What if you could fix your damaged eye without having to shoot a laser at it? Scientists have potentially discovered a novel method of repairing the cornea, similar to LASIK, that wouldn’t require a laser or other invasive surgical tool. Researchers at Occidental College and the University of California, Irvine, created the technique, which aims to temporarily make the cornea malleable. In experiments with rabbit eyeballs, their method appeared to...

For almost two decades, astronomers have detected extremely powerful, millisecond-long flashes of radio waves known as fast radio bursts (FRBs) from beyond our galaxy—and had no clue where they came from. Now, a team of scientists has detected the brightest-ever FRB and finally pinpointed its origin to a nearby galaxy. Researchers have long suspected that FRBs are the result of highly energetic and violent events, like clashes between neutron...

SpaceX aims to expand its Starship operations to Cape Canaveral, Florida, with a goal of launching 44 super heavy-lift rockets per year. If regulators approve this plan, the uptick in launch activity could result in more ground stops, reroutes, and flight delays at major airports throughout the Sunshine State, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. In a draft environmental impact statement released this month, the FAA states that...

Dark energy—the hypothetical force accelerating our universe’s expansion—sometimes raises more questions than it answers. A new study, however, presents surprising evidence that black holes may be an incubator for dark energy—suggesting that the force may be less constant than we believed. In a paper published August 21 in Physical Review Letters, researchers used data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) to test a hypothesis that...

The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert earlier this week about shrimp sold at Walmart over concerns that it could be radioactive. And now more shrimp are being added to the list. Southwind Foods, a company based in Carson, California, is voluntarily recalling a limited quantity of frozen shrimp due to possible contamination with Cesium-137, according to a press release from the FDA. Cs-137 is a radioisotope of cesium that is not...

Paleontologists have identified a new type of iguanodontian dinosaur in England—and these dinos have some of the coolest back fins we’ve ever seen. Like many recent discoveries, researchers “discovered” Istiorachis macarthurae after re-examining previously excavated fossils. The species is named after a famous sailor from the Isle of Wight, where the fossil, dated to around 125 million years old, was originally found. After inspecting the fossil...

As their name suggests, rainbow snakes sport striking, iridescent scales that turn a glossy blue in the Sun. But these beautiful creatures haven’t been seen since 2020, so Florida officials are recruiting the public to help confirm they’re alive and well. In a release published August 18, Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced it was on the lookout for Farancia erytrogramma, whose populations have been threatened by...

The U.S. Space Force’s experimental spaceplane, X-37B, is ready for another go in orbit for an undisclosed duration, in which it will test new technologies aimed at bolstering military capabilities in space. The Boeing-built orbital test vehicle, designated as OTV-8, will attempt to launch on Thursday at 11:50 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spaceplane will ride on board a Falcon 9 rocket,...

A man who lived with severe, treatment-resistant depression for over 30 years is now in remission, thanks to a new brain stimulation method that targets selective areas of his brain. The man reported experiencing joy for the first time in decades after the treatment. “He was crying and saying, ‘I’m not sad, I’m just happy. I don’t know what to do with these emotions’,” the study’s first author, Ziad Nahas, a psychiatrist and professor at the...

A Missouri man’s lake outing has ended in tragedy. Local health officials announced this week that a resident died from a rare but nearly always fatal brain amoeba infection likely caught while water skiing. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services disclosed the resident’s death Wednesday, following its initial report of the case last week (though few details about the case were released, several outlets reported the resident was a...

No one stays on top forever. It’s a lesson that Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk may be painfully learning about. The Danish pharmaceutical company has enacted a hiring freeze—the latest sign of a sinking financial outlook for the once-titan of the obesity treatment world. Reuters reported on the hiring freeze Wednesday. The company has faced numerous setbacks in recent months, including billions shaved off its stock market value and continued...

The Psyche spacecraft is on a six-year journey to reach a metal-rich asteroid by the same name. Well into its voyage, the probe looked back at its home planet and captured a rare view of Earth, accompanied by its Moon, as a mere speck engulfed by the dark void of space. NASA’s Psyche mission launched on October 13, 2023, and is assigned to explore a distant target in the main asteroid belt that’s believed to be the exposed core of a protoplanet....