Check out this video from Veritasium: "How do submarines know where they are?" Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_1G8nrmBKeY

Researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), part of The University of Alabama System, are developing plasma-based technology to help astronauts stay healthier during missions to the moon and Mars by sanitizing clothing, bedding and other fabrics without water or traditional cleaning chemicals. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-plasma-gun-technology-space-laundry.html

One of the most important milestones in the early life of an organism is when the embryo breaks symmetry and arranges itself to form the head (anterior) at one end and tail (posterior) at the other end. Scientists have used the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) for decades as a model species to study the process of forming the anterior-posterior body axis, along with countless other early developmental and genetic processes. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-genes-result-flies-evolved-multiple.html

A research team led by Koji Ishiya of Kanazawa University reconstructed exceptionally high-coverage genomes from two ancient individuals in Japan: IY1, a woman from the Initial Jomon period who lived about 8,300 years ago, and DO, a man from the Middle Yayoi period who lived about 2,300 years ago. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-high-coverage-ancient-genomes-reveal.html

The cuts of meat in a supermarket case can look perfectly fresh even as bacteria are already multiplying inside the package. Is there a way to know before you open it? Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-smart-hydrogel-packaging-food-fresh.html

People in communities thousands of miles apart have described the same strange experience after eating a mysterious mushroom: vivid visions of tiny humans moving through and interacting with the physical world around them. Known as Lilliputian hallucinations—a reference to the 6-inch-tall inhabitants of "Gulliver's Travels"—the phenomenon has long been thought to stem from cultural influences rather than biology. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-qa-mushroom-tiny-people-hallucinations.html

If you ask Vijay Parashar, associate professor of medical and molecular sciences (MMSC) at the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences, human bodies are bags of bacteria. "It sounds gross, but not all bacteria are bad; most of them are good. The trouble starts when the bad bacteria learn how to outsmart antibiotics." Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bacterial-enzyme-weaken-antibiotic-defenses.html

Supercontinuum light sources—often called "white lasers" because they emit a broad, continuous rainbow of colors—are essential tools for everything from advanced medical imaging to environmental gas detection. However, researchers have historically faced a frustrating trade-off: A broad spectrum comes at the expense of high fluctuations, which has effectively limited their use. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-elegant-modification-range-noise-white.html

Many parents have mixed feelings about the unrestricted use of artificial intelligence (AI) for schoolwork. They are concerned about the potential impact on their child's ability to learn but also don't want them to be left behind if other young people are using AI. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-homework-parents-pay-subscriptions.html

The images of the major forest fires in Spain and France, with fire clouds near Bordeaux, have shocked many people. There have been numerous reports of the formation of a pyrocumulonimbus cloud—a fire-driven thundercloud—and the possible transport of smoke particles to Central Europe. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-european-wildfire-high-upper-troposphere.html

Approximately 40% of insect species worldwide are thought to be in decline and under threat of extinction. Among the key causes are habitat loss, pollution and climate change. Another threat is artificial light from sources like streetlights and security lamps. In new research published in the journal Biological Conservation, scientists say a simple change in artificial lighting could help reduce this particular threat. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-07-simple-amber-nights-safer-insects.html

Fertilization is often imagined as a frantic race, with millions of sperm competing for a single prize. But new research by a team of evolutionary biologists from Syracuse University, the University of Siena in Italy and the University of Szeged in Hungary reveals a more surprising reality, where success can depend less on competition and more on cooperation. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-cooperative-approach-reproductive-success.html

New York University researchers have pinpointed the molecular players responsible for plants "feeling full" once they've taken up enough nitrogen—a finding that could help scientists develop plants that absorb more nitrogen from the soil and allow farmers to reduce environmentally and economically costly fertilizer applications. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-07-newly-unearthed-mechanism-full-crops.html

Check out this video from Veritasium: "Is spider silk really stronger than steel?" Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt4p2oalmRY

Check out this video from Veritasium: "The World's Heaviest Weight" Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3HQkVfZ4DNY

A multidisciplinary study has uncovered a critical component in the formation of biofilms, the complex structures used by bacteria to colonize surfaces. The research may have implications for future infection treatments, including for people with cystic fibrosis. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-07-biofilm-clue-route-anti-infection.html

Researchers at the Centre for Ecosystem Management (CEM), together with scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Cornell University, Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, have published a paper showing that ecosystems become more resilient to environmental change through "portfolio effects" operating across multiple levels of ecological organization. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ecosystems-climate-nature-hidden.html

Just over half of England has been declared to be in drought after "record-low rainfall and exceptionally high temperatures," the U.K. government said Wednesday. Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-07-england-drought-uk-govt.html

Check out this video from Smarter Every Day: "The PROBLEM with Capitalism - Smarter Every Day 316" Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS6HEes8daw

Check out this video from Veritasium: "Why does every mammal get 1 billion heartbeats in their life?" Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL9Lw250spc