Comments

The adverts for prescription-only drugs showed healthcare professionals impersonating the British retailer.

Incident reports spiked during the first six months of 2025.

A massive collision between two asteroid-sized bodies around a nearby star offers a rare look at the violent process of planetary construction.

Here's how to choose your tunes.

Psychiatrist Robert Custer spent his life convincing doctors that compulsive gambling was not an impulse control problem. Today, his research is foundational for diagnosis and treatment.

Satellites are emerging as a powerful new tool in the fight to curb emissions of methane. While methane is much shorter-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, it is vastly more potent at trapping heat, which makes rapid cuts essential for slowing warming in the short term. The same satellite t…

Gut problems like irritable bowel syndrome are often worse in women. A mouse study reveals a pain pathway involving estrogen, gut cells and bacteria.

Copernicus Sentinel-6B, launched last month, has reached its orbit and delivered its first set of data, which show variations in sea level in the North Atlantic Ocean. This data underlines how the mission will continue to strengthen the long-term reference record of sea levels, a key parameter of cl…

President Trump on Monday hosts his second foreign leader in as many days, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. The leaders are expected to work advancing the Gaza ceasefire, which has mostly held since it took root in October. The complicated second p…

Sturdy legs are needed to absorb the impact of the heaviest spacecraft to ever touch down on the Red Planet.

It comes after the government was urged to help close the UK tech sector's gender gap in order to meet its ambitious AI goals.

The confusing question lingering over the AI hype is whether it could be a bubble at risk of bursting

Donald Trump's brand is losing credibility, and Gavin Newsom's Hollywood-grade instincts make him a formidable opponent for Vice President JD Vance, who is being groomed for 2028 and must balance honoring Trump without imitating him.

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said Sunday that Russia’s strikes on civilian homes — including on Christmas — are a reminder to Americans that the war against Ukraine is at odds with America’s values. In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” the former House Intelligence Committee chair pointed to imag…

Christmas Day famously belongs to football. This Dec. 25, there are three NFL games to watch: the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders, the Detroit Lions vs. the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs. Here's what you need to know about Thursday's football slate, and the…

For many Americans, proper sanitation and clean water seem like issues for developing countries. But much of rural America—and even parts of US cities—still struggles to provide the basics we all need to survive. And as infrastructure ages and strains under the threat of climate change, the problems…

If one is interested in the electrification of developing countries, Bolivia is perhaps the most interesting Latin American country to follow in 2025. Amidst a two-year-long fuel crisis, the Andean country has been quietly building a massive EV revolution as ICEV sales slowly collapse, as we reporte…

Leapmotor feels like “the little EV company that could” to me (a reference to The Little Engine That Could for those from a certain time period). The company was formed in late 2015 and launched its first car in June 2019, in the middle of an already quite big and ... [continued]
The post Leapmoto…

Former House speaker on ABC News also said congressional Republicans have ceded almost all their power to TrumpDemocrats will retake the US House’s majority in the 2026 midterm elections, the chamber’s former speaker Nancy Pelosi has confidently predicted – and she hopes her party colleagues then se…

Our nation’s environment, energy security, and public health is suffering, and the United States has become a drag on the energy revolution it was poised to lead. Since taking office last January, the Trump administration has waged the worst assault in history on the environment and public health. I…

NASA’s next flagship observatory, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), aims to detect and characterize ~25 habitable zone planets. The total number of habitable zone planets detected is referred to as the exo-Earth “yield” and accurate yield estimates will be critically important to the mission’s…

An oasis in the dark.

There is strong evidence that the atmospheric moisture content of several solar system planets, including Earth, has varied over their lifetimes. A growing body of work also documents a range of atmospheric water vapor content on exoplanets. An improved understanding of the coupling between atmosphe…

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Changes in polar bear DNA that could help the animals adapt to warmer climates have been detected by researchers, in a study thought to be the first time a statistically significant …

The Marine Biological Association (MBA) is pleased to congratulate the winner of 2025’s prestigious MBA prize. Tilly Powell, who recently graduated with a BSc (Hons) Marine Biology, First Class from the University of Plymouth, received the prize for ‘Outstanding Performance on a Marine Biology Progr…

Mamady Doumbouya accused of betraying his promise to be the restorer of democracy after leading 2021 coupIn September 2021, a tall, young colonel in the Guinean army announced that he and his comrades had forcibly seized power and toppled the longtime leader Alpha Condé.“The will of the strongest ha…

Scientists at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and the University of Exeter have discovered how tiny photosynthetic microbes known as phytoplankton prioritise resource use when nutrients are scarce, in a breakthrough that could reshape our understanding of the impacts of nutrient limitation o…

A new study co-authored by the Marine Biological Association’s Senior Research Fellow Dr Dan Smale, Lankester Research Fellow Professor Stephen J. Hawkins, Postdoctoral Research Assistant Dr Nathan King, and former PhD student Harry Teagle, has revealed how the loss of kelp forests at their southern…

The frontman has walked back his claims that the band's 2023 album would be their final full-length effort.
Sully Erna Now Says Last Godsmack Album May Not Have Been Their Final LP
Spencer Kaufman

DiskSat's design offers "a power-to-weight ratio unmatched by traditional aluminum satellites."

