The Bantu expansion changed Africa. Scientists are still tracing how.
Genes and archaeology are revealing how Bantu speakers spread across much of Africa.
Knowable Magazine
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43
Science // Science & Exploration
Earth’s churning mantle may have created the Great Unconformity
Explaining the Great Unconformity, where Cambrian deposits sit on top of older rocks.
Jacek Krywko
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26
Software squeezes more data out of Webb Telescope for imaging exoplanets
Software optimizes a physical model of the telescope to reduce noise.
John Timmer
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35
Statehouse wins give Democrats new power to push clean energy
Democrats erased the GOP’s trifecta edge and gained new power over energy policy.
Inside Climate News
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170
Uranium cubes reveal why the German nuclear project failed
“Our calculations suggest Heisenberg significantly underestimated the materials required.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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122
Why large dogs age faster than small ones, and other October research highlights
Plus invisible tattoos, medieval skeleton gets an ID, trapping a single antimatter particle, and more.
Jennifer Ouellette
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56
Most of our measures of a key cognitive process don’t agree
A big study with very little beyond negative results still gets published.
John Timmer
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42
The world has a new plan to save nature, but it still needs the money
A new action plan aims to rescue 2030 nature targets as financing remains inadequate.
Financial Times
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26
Most Read
Seabirds racing home over the ocean can get jet-lagged
A long flight home from feeding grounds messes with birds’ internal clocks.
Jacek Krywko
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33
The FDA wants to pull its approval of a drug. It’s not so easy.
The regulator says Tavneos was approved on the basis of manipulated study data. Should patients still have access to it?
Undark Magazine
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52
Rare meteorite from Mars gives us a view into its ancient crust
A meteorite found in the Sahara is a rare piece of Mars’ ancient crust.
Jacek Krywko
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17
Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire
It’s been a good week for ULA, with big NASA contract, Vulcan nearing return-to-flight.
Stephen Clark
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129
Turning a solar power system into its own backup
Plant design allows it to run on either stored solar heat or combustion.
John Timmer
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44
ULA’s Vulcan rocket is set to return to flight on Friday the 13th
This Vulcan launch will be first to use a full complement of 6 solid rocket boosters.
Stephen Clark
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48
A hidden ocean change near Antarctica could have global consequences
Antarctic waters are getting saltier as sea-ice loss reshapes ocean circulation.
Inside Climate News
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41
Vibe genes? Natural(ish) language comes to protein, genome design software
You can apparently now tell AI tools what sort of protein you want them to make.
John Timmer
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33
Sculpture re-creates odd optical effects of famed Lycurgus Cup
University of Sheffield researchers figured out how to re-create the 1,600-year-old glass recipe.
Jennifer Ouellette
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61
Meet the real-life Scottish surgeon who inspired Sherlock Holmes
Lindsey Fitzharris chats with Ars about her new book, Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes.
Jennifer Ouellette
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32
A 1,000-mile cloud on Mars may reveal physics never seen in nature
A new model suggests Mars may host ice-forming physics never directly observed before.
WIRED
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64
Ice sheet expansion may have started 2,000 years ago, but we canceled that
The tiny remains of the Laurentide Ice Sheet began getting somewhat less tiny.
Jacek Krywko
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111
Inside the Pentagon, the pressure is on to find a home for a new spaceport
Space Force considering options: public-private, federal installation, state land.
Stephen Clark
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90
Crows can evaluate visual info twice as fast as mammals
Birds’ compact nervous system seems to help them handle tasks very quickly.
Jacek Krywko
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108
Ink droplets in motion snag top prize in Nikon Small World contest
Ole Bielfeldt of Germany captured a microscopic view of an inkjet printer depositing ink onto paper.
Jennifer Ouellette
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39
UN says we’re going to blow past 1.5º warming, offers a “now what?” answer
Best case is now an overshoot to 1.8º C, accompanied by massive carbon removal.
John Timmer
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185
Quantum error correction goes well beyond breakeven
A demo of error-corrected qubits shows big reductions in errors as they grow.
John Timmer
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20
Japan launches mission to bring home a piece of the Martian moon Phobos
The climax for MMX will come in 2029, when the spacecraft will attempt up to two landings on Phobos.
Stephen Clark
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62
Russian spacecraft maneuvers in “extreme proximity” to satellite used by Ukraine
“Kosmos 2612 closed from hundreds of kilometers away to extreme proximity to ICEYE-X36.”
Stephen Clark
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99
Batteries help reduce emissions, but how do we reduce their emissions?
One way to make batteries cleaner is to make fewer of them.
Scott K. Johnson
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101
Startup taps underwater volcano as energy source in “proof point” test
Can undersea geothermal power help Pacific Rim nations cut down on oil imports?
Jeremy Hsu
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38
A Chinese rocket deorbited over Minnesota and left this in a farmer’s cornfield
All the evidence points to the debris being part of a Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket.
Stephen Clark
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126
Science says your boss should talk less in meetings
Research suggests listening more while talking less. Killing aimless meetings can help, too.
Knowable Magazine
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108
What did the Liberty Bell sound like? Science is on the case.
Researchers hunted for clues in modal analysis of 20th-century replica bell at Penn State Behrend.
Jennifer Ouellette
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57
Microplastics in water aren’t inert and make damaging chemicals on their own
Its effect on people remains an ongoing question.
Jacek Krywko
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45
Neutron’s first launch slips again amid trouble with carbon composites
Rocket Lab announced the Neutron rocket in 2021, aiming for a first flight in 2024.
Stephen Clark
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84
Rewilding could help vulnerable islands keep pace with rising seas
Seabirds, native plants, and healthy reefs can help atolls build as seas rise.
Inside Climate News
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14
Things are finally looking up for NASA’s first missions to Venus in a generation
“This is great news for us. We’re staffing up. We’re accelerating.”
Stephen Clark
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41
