of water hearken back to England's former lead industry. 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 ingots featured lettered imprints similar to other artifacts dating to the 17th century. 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 .
Lost books by ancient philosophers recovered from 'unreadable' scrolls
Lost books by ancient philosophers recovered from'unreadable' scrolls Long-lost works of ancient philosophy have been recovered from papyrus scrolls that were scorched by the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius and thought to be impossible to read. For the first time, researchers have used AI to extract the entire surviving text from super-high-resolution 3D scans of a scroll without unrolling it. The scrolls come from the library of Herculaneum, which was buried along with Pompeii nearly 2000 years ago. Scholars have been trying to read the carbonised scrolls, which resemble lumps of charcoal, since the library was discovered in 1752. Physically unwrapping them risks their destruction and the ink they are written in is mostly indistinguishable from the charred papyri - at least to human eyes.
Ancient Roman curse tablet conjures Egyptian demon magic
Four enslaved people may have crafted the newly discovered artifact. 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 . Magical remedies were an everyday part of life in ancient Rome, but their intended outcomes weren't always for the greater good.
Prompting as Scientific Inquiry
Prompting is the primary method by which we study and control large language models. It is also one of the most powerful: nearly every major capability attributed to LLMs--few-shot learning, chain-of-thought, constitutional AI--was first unlocked through prompting. Yet prompting is rarely treated as science and is frequently frowned upon as alchemy. We argue that this is a category error. If we treat LLMs as a new kind of organism--complex, opaque, and trained rather than programmed--then prompting is not a workaround.