Season 1 kept the scope small while promising an explosive Season 2.
The Pluribus Season Finale Cemented This Show’s Existential Brilliance
Liz Shannon Miller

A loophole in the rules might have given Mercedes and Red Bull a big advantage.

"We're going to be making 3D movies of what is going on in the Milky Way galaxy."

"A calorie-neutral, drug-free, low-cost, readily available tool for when we need a boost in performance.”

Stocks. Dividends. Market indices. When it comes to investing, learning the lingo and understanding the basics of trading can be a major barrier to getting started. In fact, a Gallup poll found that 39% of Americans don’t own any form of stock.  Investing is key to working toward building long-term …

Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM.

Scientists in Kansas believe Kernza could cut emissions, restore degraded soils and reshape the future of agricultureOn the concrete floor of a greenhouse in rural Kansas stands a neat grid of 100 plastic plant pots, each holding a straggly crown of strappy, grass-like leaves. These plants are peren…

Trump ratcheted up his questionable claims about the environment and how to deal, if at all, with the threats to itIn the past decade at the forefront of US politics, Donald Trump has unleashed a barrage of unusual, misleading or dubious assertions about the climate crisis, which he most famously ca…

Since January, Donald Trump has fundamentally reshaped U.S. foreign assistance, ostensibly to align with his “America First” foreign policy. The administration has effectively eliminated Washington’s main development agency—the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—terminated so…

Microscopic particles from space have been collecting in the gutters of Paris, Oslo and Berlin, revealing incredible insights to the mysteries of our solar system. Article by Ian O’Neill Through dogged determination, Jon Larsen has become driven to find space particles, which date back to when our s…

We should know better.

A new survey of 1,426 registered voters, conducted by GQR on behalf of The Century Foundation (TCF), provides fresh evidence of the extent to which families are struggling in President Trump’s economy. While financial insecurity is widespread, younger Americans, people of color, and women are dispro…

President Trump insists there are no more murders in Washington, D.C. “I wish that was true,” said Jamia Vaden, whose sister was gunned down in November.

Campaigner recently released from prison makes statement after PM’s support is questioned by Tory MPsAlaa Abd el-Fattah, the British-Egyptian human rights campaigner, has apologised unreservedly for what he accepted were shocking and hurtful tweets that he wrote more than 10 years ago in what he des…

Our cartoonists look back at a year of covering tragedy, farce and everything in between – and having to draw far too many Donald TrumpsIn a year in which I’ve drawn too many cartoons about powerful people acting with impunity, the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stood out to me as a rare win for…

Continue reading...

Going into 2026, the economy has little forward momentum. And there’s the issue that things may get worse before they get better Continue reading...

Scheme has not replied to complaints and Pensions Ombudsman says it needs evidence of thatI retired from the civil service five months ago and I’ve still not received my pension. I’ve complained to the Civil Service Pension Scheme (MyCSP) repeatedly, but it doesn’t reply.The Pensions Ombudsman says …

Sadiq Khan’s office blames delay on lack of government guidance on links between gambling ads and harmGambling companies have spent nearly £5m to advertise on the London transport network since Sadiq Khan pledged to stop them from doing so, amid a prolonged impasse between the mayor’s office and the…

Life goes on in a vibrant Greater Manchester neighbourhood after a plan for an attack was thwarted“They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat,” Andrew Walters said.It is an old Jewish joke that’s as relevant as ever in Greater Manchester in the face of today’s threats. Continue reading...

By moving around, some cancer cells force attacking immune cells to just nibble at the edges rather than engulf them completely.

Data from Axial, the most-monitored underwater volcano, are helping geophysicists hone eruption predictions. For Axial, 2026 is their next bet.

Bragging rights and an adrenaline rush aren’t the only reasons to start the year with a frigid swim. A dip in icy water builds resilience.

Researchers are keeping an eye on the building-sized asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a 4 percent chance of hitting the moon seven years from now.

Space is always inspiring and 2025 was no exception, with finding Betelgeuse’s buddy, debuting a prolific survey telescope and more.

The bacteria behind the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea is known for developing antibiotic resistance. Now there are two new treatment options.

From clever cockatoos to vomiting spiders, these cool critters captivated us this year.

This year, researchers took a bite out of culinary innovation. Check out some of our favorite food-related stories from 2025.

There was more good health news about the COVID-19 vaccine for infants, kids and adults in December. There’s still time to get the shot this winter.

The Terra Hunting Experiment will track the wobbles of dozens of stars nightly for years in the most focused hunt yet for an Earth twin.

Solve the crossword from our January 2026 issue, in which we take a crack at geological principles

Advances delivered what may feel like medical miracles, including the first bladder transplant, a lifesaving personalized gene therapy and more.

An NIH scientist’s maverick approach reveals legal, ethical, moral, scientific and social challenges to developing potentially life-saving vaccines.

