Science Daily

Scientists went looking for giant trees in Taiwan and found a lost world

Taiwan’s steep, remote mountains have sheltered extraordinary forests containing hundreds of giant Taiwania firs. After years of difficult expeditions, LiDAR mapping, and citizen-science detective work, researchers discovered an 84.1-meter (276-foot) tree, the tallest known in East Asia. They also found dense “temples of giants” where dozens of enormous trees grow together. These ancient forests rank among the world’s most carbon-rich ecosystems.

science  Aug 4, 2026

NASA News

Louisiana Students Loft Payloads from NASA Balloon Facility in Texas

Every spring in Palestine, Texas, the wide-open fields around NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility fill with students and faculty from across Louisiana. They arrive carrying sensors, laptops, and carefully engineered payloads they have spent months preparing.  The goal is to send their experiments to the edge of space and return with meaningful data, while reflecting […]

science  Aug 3, 2026

NASA News

Guinea-Bissau Tidal Waters

Twice each day, tides ebb and flow through a maze of sandy channels, mudflats, and mangrove forests that flank the 88 islands and islets of Guinea-Bissau’s Bijagós Archipelago (Arquipélago dos Bijagós in Portuguese). Seen from above in this image from Nov. 28, 2025, the process leads to stark changes to the landscape: around low tide, intertidal mudflats and sandflats […]

science  Aug 3, 2026

The Guardian Science

Did you solve it? Are you a match for the world’s smartest teen?

The solution to today’s puzzleEarlier today I set you the following puzzle, suggested by Briton Alex Chui, the most successful ever candidate at the International Mathematical Olympiad.Last month Alex, who is a pupil at Tonbridge School in Kent, became the first person to win a medal at the olympiad for seven years in a row. Bravo! Continue reading...

science  Aug 3, 2026

NASA News

A Bare Summer for Barnes Ice Cap

The expanse of glacial ice on Canada’s Baffin Island lost its snow cover quickly and early in summer 2026, revealing a network of melt features.

science  Aug 3, 2026

The Guardian Science

Science funding cuts will harm Britain’s global standing | Letters

Readers respond to an editorial about the threat to research funding, including plans to close the Jodrell Bank ObservatoryYour editorial rightly criticises the decision to cease funding the Lovell telescope from March 2028 (The Guardian view on the Lovell telescope: budget cuts to physics are bad science and worse politics, 31 July). There are additional reasons why this decision is so shortsighted. Modern astronomy is no longer simply physics. It brings together physics, chemistry, biology and

science  Aug 3, 2026

The Guardian Science

Children using social media at younger age appear to do worse in school tests

Pupils who open accounts aged 11 to 12 score lower in some subjects than those who wait a few years, study findsChildren who open social media accounts at the start of secondary school appear to perform worse in tests than those who delay, with researchers suspecting that the constant checking for updates is a major distraction for many students.Pupils who opened their first social media account aged 11 to 12 scored lower in mathematics and reading tests than those who waited a few years, with s

science  Aug 3, 2026

NASA News

NASA Delivers Navigation System for Commercial Lunar Relay

NASA delivered the NavCube3-mini payload on July 13 to Intuitive Machines for integration into Altus-1, the company’s first lunar relay satellite, marking an important milestone in the development of future lunar communications and navigation services. The lunar relays are designed to enable communications and navigation for astronauts and rovers operating at the agency’s future Moon Base. About half the size of

science  Aug 3, 2026

NASA News

Ike Theriot Helps Prepare Astronauts to Work on the Moon 

From serving in the U.S. Army to helping prepare astronauts to explore the lunar surface, Ike Theriot built a path to NASA through discipline and determination.  Theriot serves as the Flight Operations Surface Testing lead in the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Operations Branch within the EVA, Robotics, and Crew Operations Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He integrates flight operations testing needs […]

science  Aug 3, 2026

NASA News

NASA Brings Space Exploration to the FIFA World Cup 

From June 11 through July 19, NASA’s free interactive exhibit at FIFA Fan Festival™ brought space exploration to soccer fans in East Downtown Houston.   More than 500,000 visitors explored the exhibit during the tournament, learning how the agency’s missions, research, and technology benefit life on Earth.   The exhibit introduced a global audience to the Artemis program, Moon Base, the International Space Station, […]

science  Aug 3, 2026

Science Daily

A simple supplement could help the immune system fight cancer and viruses

Low arginine levels may allow cancer cells and viruses to slip past the immune system by reducing production of a crucial cellular warning protein. In mice, arginine-rich diets led to fewer colon tumors and milder viral infections, suggesting a simple supplement could have powerful therapeutic potential.

