Science Daily

Vitamin C won’t prevent most colds, but it may do one small thing

The belief that huge doses of vitamin C can ward off colds was popularized more than 50 years ago by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. Since then, larger studies have found that vitamin C does not prevent most people from catching a cold, although regularly taking it may make severe symptoms slightly shorter or milder.

science  Aug 27, 2026

Science Daily

A mysterious cosmic hum may come from 13-billion-year-old dark stars

Today’s mysterious gravitational-wave background may preserve clues about how the Universe’s first supermassive black holes formed. Descendants of hypothetical Dark Stars could be responsible for a major portion of the signal, offering a surprising new way to investigate cosmic dawn and dark matter.

science  Aug 27, 2026

Science Daily

Scientists switch on a strange new form of magnetism in an ultrathin material

Scientists have found a surprising way to potentially switch on an unusual form of magnetism in ruthenium dioxide, a material that normally appears nonmagnetic. When the material was made into an ultrathin film only a few atomic layers thick and placed under strain, its electrons developed patterns consistent with altermagnetism, a recently proposed magnetic state with promising uses in advanced electronics.

science  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Science

How decoding beluga whales’ chitchat may save them – and teach us more about ourselves

From humpbacks learning the latest songs to sperm whales’ ‘clan codas’, drones and AI learning are helping reveal another dimension to the concept of culture In 2015, the whale researcher Valeria Vergara pitched a small tent at the icy water’s edge on Somerset Island in the remote Canadian high Arctic, shrouded in a freezing fog so thick she struggled to see her own hands. She trailed a cord out to the coast and plopped a hydrophone into the water to record the calls of belugas.As many as 1,000

science  Aug 27, 2026

Science Daily

324-million-year-old fossil reveals how insects conquered land

Ancient fossils suggest insects conquered land through a long amphibious phase rather than making an abrupt jump from water to dry ground. A newly identified 324-million-year-old species still carried paddle-like abdominal limbs, revealing an evolutionary bridge between aquatic ancestors and modern six-legged insects.

science  Aug 27, 2026

Science Daily

Smart nanoparticles light up brain cancer and destroy what surgery misses

Scientists created smart nanoparticles that can both illuminate hidden glioblastoma cells during surgery and destroy microscopic cancer left behind afterward. In mice, the treatment prevented recurrence and led to 100% survival at 60 days, though it has not yet been tested in humans.

science  Aug 27, 2026

Science Daily

Scientists discover a brain “brake” that can shut down chronic pain

Researchers discovered a brain-based “brake” that can shut down chronic nerve pain in mice by calming an overactive pain circuit. Targeting this system more precisely could one day lead to powerful pain relief without affecting opioid receptors throughout the entire body.

science  Aug 27, 2026

NASA News

APOD: 2026 August 27 – Colorful Aurora over an Icelandic Waterfall

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 27 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Colorful Aurora over […]

science  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Science

How to spot a psychopath: ‘It’s like the difference between a domestic cat and a wild cat’

People with persistent predatory personalities cause an inordinate amount of pain. Recently, our shared understanding of them has grown – and it could help protect usThe classic checklist for psychopathy was developed in 1980 by Prof Robert Hare, who is still the recognised giant of the territory. The 20 traits, which ranged from pathological lying to a lack of empathy, were based entirely on prison populations. This worked because not only did Hare have the benefit of a large sample, with prono

science  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Science

Everyone hates datacentres. Do we really need them? – podcast

AI companies have promised us world-shifting technology. But there’s a cost: loud, unsightly datacentres that drain environmental resources. As the government pushes their rapid growth, can local communities do anything to push back? Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s global technology reporter Aisha Down about the backlash to datacentres across the UK and around the worldFor tickets to the Science Weekly live event at the London podcast festival on the future of AI, visit the event page

science  Aug 27, 2026

NASA News

Rare, Widespread Snow in the Atacama Desert

Back-to-back winter storms in August 2026 brought snowfall to northern Chile, from the Andes to near the Pacific coast.

science  Aug 27, 2026

Science Daily

Scientists may have finally caught “empty” space changing light

A magnetar with an astonishingly powerful magnetic field may have revealed a quantum effect predicted by Werner Heisenberg nearly 90 years ago. Its light shows signs that supposedly empty space is altering how the light travels, potentially providing the first evidence of vacuum birefringence.

science  Aug 27, 2026

Science Daily

NASA just used satellites and debris to navigate without GPS

NASA has successfully tested a system that allows satellites to navigate without GPS by using other spacecraft and debris as landmarks in orbit. In just three days, FALCON also improved the known orbits of more than 200 space objects completely autonomously.

science  Aug 26, 2026

NASA News

Building Foresight for Earth Science, featuring Lindsey Jacobson

NASA’s Earth-observing satellite missions track dozens of features of a changing planet — aerosols, sea levels, land cover, cloud cover — over years and decades. Sustaining that record for the scientific and operational communities who depend on it requires more than engineering talent. It requires planning for an uncertain future: anticipating where a mission delay […]

science  Aug 26, 2026

NASA News

Roman Space Telescope Travels to SpaceX Hangar

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, encapsulated in its payload fairing, travels from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Roman’s science instruments are designed to help researchers understand dark […]

science  Aug 26, 2026

NASA News

NASA Johnson Pilots Chase Moon’s Shadow for Eclipse Science 

During the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse over Europe, scientists aimed to study a long-standing mystery: why the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, is far hotter than its visible surface. Capturing the data they needed meant being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.  Pilots from NASA’s Johnson Space Center flew the WB-57F high altitude research aircraft from Ellington Field in Houston to Iceland, […]

science  Aug 26, 2026

NASA News

NASA Sets Spacewalk for Station Maintenance, Live Coverage Planned

NASA will provide coverage as two astronauts step outside the International Space Station on Tuesday, Sept. 1, to replace a spacecraft navigational aid and complete several maintenance tasks in support of space station operations. Watch live coverage beginning at 7 a.m. EDT. The spacewalk is expected to start at approximately 8:30 a.m. and last about […]

science  Aug 26, 2026

NASA News

NASA Begins Moon Mission Plume-Surface Interaction Tests

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story, originally published in December, was revised Aug. 26, 2026 with an update on a new phase of testing, including video from a recent test run and new images. To help NASA and commercial partners better understand the science of lunar landings, specifically the hazards that may occur when a lander’s engine […]

science  Aug 26, 2026

NASA News

Contractor to Civil Servant: NASA Welcomes Jeret Howard

At 17, Jeret Howard raised his right hand to serve his country as a United States Army combat medic in Iraq. This past summer, he raised his right hand again at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Hired as a civil servant under the agency’s workforce directive to restore core competencies by […]

science  Aug 26, 2026

Science Daily

Scientists may have found a shortcut to calorie restriction’s anti-aging benefits

Moderate calorie restriction lowered an immune protein called C3 that appears to help drive chronic inflammation as the body ages. Blocking the same protein reduced age related inflammation in mice, raising the possibility that future treatments could mimic some benefits of calorie restriction without severe dieting.

science  Aug 26, 2026