Cats were domesticated in North Africa, but spread to Europe only about 2,000 years ago. Earlier reports of “house” cats were wild cats.

3-D microscopy shows that the giant bacterium Thiovulum imperiosus squeezes its DNA into peripheral pouches, not a central mass like typical bacteria.

Machine learning techniques that make use of tensor networks could manipulate data more efficiently and help open the black box of AI models.

Editor in Chief Nancy Shute talks about life’s complexities, from its evolution on Earth as a single cell to complex human behavior.

TL;DR Spotify’s experimentation platform, Confidence, scaled product decision-making across hundreds of...
The post Beyond Winning: Spotify’s Experiments with Learning Framework appeared first on Spotify Engineering.

Shuffle has always been one of Spotify’s most-used features, and also one of the most misunderstood. For...
The post Shuffle: Making Random Feel More Human appeared first on Spotify Engineering.

Thousands of merged AI-generated pull requests and the future of large-scale software maintenance.
The post 1,500+ PRs Later: Spotify’s Journey with Our Background Coding Agent (Part 1) appeared first on Spotify Engineering.

We explore context engineering for background coding agents and what makes a good migration prompt.
The post Background Coding Agents: Context Engineering (Part 2) appeared first on Spotify Engineering.

The system we built to ensure our AI agents produce predictable, trustworthy code.
The post Background Coding Agents: Predictable Results Through Strong Feedback Loops (Part 3) appeared first on Spotify Engineering.

Video:
00:06:15
The Minoans were a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization (c. 3100–1100 BC) on Crete and widely regarded as Europe’s earliest advanced culture. They are best known for their impressive palace complexes, most notably Knossos, and for their far-reaching maritime trade, which mos…

Image:
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures a spectacular geological wonder in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania: the Richat Structure.

Image:
Following International Mountain Day, which creates awareness of the importance of mountain environments around the world, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Pariacaca Mountain Range in Peru.

Image:
This week Earth from Space features a wintery image: a red and white sphere that, if seen from a distance, resembles a festive decoration.

Video:
00:02:51
ESA’s first Scout mission, HydroGNSS, was launched on 28 November 2025, marking a significant step in advancing global understanding of water availability and the effects of climate change on Earth’s water cycle.The two twin HydroGNSS satellites were carried into orbit aboard…

Image:
This Copernicus Sentinel-1 image features part of the Badain Jaran Desert in northwestern China.

Video:
00:02:27
ESA’s first Scout mission, HydroGNSS, was launched on 28 November 2025, marking a significant step in advancing global understanding of water availability and the effects of climate change on Earth’s water cycle.The two twin HydroGNSS satellites were carried into orbit aboard…

Image:
Puttalam district in North Western Sri Lanka is currently facing severe flooding, landslides and rockfalls, caused by heavy monsoon rains across the region. Copernicus Sentinel-2 captured an image over the region yesterday, 30 November 2025, as well an image one month ago, showing the exte…

True to its promise, the European Space Agency’s EarthCARE satellite is now being used to calculate directly how clouds and aerosols influence Earth’s energy balance – the all-important balance that regulates our climate. In doing so, EarthCARE is poised to sharpen the accuracy of climate models, th…

The European Space Agency’s Swarm mission detected a large but temporary spike of high-energy protons at Earth’s poles during a geomagnetic storm in November. It did this not with the scientific instruments for measuring Earth’s magnetic field, but with its ‘star tracker’ positioning instruments – a…

A structural model of the upcoming Copernicus Radar Observing System for Europe at L-band satellite, or ROSE-L for short, has recently been put through a series of demanding tests – including intense vibration – to demonstrate that the satellite will be able to withstand the stresses of launch and o…

Video:
01:45:00
ESA’s first Scout mission, HydroGNSS, was launched on 28 November 2025, marking a significant step in advancing global understanding of water availability and the effects of climate change on Earth’s water cycle.The two twin HydroGNSS satellites were carried into orbit aboard…

The Trump administration bans five people who have called for tech regulation from entering the country.

The firm’s chief security officer said North Koreans tried to apply for remote working IT jobs using stolen or fake identities.

New treatments promise to make buildings fire-resistant without using older, toxic chemicals.

TripZapp founder Rory Okoli wants to make it simple for tourists to book and pay for African travel.

The child was trying to watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid - but a film with "strong sex and sex references" played instead.

Meta is encouraging users to verify themselves to unlock more features or engagement with their posts.

Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxis have already accrued millions of driverless rides in cities worldwide.

Dutch firms are betting that hulls made with 3D printing machines will mean cheaper boats.

The French-made role-playing game is named game of the year on a night of prizes and announcements.

Introducing robots and automation to the food industry involves extra hurdles.

The $1bn deal will let fans generate videos and images of more than 200 Disney characters on ChatGPT and Sora.

From fleets of e-bikes to individual riders, eWaka aims to sell across Africa's delivery market.

Just a handful of companies can make cadmium zinc telluride, a material with powerful properties.

The errors included getting dialogue wrong and incorrectly claiming a scene was set 100 years earlier than it was.