Sci-Tech news

• New hardware to expand fast fiber-to-the-home

  15-02-2016 01:00
  
  The cost of deploying fast fibre connections straight to homes could be dramatically reduced by new hardware designed and tested by UCL researchers. The innovative technology will help address the challenges of providing households with high bandwidths while futureproofing infrastructure against the exponentially growing demand for data.
  
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• How often you should wash your sheets and towels, according to science

  26-09-2026 14:06 via popsci.com
  
  You’ve had a long day. You can’t wait to get home, take a hot shower, and climb into bed. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Well, we hate to break it to you, but it could actually be incredibly gross. Naturally, everyone’s cleaning routines are different, so this isn’t a blanket statement (pardon the pun). Statistically speaking, most of us are not washing our bedding and bath things nearly enough. It’s generally recommended that people wash their bedsheets a
  
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• Fat Bear Week, Round 2 results: Bucky Dent, Backpack, 132, and 910 triumph

  26-09-2026 03:03 via popsci.com
  
  Update, September 25, 2026, 9:01pm EDT: Bear #164 (Bucky Dent) defeated Bear #151 (Walker) in Fat Bear Week’s biggest (literally) battle. The family of Bear #132 defeated Bear #806’s family and in a battle of sisters, Bear #910 overcame 909. In the day’s most lopsided battle, Bear #89 (Backpack) beat Bear #620 with more than 95 percent of the vote.
  For the next round Bear #132 and her cubs will face 910, while Bucky Dent will battle Backpack. Voting will open Monday at 12pm EDT
  
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• Rocks from Pompeii suburb tells a story of destruction—that could help us today

  25-09-2026 20:00 via popsci.com
  
  Two-thousand years ago, a Roman author and lawyer named Pliny the Younger wrote an account of one of the most destructive disasters in human history. He chronicled Mount Vesuvius’ eruption and the subsequent burial of Pompeii, which killed his uncle Pliny the Elder and about 2,000 others. The detail in Pliny the Younger’s account and the inferred eruption date of August 24, 79 CE has provided scientists and archaeologists with a benchmark method for dating not only Vesuvius’ er
  
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• Asteroid named after ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic

  25-09-2026 19:06 via popsci.com
  
  Over the past 50 years, musician “Weird Al” Yankovic has become the first artist to have a comedy album debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, amassed five Grammy awards, and one Emmy. As if that weren’t enough, the “Amish Paradise,” “Eat It,” and “The Saga Begins” singer now has an asteroid named in his honor. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially approved the naming of ast
  
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• The Era of More Junk in Orbit (Thanks, Elon)

  25-09-2026 18:55 via technocracy.news
  
  Arch-Technocrat Elon Musk wants to go to Mars with 1 million people to establish a Technocracy in space. Everything that he has done with SpaceX enshrines that goal. Along the way, he has littered outer space with his junk. Imagine the trail of trash from Earth to Mars, and then the trash heaps on Mars itself. Didn’t his mother ever tell him to clean up his messes? ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.As early as next week, the world will leave behind 69 years of space exploration and commerce and
  
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• How to help Katmai’s brown bears this Fat Bear Week

  25-09-2026 18:30 via popsci.com
  
  This Fat Bear Week, bear enthusiasts from around the world can not only vote for their favorite chunky brown bears (Ursus arctos). They can actually help protect the bears’ home. Every donation made to the Katmai Conservancy’s Otis Fund through October 3, will be matched by explore.org, the organization that runs the bear livestreams at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The Otis Fund is named for the first Fat Bear Week Champion, Bear #480 (Otis). During the one-day e
  
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• Sweden’s solution to stop spam callers: Be ruder!

  25-09-2026 17:10 via popsci.com
  
  Swedish police have a message for anyone who thinks they’re talking to spam callers: hang up the phone, and embrace being rude.Local authorities are teaming up with five national celebrities in a new campaign to empower people to push back against scam callers. Just like in the United States, scammers are a major issue. Polisen, Sweden’s national police force, estimates they made off with $575.3 million in ill-gotten gains in 2025 alone. And while online scams utilizing increasingly
  
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• Fat Bear Week, Round 2: Big boys Walker vs. Bucky Dent, and a sister battle

  25-09-2026 17:00 via popsci.com
  
  The big boys battle and two sisters go head-to-head in Round 2 of Fat Bear Week voting. Ace fisherbear #164 (Bucky Dent) managed to dethrone 2025 champ Bear #32 (Chunk) in Round 1 and will now face Brooks River regular, Bear #151 (Walker) and his mighty rear end. We also see two families with fascinating stories face each other.
  Voting opens at 12pm EDT and ends at 9pm EDT (9am-6pm PDT, 8am-5pm AKDT). Read more about the bears battling today below and cast your vote at explore.org.
  Fat Bear Week
  
