1
An entire Herculaneum scroll has been read for the first time
PHerc. 1667, sealed since the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, has been virtually unwrapped and read from beginning to end — without ever being opened.
Topics /
Science & Space
The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 355 posts.
2
The Singularity will occur on a Tuesday
src= alt="Always has been astronaut meme" / "Wait, the singularity is just humans freaking out?" "Always has been." Everyone in San Francisco is talking about t
3
On the Navier–Stokes Millennium Prize Problem
We’re sharing an AI-generated solution to the Navier–Stokes Millennium Prize Problem, including a writeup and a formal proof in Lean.
4
Three new discoveries in mathematics, computer science, and physics
OpenAI shares model results on the Kakeya conjecture, Exponential Time Hypothesis, and quantum chromodynamics—and how researchers can verify and build on them.
5
6
Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants
An accessible deep dive into the science (⏱️ 30 min read)
7
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.
8
The bottleneck might be the air in the room
You gather your most expensive people into a room to make your most important decisions. Then, somewhere in the second hour, the room quietly gets worse at making them. Not the people. The room.
9
Why is the sky blue?
The internet’s default answer to “why is the sky blue?” is “Rayleigh scattering”. And that’s not wrong, but it’s also not very useful.
10
11
Claude discovers a novel enzyme system with CRISPR-like repeats
In early results from our new life sciences research lab, Claude agents found an enzyme system whose function is still unknown.
12
I was recently diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis
I was recently diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis . It is an autoimmune disorder where your body’s normally helpful antibodies start acting strangely . This leads to inflammation in the brain. This blog briefly discusses some of my experience and prognosis.
13
Electric motors with no rare earths
As a pioneer of electric motors using no rare earths, Renault Group is unique on the automotive market, a position reasserted for strategic reasons.
14
A flawed paper in management science has been cited more than 6k times
In a post entitled, “How Institutional Failures Undermine Trust in Science: The Case of a Landmark Study on Sustainability and Stock Returns,” Andy King (my collaborator on the project on scheduled post-publication review ) tells a disturbing story of the failure of the scholarly publication process :
15
Europe’s next-generation weather satellite sends back first images
The first images from the Meteosat Third Generation-Sounder satellite have been shared at the European Space Conference in Brussels, showing how the mission will provide data on temperature and humidity, for more accurate weather forecasting over Europe and northern Africa.
16
A 10-year-old CNN outperforms frontier LLMs for skin cancer diagnosis
I am a dermatologist. I tested the ability of GPT-6 Astra and Claude Fable 5.1 to diagnosis skin cancer and found that they were less accurate than I expected. I compared to a 10-year old CNN and to my surprise found that this was superior.
17
Two parallel neural ectoderm progenitors contribute to the developing brain
Stanford Health Care delivers the highest levels of care and compassion. SHC treats cancer, heart disease, brain disorders, primary care issues, and many more.
18
The 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement is no longer viable
UNEP's Emissions Gap Report 2026 warns that exceeding 1.5°C is inevitable and calls for urgent emissions cuts to limit warming and reverse the trend.
19
New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study
Vaccine approach yields high numbers of HIV-neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates
20
Ten advances in mathematics and theoretical computer science
OpenAI shares new results on long-standing open problems in mathematics and theoretical computer science, including advances in geometry, cryptography, and complexity.
21
Isar Aerospace reaches orbit and deploys payloads on second flight
By enabling access to space, we contribute to humanity’s progress and our planet’s sustainable technological and economic development. Select your journey to orbit and launch with us.
22
23
AlphaGenome Atlas: a high-resolution map of human DNA
We’re introducing AlphaGenome Atlas, a database predicting the effects of every possible single nucleotide variant in the human genome.
24
25
Nobel Prize in Physics 2026: Francis Halzen
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"
26
Nitrile and latex gloves may cause overestimation of microplastics
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.
27
Why is the liver so weirdly regenerative?
the question everyone is asking
28
GPT-5.2 derives a new result in theoretical physics
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.
29
God sleeps in the minerals
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.
30
A 26,000-year astronomical monument hidden in plain sight (2019)
The western flank of the Hoover Dam holds a celestial map that marks the time of the dam’s creation based on the 25,772-year axial precession of the earth.