Science

Lost in Space

A Collision With Space Debris Leaves 3 Chinese Astronauts Stranded in Orbit

The only craft docked at Tiangong space station has been damaged and “does not meet the release conditions for a safe manned return.”

Biophysics

How Genes Have Harnessed Physics to Grow Living Things

Infectious Disease

An Invasive Disease-Carrying Mosquito Has Spread to the Rocky Mountains

Health

Weight-Loss Drug Zepbound Is Being Tested as a Treatment for Long Covid

GLP-1s are being studied for a wide range of conditions. Now, scientists will test whether their anti-inflammatory properties can help alleviate symptoms of long Covid.

The Mysterious Math Behind the Brazilian Butt Lift

For years, plastic surgeons thought the proportions of a beautiful buttocks should follow the Fibonacci sequence. Now, people are looking for a more Kardashian shape.

A Gene-Editing Therapy Cut Cholesterol Levels by Half

An experimental gene-editing therapy developed by Crispr Therapeutics is showing promise for treating heart disease.

Blood Tests for Alzheimer’s Are Here

New diagnostic kits aim to revolutionize early screening of the disease, potentially allowing patients to receive treatments—such as monoclonal antibodies—sooner.

Environment

The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived

A new report finds that local opposition to data centers skyrocketed in the second quarter of this year.

British Churches Are Putting Their Faith in Heat Pumps

Ancient buildings and old bones aren’t getting in the way of the transition.

A Fight Over Big Tech’s Emissions Has the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Caught in the Crossfire

An ideological war over how tech giants can account for AI data center emissions has bled into the international arena.

Rainfall Buries a Mega-Airport in Mexico

New Mexico City International Airport was canceled when only half built, and has since been flooded and restored into wetlands.

Climate

The EPA Is in Chaos

“We learn who is furloughed when we send an email to someone and get the out-of-office message,” one employee tells WIRED.

Trump’s Hatred of EVs Is Making Gas Cars More Expensive

Trump’s anti-climate agenda is making it more expensive to own a car, period.

Climate Change Made Hurricane Melissa 4 Times More Likely, Study Suggests

Unusually warm ocean temperatures fueled one of the worst hurricanes on record. New research finds climate change increased the storm’s likelihood.

Hurricane Melissa Has Meteorologists Terrified

The storm, which is set to make landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, has stunned meteorologists with its intensity and the speed at which it built.

Energy

If the US Has to Build Data Centers, Here’s Where They Should Go

A new analysis tries to calculate the coming environmental footprint of AI in the US and finds that the ideal sites for data centers aren’t where they’re being built.

China Dives in on the World’s First Wind-Powered Undersea Data Center

The $226 million project uses ocean breezes and seawater to stay cool.

New Report Finds Efforts to Slow Climate Change Are Working—Just Not Fast Enough

By virtually every key metric, efforts to fight climate change are going too slowly, according to findings by a coalition of climate groups. In some cases, things are moving in the wrong direction.

Australia’s March Toward 100 Percent Clean Energy

The country’s grid operator says shifting from coal to clean power is not only possible but inevitable. The work there could provide a road map for other countries.

Space

The First Radio Signal From Comet 3I/Atlas Ends the Debate About Its Nature

An observatory detected the first radio signal from the interstellar object 3I/Atlas. Here’s what it means.

How to Follow the Trajectory of Comet 3I/Atlas

The interstellar comet 3I/Atlas reached its closest point to the sun. Here's how to follow the rest of its journey away from our solar system.

How to Watch the Leonids Meteor Shower

This month-long meteor shower peaks just after mid-November and is known for producing bright “fireball” shooting stars. Here’s what to know about Leonids and other major showers that will appear in 2025.

Astronomers Have Discovered Earth’s Latest Quasi-Lunar Moon

As mankind was planning the first moon landing in the 1960s, an asteroid approached Earth—and still hasn’t left.

Physics and Math

Can a Hydroelectric Dam Really Make the Days Longer?

By shifting water to a higher elevation, the giant Three Gorges Dam caused the Earth to spin more slowly.

The Physics of the Northern Lights

Solar winds at a million miles an hour and freaky magnetic turbulence are sparking some of the best light shows in centuries.

The Hidden Math of Ocean Waves

The math behind even the simplest ocean waves is notoriously uncooperative. A team of Italian mathematicians has made major advances toward understanding it.

Unpicking How to Measure the Complexity of Knots

Two mathematicians have proved that a straightforward question—how hard is it to untie a knot?—has a complicated answer.

Biotech

A New Light-Based Cancer Treatment Kills Tumor Cells and Spares Healthy Ones

By combining LED technology and nanomaterials, researchers have created a therapy that eliminates cancer cells using localized heat without damaging healthy tissue.

A New Startup Wants to Edit Human Embryos

Seven years after the first gene-edited babies were revealed, biotech startup Manhattan Genomics is reviving the idea of editing human embryos to make disease-free children.

This Startup Wants to Put Its Brain-Computer Interface in the Apple Vision Pro

California-based Cognixion is launching a clinical trial to allow paralyzed patients with speech disorders the ability to communicate without an invasive brain implant.

A Startup Used AI to Make a Psychedelic Without the Trip

Mindstate Design Labs, backed by Silicon Valley power players, has created what its CEO calls “the least psychedelic psychedelic that’s psychoactive.”