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• This 1989 Popular Science article is like an Apple event live blog from nearly 40 years ago

  25-09-2026 16:00 via popsci.com
  
  I never got the chance to see Steve Jobs speak in person at an Apple event. I’ve been covering the company and its products for decades now (it feels a little weird to type that), but always from afar—at least in those days. Even before announcement events were livestreamed, Jobs and Apple knew how to put on a show. Looking back at a nearly 40-year-old Popular Science article makes me wish I could have been there for his return. Unfortunately, I was six.Popular Science sent William J
  
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• This 1988 Popular Science article is the equivalent of an Apple event live blog from 40 years ago

  25-09-2026 16:00 via popsci.com
  
  I never got the chance to see Steve Jobs speak in person at an Apple event. I’ve been covering the company and its products for decades now (it feels a little weird to type that), but always from afar—at least in those days. Even before announcement events were livestreamed, Jobs and Apple knew how to put on a show. Looking back at a nearly 40-year-old Popular Science article makes me wish I could have been there for his return. Unfortunately, I was six.Popular Science sent William J
  
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• Inside the school where dogs learn to sniff out bed bugs and other pests

  25-09-2026 14:52 via popsci.com
  
  Lucky works for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Her job is to track down spotted lanternfly eggs before they can hatch and cause trouble. She could have joined the police force, but during her training she discovered that would involve biting suspects—something she didn’t enjoy. So Lucky, a German Shepherd, joined the ranks of pest detection dogs, becoming the first dog in the United States trained to detect lanternfly eggs. Lanternflies are invasive pests that feed on a
  
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• The Ezra Klein Show: Jensen Huang Thinks A.I. Alarmism Has Gone Too Far

  25-09-2026 13:00 via nytimes.com
  Ezra Klein interviews the Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang.
  
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• Fat Bear Week Round 1, Part 2 results: A former champion falls and a big butt moves on

  25-09-2026 03:04 via popsci.com
  
  Update, September 24, 2026, 9:05pm EDT: We will not have a back-to-back Fat Bear Week champion this year. Fishing ace Bucky Dent knocked 2025 champ Bear #32 (Chunk) out of contention. Bodacious booty king Walker defeated Gully to move onto the next round. And in the subadult part of the bracket, Bear #89 (Backpack) and Brady Bunch member 620 each moved onto the next round.Update, September 23, 2026, 9:12am EDT: Explore.org has pushed back the voting schedule after a record-setting Day 1. The upd
  
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• Anthropic’s A.I. Is Teaching Itself Biology. Now It’s Made Its First Discovery.

  25-09-2026 00:12 via nytimes.com
  Scientists at the company announced their first finding: a group of enzymes whose function is unknown.
  
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• Meta’s new $1,300 VR Glasses will weigh less than a stick of butter when they hit the market in 2027

  24-09-2026 23:18 via popsci.com
  
  Meta’s next VR headset isn’t a headset. Meta VR Glasses weigh about 100 grams (about the same as a deck of cards) because the processor, the battery, and the storage all moved out of the frames and into a puck that clips to your pocket. They’ll cost $1,299.99 when they ship in spring 2027, and they run without controllers. For a comparison, the Quest 3 that people are wearing right now weighs 515 grams.That was the centerpiece of the Meta Connect event on Tuesday night, but the
  
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• Frogs wear bacterial suits of armor to fight off deadly fungus

  24-09-2026 22:03 via popsci.com
  
  To protect their porous skin, some tropical frogs have a suit of armor. But this covering isn’t made from metal or even a sturdy material like bullet-proof Kevlar. Frogs use bacteria to shield their skin from a deadly fungal disease caused by chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd). The findings detailed in a study published in the journal Animal Microbiome show that some frog species with a natural bacteria living on the frog’s skin microbiome can help them survive thi
  
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• Blowhole nebulizer helps cure beluga whale’s pneumonia

  24-09-2026 20:46 via popsci.com
  
  Pneumonia is a common affliction among whales and dolphins. In a first for marine mammals, veterinarians have used bacteria-killing viruses to treat a beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) with a drug-resistant infection. Jetta, an 11-year-old beluga whale at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, developed chronic pneumonia caused by multi-drug-resistant E. coli bacteria. After powerful antibiotics proved mostly ineffective, the experts from the aquarium and University of Florida developed a bacte
  
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• In a New Anthropic Lab, A.I. Turns to Biology

  24-09-2026 19:08 via nytimes.com
  Scientists at the company announced their first finding: a group of enzymes whose function is unknown.
  
