History of Science: A female chemist initially excluded from research helps develop a drug for a remarkable but short-lived recovery in a child with leukemia — December 6, 1954
Milestone: Chemotherapy puts leukemia into remission Date: December 6, 1954 Location: Sloan Kettering Institute and Weill Cornell Medical College, New York People: Gertrude Elion and her colleagues In 1954, researchers reported a new drug that put children with acute leukemia into remission. This became one of the first chemotherapy drugs and would later form the […]
This week’s science news: Humans isolated for 100,000 years, the largest rotating structure in the universe, and a pit full of skulls
This week’s biggest science news took us to a region 140 million light years away, where scientists have discovered the largest rotating object in the known universe. Astronomers discovered this giant rotating filament, which is wider than the Milky Way and connected in a daisy chain of 14 galaxies. The filament spins at about 68 […]
A huge sunspot similar to the sunspot that caused the Carrington phenomenon has appeared on the sun, pointing exactly at the Earth
A huge sunspot group, roughly the same size as the sunspot that caused the largest solar storm in recorded history, has appeared on the Earth’s side of the Sun, and is now pointing directly at Earth. But don’t panic. Auroras and some technical disturbances are possible next week, but it seems unlikely that a new […]
A huge helium shortage is looming — but ancient rocks in Earth’s crust may be hiding massive reservoirs
In 1903, residents of the small town of Dexter, Kansas, gathered to celebrate a newly drilled natural gas well. Crowds flocked to the well for the lighting of the escaping gas, which officials had said would produce “a great pillar of flame.” But when they rolled a burning bale of hay onto the well, nothing […]
New ‘physics shortcuts’ allow you to tackle quantum problems previously reserved for supercomputers and AI on your laptop
Physicists have developed a way to model quantum systems on everyday computers, making it easier to run complex simulations without relying on supercomputers or artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The new method updates the “truncated Wigner approximation” (TWA), a decades-old technique for approximating quantum behavior, into a plug-and-play shortcut for solving complex calculations. The team says […]
Is it possible for aged eggs to be “rejuvenated”? New tool may help pave the way to treatments that extend fertility
Scientists have taken an important step toward understanding why human eggs become more prone to chromosomal errors as we age, and whether the decline could one day be avoided. The study, published in November in the journal Nature Aging, introduces a new tool that allows scientists to reproduce the changes seen in eggs during the […]
‘It puts the birth of our species in a broader context’: Neuroscientists explain the ‘social brain hypothesis’ of what makes us human
New York University neuroscientist Nikolai Kukushkin traces the evolution of human consciousness in his book One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind (Prometheus/Swift Press, 2025). He begins his story with the first appearance of DNA on Earth and then focuses on the key evolutionary landmarks that paved the way for us, modern […]
Male human head found in ‘skull pit’ in ancient Chinese city suggests gender-based sacrificial rituals
Just outside the gates of China’s 4,000-year-old city, archaeologists have discovered a pit filled with 80 skulls of human sacrifice victims. Now, new research has revealed surprising facts about the victims. Nine out of ten were men. In the study, published Nov. 26 in the journal Nature, researchers analyzed DNA collected from human bones found […]
Geminid Meteor Shower 2025: The best meteor shower of the year arrives, with a second hot meteor shower on its tail
This year’s most prolific meteor shower is about to deliver more shooting stars than any other meteor shower, with near-perfect conditions for skywatchers. The annual Geminid meteor shower begins Thursday (December 4) and will remain active for the next two weeks. But this year’s peak will be the night of attention. As many as 150 […]
Injecting anesthetic drugs may correct ‘lazy eye’, early research suggests
Researchers think they may have found a way to improve “lazy eyes” even in adults who have been suffering from the condition since childhood. However, this technology has so far only been tested in animals and requires further research before it can be used in human patients. Lazy eye, or amblyopia, develops in early childhood […]