10 surprising things that are made from petroleum
From chocolate to toothpaste, many surprising household products and everyday items are made from petroleum.
By Sascha Pare published
China's southwestern karst landscape is pockmarked with dozens of enormous sinkholes that look like they were made with a cookie cutter — and scientists keep finding new ones.
By Harry Baker published
Alaska's melting permafrost is dumping toxic metals into the state's rivers, turning them bright orange and making the water highly acidic. The contaminated rivers are so vibrant they can be seen from space, and the problem is likely to get much worse in the future.
By Ben Turner published
Despite a flurry of online reports about a "planetary parade" of six worlds aligning on June 3, only two planets will be clearly visible from Earth. (And they've been visible all month.)
By Ben Turner last updated
The Euclid space telescope uses its incredibly wide field of view to hunt for two of the universe's most mysterious components: dark matter and dark energy. The six-year mission could change cosmology forever.
By Nicoletta Lanese published
Parasitic worms infected a family who'd shared a meal that included undercooked bear meat kabobs.
By Ben Turner published
This is the first time an animal other than humans has been seen performing the feat of vocal numeracy.
By Jessie Szalay, Ailsa Harvey last updated
Reference Giant huntsman spiders are the largest member of the huntsman spider family Sparassidae with a leg span stretching up to 12 inches across — roughly the size of a dinner plate.
By Stephanie Pappas published
Human societies that experience downturns do a better job of recovering from later disasters, new research finds.
By Alexander McNamara published
In a new series of comics, where young, female scientists take center stage, MIT's Ritu Raman explains how the format can inspire the next generation of young people into the world of STEM.
By Jennifer Nalewicki published
Pilots have been doing barrel rolls in small planes throughout the history of aviation. But has anyone ever attempted this maneuver in a commercial airliner?
By Andrey Feldman published
A new theory of quantum gravity, which attempts to unite quantum physics with Einstein's relativity, could help solve the puzzle of the universe's expansion, a theoretical paper suggests.
By Andrey Feldman published
Black hole singularities defy the laws of physics. New research presents a bold solution to this puzzle: Black holes may actually be a theoretical type of star called a 'gravastar,' filled with universe-expanding dark energy.
By Deepa Jain published
Scientists have used a new technique to synthesize diamonds at normal, atmospheric pressure and without a starter gem, which could make the precious gemstones easier to grow in the lab.
By Ben Turner published
Social media has been flooded with bizarre and dangerous advice that appears to have been made by Google's new AI overview feature. The company continues to defend the 'high quality' search tool.
By Nicholas Fearn published
AlphaFold3 uses AI to helps scientists more accurately predict how proteins interact with other biological molecules.
By Nicholas Fearn published
Large language models (LLMs) have mastered the art of deception when competing with humans in games, but scientists warn these skills can also spill out into other domains.