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The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 4,453 posts.
The University of Oxford, in collaboration with AstraZeneca plc, today announces interim trial data from its Phase III trials that show its candidate vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-2019, is effective at preventing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and offers a high level of protection.
Cornell Tech has announced a total of more than $10 million in gifts and grants from the Simons Foundation and the National Science Foundation, respectively, to support arXiv, a free distribution service and open-access archive for scholarly articles.
A completely passive solar-powered desalination system developed by researchers at MIT and in China could provide more than 1.5 gallons of fresh drinking water per hour for every square meter of solar collecting area. Such systems could potentially serve off-grid arid coastal areas to provide an efficient, low-cost…
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023 was awarded jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman "for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19"
How does our universe work? Scientist Stephen Wolfram opens up his ongoing Wolfram Physics Project to a global effort. His team will livestream work in progress, post working materials, release software tools and hold educational programs.
From electron guns to tiny electric crystals - digital displays have always been the unsung hero of computing.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 was awarded to Francis Halzen "for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin"
As I’ve posted before and many others have noted , there is a serious problem with lack of adequate replication in many fields of science. The current peer review process is a dreadful combination of being both very fallible and also a huge hurdle to communicating important science.
Nitrile and latex gloves that scientists wear while they are measuring microplastics may lead to a potential overestimation of the tiny pollutants, according to a University of Michigan study.
Strength training for your breathing muscles? Daily High-Resistance Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training lowers blood pressure and improves vascular health as
Why do AC cords need three prongs? If there is no positive or negative in AC systems, why do we have HOT and NEUTRAL? I attempt to shed light on some of these mysteries.
the question everyone is asking
Yale researchers observing the brains of closed-eyed baby mice found waves that help explain why mammals can navigate their environment so soon after birth.
Self-experiment on whether changes in bedroom CO₂ levels affect sleep quality
“If a $1000 PhD side project could kill millions of people, we must end viral [gain-of-function research], or it may end us.”
I'm always in the market for surprising facts. One of my favorites is that the color blue is always out of focus for the human eye. It's hard to believe since it appears that we see blue clearly, but it's astonishing when shown an example. Here', I'll explain why we're unable to focus on blue, and show examples of…
A new preprint shows GPT-5.2 proposing a new formula for a gluon amplitude, later formally proved and verified by OpenAI and academic collaborators.
The FAA delivered September 1 the long-sought approval of an unleaded fuel now cleared to power every spark-ignition engine on any airframe in the general aviation fleet.
Algorithm recovers speech from the vibrations of a potato-chip bag filmed through soundproof glass.
Julia Computing wins DARPA award to accelerate electronics simulation 1,000x with AI & ML. Discover how Julia's unique capabilities boost US semiconductor competitiveness.
Warning: Math, Handwaving I spent a lot of time doodling in middle school instead of whatever middle schoolers are supposed to do. Somewhere between the Cool S’s and Penrose triangles I found a neat way to fill up graph paper by combining and copying squares.
The MIT spinout Frequency Therapeutics uses a new kind of druggable regenerative therapy that targets progenitor cells to create hair cells of the inner ear and reverse hearing loss.
a blog about genomes, DNA, evolution, open science, baseball and other important things
https://www.looduskalender.ee/n/en - check these as well (not so exotic, but still a lot of fun)
I took this snapshot, and the rest of them, at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s Unearthed: Raw Beauty exhibition yesterday. Enjoy.
