31
Topics /
Science & Space
The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 4,452 posts.
32
Jim Simons has died
It is with great sadness that the Simons Foundation announces the death of its co-founder and chair emeritus, James Harris Simons, on May 10, 2024, at the age of 86, in New York City. Jim (as he…
33
First word discovered in unopened Herculaneum scroll by CS student
Vesuvius Challenge \$700,000 Grand Prize “now definitely achievable”
34
How to grow sodium chloride crystals at home
After trying for 3 years, I found a way to grow transparent, high quality sodium chloride crystals at home. Here's my procedure.
35
36
Elon Musk on How to Build the Future
How To Build The Future: Elon Musk discusses what high value ideas people should work on today and what's important for future of the humanity, including artificial intelligence and genetics.
37
AlphaFold 3 predicts the structure and interactions of life's molecules
Our new AI model AlphaFold 3 can predict the structure and interactions of all life’s molecules with unprecedented accuracy.
38
39
Webb captures iconic Horsehead Nebula in unprecedented detail
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution.
40
EU court rules nuclear energy is clean energy
The highest court in the EU just reaffirmed that nuclear energy meets the scientific and environmental standards to be included in sustainable finance, and Greenpeace still refuses to budge.
41
I should have loved biology
In biology class, biology wasn't presented as a quest for the secrets of life. The textbooks wrung out the questing.
42
China lands Chang'e-4 on far side of Moon
It’s a space feat no nation has accomplished until now.
43
My $500M Mars rover mistake
Some mistakes feel worse than death.
44
The cognitive costs of air pollution
Air pollution is a very big deal. Its adverse effects on numerous health outcomes and general mortality are widely documented . However, our understanding of its cognitive costs is more recent and those costs are almost certainly still significantly under-emphasized. For example, cognitive effects are not mentioned in…
45
A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy
Cambridge University Press is publishing a textbook I have co-edited with five colleagues, Shaken Baby Syndrome, Investigating the Abusive Head Trauma Controversy, by Findley et al. With contributions by 32 authors, this book provides a thorough analysis of an interdisciplinary subject lying at the intersection of…
46
Royal Society cautions against censorship of scientific misinformation online
The Online Information Environment report discusses how to limit the harm of scientific misinformation online
47
School smartphone ban results in better sleep and improved mood: study
Psychologists at the University of York, who tested the impact that smartphones have on children’s behaviour for a new two-part documentary series for Channel 4, found that a ban in school impacted positively on sleep and mood.
48
49
What Gödel Discovered
In 1931, a 25-year-old Kurt Gödel wrote a proof that turned mathematics upside down. The implication was so astounding, and his proof so elegant that it was...kind of funny. I wanted to share his discovery with you. Fair warning though, I’m not a mathematician; I’m a programmer. This means my understanding is…
50
Going Critical
Learn how things spread with playable simulations
51
52
Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants
An accessible deep dive into the science (⏱️ 30 min read)
53
54
Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice
Activating T cells in tumors eliminated even distant metastases in mice, Stanford researchers found. Lymphoma patients are being recruited to test the technique in a clinical trial.
55
Conterintuitive facts in mathematics, CS, and physics
It is possible to compute over encrypted data without access to the secret key: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic_encryption
56
MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion energy
For the first time, a large high-temperature superconducting electromagnet was ramped to a field strength of 20 tesla, the most powerful magnetic field of its kind ever created. The demonstration helps resolve the greatest uncertainty in the quest to build the first fusion power plant that can produce more energy than…
57
Seaweed in Cow Feed Reduces Methane Emissions Almost Entirely
Seaweed could be the key to stopping industrial agriculture from destroying the planet
58
Poor Grades Tied to Class Times That Don’t Match Our Biological Clocks
Schedules of night owls, morning larks and daytime finches may predict their educational outcomes
59
Artemis II is not safe to fly
On Wednesday, NASA will attempt to send four astronauts around the moon on a mission called Artemis II. This will be second flight of NASA’s SLS rocket, and the first time the 20-year-old Orion capsule flies with people on board.
60