science  Aug 3, 2026

Science Daily

Ancient Arctic carbon is pouring into the sea, but the seabed captures most of it

Thawing Arctic permafrost is releasing ancient carbon into the ocean, raising fears that microbes could turn it into greenhouse gases and accelerate climate change. But sediment cores collected near Canada’s Herschel Island reveal a more reassuring twist: most of this land-based carbon becomes buried in the seafloor, while only about 10 percent is converted into gases.

science  Aug 3, 2026

Science Daily

Moonquakes could reveal hidden water beneath the lunar surface

Hidden moon ice may reveal itself through the way it bends and reflects vibrations from moonquakes. The technique could help astronauts locate vital water supplies and uncover clues about the origins of Earth’s oceans.

science  Aug 3, 2026

Science Daily

Scientists reveal the hidden force driving the universe’s hottest fluid

When atomic nuclei smash together at nearly the speed of light, they create the hottest fluid in the universe, but scientists may have overlooked one of its most important forces. New simulations reveal that extreme acceleration builds up along the edges of quark-gluon plasma, helping drive its explosive expansion. This acceleration may do far more than move the fluid, potentially changing its temperature-like behavior, influencing particle spins, and even reshaping how matter transitions betwee

science  Aug 3, 2026

Science Daily

Scientists may have found aging’s hidden trigger for brain disease

Scientists have identified a molecular switch that may help explain why aging makes the brain more vulnerable to diseases such as ALS and Huntington’s. In worms, the protein EPS8 builds up with age and triggers signaling that encourages toxic proteins to clump together, damaging neurons and shortening lifespan. Reducing EPS8 activity prevented these harmful aggregates and preserved nerve function.

science  Aug 3, 2026

The Guardian Science

‘They are such neat, busy little folk’: the unexpected superpowers of the common woodlouse

This detritivore – known by a range of colourful names – tidies up our world and can withstand toxic pollutionRevealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the yearChucky pig. Slater. Monkey pea. Roly-poly. Boat-builder. Butchy boy. Cheeselog. Hobbling Andrew. Wood pig. If there were a prize for the range and joyfulness of a creature’s English-language names, the humble woodlouse would undoubtedly triumph over its million-plus invertebrate rivals.Over centuries of easy cohabitation with humans, it has a

science  Aug 3, 2026

Science Daily

Two new compounds could reveal hidden drivers of Alzheimer’s disease

Vanderbilt researchers created the first selective compound designed to inhibit TAOK-1, a poorly understood protein connected to Alzheimer’s disease. They also discovered a second compound that activates the entire TAOK protein family, offering scientists an unexpected new research tool. Together, the compounds could reveal hidden disease mechanisms and point toward new treatment strategies.

science  Aug 3, 2026

The Guardian Science

Can you solve it? Are you a match for the world’s smartest teen?

A genius puzzle from a teenage geniusLast month, British student Alex Chui became the all-time most successful contestant at the International Mathematical Olympiad.Chui, a year 13 student at Tonbridge School in Kent, scored 100 per cent in this year’s event, held in Shanghai, winning him a gold medal, and bringing his tally of medals to seven, five of them golds. Continue reading...

science  Aug 3, 2026

Science Daily

Two deadly flowers could inspire powerful new medicines

Scientists have figured out how two famously poisonous plants create chemicals with surprising medical potential. After tracking thousands of genes in wolfsbane and larkspur, they identified six enzymes needed to build a complex compound called atisinium. The team recreated the process inside tobacco plants, offering a sustainable way to produce and test these rare molecules in larger amounts.

science  Aug 3, 2026

The Guardian Science

Starwatch: Mercury to reach farthest point from the sun

Morning sky offers rare opportunity for a glimpse at solar system’s innermost worldThis week offers one of the better opportunities of the year to catch a glimpse of the solar system’s innermost world. Trapped in its small orbit, Mercury never strays far from the sun, meaning it is usually lost to the light of dawn or dusk. On Sunday, however, the planet reached its greatest western elongation, meaning it appeared at its greatest apparent distance from the sun in the morning sky.The next few mor

science  Aug 3, 2026