New research shows that the large-bodied ornithopod dinosaur Muttaburrasaurus langdoni from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia was no ordinary herbivore. With a toothed beak and a brain wired for smell, this species likely combined selective feeding with agile behavior. The findings also hint at life near a vast inland sea, where it may have consumed salty…
The owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire received record subsidies of almost £1bn for burning trees to generate electricity in 2025, a climate thinktank has calculated. The company was paid £999m last year for generating about 4.5% of Great Britain’s electricity from its biomass plant, costing each household £13 a year, according…
When lightning strikes a paddock, it does more than scorch grass and scare the cows. The electrical discharge breaks apart nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere, converting them into a form that falls to Earth in rain and becomes available to plants. It is a natural process, primordial and efficient, which has been fixing nitrogen into…
Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By the end of his career, William Shakespeare was a bona fide celebrity boasting multiple homes across England. Historical documents indicate the legendary playwright spent the majority of his later years in the town of his youth, Stratford-upon-Avon, but…
Listen to this audio excerpt from Rebekah Tolatovicz, a mechanical technician lead supporting the Orion spacecraft’s main contractor Lockheed Martin: Your browser does not support the audio element. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, there is a fleet of Orion spacecraft in work, and Rebekah Tolatovicz’s hands have helped build each one. Tolatovicz works…
You might not have to worry that a shady Android app will steal contacts or constantly share your whereabouts for much longer. Google is introducing features and policies that will limit how apps request contact and location information. All Play Store apps targeting Android 17 and later will have to use a new Google contact…
While the cost of renewables plays a part, the principal driver for this is, ironically, gas itself. The UK energy mix at any one moment usually includes plenty of renewables, but some gas is still frequently still needed. The way the market works, generators bid to supply power in half-hour blocks, with the cheapest bid…
As winter’s chill begins to melt away and warmer weather arrives, so too does the first major meteor shower of spring, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Wednesday, April 15, 2026, marks the first day of the Lyrid meteor shower, and it is expected to last until April 29, 2026. Though the meteor shower begins on…
A new ‘agnostic biosignature’ method searches for patterns across exoplanets, suggesting alien life could be detected by how it spreads and reshapes entire planetary systems. Harrison B. Smith & Lana Sinapayen used an agent-based model to show that if life can spread between star systems and affect the observable properties of a planet, then a…
April 15, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm The Trump administration is looking to experts to weigh in on peptides Peptide-based substances are largely unproven and risky, experts say, but they’re gaining popularity among influencers and athletes—and the U.S. secretary of health By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron Secretary of…