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• Oracle Invokes Force Majeure on Project Jupiter AI Data Center

  24-09-2026 19:03 via technocracy.news
  
  This may be the pinprick that pops the AI data center boom. Oracle buried itself in a massive AI data center boondoggle that went south because they couldn’t get the energy permits needed to run it. Then the financing disappeared. Oracle is using “force majeure” as an excuse to avoid losses and liability. If a court doesn’t strike this down, the entire industry will follow Oracle. This is the proverbial crack in the dam. ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.Oracle has invoked for
  
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• A treasure hunt for rare coins is coming to 4 American cities

  24-09-2026 17:40 via popsci.com
  
  A rare coin treasure hunt offering $40,000 in prizes is about to begin in four cities. Numismatics (the study or collection of currency) enthusiasts in and around Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Boston can take part in Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Treasure Hunt 2026.What is Treasure Hunt 2026?The hunt is run by currency dealer Stack’s Bowers Galleries. Their team selected several well-known locations in each of the four cities participating in the hunt. Clues to find a hid
  
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• Fat Bear Week Round 1, Part 1 results: Resilient moms and strong sisters triumph

  24-09-2026 16:01 via popsci.com
  
  Update, September 24, 2026, 8:12am EDT: The Fat Bear Week Round 1, Part 1 results are in: Bears 132, 909, 806, and 910 triumphed. The record-setting turnout of voters pushed back voting and gave fans an extra day to cast their ballots. In the next round, we’ll see Bear #132 face Bear #806 and a battle of the sisters with 909 squaring off against 910.On day one of Fat Bear Week, eight tough females square off. You’ve seen them on the explore.org camera at Katmai National Park and Pres
  
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• Two moms named Jean inspired the name of a 309-million-year-old fossil

  24-09-2026 16:00 via popsci.com
  
  When your daughter is a budding scientist, gift giving can take a whole new form. Think fewer flowers and more new prehistoric species named in your honor. Jeanerpeton mazonensis (aka “Jean’s crawler from Mazon Creek”) is an early ancestor of today’s living amphibians, whose genus name Jeanerpeton is for two human moms named Jean. This salamander-like creature lived in a swampy river delta about 309 million years ago in present-day Chicagoland. The early amphibian is desc
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg Shares Vision for AI, How His Own Family Uses It

  24-09-2026 15:30 via today.com
  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks with NBC News in collaboration with Joanna Stern’s platform “The New Things,” about artificial intelligence, his goal to integrate AI into everyday life, how his own family uses the technology and the threat it could pose. “I’m quite optimistic about the fact that this is going to be a very positive future for everyone,” he says, adding, “People aren’t going to adopt it if they don’t trust it…We’re
  
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• What kind of animal is Gonzo?

  24-09-2026 15:01 via popsci.com
  
  In the 1981 film The Great Muppet Caper, the Muppets get shipped across the Atlantic in crates stenciled with the species inside. Kermit’s says FROG. Fozzie’s says BEAR. Gonzo’s says WHATEVER.If you’re unfamiliar, Gonzo is the blue one with the long drooping nose. He’s covered in fuzz, has a feathery tuft on his head, three fingers on each hand, and a girlfriend named Camilla, who is a chicken (obviously). What does that all add up to? Nobody knows. Muppet writ
  
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• AI glasses: The lens technology bringing AI into your line of sight

  24-09-2026 03:33 via nbcnews.com
  AI glasses are moving beyond simple displays. NBC News’ Janis Mackey Frayer visits South Korean startup LetinAR to explore its PinTILT lens technology, designed to put AI and digital information directly in your line of sight.
  
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• Zuckerberg shows Meta's audio-only glasses, addresses safety concerns

  24-09-2026 03:06 via nbcnews.com
  NBC News' Joanna Stern sat down with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to talk about their audio-only glasses and how the company is responding to people misusing the products. 
  
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• Surprising Diabetes Study Finds Tighter Blood Sugar Control May Come With a Hidden Cost

  24-09-2026 02:51 via scitechdaily.com
  People with diabetes felt better after days when their blood sugar had more room to fluctuate, suggesting that tighter control may sometimes come at the expense of daily life. New research involving people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes found that spending more time within the normal glucose range predicted better quality of life [...]
  
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• Just 5% of Pancreatic Cancer Cells Can Shield an Entire Tumor From Immune Attack

  24-09-2026 02:16 via scitechdaily.com
  A tiny faction of pancreatic cancer cells can turn its surroundings into an immune-safe zone, protecting neighboring tumor cells along with itself. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have uncovered how rare groups of pancreatic cancer cells reshape their immediate surroundings to keep immune cells away. Disrupting these localized defenses slowed [...]
  
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• Alzheimer’s Brain Damage May Begin Outside the Brain

  24-09-2026 01:41 via scitechdaily.com
  A study found that immune cells that drive neurodegeneration, the progressive damage and loss of nerve cells, originate in the body’s lymph nodes. In mice whose brains accumulate clumps of tau protein, researchers found a way to protect nerve cells without clearing away those clumps. They interrupted an immune response directed from outside the brain, [...]
  
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